"I think I'll go to Boston, I think that I'm just tired, I think I need a new town, to leave this all behind. I think I need a sunrise, I'm tired of sunset, I hear it's nice in the summer, some snow would be nice" - Augustana "Boston"

16 Lava is Bad

I tried to think about my wonderful lovey dovey time with Misty, to relish it and be glad it happened, but I couldn't. The memory didn't even feel like a pleasant dream. It was something that had happened to someone else, not me.

All the Pokemon had been put back into their balls, much to Max and Brock's gratefulness. We had seen a handful more of wild Pokemon, and skirted past them in a most rabbit-like fashion. They had glared at us with beady eyes, out of the shadows, extremely ominous and not how I liked things staring at me.

Yata was creeping around in my mind, her yellow eyes narrowed and threatening. I remembered the time on the boat, where she had looked over the side after Pikachu had attacked me. "It was Yacaeli," she'd said.

Could a single Pokemon have that much control over others that far away? Sure, that's what Oak was claiming when we were in his lab, but it didn't seem plausible. I wondered if it was just a Meowth that happened to have an extremely strong Drowsee and that weird machine thing, like the last time Pikachu turned against me.

Well, Yata was an idiot. She was like one of those Amish people who'd been raised believing the year was 1769, so totally in denial that not even a psychic could get them out. I disregarded her words completely and tried to focus on what was necessary.

Sleep. We desperately needed sleep. "Guys," I called wearily. "I think we should rest."

In response, they collapsed on the ground, piling close together to keep warm. Only Paul scooted away. The prude. He'd rather freeze to death than even suggest he cared.

I yawned widely and dropped next to Misty, sighing with exhaustion. "Good night," I mumbled. I fought the urge to snake my arm around her sleeping form, which is hard when you're so tired you can hardly tell yourself it's bedtime.

"G'night," was the halfhearted response.

My eyes slipped shut, and I started to dream.

The mountain was seriously screwing with my subconscious. Never had I had such strange dreams, and my dreams are usually pretty weird. Like I had one where Misty decided to become a Fire Pokemon Trainer instead and then unleashed a fire breathing Gyrados on me. Then Dawn and Brock came in wearing clowns suits, and they used their clown magic to transport me to a planet where Pikachus ruled the world and it was REALLY strange.

But I'm getting off topic. Again. Anyways, the second dream I had on the mountain was beyond strange.

I dreamed that crazy old lady had angel wings, and flew up to the cloud I was standing on. "Madame Eulixia has a message for you," she announced.

I stared, silent. What was I supposed to say?

"The message is this: 'Go where you have not gone before. Follow the light, because it knows where it's going'." She looked at me sternly. "You still have medallion?"

I managed to nod.

"Good," she said. "Madame Eulixia is pleased. Get it out now."

My hands fumbled as I rushed to obey her. The golden circle now rested in my hands, the carvings still complete gibberish.

The old woman's blind eyes met mine. "You cannot read this, yes?" she asked.

Again I gave a tiny nod. Skeptically, the woman waved her hand over the medal.

My jaw dropped in disbelief. What had been Latin a few moments ago had suddenly been translated into English. The words were readable.

I read them greedily, hoping for some key that would tell me exactly what I had to do. To my immense surprise, it did. It told me to the most finite detail what to do, how to do it, everything! I couldn't believe it was so simple!

"Hey, Ash, wake up!"

I jumped into consciousness, remembering where I was. My back was covered in dirt, and all of me was sore from sleeping on the ground. I got up rather stiffly and looked around. I was the last one to wake.

"C'mon, we're all ready to go," Drew continued. He threw me my bag, smirking in satisfaction when it hit my hands instead of falling in them.

"Go where?" I asked. I surveyed them, confused. "We're still going up, right?"

They all exchanged uncertain glances. "Well," Brock began, "we've decided that this is too dangerous, even for us."

I blinked. "What?"

"This isn't safe, Ash," Misty translated. "We're all going to get killed. You saw that thing that was chasing us, right? Or do I have to drag you back to the castle so you can get a good look?"

"No! We can't leave!" I exclaimed. I brandished the bracelet, glinting on my wrist. "This thing is the key! This thing will help us kill Yacaeli!"

"It'll help you kill Yacaeli," said May. "As for the rest of us, we're getting out of here."

They were abandoning me? No! That wasn't supposed to happen! "You guys can't do that," I choked. "The prophecy, remember?"

