Warning: This is not standard Pokemon fanfiction. It contains scenes of
violence and some inappropriate language.

*************************************************************************
				
                           Pokemon Master 

Fanfiction by Ace Sanchez.

All parts of this story may be found at http://jsa.users.fl.net.au
Note: Pokemon and its associated characters are copyright by Nintendo,
Gamefreak, Creatures Inc, and 4Kids Productions.

*************************************************************************

Part 5 - Rematch


Dark shadows played along the narrow, rocky tunnel walls as the two
figures walked through, booted feet making squeaking noises as they
stepped through damp puddles. In front of them, their only light source,
a small fox-like, rabbit pokemon using its flaming ears, chased away the
darkness as they advanced, with the power of fear pushing them onward.
However, the cramped nature of the tunnel and the dark in front of them
also weighted them against going on, but the Pokemon Masters, for they
could have only been Masters, and those damn Bounty Hunters, were no
doubt right behind them, and their fear of them was greater than their
fear of the dark. But this old mountain did have a reputation. There must
be some reason why people called it the old haunted Mount Moon and
steered clear of it whenever possible.

Mikey shivered, almost imagining that the blackness was a physical being,
and was just waiting for their light to go out so that it could happily
devour them. "E-Eeverion, turn your Flash up a bit."

"Eev!" His pokemon, thankfully, glowed a bit brighter.

"Watch it, you wimp," the man in the tattered brown cloak said, from
beside him. "Those Masters might sense the energy your pokemon is using
up! Do you want them to catch us? I'm a Master too, but I'd be no match
for all of them back there!"

Mikey stayed silent but smirked inwardly. Master indeed. Farley was no
Master. Except, perhaps, the Loser Master.

"Ya know, pipsqueak, I think I recognised some of those Masters and even
those Bounty Hunters. I think maybe I met them when I was a kid," Farley
said, in suddenly confident tone. "I reckon I could take them out if I
still had my Farfetch'd. But since that cat played that sneaky trick, I
don't have him no more."

"Whatever you say," Mikey agreed, not meaning a word he said. The tunnel
was getting more narrow up ahead. He hoped there weren't any spiders. He
hated spiders as well as the dark. "Eeverion, if you see any spider webs,
Ember em away for me, okay?"

"Eev!"

Soon the tunnel was so narrow, they had to twist sideways to fit through
it.

"Let me go first!" Farley said, eyeing Mikey's pokemon in front of them
which was just beginning to walk through, as if it were a lifeline. It
seemed he was scared too and wanted the protection that Eeverion could
give him.

"Uh, okay," Mikey said. He may have hated Farley but the man was still
bigger and older than him. And he had more authority in the League than
he did.

"Good," Farley said quickly. He squeezed past Mikey and stepped sideways
into the tunnel. "You'll be a good League Trainer if you bend to your
superior officers - argh!" he suddenly screamed as a massive flock of
zubats suddenly flew through the tunnel and all around him.

The black bats screeched so loud that they were hurting their ears as
they flapped and scratched and even bit, as they flew past in a tight
cloud. Mikey covered his face and bent over until they had passed.

"Damn!" Farley was saying. "Where did those come from?"

And then there was darkness. A tight feeling rose up in Mikey's chest and
stomach and he could hardly breathe as the blackness descended. It felt
just like when he thought that Master, or whoever he was, the man in the
cloak as dark as night, had blinded him with that weird attack.
"Eeverion? Why did you stop lighting our way?" he asked, his throat
beginning to close up in fear. "Use Flash now!"

"Yeah! Use Flash now!" Farley also sounded panicked. It seemed he didn't
like the dark either.

Something in front of them hissed. It was a low, dreadful sound.
"SSSSSSSSSS..."

"What the HELL was that?" Farley screamed, panic beginning to take over.

"I-I don't know," Mikey said. He couldn't breathe. He was so scared.
"Eeverion? Eeverion! Where are you? Flash ... P-Please!"

"SSSSSSSSSS..."

"ARGHHHHH!" Farley screamed, a scream filled with complete pain and 
anguish. "AAAAHGHAGHAGH!" 

Mikey could hear his companion in front of shaking and vibrating.
"W-What's happening? Farley!!!" Then all of a sudden, he too was
screaming as an intense burning pain filled his entire being.

A minute later, the screaming cut off. The dark tunnel was silent.


<><><>


Before them stood the incredibly high peaks of Mount Moon, the huge
mountain reaching towards the heavens. Overhead, the late afternoon sky
was a murky grey and rain still drizzled, slowly falling from the clouds.
The group stood at the entrance to the mountain's underground tunnels. It
seemed like an ordinary cave opening, dark and gloomy, save for two signs
which were posted up front. They both read, "Danger. No admittance." 

Ash rubbed his chin and stared at it. The place gave him memories. 
Most of them bad. At his side, stood Misty, who was also staring at the 
entrance with a worried look on her pretty face. At her feet, her star 
pokemon hovered. Behind them were the old 'Team Rocket', Jessie and James 
with Persian, as well as Duplica in her violet cloak, Laselle with her 
new caterpie riding on her backpack, Bruno the Master of Power, and 
finally his two men, Junior and Gambit, who brought up the rear with 
their two ponytas, their fire manes flickering. The horses snorted as
they stood under cover of some trees, wanting to get in out of the slowly
falling rain.

"Do I have to go in?" Laselle was saying, from behind, her girlish voice
low and worried.

"Well now that you stowed away with us, and we can't take you back, I
guess you will have to," Bruno's deep voice said firmly.

"Yeah, so stop being such a scaredy-cat," a boy's voice said. It was
Junior, one of Bruno's men.

Persian, Jessie and James's large, white, panther-like pokemon growled.
"Hey," he hissed. "I resent that remark."

"Oh," Junior said. "Sorry."

"I don't even know why you people are following us," Jessie said, who had
replaced the black veil on her face, covering it save for her sinister
blue eyes. "If you're looking to capture those outlaws for yourself, well
you can just shove off! We saw them first."

"Yeah," James agreed, who had also replaced his ninja's mask, his
forest-green eyes shining brightly. "Besides, we need the money to buy
new clothes. We have a big party to go to tonight!"

Jessie whomped him on the head. "You didn't have to tell them that,
James! Now our evil image is ruined!"

Duplica smirked, tossing her dark-blue hair on her shoulders. "Ha! As if
you two had an image in the first place."

"Oh shut up!" Jessie said. "I remember you. It seems *you* liked our
image enough because you even dressed up like us in the past!" she said,
folding her arms.

"Don't you even know when you're being made fun of?" Duplica countered.
"And we're not after your crummy outlaws!"

"Will you stop arguing?" Ash asked, annoyed now, as he threw the cowl of
his cloak back and combed the fingers of his right hand through his hair.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu, riding on Ash's backpack, agreed, dark sparks
emitting from his cheeks. When Jessie and James saw that, they fell
silent. They knew what that meant.

