Hey, Everybody! I'm really excited for you to enjoy this new chapter; so much so I decided to publish right away, rather than wait till Sunday. Before you do, though, I thought I'd give a quick update on my life to explain my absence. First, as always, work has been hectic. Second, though, and more excitingly, our second child was born earlier this year—another bouncing baby boy! He's a very happy baby who smiles all the time (unless Daddy holds him too long . . . apparently my company is only welcome for short periods). My wife and I are Christian, and we wanted to give him a Biblical name. We tossed around a few ideas while she was pregnant, but nothing seemed to stick. Then, one night, she asked what I thought about "Asher." Needless to say I loved it, for multiple reasons. I'll let y'all guess what we actually call him.

Also, I've meant to address something important in these notes the last few chapters, but I kept forgetting. As most of you know, our boy Ash Ketchum has finally become a Pokémon Master in the anime! It was an incredible experience to witness the conclusion of his journey—which I had followed since childhood—with my own child sitting on my lap. At the same time, though, I was stung by a sense of sadness. Ash Ketchum has been a mainstay in our lives for years. It's crazy to think he's finally moving on without us. Still, he and his adventures were a personal source of joy and wonder for over two decades; not to mention the inspiration for this story. So, this chapter is dedicated to Ash. Thank you for all the wonderful memories. And enjoy your eleventh birthday party! You earned it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its affiliated companies including, but not limited to, 4Kids, The Pokémon Company, Game Freaks, or Cartoon Network. The characters written within this story are solely based upon the fictional characters created by these companies, and the story is not meant to, nor will it, receive any monetary funding.

Characters' Ages:

Ash: 18

Misty: 19

The walk through the gloom felt endless. Even though it was almost summer, Misty felt a chill running up her spine as, up ahead, a squat grey tower loomed.

There was no moon out this night, yet somehow the tower seemed to glow – as if it had its own source of eerie light within.

"Are we really gonna do this?"

"C'mon Mist, don't be chicken."

"I don't think it's chicken to be worried about awakening an ancient demon."

"We've dealt with worse. Remember that Purugly?"

She smiled despite herself. "I've still got the scars."

"Well I'm glad you two feel confident," the old woman complained, "but I've lived long enough to know when fear is a good thing." She stopped. "I'll wait here while you either capture that thing or get yourselves killed."

"Gee, thanks."

"Don't mention it. I'll tell everyone of the brave, but foolish Champion Ketchup."

"It's Ketchum."

"Right."

Misty leaned in and whispered. "It would be our luck that we die catching your last Pokémon."

Ash snickered. "That's the spirit."

They walked up to the tower.

"I pictured it bigger."

"It's more of a memorial than a tower, I guess."

"Still creepy though." Misty shuddered. "Do you hear whispers?"

"Actually . . ."

"Let's just do this thing and get it over with." Misty threw a pokéball and released Dragonair. She walked the serpentine dragon back to the clearing they emerged from.

"Remember, Dragonair, nothing gets by you. Understand?" She caressed the orb on the blue Pokémon's neck as it purred contently.

"You sure that thing's strong enough?" the old woman called from a distance back. "It's the only defense standing between Spiritomb and me—and the village—after all!"

Misty gave a thumbs-up. "You can count on us!"

"If I have to."

"We're all set over here!"

Ash threw his pokéball, releasing Alakazam. "You know what to do."

With a grunt, four glassy walls flashed their appearance before disappearing. Ash walked to Misty with a hand out. A few feet from her, he found a clear, solid blockade.

"With Alakazam keeping the battle contained to this box, and Dragonair guarding the path back to the village, I think we're safe."

"Don't underestimate it, Ash." Misty took a serious tone. "I don't want you getting hurt this close to the end."

He smirked. "A Pokémon Master's not afraid of anything, Mist. You know that."

"Yeah, I know. But a Pokémon Master's wife is allowed to worry."

With a rapid blush, he turned away and headed back to the tower.

"Pikachu, you ready for your part?"

"Chu!"

"Alright then, give it an Iron Tail!"

The mouse's tail glowed a bright silver as it raced ahead. Right as it appeared Pikachu was going to make a head-on collision with the tower, he jumped into an aerial somersault and his tail made direct contact with the tower.

The sharp sound of metal smashing into stone shattered the quiet night. As Pikachu landed, he looked intently at the rubble.

For a moment, nothing.

Then a purple glow began to emerge from the rubble, and out of a clear sky, a lightning bolt struck the tower.

Ash released his Ariados and Gengar alongside Pikachu.

"Here it comes. Shadow Web!"

Gengar sank into the second dimension, becoming a shadow that traveled along the thick string of web Ariados shot at the keystone.

Within seconds, shadowed silky string layered the entire ruined tower.

He waited a moment. All was quiet.

His approach was cautious. One step. Two. Three. Somehow, as he walked, the rubble seemed to be getting further away.

"Pikachu?"

"Pi?"

He felt dizzy. Far off, he could swear he heard Misty calling his name.

Was he falling?

Up ahead the rubble had disappeared. In its place stood—

"Giovanni?"