"Screw the prophecy," Paul snapped, even colder than usual.

"No, no, I have to do this, and I need you guys with me," I insisted.

"Why," said Dawn. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Why?" I repeated. "I, uh, I…"

Paul rolled his eyes. "I knew it. C'mon, let's go."

I looked at them desperately, but even Misty's eyes were cold. "Goodbye, Ash Ketchum," she said, and then they were gone.

"Hey, Ash, wake up!"

I jumped and leapt to my feet, momentarily forgetting my stiffness. Everyone was surrounding me with looks of concern on their faces. I blinked, confused. "You're still here?" I questioned.

"Of course we are!" Dawn replied cheerily. "Where else would we go?"

"You were having a nightmare," May explained.

Was I? "What did I do?" I asked.

"You just said things like 'don't leave me' and 'I have to do this'," Brock said.

"And you were so asleep I was about to whack you with my mallet to wake you up," said Misty comfortingly.

I sniffed. "Gee, thanks," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

Drew shoved a granola bar in my face. "Eat. We need to get going."

Cautiously, I took it from him. "You mean you guys want to stay with me?" I interrogated warily.

"Dude, wherever you go, the fun follows," Drew replied. He gave his hair a careless flick.

May yanked on my arm. "Now get up. I hate being so close to that castle."

I managed to get to my feet with the hindrance of her help (once again, alliteration!) and brushed myself off.

"Pika!" came the familiar cry, and the tiny yellow mouse launched himself onto my shoulder.

I scratched his ears absentmindedly. "So we're all ready to keep going forward?"

"Hell yeah, Ketchum," Drew exclaimed. He hoisted his bag onto his shoulders. Already it was slipping. "Let's get cookin', okay?"

And once again, we were off.

I wanted to walk next to Misty, and I didn't. I felt extremely awkward, so I reached into my pocket hoping to find some lint to fiddle with. I pulled out the medallion.

The medallion!

Suddenly worried, I brought the medallion right up to my face, desperate to see if it was still in English. To my despair, the words had gone back to their impossible language. I racked my brains, trying to remember what it had freaking said, but nothing came up. All I could recall was that terrible nightmare of everyone leaving me.

I blinked (wow I've been blinking a lot). Yacaeli had power over the mind, dreams especially. What if she had seen that dream, and threw that other one in there to make me forget the first one? It was possible, but highly unlikely.

Most of the nightmares I had were about being abandoned, or something ridiculous like jazz playing clowns (now that one was weird). The fact that that particular nightmare was about everyone leaving me seemed very coincidental.

"Hey May," I called, suddenly inspired with an idea.

May turned around, curious. She walked backwards in order to talk to me. "Yeah?"

"What's your biggest fear?" I quizzed.

She stared at me, puzzled, before replying. "Like, something that can happen, or something that is. Cuz mine are different."

"Both," I pressed.

"Oh," she said. "Well, I guess something that would happen would be you guys getting hurt and me not being able to do anything about it."

I pondered this for a moment, remembering what she had said yesterday morning about me, Max, and Drew being dead. With our heads on poles, I believe. Ew. "And your other fear?"

She blushed, embarrassed. "I know this is stupid, because I own a bird Pokemon, but nothing scares me more than birds." She laughed a little. "And water. Now a water bird. That would be terrifying."

Birds? Hadn't she said bird people came and killed us all? WTF?

"Why the sudden fear quiz, Ash?" asked Brock.

Misty looked away pointedly. "He just wants to know mine so he can scare me later."

May's face darkened. "If you unleash that Staraptor on me in the middle of the night I'll hire Misty to beat you to a pulp."

I feigned panic. "No, not Misty! She's ruthless!"

"You bet I am, Ketchum." She brandished her mallet threateningly. I cowered, laughing.

"We already know Misty's fears," Brock pointed out. "Bugs, peppers, and carrots."

There was a moment of silence before Misty cracked the Breeder on the head. "Well don't tell them that!" she cried, distraught.

Drew snickered. "You're scared of bugs?" He pulled out a pokeball playfully. "Masquerain, did you hear that? The lady's scared of you! We should show her just how nice you are, right?"

Misty paled but her eyes still burned furiously. "You're forgetting that I have my mallet, remember?"

"Oh. Never mind, Masquerain, we wouldn't want to scare her." Drew put it back in his bag, readjusted it on his shoulders, and kept walking. His backpack began to slip again.