"We're wasting valuable time here," Misty said as she also removed her
hood. "Starmos, return." Her star pokemon shrunk back into a little black
badge, which she caught and pinned back on her blue cloak.

Bruno's men recalled their ponytas back into their poke-balls with a thin
beam of red light, then shrunk them and attached them to their belts.

"Let's go," Ash said, smoothing his black cloak. "Pikachu, use Flash to
light the way."

"Pika," Pikachu agreed.

The group then entered the cave single-file, with Ash and Pikachu
leading, Misty second, then Duplica with Laselle behind her. Laselle
wanted to go third, but Misty wasn't having any of that because of the
caterpie riding in her bag. Then finally, Bruno and his men, while 
Jessie, James and Persian brought up the rear.

The rocky tunnel was dark and getting darker by the second as they began
to descend.

Ash had a bad feeling about this.


<><><>


"The League Master has arrived."

The tall, muscular man dressed in the brown hooded cloak said nothing as
he looked out of the window of the massive, black stone tower. Below
them, the procession of men escorting the dark carriage pulled along by
horses of flame, looked as if they were ants, they were so high up. From
up here, the large ruins and debris of Cerulean city, that used to stand
on this very ground, looked like so much small stones and pebbles.

"I see that, Lance," the man acknowledged. "Is all in preparation for the
coming?"

"Affirmative," Lance said, as he walked fully into the room, his black
boots tapping on the stone floor from underneath his long, dark blue
cloak. "We also have several squads of Trainers patrolling the area along
with some of the lesser Masters leading them. We shall not be disturbed."

The brown-cloaked man smirked from the shadows of his hood. "No need to
worry about that. Let them come. I dare them."

Lance looked at him curiously. "So it's true that Ashura has resurfaced.
Are you sure it's wise that we just let him march on in here? Don't
underestimate his power. He was after all, the League Champion, even when
he was just a kid." He folded his arms. "And he was also the main person
responsible for ending the Dark Pokemon Wars. Power like that is
unimaginable. Even I, with the immense power of dragons, would hesitate
to challenge him."

"Oh, I am aware of all that. I know him better than anyone, save perhaps,
Misty." He was silent at that for a few moments. "Has Valdera been
located yet?"

"No, she has disappeared. Again." Lance frowned. "You know how unreliable
she is."

The brown-cloaked man narrowed his dark eyes. "That slut. As soon as that
bastard reappeared, she's been like a bitch in heat. If it wasn't for her
powers I would have taken her myself."

"Wouldn't we all." Lance grinned. "But I wouldn't challenge her either,
her being Ashura's broad and all. Or used to be. Those two used to be
flip sides of a coin."

"That's why we have to keep an eye on her. No one really knows what her
real objective is. The only thing that's clear is that she wants to rule
the world or something stupid like that. That's why she uses us, and we
use her." He watched as the procession far below them finally reached the
front gates of the tower. "Come, let's greet the League Master. It's
almost time."

The two cloaked men walked out of the room, the only sound being the
soft tapping of leather boots against the stone floor, then the loud
slamming of the double wooden doors of the chamber.


<><><>


"It's getting darker in here," Duplica stated as she looked around within
the tight rocky tunnel.

Ash noticed it too even though he had no problems seeing in the dark.
They must be pretty deep into the earth by now, he thought. From what he
remembered the last time he took this trip, they were about a third into
the caverns. "Pikachu, turn up the Flash a bit." Even though he and
Pikachu had perfect night vision, the others probably didn't.

"Chu," his pokemon said, as he stood on Ash's shoulder, pointed ears
twitching. His black fur let out a brighter, golden light. More of the
tunnel was suddenly visible around them. Ahead, Ash saw that the grey
walls of the tunnel were getting slightly narrower as it was revealed to
the front.

After a few more minutes of walking, Ash became aware of a disgusting
smell which invaded his senses. His eyes narrowed, but he ignored it. 

It was moments later when Laselle suddenly clapped her hand over
her mouth. "Ewww, gross!" she said from behind them, as she tightened her
light green forest cloak around her shoulders. "What's that smell?"

"Something's rotten down here," Misty voiced, her hand also coming up to
cover her pert nose and mouth.

"Smells like a human body," Bruno said softly from way in the back with
Jessie, James and Persian.

"How do you know?" Jessie asked, wrinkling her nose from within her mask.
"Just smells like rotten eggs and food to me."

"Here," James said as he handed her a small bottle of perfume. 

Jessie opened it and liberally applied it to her veil. "Ah, that's much
better, James. Perhaps you are good for something other than - you know."
She let out a wicked smile which was obvious underneath her veil.

James blushed crimson, the narrow strip of his face visible clearly red
even though the tunnel was so dark.

"Trust me, after so many wars, you don't easily forget the smell," Bruno
said tightly, their word-play going completely over his head.

And then they saw it. Where the tunnel suddenly grew the narrowest it had
been so far, were two human bodies. Standing up, wedged sideways in the
opening of the tunnel was that Farfetch'd man. His body seemed to have
been dissolved by some sort of acid. His flesh was hopelessly melted in
most places and hanging off the bones, brown cloak with many holes eaten
in it. His face held a terrified look, eyes wide open, frozen in death.
It was pale, with the white bone of his skull showing through his cheeks,
lips melted off showing teeth in a horrible parody of a grin.

Meanwhile lying on the floor, his body rolled up in a ball, was the
young-looking Eeverion Trainer. His body also seemed to be partly
dissolved by something, ribs poking out in the holes in his clothing,
clear fluid leaking out. Thankfully, the dead boy had hidden his face
within his hands as he died in his death's pose.

What was weird about both bodies, though, was that they both looked to be
in the advanced stage of rigor mortis. But that seemed to be impossible
since the bodies couldn't have been dead all *that* long.

Everyone stood in horrified silence as they looked at them. It was
terrible. Misty had a grave look on her face, while Laselle tightly
clutched on to Duplica's cloak. Bruno and his men had neutral expressions
on their faces, trying not to show anything outward, while Jessie, James
and the Persian just looked shocked as they stepped forward and studied
the bodies.

"I think it would've been better if they had been caught outside and tied
up like the other guy," Jessie said softly.

Ash's eyes began to glow golden as he studied the poor men. No one
deserved this kind of fate. And he had a good idea about what the thing
was that had done this. How could they have let it roam free around this
mountain? Were they using it as one of their 'Master Pokemon?' It was
psychotic to let a being like that loose. Whoever was responsible for
this would pay.

There was a scampering of tiny feet behind the body wedged in the tight
tunnel.

"I hear something," Misty said.

Laselle gasped.

Ash got ready.

A small form darted out from between the dead man's legs. It was the
Eeverion.

"Eev!" it squeaked, its eyes glowing red.

"Oh, it's just the boy's pokemon," Misty stated in a relieved voice and
began to step forward.

