Chapter 4

What Must Be Done

Ash was out in Viridian Forest, one of the first places he had ventured through when he was young. He held his machete at his side, looking like just another explorer ready for the thicker part of the forest, where a machete might be needed to cut away trees and vines. The first pokemon he came upon on his search was a caterpie. A small nostalgic pang came upon him. One of the first pokemon Ash had ever caught was a caterpie. With a heavy heart he said, "Well, I guess I have to do this."

Pikachu ran to Ash's side, thinking this would be a pokemon battle, something Pikachu hadn't done for a long time, but he still remembered the basics. Ash held Pikachu back. "No, Pikachu. I'll handle this one." He said.

Ash held his machete high, and brought it down on the caterpie's back. In a single stroke, the bug pokemon was cleaved in two. Pikachu gasped in shock as the caterpie's yellow blood and gooey insides oozed from its wound. Ash looked at it. "God, what have I done?" He said to himself. He looked at his machete. "Well, the myth said he killed a lot more than one pokemon. I'll have to do this again, won't I?" Ash said to himself. Pikachu looked up at him with sad eyes. If he could speak, he would have said, "Master, stop. You're becoming a monster." Ash knew from the look on his face that this was what Pikachu meant.

"Pikachu, I'm doing what I have to do." He said. His words lacked his usual strong conviction, though. Even he wasn't sure this was a good idea. Pikachu squeaked in disapproval. "I don't care. I'll do anything for her. Even this. If I have to become a monster to have her back, then I'll be a monster."

Ash moved on through the forest. He ventured deeper into its labyrinthine paths and overgrown bushes. Soon, he came to a small clearing, and found a raticate. "Well, here goes." Ash said to himself. At that moment, Pikachu jumped in front of Ash, again, trying to start a normal, non-lethal pokemon battle. Again, Ash turned him away. "Stand back, Pikachu. I don't want you to get hurt." Ash said. Again, Pikachu backed down, but not before giving his master a sad, disappointed look. It was not disappointment in a missed opportunity to fight. It was disappointment in Ash himself, and his willingness to do such an awful thing. If Pikachu could talk, he would have said, "I expected better of you, Master."

Ash snuck up behind the wild raticate, and sliced off its head with a single chop. Unlike caterpie, raticate's blood was red, like that of a human's. Ash felt sick, seeing what he had done. He did not hesitate, though. He had decided that if this is what he must do to bring back Misty, then it will be done.

Moments later, the wild raticate's brother came upon the grisly sight. Seeing Ash standing with a bloodied machete over his slain kin sent the rat into a frenzy. It leaped up and snapped at Ash's neck. "Augh! Get off!" Ash screamed. He pushed the second raticate to the ground, and chopped it in half. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ash thought over these events. "Well, the myth said he killed until no pokemon would come forth. I guess I haven't killed enough."

The next few hours were a blur of blood and blood and death. Grimly, tirelessly, Ash cut down any wild pokemon he could find. Rarely did Pikachu intervene. The electric mouse knew at this point there was no reasoning with Ash when he was like this. The blood flowed like a fountain, and the bodies piled high. Pidgey, Weedle, Rattata, all fell dead on Ash's mad mission.

Near dusk, Ash noticed that no pokemon would appear as he wandered the forest. He saw a single weedle in the distance, and it ran from him on sight. Ash smiled. "Well, I didn't think I'd have all this done in just one day." He wandered to a secluded spot, Pikachu still at his side. "Now to break the sword!" Ash said. He could barely contain himself. He placed the tip of his machete's blade on a rock, and slammed his foot down on it with great force. The cheaply made sword snapped into two jagged pieces.

Ash victoriously held the pair of broken shards high. "Yes! It's done!" He called out. "I call forth, Misty the Yamask!"

Ash stood there expecting a yamask to appear. He waited. Then he waited some more. Ash wondered if this accursed sword thing was real at all. He tried calling upon a different pokemon. "I call forth, ummmmm, magikarp?" Ash said. In a flash of blinding white light, a magikarp materialized in front of Ash, flopping helplessly on the ground.

Ash was puzzled now. "Why did it summon magikarp, but not Misty?" He asked himself. He kicked the magikarp aside and sat down on the forest floor, thinking the whole thing over. He repeated, "Why could it summon magikarp, but not Misty?" Pikachu, like he always did when Ash was feeling troubled, walked over to ash and rubbed his soft yellow fur against his hand.

Ash sat there for nearly an hour before he suddenly got a terrible, evil idea. "Maybe… Maybe it's because Misty is more than just a pokemon. Maybe the cursed blade needs life from a human to summon a human?"

Pikachu's blood ran cold upon hearing his master say such a thing. It squeaked and squealed in distress, as if to say, "Surely, you wouldn't do such a thing, Master… Right?" Ash ignored his friend's pleas. He stood up, and ventured back to the main paths in the forest, the well-worn roads travelers frequented. Slowly, quietly, he stalked the sidelines searching for a victim. Soon, he came upon a young teenage girl building a little fire for the night in a clearing. Ash approached her with caution.