I shook myself slightly and realized I had lost focus. May's worst fears had been depicted in the hallucination she'd had. My worst fear was in the dream I just had. Was this happening to everyone?

I hated the Sky Cat more and more with each step I took up that freaking mountain. She was messing with my head, and my friends' heads, and my Pokemon's heads. Not okay.

A wild Houndour rushed by in the opposite direction, causing us all to look around wildly. We weren't taking any chances on this mountain.

"Why was it running?" Dawn asked, and still today I'm wondering if she really expected one of us to answer.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Troublesome," he muttered.

"Ha," May laughed. She launched into a story. "Troublesome. That reminds me: so, the other day, this kid came up to the Gym to challenge my dad, right? He was shorter than Max, he had pink hair, and bells around his ankles. I took one look at him and wondered if Harley had made a sperm baby."

We started laughing, eager to hear the rest.

"He came into the gym, walked right up to my dad, and said…" She paused, putting on a goofy expression and striking a pose good for supermodels but not for little boys. "'Hi-ee, my name's David, and I challenge you to a Gym battle'."

Chortles of laughter ran through our group.

"So my dad looked at the kid, gaping, and finally said yes, okay? The kid walks to other end of the gym, his feet jingling like Santa's sleigh, and pulls out a piece of paper." May fished in her pocket and pulled out a folded and tattered paper. "He left it on the floor, so I took it."

Max burst out laughing. "Oh Mew, you guys have to hear what this kid said," he chuckled.

May took a deep breath and prepared to read. "Ode to—."

Suddenly the bracelet burned with a searing heat. I spun around to see ahead, already tensing for a fight.

…There was nothing there.

I took a cautious step forward, everyone watching me curiously. I reached out with my hand, preparing to hit the invisible wall. There wasn't one, of course. Why play the same trick twice?

Misty was giving me a funny look. "Ash, what are you—?"

"Sh!" I said abruptly. My ears were straining to hear everything, to pick up a clue on the wind.

The redhead folded her arms angrily and promptly looked away. I felt a small pang at angering her, but I had to focus on our lives. The bracelet had to mean something. If danger was approaching, I couldn't let her distract me.

Paul was suddenly next to me. "What is it?" he murmured. His fingers were hovering around his pokeballs, ready.

"I don't know," I replied quietly. "I just know that whatever it is, it's bad."

Pikachu jumped off my shoulder, ever adventurous. He glanced around, delicately sniffing the air. "Pika," he called.

"It's safe?" I questioned, interpreting his talk. I glanced down warily at the bracelet. "I don't think so, buddy," I called back.

The little mouse cocked his head to the side innocently. "Pi? Pika!" he insisted, beckoning with his yellow paw.

"Oh, Ash, if Pikachu says it's alright then it's bound to be!" snapped Misty. She stalked forward, walking right into danger. I think she did it just to spite me.

I rushed after her. "Hey, Mist, this isn't a good idea—." I gasped. The sight before me was anything but safe.

I hadn't expected this mountain to be volcanic, and the more I thought about, the more I convinced myself that it wasn't. Volcanoes didn't have lava just sitting there like a backyard pool, or Jacuzzi, I should say. They had lava spewing out the top and viscously pouring down the sides.

But there was a pool of lava, bubbling and shooting geysers of hot molten rock and steam into the air like Yellowstone.

I stared at the fire, suddenly at a loss. How were we supposed to cross?

Brock was already looking around, determining a route. "The sides are too steep," he commented. "There's no way we could cross it, unless we had a Pokemon that could do Vine Whip."

May jumped. "But we do!" she exclaimed happily. She plunged her hand into her bag and pulled out a glistening red pokeball. "Venusaur, show us what you got!" The coordinator tossed the ball ecstatically, and in a flash of white light the great Pokemon appeared.

"Vine Whip, Venusaur!" cried May. The creature groaned in response and sent out her vines. They snapped onto the ledge, and we spared ourselves a cheer of victory.

Suddenly, a pillar of magma erupted upwards, directly beneath Venusaur's vines. The Pokemon was forced to let go before her precious vines were incinerated, leaving us once again without a plan.

"Did we happen to pick the worst trail, or are they all like this?" Max wondered.

"Can we fly over?" questioned Dawn. She released her Togekiss curiously. "Togekiss, see if you can fly over the lava. Go as high as you need to."