Ash held her back with a hand on her cloak. She looked at him, her aqua
eyes puzzled. "It's not what it seems."

The Eeverion looked at them malevolently, its red eyes flashing. Then it
shouted, "VEE!" and suddenly, dozens of thick black tentacles sprouted
out from its body and began to shoot towards them.

"Pikachu, Electric Shield!" Ash shouted quickly.

"Pika!" 

A blue-black electric force field appeared just in time, stopping the
tentacles from reaching them. The barrier crackled as the long, slimy
appendages beat against it from the other side.

"There's something behind us!" Gambit, the other of Bruno's men suddenly
shouted, panicked.

Laselle screamed and Duplica gasped.

Ash turned around and saw what could only be described as a black mist
behind them, tendrils of it drifting slowly towards them. It had
completely engulfed the tunnel, blocking the way they came. It seemed to
be emitting a low sound. A hiss.

"MiSSSSSSSSSSSingNOoooo ..."

Ash's heart got caught in his throat. He was right. "Shit!" he shouted.
"It's here! Pikachu, fry that thing!" he pointed at the Eeverion that was
no longer an Eeverion. "Thunder Burn!"

"PIKA!"

The electric field turned red and burst into flames as Pikachu's blue
eyes glowed as he sent it forward into the changed pokemon. There was a
small explosion and then it was clear.

"C'mon, we've got to get out of here or we're all dead!" Ash said,
grabbing on to Misty's hand. "Everyone, through the tunnel!" he said, as
he summoned black energy to cover his other hand, which he used to pull
out the dead body stuck in the stony gap. "Don't touch the bodies or
you'll be infected!"

He turned sideways and went through the tunnel first, with Misty's hand
tightly clutched in his grip and Pikachu, grasping his shoulder with his
paws. They inched along as fast as they could.

Behind them, Duplica followed with Laselle's hand in her grip. "Ewww,"
Duplica said looking at the decomposing body as she passed. "Gladly!"

Next, Jessie, James and Persian followed. "Perrr ..." Persian growled.
"Hurry up you guys! I don't want to end up a puddle of soup!"

"I'm hurrying as fast as I can!" Jessie said as she moved sideways
through the narrow opening.

"Have you been gaining weight?" James asked, panicking.

"What? How dare you?" Jessie whomped him on the head. Soon, however, all
of the former members of Team Rocket had gone inside, following the rest.

Then Junior slipped in, turning his maroon cap backwards as he did so.
"Let's go, Master Bruno, Gambit! That mist is almost here!" he shouted,
fearfully eyeing the sheer embodiment of blackness that had almost
reached them. Its tendrils seemed to beckon at them.

Gambit looked at the tight, stony opening. "I'll never fit through
that!" he said in his gruff voice.

"You must!" Bruno said, eyes wide as he glanced at the mist. It was 
almost there. "Come, I'll go last!"

"No!" Gambit shouted as he powerfully picked up Bruno's body and threw
him in the opening. "You must live for the mission! I'll buy you guys
some time!"

"No!" Bruno shouted, as he turned to look back.

"Go Machoke!" Gambit said, as he threw a poke-ball and used his thick
body to block the opening. "I'm not scared of you ... YeARGHHHH!"

And then Bruno could not see anything as the entrance to the tunnel grew
black. "Gambit! No!" he shouted, sorrowfully, a hand outstretched in
plea. He closed his eyes, tears escaping. "Gambit ..." he whispered. When
he opened them, he saw that the black mist had started to enter the
narrow tunnel. Feeling fear choke his throat, he began to hurry up after
the rest of them.


<><><>


Finally the narrow tunnel opened up wider into a larger passageway. Ash
slipped out, still holding Misty's hand in his tight grip with Pikachu
riding on his shoulder, and stepped to the side. "Hurry people!"
he said impatiently. "Out, out, out!"

First Duplica came out with Laselle, followed by Jessie, James and
Persian. Finally came Junior, with his maroon cap worn backwards on his
head. Ash looked twice at that. Junior really looked like him when he was
younger. Although, again, he was sure he had been taller.

A moment later, Bruno slipped out. He had a fierce expression on his
rugged face. "What the HELL was that, Ashura?" he shouted, running his
thick fingers through his spiky brown hair. "That *thing* got Gambit!"

"Out of the way, Bruno!" Ash said. "I'll explain later! You guys keep
running and take the east tunnels. I'll try to slow this thing down."

They needed no second order, and all began to run, leaving Ash and Misty
behind. Duplica's form blurred into a charmander, her small lizard-like
form leaping on to Laselle's shoulder. Her body lit up as she used Flash
and lit the way for them.

The hissing came nearer, almost at the mouth of the narrow tunnel now.
Ash turned his head to find that Misty was still there, her blue eyes
concentrating on the passageway. "Well? Aren't you going to go now?"

Misty pointedly looked down at their joined hands. Ash was still holding
tightly on to her right hand with his left. "I couldn't go even if I 
wanted to, Ash," she said dryly. "You're grip is so tight it's almost 
hurting my hand."

Ash looked down and blushed. He immediately let go. "Oh, heh, sorry."

"SSSSSSSSSSS ..."

Ash immediately turned back to the small tunnel exit with a flap of his
cloak. "Go on, Misty! This is serious here! It's not child's play any
more. I don't think I can kill this thing! Only slow it down so you guys
can escape."

"Chu ..." Pikachu agreed, his eyes riveted on the narrow opening as well,
as he clutched on to Ash's right shoulder.

Misty ran up and grabbed on to his side. "No way! I'm staying with you!"
Her blue eyes were fierce.

Ash looked into them and felt his stomach tighten up. He turned back to
the black mist which was just beginning to enter the larger tunnel that
they were in. "Okay, I'm going to try something that you might be able to
help me with."

"Okay, tell me what to do," Misty said, her eyes beginning to glow a
bright ice-blue, lighting up the shadows around her face.

"Hold my hand." They held hands like before and held on to each other
tightly. "Now feel your elemental power coursing within you, as if you
were going to release it into an attack. But don't let it out, keep it
bottled within you."

Misty's whole body began to glow blue. So much so that Pikachu's Flash
ability was no longer lighting up the tunnel by itself. Her long red hair
began to rise in the air as if a breeze were blowing it back. When Ash
saw that she was sufficiently powered up, he began to access his innate
ability to harness shadow as well. His body began to glow darkly to add
to her strength and his eyes lit up golden.

"Pikachu, add your power to ours," he instructed. His pokemon began to
harness its power as well and began to feeding it to them. "Now, Misty,
Pikachu, release your powers into me ... NOW!"