There was the Rocket boss, just ten feet before him. He had on a dark sport jacket with a red "R" emblazoned on the left chest pocket. His right hand was in his pocket. A smirk was on his face.

"But-but you're dead?"

Giovanni didn't move. Just stood there, smirking.

"How? How are you back?" Ash knew he should feel scared, but the rush of anger he felt outweighed the fear. He ran and grabbed the Rocket leader by the collar, shaking him. "How are you here?!"

As he shook Giovanni, it looked like Giovanni was about to say something. His mouth opened. And then it opened more. And more. And before Ash could react his jaw had completely fallen off his face and hit the ground. One of his eyeballs followed suit as Ash pushed away frantically.

"Ash?" a deep, familiar voice called out.

Ash's eyes went wide. "No."

"Why'd you let us die, Ash?"

"It can't be."

"Look at me."

"No."

"Look!" The voice was now high, shrill. As if calling from vocal chords that were thin and weak after being dead and buried.

He knew he shouldn't. He couldn't place it, but he knew this wasn't right. He had been doing something before this, he was sure of it.

"Saur!"

This he couldn't ignore. On instinct he turned around.

To his surprise, he saw someone very familiar and very alive: himself. He didn't know how he knew it was him. The man was facing away from him, sobbing. Still, he knew this was him in the near future.

Slowly, almost against his will, Ash got up and made his way to his counterpart. As he drew closer he saw a little cross in front of the man.

He knelt down by the other Ash, and what he saw etched on the little wooden cross made his breath stop.

"Pikachu."

"No," he croaked. "What? How?"

The other him didn't answer. He just kept crying relentlessly into his palms.

Ash mirrored the other him. His heart felt so heavy. How could this have happened? His best friend?

The two sat there for a moment, weeping together.

Then, almost instinctively, he jumped backward and began to crawl away backwards. He didn't know why, but for some reason he suddenly didn't want the other him to notice or look at him.

"Ouch!" Another cross. This one larger.

"Lance."

He turned, another cross.

"Venusaur."

He was becoming surrounded. Many names he did not recognize, but somehow he knew they were all connected to him. They were all connected to his failures, past and future.

Grief overwhelmed him. He fell to his knees as a high whistles rang through his ears. He could not go on. Being a Pokémon Master had just been a game to him; he had no idea the responsibility that accompanied it. And now he was surrounded by all the people he would inevitably fail.

Red warned him, in his way, about this. This is why he stayed up on the mountain. This is why he refused to be close to anyone. They were all in danger.

Ash was not strong enough. He needed his mother, the professor, Brock, Tracey, Dawn.

Misty.

And like a phantom, she suddenly appeared, holding out a hand.

Rubbing the tears from his eyes, he looked up.

"C'mon, Ketchum."

"I can't. I can't do it, Mist. I—"

"Enough of that. Up." With a strength that was almost superhuman she grabbed him by the arm and lifted him singlehandedly to his feet.

"This isn't real."

"What?"

"It's Spiritomb. Remember? You were trying to catch him!"

"Oh . . . yeah." His eyes narrowed. "Wait, if Spiritomb is behind this dream, how do I know I can trust y—Ow!" She had smacked him on the back of the head with a mallet that seemingly materialized out of thin air. "Where'd that come from?"

"First, how dare you doubt me ever, even in your dreams," she huffed. "Second, I saw you fall asleep. I told Alakazam to psychically connect us. I don't see Spiritomb anywhere, but you need to wake up before he tries something."

"Where's Pikachu?"

"Standing by your body. Now wake up!"

With a start, his eyes opened. Sure enough, there was Pikachu lightly licking his nose in concern. He broke into a wide smile of relief.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" He wrapped the mouse into a tight hug.

"Pika?"

"I just had the worst dream! I—" Before he could continue, a dark gas began to shroud him. To his horror, a grey stone with glowing purple cracks began to rise from his chest as he lay on the ground.

"Thunderbolt!"

In a literal flash, Pikachu lit up the night sky. He tried to avoid his master, but Spiritomb was still touching Ash when the attack began and they both felt the charge. When it was done, Ash rolled away—charred—and got to his feet. However, Spiritomb was gone.

"He can't have gotten far." He returned Ariados, and at the same time flung a pokéball into the darkness. "Flamethrower!" Charizard came out in force, maintaining a steady stream of fire pointed upwards for several seconds while Ash and Pikachu searched.

There it was. Spiritomb had fully emerged from its stone and was in the corner of Alakazam's box; the one closest to town. "I knew it. You're trying to hurt those people again, aren't you? Well, you won't have a chance. Pikachu, another Thunderbolt!"

"Chu!" Charizard let up on his flamethrower as the electric attack more than managed to light up the area on its own.

However, this time Thunderbolt was matched as Spiritomb produced a Hyper Beam. Ash smirked. He remembered this.

"Pikachu, cut the attack and dodge!"

"Pi?" Pikachu had felt like he could win the matchup. Nevertheless, he instantly obeyed Ash's command. The Hyper Beam went sailing by Ash and collided with the psychic barriers behind him.

"Volt Tackle!"