The Pokemon bounced into the air with a trill of joy, steadily rising higher and higher until I could no longer see it. It hurt my neck trying to look that high. I glanced down and noticed Misty was still looking straight up, a look of sorrow on her face. She had really loved Togepi; it only made sense that she missed it.

Abruptly the water Trainer snapped her gaze away from the sky and glared at me. I jumped at the ferocity of her expression, trying to remember what I did to set her off.

"Well, while Troublesome's lovebird does that," Paul mumbled, his hands around one of his pokeballs, "I'm going to go about this the sane way." He tossed it lazily. "Magmortar, come on."

The giant magma creature appeared with a moan of power. Its canons smoked menacingly, as did the top of its head. I guess the air was a little too humid for it. The beast looked to its master for instruction.

Paul pointed a commanding finger. "See if you can cross," he told it.

Magmortar looked at the lava pit with disinterest. It took a lumbering step forward and dipped its foot in the molten rock. I stared at it (anything to avoid looking at Misty, whose glare was about as hot as the magma), wondering if we had possibly found a way across.

Slowly, the Pokemon blinked stupidly and stepped back out. Paul was instantly furious. "What's the matter?" he asked, fuming. "Can't you go through?"

Magmortar shook its head. It glanced at Pikachu, trying to communicate.

Pikachu met my eyes and molded its face into a respectable replica of Magmortar. After a few "Pika pis" and "Chu chu chas," I got the message.

"It can make it," I explained to Paul, "but the rest of us won't be able to."

Paul glared at his Pokemon, his arms folded disappointedly across his chest. It replied by matching its Trainer's stare, until Paul grew so furious that he returned it to its pokeball and looked ready to chuck it into the lava.

"Hey," Dawn murmured, grabbing his arm. "It did the best it could. At least it's not putting us in danger."

The purple-headed Trainer refused to meet her eyes. He didn't even grunt, but merely slipped his Magmortar back into his pocket. Dawn stepped back, and for a second I thought I saw her eyes flash. Then she blinked and was back to the innocent, clueless girl I knew so well.

The bracelet had stopped burning, but it still made its presence known by giving off a dull warmth. I glanced at it, convinced that the danger it had warned my about was the pit in front us. There was no way around it, as far as we knew.

At that moment, Togekiss floated down from the heavens and landed lightly beside Dawn. She looked at her sadly, and the Pokemon shook her head. "Priii," she said shamefully.

"Oh, that's okay," Dawn assured it. "No need to worry, you did your best." She pulled out her pokeball. "Return, Togekiss."

"Great," said Brock. "We've tried every tactic and nothing works." He let his backpack fall to the ground. "Guess we're sleeping here tonight."

Drew shrugged, which caused his bag to land beside Brock's. Clearly, it frustrated him, but he didn't acknowledge it. "Alright. No need to build a fire, at least." He nodded to the lava.

"Yeah," May agreed. She sat down next to Brock with a sigh. "We can't go forwards." Suddenly, she smiled slyly. "Guys wanna hear what Harley's clone read now?"

"Ooh, yes!" exclaimed Dawn. She was instantly next to May with an expression of a four-year-old about to hear her favorite story. "Tell us tell us tell us!"

I gave the lava one last hopeless look before joining them. Pikachu leaped onto my shoulder with a happy cry. Max dropped to the ground, adjusting his glasses with a smirk worthy of Drew. The little kid knew exactly what was coming.

"Mist, are you gonna listen?" I called over my shoulder.

"No," she snapped. She was still standing at the lava's edge dramatically.

I frowned and shrugged at everyone else. When Misty was pissed, it was best not to mess with her. I'd bug her about it when everyone else was asleep. Which, judging by the time we'd wasted trying to get around the lava pond, would only be a little while longer.

"Suit yourself," May said. She unfolded the paper that contained the words we were all dying to hear. "Ahem. 'Ode to Lady May'."

Drew jumped about a foot in the air. "You didn't say it was about you!" he cried. "What did this little creep say about you? I'll kill him. Where is he? He's a dead little queer, that's for sure."

I had to laugh. "Well, Drew, judging by the title of the poem, he's not a queer." Ha ha. Queer's such a funny word.

May grinned, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks. She bit her lip playfully. "Do you wanna hear the rest?"

We all nodded, Drew less enthusiastic than the rest of us.