When the powerful elemental energies streamed into him, he lifted Misty's
arm up, along with his own. "SHADOW REPEL!" he shouted, desperately
directing the immense power directly into the evil black mist in front of
them. It shot forth in a bright, coursing beam of elemental energy. It
struck with the sound of an explosion, the mist seeming to scream and
fall backward, dark-blue sparks flying at the point of contact. The
earth began to shake as if an earthquake had begun, dirt from the roof
beginning to rain down over everyone's head. A fierce wind began to blow,
creating a sand-storm. Ash, Misty and Pikachu stepped backwards,
shielding their eyes.

"Now let's run!" Ash shouted, turning around and beginning to move,
still holding Misty's hand. "That will hold it for a while which should
give us a bit of time!"

They ran east down the tunnel, cloaks flapping, the wind loud behind 
them, and the scream of the dreadful mist rose up again, louder, 
following them.

When the tunnel grew slightly more narrow again, Ash let go of Misty's
Hand and stopped, his boots skidding on the stone floor. Misty stopped
too.

"What are you doing?" she shouted, over the noise of the wind.

"I'm going to block this tunnel off!" Ash shouted back as he shielded
his eyes with one hand, while he lifted Pikachu off his shoulder with the
other. "Pikachu, Shadow Blade!" he shouted, throwing him into the air.
There was a crack of thunder as the pokemon shifted into blade form. Ash
then caught it and jumped into the air. He grunted as he struck the roof
of the tunnel with a powerful swing, flipped once, then landed, in a
crouch on the ground. Immediately there was a loud rumble and a crash as
massive rocks and boulders fell down, blocking the passageway. As soon as
the tunnel was blocked off from behind them, the wind died down, and the
air was silent, save for the heavy breathing of Ash and Misty.

Ash sighed and lifted himself from his crouch using the gleaming black
blade as a crutch. "This should buy us a lot more time," he said, still
breathing hard. "Missingno can't pass through stone, so it will have to
find out another passageway to get to us."

Misty had bent over, her hands over her knees as she supported herself,
her long red hair falling around her shoulders. "Missingno? Is that its
name?" she asked softly.

"Yes," Ash said. "It seems to have been left over from the Dark Pokemon
Wars."

Misty looked up, her blue eyes shocked. "But that's impossible!"

Ash closed his eyes. "It's possible alright."

And then, suddenly, a flash of light opened up in the ground beneath his
feet, and a ghostly hand emerged from the stone to grab Ash's ankle.

Misty screamed as Ash seemed to get sucked into the ground along with
his sword.


<><><>


"Char!" Duplica-Charmander squeaked, as she sat on Laselle's shoulder,
her red lizard body lighting up the way in front of them. "Turn right, no
left!"

"But the right way looks like it goes east more!" Laselle said as she ran
with the others behind her.

"You're right! Turn right! Charman - argh! It's really hard for me to
talk properly while in a pokemon's form," Duplica-Charmander complained,
as Laselle decided to take the passageway on the right.

"Perrr, I can't believe you guys didn't bring a map!" Persian growled as
he ran alongside Jessie and James, leaping agilely over rocks and
other cave debris.

"Well, Master Ash was supposed to navigate!" Junior said as he followed,
holding on to the front of his hat tightly with one hand. 

Behind him, and bringing up the rear was Bruno who stayed silent. He was
still in shock over the loss of his man.

And then, suddenly the earth shook, and dust and rocks began to fall on
their heads from the roof.

James screamed. "We're going to get buried alive!"

"Will you stop that, James, you're acting like a girl!" Jessie shouted
over the noise of the rocks falling and Jame's high-pitched scream.

"Well, it's what I do best!"

And then the ground was shaking too much for them to continue running.
Laselle stopped and held her palm on the wall to steady herself, while
Jessie, James and Junior did the same. Persian lay on the ground, white
paws covering his head.

A few minutes later, it seemed the earthquake had stopped. Dust was
flying everywhere in the air, making it doubly hard to see from the
tunnel's darkness.

"Phew!" James sighed, removing his mask to make it easier to breathe.
"Thank God!"

Then directly behind him a pile of boulders and dust fell, blocking off
the passageway they had run from. James screamed again and didn't stop
until Jessie smacked him on the head.

"Thanks, I needed that," James said, rubbing his head.

Bruno stood up and shook his maroon cloak free of dust and rocks. "Is
everyone okay?"

"I'm okay," Laselle said, kneeling, and shaking her head to throw the
dust off from her long black hair.

"Char!" Duplica-Chamander squeaked.

"Perrr-sian," Persian said.

There was only one person who didn't answer. "Junior?" Bruno called.
"Junior!"

Laselle looked around. "There!" she said, pointing at a limp form lying
on the ground.

"Junior!" Bruno shouted, running over. There were rocks and other debris
covering him. He lifted them off easily with his powerful arms, and then
raised him up slightly to get a better look at him. There was a large
bump on his forehead, and the beginnings of a dark bruise that would soon
turn into a black eye. He was unconscious. "It looks like he was struck
in the head," Bruno stated. "I'll carry him the rest of the way out." He
lifted up the boy's still form and slung him over his massive shoulder.

Jessie was looking at the blocked off passageway. "What are we going to
do? Our navigator and his girlfriend are stuck back there!"

Laselle frowned at that, while Bruno turned around to walk forward, with
Junior slung on his shoulder. "It looks like we're separated then." He
looked around the floor of the tunnel, searching for something. Then his
dark brown eyes brightened as he spotted whatever it was that he was
looking for. He bent over and picked up a long wooden stick, then used
his other hand to rip off a long strip of his cloak, which regenerated as
soon as he ripped it anyway.

"Here," he said, handing the stick and cloth to Laselle. "Tie this to the
stick and have Duplica light it. Then once that's done, we'll have a
torch. Then Duplica can change into a Zubat and she can use her radar
ability to get us the hell out of this hell-hole."

"Char!" Duplica-Charmander exclaimed, as Laselle did just that. "That was
clever. Perhaps I was wrong about you."

Bruno waved the air away from his sudden hot face. "It's nothing. Anyone
who's been through the experiences I have is sure to have learnt a few
survival tricks."

"What about Ash and Misty?" Laselle said, looking back worriedly at the
blocked tunnel.

"Don't worry about them," Bruno said confidently. "Those two are probably
the best Pokemon Masters I've seen in a long time. And since Ash said he
knew these tunnels from his journey as a kid, I'm sure they won't have
any trouble finding another way out."

What was left unsaid, though, was whether Ash and Misty had even survived
from the killer mist in the first place. But they all hoped they pulled
through in their hearts. Even Jessie, James and Persian.

Soon, with Laselle holding their new torch, with Duplica-Zubat flying in
the lead, Bruno carrying Junior, and 'Team Rocket' coming up last, they
forged on ahead through the dark tunnels of old haunted Mount Moon.


<><><>


Blackness. Darkness. Shadows. A memory.

