Chapter 37: The Truth

Misty walked around in the darkness alone, fearful for herself, but more so for her friends, particularly one friend who, as far as she knew, was still trapped. "Ash," she whispered. "Please be okay."

"Misty!"

She perked on hearing that voice. "Brock?"

"Over here!"

She ran towards the voice and found Brock and everyone else who had been sucked into this dimension standing in a large open field. "Brock!" she exclaimed. "You guys! You're all okay!"

"And so are you!" Bonnie cheered. "We were worried about you!"

Misty looked around, and her smile faded. "But...where's Ash? Did anyone find him?"

"I'm afraid not," Cilan said sadly. "We got separated coming into this dimension, and then nobody found him."

"I guess we were more focused on finding each other," Iris admitted. "We don't know if he's here or not."

"He's got to be," Misty said. "I can feel it."

"She has a point," Dawn shrugged. "But we've got more problems than that. May's not with us either!"

"What?" Misty exclaimed. "But...where is she?"

"I'm sure we'll find her," Max smirked. "And hey, if anyone can find Ash, she can."

"That still doesn't tell us where they are, though," Clemont mumbled.

"Wait, guys! Look!" Amy cried, pointing in a direction. Everyone looked and gasped.

"It's Ash!" Brock exclaimed.

"He's okay!" Misty said joyfully, then she ran up to him. "Ash! Ash, you're okay! I was so worried!" By this point, she was right in front of him. Now that she got a closer look, she saw that his head was down, eyes shaded by his hat, and a trembling frown was on his face. Pikachu had a similar expression on his face. "Ash?" she said again. "Is something wrong?" He didn't respond. "Ash, it's me, Misty," she said.

"I know," he replied softly. "I...need a moment."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Hey, have you seen my sister?" Max asked. Ash clenched his teeth and sniffed. Max looked confused. "Ash, what's going on?"

"May –" Ash started to say, but his words caught in his throat. He sniffled, then continued. "She's...she's…"

Max's eyes widened in horror. "N-No," he whispered. "You don't mean…"

"She's gone," Ash said, forcing the words out of his mouth.

"No," Max breathed in horror as tears began to well up in his eyes. "No!" He ran back and collided with Bonnie. He tried to run past her, but she caught his wrist and pulled him into a tight hug. Max didn't bother running away as he cried into her shoulder.

"Ash," Misty whispered, eyes glimmering, "I'm so sorry. I –"

"Just leave me alone," Ash retorted turning and walking away. Misty watched him go as she rejoined the rest of the group.

Ash, meanwhile, stood there, eyes still shaded by the brim of his hat as he quietly resigned himself to what had happened. "It's like you said," he said softly, holding his heart. "We're going to be okay, no matter what happens." As he continued to look at the ground, he heard a crackle of energy and a subsequent explosion. He twitched. Curious, he looked up and saw his friends. Brock had apparently been hit by some form of attack, and though he was uninjured, he was visibly shaken.

"Are you okay?" Ash asked in concern, though not panicked.

"Yeah," Brock shuddered, standing up with Misty's help.

"Something tried to attack us all!" Misty exclaimed.

"Really?" Ash said in surprise. "That's...odd."

"Odd?" Misty exclaimed. "Is that all you can say?!"

"You know what's odd?" Clemont said in confusion. "Why didn't Ash get caught in the attack? If that attack was meant for the whole group, why didn't it go for him?"

"What are you saying?" Brock asked, puzzled. "You don't mean –" If he had eyes, they would've been wide with shock. "You're not saying –?!"

"That can't be!" Misty cried. "Ash would never do that to us!"

"No, he wouldn't," Dawn said softly. "He couldn't even be capable of that, could he?"

"No."

Everyone turned to the voice's owner, hitherto quiet, as she stepped forward. "It all makes sense now," Serena continued, glaring at him. "This was all a trick, wasn't it, Ash?"

"What?!" Ash exclaimed. "What are you talking about?!"

"When you got sucked into that ball of energy Mewtwo made, that wasn't a selfless act for Pikachu. It was your way of getting all of us into this horrible place so you could kill us all!"

"WHAT?!" everyone cried in shock and horror. "Serena, how can you say that?!" Clemont exclaimed.

"Ash would never do that!" Bonnie cried. "I can't believe he would even think of it!"

"And yet if that's true," Clemont murmured, "why wasn't he attacked?"

"I don't want to believe this any more than you guys do," Serena said, looking remorseful, "but I can't see any other logical explanation. Ash must be the traitor we've been looking for all along."

"NO!" Misty cried in horror. "That can't be true!"

"I don't believe it, not for a second!" Brock said defiantly. "Ash Ketchum, our hero and friend: a traitor?! He would never betray us!"

"And yet that may just be the perfect cover-up," Iris murmured. "But how can that be?"

"It's not true!" Dawn shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. "There's no way! He would never do that!"

"I fail to see how this can be," Cilan muttered.

"None of this makes sense!" Misty cried. "How could he do this?!"

"He wouldn't," Brock replied.

"No," Misty shook her head. "But then how did all this happen? It couldn't have been him!"

"There must be a better explanation!" Cilan exclaimed.

"But what?" Iris said. "I don't see any other logical explanation!"

"Neither do I," Clemont agreed. "And yet...at the same time...why would he do this?"

