Part 5 --- Luring of the Lugia Song
By Blastoise

Hey guys, this is Blastoise. I promised that I won't take long to update, so here it is, chapter 5 - Luring of the Lugia Song. But before every chapter, character bio.

Ash Ketchum

Pokemon: Pikachu

Sex: Male

Age: 17 years old

Nick-name: Ashy-Boy

Occupation: Pokemon trainer, Chosen One

Goal: World's greatest Pokemon trainer, Pokemon Master

Greatest Rival (in Pokemon): Gary

Likes: Pokemon training, Pokemon battling, Food

Dislike: Doing chores, Waking up early, Letting Misty cook for him

Strengths: Quick thinking in battles, Great come backs, Kindhearted

Weaknesses: Dense, Arrogant, Can't sort out his own emotions

Secret Crushes: Melody and Misty

Believes: Pokemon and Human living together in harmony

For Ash's Pokemon, I only put Pikachu because he would only use Pikachu in this fic, that's it. Before I start, I want to thank everybody that reviewed my fic, especially Magicalkairi. This part is dedicated to you, hope you would like it. Okay, enough chit-chat, here is part 5 - Luring of the Lugia Song.

The wind strayed from the sail as the ship containing our heroes journeys to their destination. The sun shone on the horizon, painting the ocean with a reflective clearness. A school of Wingull followed closely behind the ship, some young ones flapping their wings extra hard to keep up with the leader of the school. Their shadows rode on the sea as they flew past the ship and headed forward to Orange Island.

"Why do you think Professor Oak made us go off course to the Orange Islands? Shouldn't we be heading to the Hoenn region?" May asked the older boy next to her.

May leaned against rail of the ship, letting the sea breeze played around with her light brown hair. Her Beautifly stood obediently on her shoulder, flapping its wind once in a while to create a soft and flower-like aroma.

The boy next to her stared out at the sea, looking back at Pallet. The small town slowly diminished from his sight as the boat sped toward their destination. The sea seemed as calm as ever; the marshmallow-like white clouds are painted on the sapphire blue sky.

The boy answered May's question with a simple shrug, his curious gaze still stayed with the sea's calm waves. "Gramps said a professor located in the Orange Island needs desperate help, but Gramps never said what help the professor need."

The boy's curiosity of the sea seemed contagious as May also fixed her unmoving gaze out at the sea. They stood next to each other, both leaning forward against the rail, captivated by the sea's lure...

"The sea seems really calm." Gary said lazily, murmuring to his companion next to him. May silently agreed with the boy and smiled at the sea.

Maybe a little too calm.

I peeked over my shoulder with a quick movement, seeing her orange-red hair shinning under the sun. Her back facing me as I watched her sitting at the back of the ship, staring out at the open sea.

I felt a rush of grief as I remembered the previous conversation between us. Yet I knew that I must confront her sooner or later, she has to know... or she won't save the world.

Ash swallowed his fear of sorrow as he slowly made his way across the deck to her. It almost felt like the time slowed down, fuzzy images of Misty flashed in his mind. His eyes became tired as Ash stumbled towards Misty. The deck seemed wider then it used to be, the mild sun beating down on the drained Ash.

Misty noticed the staggering figure and gasped, but she remembered what Ash did to her... Misty quickly stood up and faced the shadow. Without much energy, Ash lagged his hand on Misty's shoulder, but Ash's hand didn't touch Misty's shoulder as the hand phased out like gas.

Feeling sympathy for the exhausted boy, Melody walked over to Misty and Ash. Melody spoke in a concerned tone, "Ash, you don't remember? You can't touch solid objects, you're dead."

"Good, I don't want him to touch me anyways." Misty snapped coldly, her eyes shone with sapphire anger. Misty waited for Ash's usually retaliation, but it didn't come.

Ash stumbled backwards two steps... He blinked his eyes several times, but he still saw three Misty in front of him. Fuzzy images appeared before him, his mind was wandering off. The surrounding blended into an ugly swirl of darkness and chaos. Conscience began to slip from his head like water slipping between his fingers. Eventually, darkness engulfed him, and everything became dim.