Ash, sixteen years of age, knelt on the grassy floor of the forest before
the girl he loved. Her red hair was tied in a long ponytail down her
back, with wispy bangs slightly covering her beautiful blue eyes cutely,
as she looked at him, breathless with anticipation. For once she was
actually dressed in something fashionable, a sexy red tank-top, with a
full-length blue skirt, which encased her long, slim and beautiful legs.
Her small, arched feet were bare, toes twitching on the green grass, and
looked infinitely kissable. The moment was perfect. The sun was shining.
The crystal clear, blue lake next to them was calm. A cool, refreshing
wind was blowing. 

Too perfect to pass up.

Ash looked into her eyes, his heart in his stomach and fluttering around
like a butterfly. He took out a small jewel case. "Misty," he choked, and
swallowed. "I-I know we're kind of young ... and you know ... but it's
just that, you know ..." He paused again, tongue feeling as if it had
been tied up. "Oh heck, wanna get married?" He quickly took out the ring
from its box. Set in it was a perfect blue diamond which matched Misty's
eyes completely.

A tilting of her red lips. It was a smile. Of infinite happiness. "Y-You
mean elope?" her low throaty voice whispered, as if she too had trouble
saying the words she wished to say.

Ash stood up, scratching the back of his head. "Well if you don't wanna,
I mean like since we're best friends already, I think we should ..."

She looked up at him. "Of course I will!"

And then they were hugging each other tightly, their lips interlocked in
a deep passionate kiss of joining. The joining of two kindred spirits
that would finally become official.


<><><>


Ash picked up his pokemon belt and strapped it on with a loud click. He
lifted his thin brown, forest cloak - the one that his mom had given him
back when he won his last badge and became a Pokemon Master - and slipped
it on over his clothes. She said it made him look mysterious and
handsome. Ash didn't care as long as it was warm. And that it had come
from his mother herself. He left his trusty old red Pokemon League cap
behind, though. It was a bit dirty and he hadn't got around to washing it
yet.

"So you're going then?" Misty said. Her voice was frosty. With contempt?
For the past few days she seemed to act coldly towards him. He didn't 
know what he had done wrong. But lately she had been picking fights for 
it seemed like no reason.

"Of course I'm going," Ash said tightly. "It's my duty as a Pokemon
Master to come when the League calls us. I think it's a war of some
kind. But I don't know what it's about, or who we're in war *with*.
That's why I'm off to Indigo Plateau now. To find out what's happened."

"Sure," Misty said blandly, as if she didn't believe him. "You come
calling when the *League* calls you, but you never do the same for me."

"What are you talking about?" Ash said, confused. "I don't get it. What's
come over you?"

Misty glared at him, her blue eyes as cold as glaciers, as if he *should*
know what she was talking about. But she stayed silent.

Ash shrugged. He figured it was probably one of her moods.

"If you walk out that door, don't expect me to be here waiting for you."

"You're being ridiculous," Ash said tightly. "I'm only going to be gone
for one night since I'm taking the new teleportation device that Bill
finally perfected."

She turned her head, her red hair swinging. She began to talk as if he
weren't there. "I always wanted to finish my training while I was on
Ash's stupid journey, maybe I'll go and do that when he leaves."

"Look, when I come back, we'll talk about it okay? I know you want to
finish your training. Maybe when I get back, we'll go together. We still
haven't finished discovering all the pokemon out there." He smiled at
her. "We can make it our honeymoon after we get married!"

She folded her arms and still refused to talk about it.

Ash sighed, defeated. "Like I said, we'll discuss this when I get back.
Pikachu's waiting outside." Yeah, he figured maybe it was just a tantrum.
They had had many fights in the past after all, and it seemed like they
both even enjoyed the fights. It was part of what made a relationship
with her so exciting.

However, when he returned the next day, to the small cabin house they had
built in the forest north-west of Fuchsia, he found it empty.

Misty was gone.


<><><>


As Ash slowly rose to consciousness he could feel soft, feminine lips
touching his own. He groaned, "Misty ..."

A gasp of outrage was loud in his ear, and suddenly it seemed as if he 
was floating in the air. Then he abruptly felt pain as his back 
connected against something hard. Ash came fully awake at the impact, 
and opened his eyes, blinking in confusion. The air seemed so hot. Where 
was he?

He sat up against the rocky wall and threaded the fingers of his right
hand through his black hair. It seemed as if someone had thrown him
into it as there was a large crater in the stone that he was leaning on.
He got on his knees, and dusted the dust and rocks off his black
cloak. Looking all around, he seemed to be in a very large underground
cavern, circular in shape. In the centre of the cavern there was a large
pit with red lava, hissing and spitting. The red glow of the molten magma
reflected all around the rocky and stone walls making the whole
underground cavern seem red and menacing.

He finally noticed a white-cloaked figure all the way on the opposite end
of the crater, at least fifty feet away, standing on a thin ledge. There
was a pure white pikachu sitting on its shoulder, its eyes glowing green
as it stared at him. Within the shadows created by the white hood
covering the figure's head, ice-cold, blue eyes gleamed.

"Valdera," Ash acknowledged, as he placed a hand on the rocky ledge he
was kneeling on and stood up with a groan. He immediately searched for
Pikachu with his senses. There, he thought, sensing his pokemon to his
right. He turned his head slightly, and saw the black electric mouse
lying on one of the far ledges. He was unconscious.

"You still love her," Valdera's throaty voice accused, carrying perfectly
to him despite their distance.

"Love who?"

"My sister. Mistaria." Her voice was beginning to sound angry. Ash began
to worry. There was no telling what Valdera would do when she got angry.
"You called out her name as you slept."

"No, I didn't."

She laughed, her voice so much like Misty's now that he thought about it. 
It was some sort of miricle that he hadn't realised that Valdera was so 
much like Misty, they *had* to be related somehow. Self-deception, Ash 
mused. How ironic.

"Always the joker, Ashura," she said. "Oh, how I've missed you." She
lifted up a hand, encased in the sleeves of the white cloak, and beckoned
him. "My offer still stands. Come back with me to the League, and we can
rule the world together! I'm sure I can persuade the Master to let you
off, despite what you did to him. You still hold equal title to the most
powerful Pokemon Master in the world." She let out another light laugh.
"The other being me of course."

"What do you mean, despite what I did to him?" Ash called back to her
across the crater. "I killed Gary that day I left the League! Has he
somehow learned to Recover himself?"

"Recovery," she mused, a finger at her chin. "A most powerful technique.
With the power of resurrection at your fingertips, one does not need to
be afraid of anything. The greatest powers in the world would mean
nothing to him. Me." She looked pointedly at him. "Or you."

Ash felt his rage begin to build. "It doesn't matter if he can come back
to life or not! I'll kill him - over and over again - until he stays
dead!"

"So stubborn," she said, throatily. "One of the things I always liked
about you."

"What have you done with Misty? Where is she?"