"Pi!" With a lunge, Pikachu sent Spiritomb sailing across the sky until he crashed hard into the psychic barrier.

Ash reached behind and grabbed a Dusk Ball. The still-reeling Spiritomb was instantly sucked inside. The ball rolled around for a few seconds, before breaking open.

Cursing under his breath, Ash called Pikachu back to his side. The keystone emerged, and the disfigured ghostly face rose from it once again, eyeing him angrily. Its eyes began to glow, and suddenly a strong, sinister gust began to howl inside the psychic cube.

"Steelix!" With a roar, the steel and ground type Pokémon emerged from his pokéball. "Protect!"

The Pokémon immediately surrounded his master with his large, serpentine body, buffeting the blow of the Ominous Wind attack, and causing all to fall silent within the self-made perimeter. Moments later, Spiritomb released a high-octave wail as it tried another attack. Although he could not see the attack, Steelix winced in pain.

"Are you okay?"

The proud steel Pokémon roared in the affirmative.

I can't use him as a shield forever.

"Time for Plan B!" In a flash of red light, Steelix returned to his pokéball, and Ash sprung out of the way to avoid a Shadow Ball. As he landed on his side, the new pokéball he had clutched in his hand flew loose, releasing Ariados again.

Spiritomb turned to face its opponent, but while its attention was averted Ash sprinted to the side and came upon it from behind. While it was charging another attack, he picked up Spiritomb's keystone. The ghost turned, enraged, and its eyes glowed red.

He was back in the graveyard. He knew he was supposed to be doing something, but again he was unnerved to find himself a few feet away bawling in front of a tiny cross. Against his better judgment, he began walking back toward his doppelganger, when a sudden hand on his shoulder startled him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Misty asked angrily.

"Where are we?"

She rolled her eyes. "Again, you're supposed to be catching a Spiritomb, but instead you keep letting yourself get possessed."

A flood of memories rushed back to him. "That's right! Thanks!"

"Thanks?!" She sounded on the verge of murder. "Why'd you let yourself get possessed again, dummy?"

"Trust me. I just need to wake up now, and it'll all make sense."

He stood there for a moment. The other Ash was still crying behind him.

"Why aren't I waking up?"

"I dunno." Misty began to sound worried.

"Wait! I have it. Hit me!"

"What?"

"Hit me with that mallet you had last time."

Looking puzzled, a mallet appeared in her hand. "I don't see how this—"

"Just trust me."

"Okay, then . . ." Winding up, she smashed him across the face.

"Ah!" With a start, he was back. Ariados, Pikachu, Gengar, and Charizard were all staring at him. Like before, the keystone slowly began to emerge from his chest.

"Shadow Web!"

Again, the spider shot a thick rope of silk while Gengar disappeared into it. By the time Spiritomb's keystone had fully emerged, it was completely covered by the dark string. A faint purple light could still be seen beneath and the silk ball rocked violently back and forth, but Spiritomb did not reemerge.

Ash gave Gengar a few more moments to finish off his opponent.

"That's enough."

Gengar removed himself from the keystone, smiling proudly. The silk was now milky white again, and completely still. Ash threw a second Dusk Ball and this time the ball did not shake at all as it gave an approving tone. It then teleported away to Oak's lab.

Alakazam lowered the psychic walls and Misty ran up excitedly. "Looks like Shadow Web's a winning attack!"

"Yeah, but it was like I thought—the dark typing weakened it."

"Is that why Spiritomb escaped the first time?"

"Yeah, I think that's what happened. If he was a pure ghost type, then having Gengar surround the keystone should have been enough to seal him inside since ghosts are weak against their own type. But dark types resist ghosts, so Spiritomb had to be weakened before it could work."

The old woman approached the couple, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Well, I thought you were dumb for wanting to go after Spiritomb like that. It's haunted our village for centuries, and no one has dared purposely disturb it; let alone try to catch it. But you did it." She gave Ash a small bow. "I may not know much about sports, but you have the makings of a great Pokémon Master, young man."

He returned the bow. "Thank you, ma'am. That means a lot."

She sighed. "Though this means that I now have to write a new chapter of my book."

"Sorry."

"Don't worry. You can help by writing the foreword when it's complete."

Ash looked puzzled. "Wait, are you just trying to use me to sell your book?"

"What insolence!" She huffed and started off, before turning around. "You will, though, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Misty squeezed his arm. "So is that really it? You have them all?"

"Yeah."

"How does it feel?"

He shrugged. "Honestly, since I already thought I was done with this part, not too different. Still," he grinned, opening his pokédex and scrolling through it, "it's official now. Nothing left to do but to become the Master."

Author's Notes: This was a fun chapter to write. I enjoy getting to show how Ash has grown as a strategist and tactician, while still maintaining that spontaneity and quick-thinking he possessed as a child in the anime. I hope y'all appreciated the Misty mallet shout-out! I never included it in this story until now because my goal with this story has been to bring the anime into the "real world." However, the dream sequence seemed like the perfect place for that little Easter egg.

As always, I'll try my best to get the next chapter out on Sunday.