On that day, my life took a nasty turn that I haven't planned for. I felt weak as I remembered the sorrow, hurt, and the pains of betrayal inside of me, eating me up.

The sun's ray became scorching hot for me. The calm sea shook me and made me sea sick. Anything I see made me dizzy and deluded. I felt my head throttling in pain as it spins uncontrollably.

I felt it... It growled as it grew stronger in strength and in size. It feeds off of my emotions, emotions that are strong enough to destroy many things. My sorrow, my hatred, and my pain, it is scary...

The thing I would encounter next is worst thing I have seen in my entire life. I would give up my Pokemon Master trophy if I would be speared of such emotional experience...

His numbed body landed hard on the deck with a thud. Melody quickly kneeled down to see if Ash is okay. The icy anger in Misty's sapphire blue eyes has disappeared just as quick as they came, they are replaced by concern and anxious.

Ash's shadowy body doesn't seem so shadowy anymore. The black mist that surrounded him began to lift and Ash actually looked pretty alive aside from the fact that he's unconscious. Misty put her hand on Ash's sweaty forehead and her hand didn't past through... Ash can touch solid objects again...

"Hey Ash?"

"Yeah Mist?"

"Will you promise me that you'll always be by my side?"

"Yes, Misty, I promise."

"You promised Ash, you promised me..." Misty started chokingly, almost on the verge of breaking down. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged it tightly.

"I know... I am sorry, Mist..." Ash said bitterly, he stood up and took a step to Misty.

"Please don't call me that!" Misty started to cry, "You don't know how much it means to me when you first call me that..." She let the tear flow freely down her face, and continued on. "But you're not that Ash anymore."

"Misty, I..."

"Please just go and leave me alone, I... I want to think." She said tiredly, she raised her arm and dried her tears with her wrist.

"Ash, you don't remember? You can't touch solid objects, you're dead."

"Good, I don't want him to touch me anyways."

Sorrow... Hatred... Betrayal... Darkness...

"Where am I...?" Ash asked himself. He was surrounded by a hollow darkness. Two strange emotion rose, he felt afraid of the darkness but felt... also welcoming. He voice echoed away, returning with an eerie silence. Whatever place he is in right now, it is dark. A thick fog darkens the place more, adding more darkness over the layer of nothingness.

The murky darkness blocked his eyesight as he stumbled forward, with his arms outstretched to feel for anyone or anything. He closed his eyes since there is no good opening them anyways; instead, he focused on his ear.

There was a soft melody from a distance... His ears tracked down the direction and Ash calmly walked, following the direction of the soft humming. The melody was beautiful, and it sounded familiar, he had heard it somewhere before. But where?

The humming grew louder as he got closer, Ash still has his eyes shut tight as he continued to follow the humming. "I know! It's the Lugia's Song!" Ash broke into a sprint as he dashed forward, desperately wanting to find the source of such beautiful song.

He stopped and opened his eyes. The whole place is still dark, but he can see the person humming. She had dark red hair that reached down to her back. Her brown eyes has a certain light to it, it almost seemed that it's making the room brighter. Through the thick fog, Ash could see Melody. Ash stood a couple feet away from the humming beauty. Her soft voice rang through the darkness, driving the uninvited fear away from Ash's heart. Ash admired her beauty as he waited for the melody to end...

Hum ended beautifully, as expected. Her dark red hair draped over her shoulder, reaching down to her back. With a quick spin, her long hair gently half wrapped itself around Melody. "Hi Ash, what are you doing down here?"

"I donno."

"Oh yes you do."

With a wave of her hand, the surrounding changed completely. The setting became familiar to Ash, but he still doesn't remember. Ash's eyes widened as he saw two person, Misty and him, walking into the scene, sat down, and watched the glimmering moon.

"Misty, tomorrow is your-"

"That's none of your business!!"

"Huh?"

"Go back to the hotel Ash, I want to be alone..."

"Wa?" Ash, unsure of what his other 'version' did wrong, stared with a dumbfounded look at unfolding scene. Why would she just suddenly start to yell at Ash like that? Shocked at the scene displayed before him, Ash looked at Melody standing beside him. "Hey! That's not how it happened! What are you trying to pull?!"