Her blue eyes flared so bright within her hood for a second it almost
blinded him. "Misty? MISTY!" she screamed. "Always Misty! Even when I
didn't know it was her, she was always there in the background ruining
things for me!" She chuckled, her voice sinister. "Very well." She lifted
her arm, her pure white pikachu crawling along it from her shoulder until
it was clutching at her wrist and hand. "Have it your way, Ashura!
Pikachu, Holy Blade!" 

"PEEKA!" it shouted as she threw her pikachu in the air where it flashed
once and formed into a shining, white katana, which she caught in her
right hand. It could have been a twin for his Shadow Blade, save it was
white.

Then she took a running leap off the edge and powerfully propelled
herself across the fifty foot long crater of lava separating them, turned
a somersault once, white cloak flapping, then descended, swinging her
sword down at him.

Ash quickly rolled along the edge sideways, out of the way. Valdera
narrowly missed him, as she slashed the ledge he was just standing on
with her glowing long blade. Ash retaliated by throwing bolt of electric
shadow at her from his hands, but she backflipped away on to another
ledge, dodging it, as the rocks she sliced with her sword, split open,
and the whole ledge began to slide down into the lava crater. Ash rolled
on to his feet and leaped off the sliding rock, and over to the ledge his
pikachu was laying on unconscious. He quickly laid his hands on his
pokemon and woke him up with a charge of healing. The ledge of rock he
had just been standing on sizzled and steamed as it sank into the lava.

"Pika?" Pikachu said, sitting up, and wiping his blue eyes with his paws.

"Sorry for the rude awakening, Pikachu, but I think I need your help!" he
said as he dodged a shot of light from Valdera, which melted into the
stone wall next to him. "Quick, Shadow Blade!"

Pikachu complied, and soon he was evenly matched with her, his own
elemental sword's hilt clutched in both of his hands.

Valdera twisted to the side and beckoned at him with her free hand. "Just
like old times, huh Ashura?" she asked, with a devilish look in her
glowing blue eyes. Then she threw her white hood back, revealing her
beautiful face, and shook her head once, to shake her long blonde hair
free, which fell down her back in waves of spun sunlight. "Let's see if
you've gotten any better along with the years." She leaped off the ledge
turning a somersault and landed on to a large chunk of rock floating in
the lava, in the centre of the wide cavern.

Ash followed, jumping off his own ledge, turned a half twist in the air,
then landed lightly on his feet on to the floating rock, his cloak
flapping around him freely before it settled. Steam rose all around him
and the heat seemed unbearable.

"You sure do like to fight in dramatic places, Valdera," Ash said
lightly, as he lifted his gleaming black sword to the ready. He blew a
lock of his hair away from his eyes with a gust of breath and a tilt of
his lips. "You haven't changed a bit."

"What can I say?" she quipped, her red lips in a half-smile, dark lashes
blinking sultrily at him. "I'm an exciting type of girl." She lifted her
own glowing white sword out vertically in front of her with both hands.
"Come, Ashura. The prophesies have stated that the one who wields light
is equal to the one who wields shadow. Let us test the truth of that
statement!"

Soon the clashing of swords drowned out the hissing and steaming of the
lava beneath them.


<><><>


Misty surfed quickly along the tunnels, riding on her black star pokemon,
Starmos, as she desperately searched for a tunnel leading to the area
underneath where Ash had been sucked into. Her long red hair and her
cloak flapped in the wind as she sped along at high speed. On her
shoulder clutched Togepi, the small egg pokemon lighting her way using
its Flash ability.

"Who would've thought you would actually be *useful* one day," Misty
mused, as she tilted Starmos sideways, banking a particularly sharp
corner.

"Priiii!" Togepi chirped happily.

As she passed another narrow opening, she suddenly had a very strong
feeling that it led directly to where she wanted to go. She didn't know
how, she just knew.

"Starmos, one-eighty turn now!"

The star pokemon complied silently by rising upwards, flipping her around
upside-down, to face the opposite direction, before spinning around
again, so that Misty was the right way up.

She banked right into the tunnel and was elated as it led downwards and
twisted around into the direction of the area Ash must have fallen in to. 
"Don't worry, Ash! I'm coming!" she said aloud, to make herself feel 
better. She leaned forward and directed her star pokemon forward with a 
burst of speed. There was a red light up ahead. "Togepi, return!" she
said, recalling the small pokemon back into its poke-ball.

Unnoticed behind her, a black mist followed relentlessly, tendrils of
darkness reaching outwards, hissing as it did so.


<><><>


The black and white swords crashed together unrelentingly. The two
Master's continued their dances of death as they circled one another,
each trying to find the fatal weak spot, thrusting, parrying, thrusting,
then stepping backwards for a slight catching of breath. Then the cycle
started anew, sharp katanas of light and shadow sliding against each
other, black and white electric sparks emitting at each point of contact.

Ash feinted, then sliced sideways, impossibly fast, while Valdera spun
around, just narrowly dodging the strike, a part of her white cloak
getting cut off, then as she spun, she twisted into a low sweep of her
feet hoping to trip him over. Ash avoided that by jumping slightly, but
was forced to block an expertly aimed slash awkwardly with his sword,
allowing it to slide down and also cut a part of his black cloak off.
Then their swords locked into place, each of them straining to break the
hold, their faces inches close to each other. But their strength was also
equal as they strained against each other and so they were motionless for
more than a few moments. Both of their cloaks regenerated their lost 
material with a sparkle of energy during the struggle.

"You're still my equal, Ashura," she breathed, licking her lips. A thin
line of sweat ran down her brow, which she caught with her tongue. Then
she smiled at him.

Ash blew the hair away from his eyes again. "Neither of us can win," he
stated. "This fight is pointless." A thin line of sweat also ran down his
cheek.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," she disagreed. "This has been the most fun
I've had in three years!" And with that, she leaned forward the three
inches separating their faces and kissed him on the mouth, her tongue
shockingly thrusting between his lips. Then she broke it, by sliding her
sword away, and hand-flipped away backwards, and landed in a crouch.

Ash knelt down on one knee and spat off the edge of the rock, his saliva
hissing as it fell into the red hot lava. He wiped his mouth with the
back of his hand.

"That was uncalled for," Ash said, his face turning red.

"Oh, poo!" she laughed. "We've done it plenty of times in the past."

Ash stood up, ready to continue the fight. "The difference, Valdera, is
that I'm no longer your boyfriend to use for your amusement."

"Who cares about titles?" she asked as she also stood up to resume the
battle.

Then Ash sensed a new pokemon and looked up. Out of one of the many holes
in the stony wall up above, a blue cloaked figure riding on a black star
came flying out.

"Ash!" Misty's voice shouted from up above.

"Misty!" Ash answered.

Valdera's blue eyes began to flare up again. "Sister, you're always
ruining my fun!" She pointed her sword at the Water Master riding the
star pokemon. "Pikachu! Lightning Beam!"