Pikachu looked up at Ash as if to say, "Surely you wouldn't… ?" Ash glared back at him. "You can't stop me." He whispered. Pikachu gave him a look of disgust, pure disgust. Pikachu wanted nothing to do with this. He reached up to Ash's belt and grabbed one of the pokeballs. For the first time in years, Pikachu went back into his pokeball.

This bold act did not deter Ash in the slightest. He edged slowly onward toward the girl's campsite. Then, he accidentally stepped on a twig. The girl he was sneaking up on heard it, and rushed to Ash's location. "Eek! You… Oh, I thought you were from Team Pl… um… never mind. You're just a silly dirty man." She said. Ash put on a fake smile. "Oh, sorry to scare you. I was just passing through." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "See, I'm out here with my boyfriend and these creeps from Team…"

Ash wasn't listening to her anymore. All he heard was "…with my boyfriend…". Somebody loved this girl, maybe even as much as he loved Misty. "No, can't be. I loved Misty more than anyone else could love anything." He thought to himself… But he quietly wondered if he could really kill someone else's beloved so that he could have his own?

Ash quickly pushed those thoughts aside. "I'm willing to do anything for her. For Misty!" He said to himself. He grabbed the girl by the hair and pulled her down to the ground. "Eek! What are you doing?" The girls screamed. Ash did not answer her. He pulled a shard from his broken machete from his back pocket and sliced into the girl's chest. All he managed to do was cut the fabric on her shirt.

"What the hell are you doing, you freak?" The girl screamed. Ash raised his blade. Slice. She fell to the ground, bloodied. "Help! Help! This dirty old man, he's… Help!" She screamed. He pulled her by the hair again and wrapped his arm around her mouth. "Shut up." He said. The girl bit into his flesh, and although Ash flinched a little in pain, he kept his grip tight. The girl wiggled and kicked and bit, and swing at Ash's groin, but he was too determined. Again, he plunged the shard into the girl's chest. This time, he hit the heart, and she fell limp. Ash had killed a girl.

Moments later, a boy could be heard stumbling, rushing through the brush. "Marion? Marion? Did you scream?" He called out. "Shit, it's the girl's boyfriend. I gotta get out of here." Ash said to himself. He ran a little ways away, and heard an anguished scream behind him. "I'm going to get whatever bastard did this!" He heard behind him. Ash ran a little more, before getting out a pokeball. He got out Pidgeot, now that he was sure he was far enough that Pidgeot wouldn't see the dead body. He wouldn't want Pidgeot to judge him at a time like this, even though he was covered in blood now.

In an instant, Pidgeot appeared before him. "Pidgeot, we're in deep trouble! Fly me home!" Ash commanded. Pidgeot had no idea what was going on, but saw his master covered in blood, and recognized the severity of the situation. Ash jumped on Pidgeot's back and they flew all the way to his mom's house in Pallet Town.

Ash quickly darted in the back door before his mother could see him. He immediately stripped off his bloody clothes, put them in the washer, and turned it on. Then he took a shower and shaved. He needed to look nice and clean for Misty. Actually, he needed to look clean for if the police came by. They would be looking for a dirty old man, not a clean but sort of rough looking young man. Ash was secretly glad that being dirty made him look a lot older than he actually was.

After getting dressed with some spare clothes he kept in his room, which his mom kept nice and tidy for the rare times he visited, Ash got out the shard he had killed the girl with. Barely able to contain his excitement, he said, "I call upon… Misty the Yamask!"

In a bright flash of light a small, sad looking ghost pokemon appeared in front of Ash. It was a yamask, one carrying a little mask with a girl's face on it. Ash looked at the face. Sure enough, it was Misty's. "Misty! It's really you! Misty, I found you!" Ash shouted. Overjoyed, he gave the yamask a deep, long embrace. Tears of joy ran down his face. "Misty, you have no idea what I've been through to find you. You… You wouldn't believe any of it, it was so awful." Ash hugged tighter. "I never want to let you go, Misty. Never again." Ash said. He expected Misty to say something, anything back to him, but she remained silent.

"Misty, say something? Misty?" Ash said. The yamask let out a short, sad wail. "Oh, that's right, you're a pokemon. Most pokemon can't talk." Ash said. He took Misty's hand, but it was cold and clammy with death. Ash sat down and set Misty on his lap. He started to cuddle, but his mind was still occupied. He began to give Misty a long, deep kiss, but stopped. "Misty, it's not enough to just have you here. This isn't right." He whispered in the yamask's ear. Misty sighed in agreement. It sounded almost like a despaired moan. "I need you in your real body, the one you are used to, the one where you could speak, and walk, not some ectoplasmic ghost." Ash said. The yamask let out a high pitched moan, almost hopeful sounding. Its red eyes gleamed like dying stars. It gazed at Ash as if to say, "You would do that for me?" Ash smiled. "Misty, I would do anything for you. Anything."