"This is horrible!" Dawn cried. "Horrible, horrible, horrible! Please, this can't be true!"

"I don't understand!" Brock cried.

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone froze. Then they turned towards the voice's owner. "Ash?" Misty whispered.

"Is it...true?" Brock asked.

"Wait," Serena said, holding her hand up to stop them. "Let him speak for himself. Go on, Ash. Tell them the truth!"

Ash looked them all in the eye, then sighed heavily. "Okay," he said. "You all deserve the truth. What Serena said...all those awful things she said about me being a traitor…"

"Yes?" Misty nodded expectantly.

He looked at them with a grave expression. "There is some truth in it all."

Everyone gasped and began murmuring among themselves. "Please, listen," Ash continued. "I need you all to hear what I have to say before you jump to any conclusions." When he was sure he got their attention once again, he went on. "Ever since we arrived in Ferrum, May and I have kept a secret: a secret we discovered on our way here. You all remember what Shadow said, right?" Everyone tried to remember, but couldn't. "He said that the Chaos Emerald in the center of the boat would make us invisible to anything outside the field. It would keep us safe to land in Ferrum without Eggman noticing." Everyone nodded as their memories were jogged. "But when we got close to Ferrum, a servant of Mewtwo known as the Messenger appeared and threatened me. May and I were the only ones who saw them before they disappeared."

"But how did they find the boat?" Bonnie asked. "We were invisible, weren't we?"

"We were," Ash nodded. "The field protected us from what was outside the field, but not from what was inside." Everyone gasped. "Someone on the boat had to have told the Messenger our location in order for them to find us. That was when May and I realized that someone in our group was betraying us."

"A traitor?" Misty whispered.

"I don't believe it," Brock breathed. "But why didn't you tell anyone before?"

"Because," Ash went on, "I knew that if everyone knew there was a traitor in our group, it would cause division and tear us all apart. That's why we kept it a secret: so we could expose the traitor by working together in secret."

"But...why are you telling us all this now?" Dawn asked, puzzled.

He looked into her eyes with a serious expression. "Because it doesn't matter anymore. I know now who our traitor is."

"You do?" Iris blinked.

"Yes."

"But how did you find out?" Bonnie asked, confused.

He grit his teeth. "Because she told me so herself."

"Quit beating around the bush, Ash," Serena snapped impatiently. "Tell us! Who's this mysterious traitor you're talking about?"

He turned his gaze to her. "Don't rush me, Serena," he replied. "But before I do that, I'd like to ask you a question."

"M-Me?" Serena blinked uneasily.

"Yes."

"O-Okay...what is it?"

He looked her straight in the eye. "How did you know?"

She blinked in confusion. "What?"

"How did you know there was a traitor in our group?"

"What do you mean how did I know?" she replied. "How could I have known there was a traitor if you kept it a secret from everyone?"

"Because there actually was one other person who knew that there was a traitor."

Everyone perked. "Who?" they all asked in quiet anticipation.

He glared at Serena with a menacing gaze. "And that's the traitor herself."

Everyone gasped. "What?" Clemont breathed.

"S-Serena?" Iris blinked. "Is it...true?"

"Is he right, Serena?" Bonnie blinked, tears on the brims of her eyes. "Did you betray us?"

"No!" Serena shouted. "That's ridiculous! Why would you think I'm the traitor?! You don't have any proof! Besides, I didn't know there was a traitor! Why would you think that?!"

"Because you said it yourself!" Ash shouted at her.

"When?!" she retorted.

"Minutes ago," he replied. "When everyone was trying to figure out why that mysterious attack hit you guys but not me, you pointed your finger at me."

"But...it made sense to me!" Serena protested. "I didn't know...I'm sorry! Don't go throwing blame on me because I was too rash with my accusation!"

"Do you remember what you said?" he asked.

"Of course! I said that I thought you were a traitor!"

"No, that's not it," he shook his head. "You said that I must be the traitor we've been looking for all along. And the only way you could have known that we were looking for a traitor all this time...is if YOU WERE the traitor!"

Everyone's eyes were on Serena now, wide with fear, shock, betrayal, and fright. However, there was one set of eyes that was consumed with nothing but rage.

"Is it true, Serena?" Max growled, stepping forward. Everyone looked at him as he glared at Serena with clenched teeth.

"I…" Serena stammered as lightning flashed behind her. "I…"

"Did you kill my sister?!" Max snarled, trembling with rage. No one noticed dark energy crawling along the ground towards where Serena was standing.

"I, uh…" Serena stammered, backing away from everyone in fear.

"Answer me, Serena," Max snarled again, fists clenched at his sides.

"I…."

"ANSWER ME!"

Suddenly, four masses of dark energy leapt from the ground and engulfed Serena. "Augh!" she screamed. Bonnie instinctively ran forward to help, but Ash put his arm in front of her to stop her. He watched with a mix of fear, anger, and sadness as the darkness swallowed his friend.

Hmhmhmhmhmhm...heheheheheheh...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!

The darkness formed into a familiar figure: Mewtwo's Messenger. But this time, the Messenger looked up at them with eyes full of hatred. Then, for the first time, she removed her hood, revealing her face.

"So," Serena snarled, her voice now a grotesque mix of her own voice and that of the Messenger, "you've finally figured me out!"

"And I still can't believe it," Ash whispered, a tear falling from his eye.