Ash watched horrified, unable to stop her in time, as a thick, jagged
white beam of electrical energy shot forth from the tip of her sword.

However, strangely, the white beam of powerful energy seemed to miss her
as if repelled, as Misty banked sideways to fly down towards them. The
shot, instead, struck into the cavern wall melting the stone with a thick
hiss, the newly burnt hole dripping red molten rock.

Valdera seemed shocked. "I missed? I never miss!" she said with a hand
covering her mouth. She looked absolutely stupefied as Misty descended
further towards them on her pokemon.

"Get away from Ash!" Misty shouted angrily. "Starmos, Hyper Beam!" From
the front most razor sharp limb of the star pokemon she was riding, a
multi-coloured beam of intense power shot forth, down directly at 
her. But Valdera raised her white sword and reflected the beam down into
the lava where it melted the molten rock even more.

"Ha!" The blonde sister smirked up at her. "At least that worked! Now
Misty, you want to come down here where we can have a good old fashioned
bitch fight? You know, like when we were kids, we'd fight over who got to
sleep on the top bunk-bed! Or whichever of us got to put the termites in
our older sisters panty drawer!"

"Gladly," Misty said as she finally reached them and jumped off her
pokemon and somersaulted to land on the small rock island. She swept her
long red hair off her shoulders and raised her hands, ready to fight.

"This is going to be satisfying," Valdera stated, grinning. She stuck her
sword's point into the rocky ground behind her, then flexed her fingers,
the knuckles cracking.

"Um, girls," Ash said.

"Quiet!" Misty said.

"You stay out of this!" Valdera added.

"Okay, geez," Ash said, sticking his sword into the ground then turning
around and lifting his arms into the air, exasperated.

There was a couple feminine grunts from behind him, the fight just
beginning, as Ash stared into the lava. Women could be so immature, he
thought. Then he turned around again to watch the fight.

"Take this, you bitch!" Misty shouted as she rotated in a spin-kick,
catching Valdera in the stomach.

Valdera coughed, then smiled weakly. "Is that all you got, girl? Now you
take this!" she said as she caught Misty's foot as her sister tried to
kick her again, and tripped her over in a bundle of blue material. Then
she stepped forward and punched her in the back. Misty squealed, then
rolled away and flipped on to her feet again.

Watching them fight, the similarities between the siblings was further
hammered into Ash's brain. The two were of equal height, about
five-feet-ten, and of similar build, their slim, but athletic bodies
curving in more or less the same ways. The only major differences, 
aside from their different coloured hair, which were about the same
length anyway and falling almost past waist level in the same style;
loose over their shoulders, was that their faces were slightly different.
They were both beautiful, but while Valdera's beauty was the type that
screamed out at you and oozed sexuality, Misty's was the type you could
just stare at and become enchanted with, a quieter, more reserved beauty.

"Take this!" Misty shouted, punching Valdera in the left breast.

Valdera screamed. "That was a cheap-shot! Take this!" she shouted, 
kicking Misty between the legs.

This time it was Misty's turn to scream. "You're just lucky I'm not a
guy!" she cried. And then the fight degenerated into several rounds of
hair-pulling.

"You let go!"

"No, you!"

Then a loud hissing was in the air. Ash immediately pulled his sword out
of the ground and looked up. Sure enough, a black mist was oozing out of
the upper walls. "Girls stop it! The mist is here!"

Misty and Valdera immediately stopped pulling each other's hair.

"Starmos, to me!" Misty called, recalling her star pokemon from its
position hovering above them, while Valdera flipped over to her sword
and yanked it out of the rock she had stuck it in.

Valdera raised her head to observe whatever it was that had grabbed Ash's
attention. "Oh, it's only Missingno. I'll take care of this so Misty and
I can get back to our long delayed fight." She pointed her sword
at it. "Missingno! Master Pokemon of Shadow! Cease advancing now! I
command you as the Light Master of the Pokemon League!"

The black mist continued to spill into the cavern, more and more of it
entering through the openings, not slowing down at all. It continued to
hiss a snake-like sound.

"Was it supposed to do that?" Misty asked, worried.

Valdera was also beginning to get a worried look. "Cease I say!"

"It's not stopping," Ash shouted. "We have to get out of here!"

"This is impossible! It's supposed to follow the orders of any League
Pokemon Master!"

"Who told you that?" Ash asked angrily. "Demon Pokemon are
uncontrollable!"

"B-" She closed her mouth and looked at him. "Who cares who told me that!
We have to stop it!" She pointed her sword at the thick mist above them.
"I'll do it, my element is strong against shadow."

"But shadow is also strong against light," Ash exclaimed. "And look how
much of it is here already. It won't be long before we're overpowered!"

Misty hopped on to her star pokemon. "Starmos! Enlarge!" The pokemon
complied, raising its diameter by a third. She looked at them. "Both of
you hop on! Valdera can melt our way to the surface using her Lightning
Beam, while Ash can navigate our way there!"

"Great idea, Misty," Ash congratulated her. He threw his sword into the
air. "Pikachu return!" With a crack of thunder, the sword reformed back
into the dark coloured electric mouse. "Hop in my backpack," he said as
he jumped on board and held on to Misty's sides.

"Pika," Pikachu agreed, jumping inside the small brown pack strapped to
Ash's shoulders.

"Wait, how am I going to get a clear shot if I ride in the back and low
to the ground?" Valdera asked, eyeing the black mist above them getting
closer by the second.

Ash thought fast. "Here, you can ride on my shoulders," he said.

"Are you crazy?!" she exclaimed. "I'll fall off!"

"I'll hold your waist with my hands."

"But then how are you going to hold on to Mistaria?"

"I'll hold him," Misty said. "I'll fly us backwards."

Ash slapped himself in the face. "This is insane!"

"So insane, I love it!" Valdera shouted. "Let's go!"

Soon with Ash and Misty face to face, with Misty facing backwards and
hugging Ash steady, Valdera facing forwards, riding on Ash's shoulders
with her white sword held out in front of her, while Ash held her steady
and navigated, all on top of the Misty's star pokemon, they took off.

"Lightning Beam!" Valdera shouted, aiming her sword at the east stone
wall. The rocks melted and gave way to form a tunnel, and Misty flew them
inside, while the Light Master continued to shoot out her intense energy
laser tunnelling them even further.

The black mist followed relentlessly.


<><><>


"Z-Zu, we're almost to the surface," Duplica-Zubat stated as she flew
around in front of them. "Zu, and I'll be happy to get out of this
ridiculous form!"

"Thank the spirits," Bruno said as he tugged Junior back on to his
shoulder for probably the hundredth time. "The lad's been growing since 
I last noticed it! He's getting heavy."

Soon a point of light appeared in front of them, then finally they were
all outside, gasping for breath in the fresh air, and lying in the soft
grass. The sun was streaming down in warm waves within a pure blue sky,
with beautiful fluffy white clouds. By position of the sun, it looked
like they had been walking through the tunnel for one full night and most
of the morning.