"Oh, my sweet Lady May, when I see you again, I am your slave, and yours to maim. I'll take your complaints, and sane I'll remain, for you I'm in chains, Lady May."

"Great Arceus," groaned Drew, rolling his eyes. "This kid has some nerve."

"You're just jealous because you could never write anything so poetic," May teased.

"What, so you like poems now?" he snapped, looking more agitated by the second.

"I've always like poetry," she replied. "You're just too oblivious to notice!"

"And they're off," Brock commented. He nudged me, grinning. "Betcha ten bucks Drew will have written her a poem by morning."

I smirked. Even Drew wasn't that desperate. "You're on." Besides, I had half of my profit from the bet I made with Drew left over. It'd work out perfectly if I lost.

As the Drew/May argument escalated into a full scale brawl with encouragement from Max, I decided to focus on Dawn and Paul.

Paul had his book out again (what a loser. Seriously!) and was reading avidly. Dawn had scooted next to him, peering over his shoulder. Finally he spoke. "If you're going to flash me again, please give me a warning."

Dawn chuckled. "I'm not going to do that," she laughed. "There's no way I'd grant you the privilege of seeing the twins twice."

Embarrassed, Paul focused even harder on his book. "And they call you innocent," he muttered.

"What are you reading?" asked the blunette. She reached around, trying to turn the book so she could see the cover.

He yanked it away, not looking at her. "It's nothing. Go bother Misty."

Her face flushed angrily. "Is that all you have to say to me?" she said, her voice tight.

"Were you expecting something more?" he growled, meeting her eyes for the first time.

Dawn glared right back at him, neither cowering nor advancing. "I was," she said in a low voice. "But then I remembered what a selfish recluse you are and decided not to set my expectations so high." With that, the young Coordinator pushed off the ground to her feet and marched over to her bag. She began to set up her tent.

"Jeez, Paul," I said, when I was certain no one else was listening.

He looked up from his book with eyes that promised me a slow and painful death. "What." It wasn't even a question.

I gestured to Dawn. "That was cold."

"She's a troublesome idiot," he replied, but his voice was hollow. For some reason, I didn't think he meant it. "She's not worth my time."

"Those are both lies and you know it," said Misty. She had returned from her intense staring of the lava pond and sat down between me and Paul.

Paul scowled at the words on the page of the book. "Go away," he said.

I met Misty's aqua eyes, and gave a tiny nod. We were going double team on Paul. "Why can't you just admit the truth?" I interrogated.

"There is nothing to admit," was the short reply.

"Oh really?" grilled Misty. "Does that mean you're scared of it? Afraid to admit it even to yourself?"

Paul looked up, his expression deadlier than Misty's when she's PMSing and someone else ate all the chocolate. "I am not scared of anything," he said tersely. "And I have nothing to admit." Villainously, his eyes glittered with a new idea. "What about you, Waterflower. Haven't you got something of your own to confess?"

Misty blushed deeper than anyone. In an instant she had grabbed me by the wrist. "C'mon, Ash," she commanded. "Let's leave this self-hating emo to wallow in his own misery." With that, she dragged me away from our circle of people to the shore of the lava lake.

Night was starting to set it. The only way I could tell was the fact that it got colder, and the clouds seemed to grow darker and more menacing. Behind us, Max yawned and May announced he was to go to bed or else she'd skin him alive. The others followed, one by one, calling to us to see if we were going to join them. I blinked, realizing I had probably spent hours sitting next to Misty and staring at a single patch of red magma. I wondered where the time had gone.

I bit my lip nervously, watching the lava bubble as I searched for a conversation topic. "So," I began. "Got something to admit?"

*AN: Wa la. 8 pages of story. Aren't you happy? Ya'll are gonna luuurve the next chapter. Specially you romance lovers out there. After 16 chapters, it will come. Now as soon as I finish it, it shall be published.

I love Dawn. Don't all of you? I think she's my favorite girl on the show, but I'd never put her with Ash. So forgive me if I make her a little OOC, but Dawn's gonna be a pretty cool character. I'm soooo tired right now. K bye. Oh, and thanks for reading and reviewing. You all from the last chappie (xDaughter-of-the-Sunx, Mike Prower the Fox, PokeGirlMisty, Amber Ice Fox, and pokemaster101) you guys all get some dulce de leche bars. They were REALLY good and all of you who love caramel like air should google the recipe cuz it's AMAZING!*