"I can't believe I'd be so happy to see the green grass again," James
said as he lay face down, kissing the grass.

"I never want to see another mountain tunnel again as long as I live!"
Jessie exclaimed as she lay on her back staring at the blue sky.

Persian romped around in the grass. He had found some cat-nip and was
having the time of his life.

Bruno sighed as he toppled over, still holding Junior in his arms. He was
too tired to move.

Next to him, Duplica shifted back into human form. "Ahhhh, yessss!" she
breathed as she lay rolling around on the grass. "I don't want to see
another *zubat* as long as I live!"

Bruno turned to give her a smart-aleck comment but instead, his face
burned bright red and his throat locked up.

Duplica lay on her side and shook her blue hair free from grass, but many
strands were still sticking in it. "What is it?" She looked down at her
body. "Oops! I forgot the clothes again! Silly me!" she giggled, as she
waved her hand over her body and an emerald green tank-top formed over
her breasts, while a short matching mini-skirt and panties covered the
lower part of her body.

The only one who wasn't extremely happy, was Laselle as she sadly looked
back into the dark mouth of the cave they had just exited from. It wasn't
a main entrance, but just a small crack, just big enough to let Bruno
squeeze through. It had probably opened during that weird earthquake when
they were still deep inside the bowels of the mountain.

"I hope Ash and Misty are okay," she said, sniffing.

They grew silent at that. Even Persian who was currently high on
cat-nip.

And then suddenly there was a massive explosion high up on the mountain
as a beam of white light shot through, rocks, melting as it did so.
Startled, everyone looked up to watch as after a few moments, the beam of
light faded and soon there were three cloaked figures spiralling crazily
in the sky as they shot out of the opening, as well as a star shaped
pokemon.

Then a thick mist of blackness emerged out of the hole as well, but then
screamed in pain as the sun's rays struck it, and it began smoking. It
retreated back into the mountain, hissing as it did so.

Laselle laughed. "They're alive!" And she began to run towards the area
where they must have landed.

Everyone followed behind her, their spirits rising.


<><><>


"Ugh." Ash was the first to awaken. It felt like he was lying on soft
green grass. He opened his eyes to stare at the blue, blue sky, and he
realised that the warm feeling on his skin was just the golden rays of 
the sun.

He rolled over on to his side. Misty lay a few feet away. She had landed
face first with her bottom raised up in the air. He suddenly had the
uncontrollable urge to crawl over and pinch it. He repressed the urge.

He rolled around in the opposite direction to see if her sister had
survived the escape. But Valdera was nowhere to be seen. He frowned. Even
though she was a lot of trouble, he hoped she survived. He rolled back
over to look at the sky again. It was peaceful.

"PIKA!"

"Ouch!" Ash said as he was given a slight electric shock from underneath
him. He rolled over and let Pikachu out of his backpack. "Oh, damn,
sorry, Pikachu! I forgot you were still in there!"

"Pikachu," Pikachu said crossly, as he jumped out of the bag and smoothed
the creases in his tail.

"Will you forgive me?"

Pikachu looked back at him, small black nose twitching. "Chu?"

"Okay, you get an extra helping of ketchup tonight," Ash agreed. "You
deserve it little fella."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu said happily, doing a little dance. Then his pointed
ears twitched. "Chu?"

Then the whole gang descended upon them, Laselle first, who flew into his
arms, followed by Duplica and Bruno, who was still carrying the
unconscious Junior, and Jessie and James and Persian.

Misty finally groaned and awoke. She noticed her provocative position on
the ground and blushed, turning over. "I hope none of you were staring at
my bottom!" she said with a disgusted tone in her voice.

"Why should we?" Ash joked. "You need to go on a diet, Misty!"

"Why you!" she said angrily, but it was a pretended anger, a smile
curving  her lips. Then she thought of something and looked all around.
"Where's my sister?"

"Gone," Ash answered, breathing a little hard, Laselle was squeezing him
so tightly. "I'm sure she made it, so don't worry about that."

"Yeah she better, otherwise I won't get to kick her ass again!"

James was moaning. "I can't believe we missed the party last night! And I
was looking forward to it all week too."

"Worse than that," Jessie wailed. "We left the one outlaw we caught alive
on the other side of the mountain! By the time we go back there the long
way around - no way I am *ever* setting foot in that death-trap again -
he'll have already escaped!"

Ash, however, had already stood up, looking south-east towards the
horizon and the Cerulean ruins. In the far distance, stood a massive 
black tower of stone, so high up, it was almost touching the clouds.

"I was right," Ash said softly, his cloak flapping gently in the light
breeze.

"What do you mean?" Misty asked him, standing up to look at the
tower off in the distance.

Duplica was also staring at the massive structure. "This is bad," she
said tightly. "Very bad."

"What's that tower for?" Laselle asked, looking at it fearfully. She
tightened her cloak around her neck, it felt suddenly cold.

Ash was silent a long time. "It's for opening a gate to the other side,"
he finally said in a dead tone. "A gate to the Astral Plane. A gate to
the Spirit's walk." He swallowed. "A gate to Hell."

Duplica began to recite in a low haunting tone,


              "Light and darkness, darkness and light,
               Twice and thrice shall the battle be fought.
               When the towers of dread arise,
                 the ending shall be wrought.
               And life will be made to kneel,
                 from the souls of those who sought."


She ended in a shiver. "It will be like the Dark Pokemon Wars all over
again." 


*** End Part 5

_________________________________________________________________________

                                POKEDEX
_________________________________________________________________________

SHADOW PIKACHU
Type 1 - Shadow
Type 2 - Electricity

Attack : Electric Shield
Type   : Electricity

A barrier of dark-blue electro-magnetic energy is generated. Stops all
physical and most elemental attacks.


Attack : Shadow Repel
Type   : Shadow

A brute-force surge of power which repels darkness and shadow type
elemental energies.

_________________________________________________________________________

Notes:

I don't think the Farfetch'd guy was ever given a name so I just called
him Farley. I hope no one minds ^-^. Oh, and sorry Mikey fans. But I'm
afraid he annoyed me in the anime (same with Farfetch'd guy). I bet it
was obvious ^-^. See? If you're a fanfic author you get to have revenge
on all those characters that annoy you!

Oh, and Missingno does exist. It's the famous "glitch" pokemon which can
destroy your save data if you catch it. It's called Missingno because
it's pokemon number 000. Pretty dangerous, no? I'd like to thank Tim
Miller for his work of fanfiction, 'The Terror of MissingNo', which first
informed me of this "glitch" pokemon. It's really great, you should find
it and read it. Original flavour with a twist.

Comments & Criticisms would be much appreciated!

Ace Sanchez
Email: jsa@fl.net.au
WWW: http://jsa.users.fl.net.au