Melody simply replied with a calm smile plastered on her face, "I am just showing what had happened in the past." Then with another wave of hand, the scene had disappeared, replaced with the unwelcomed darkness.

Ash winced from both the wicked darkness that surrounded him and from the unnatural powers Melody posses. Ash stumbled backwards with fear, his tongue caught in his mouth, but he managed to choke out, "You're not Melody, who are you?"

Melody drew a maliciously laughter that pretty much scared Ash to hell. Melody advanced toward the frightened Ash, her voice not so sweet anymore, "I am you, Ash; the other part of you." Much like in science fictions, the Melody in front of the petrified Ash completely changed form in the matter of seconds. "I am your sorrow, I am your pain, and I am the evil that rested inside of you." Ash saw himself before him, a duplicate mirror image. The only flaw in front of the real Ash are... his eyes.

Instead of Ash's regular brown eyes, the Ash directly before him has blood-red eyes. That Ash's smile was much like the devil's, wide and mad-like. "Ash," It said with an exact calmness Ash normally would have, "I am only trying to protect you and myself from Misty."

"I don't need protection from Misty!!!" Ash retaliated with a scream that had no energy in it. Ash felt cold and afraid, from the darkness, from himself...

It smirked, just like how Ash smirks. "Then please explain to me why does she tease you all the time? Or all those times she stared at you with those icy-cold sapphire eyes? Huh? Explain it to me! Or how 'bout that time where she told you not to call her 'Mist' anymore? That didn't hurt you at all?!"

Ash tried to back away, searching for words in his whole vocabulary trying to defend Misty from it... himself. "I... Misty... She..." Ash found himself wordless, because what It saying was true...

It took a step closer and put his hand on Ash's tired shoulders. It almost felt... welcoming? Its smile faded as he looked at Ash's pale face, "I know it hurts to have your childhood crush hating you..."

"Misty is not my childhood crush!" Ash's face flushed.

It smirked, just like how Ash would smirk. "You can't lie to me Ash, I know what you are thinking because I am a part you." Excepting the truth, Ash sighed as he nodded to his other half, or it. There is something not right here... It seemed too nice...

"Wake up Ash." Brock gently slapped Ash's face trying to wake him up. He shook his head and sighed, ended his kneeling position by joining everyone else sitting cross-legged on the deck of the ship. Brock stared at the many faces around him, especially Melody. When Ash came back in the shadow-like form, no one can touch him, their hand would just pass right through Ash like smoke. But now, when Ash is in a deep slumber, he seemed alive again. He's not a shadowy figure anymore, just like a regular human... Brock looked at Melody with a questionable stared, making Melody to feel slightly uncomfortable. "So you said Ash can't touch anything before this?"

Melody just nodded. Then she looked like something had come from the back of her head. "Wait..., back in the Cerulean Cemetery, I remembered seeing him picking up rocks and throwing them into a pool. He also picked up a banquet of flowers and smelled them..."

"Hum..." Tracey thought attentively, "I think I got it..." Eyes flew from Brock and Melody (to Melody's delight) and are set on Tracey, making him a little nervous. "I don't think any object can collide with Ash, but if Ash can touch other objects if he wants."

"No, that can't be true." Misty decided to join the conversation as eyes flew from Tracey and landed on Misty, but she stayed calm. "Because when he tried to touch my should before he fainted, his hand wasn't able to touch my shoulder at all..."

"Where am I?" Ash quickly asked because he doesn't want his other half, it, to show him another scene that involves unbearable pain Misty had delivered to him in the past.

"You are dreaming right now, and you are in a deep slumber. You can wake up and return to your human world anytime you wish, but it's a cruel world up there." It said shaking its head in disgust. "Yes, it's a cruel world up there." The real Ash agreed in a zombie-like voice. His voice trailed off as he stared into the far beyond darkness and waited for it to speak.

"You can stay here as long as you like. You don't have to go back to your human world. You can stay away from all the pains in human emotions, all the hurt you'll receive, and all the hardship you will have to go through. You don't have to care about anything in the world, because that cruel and inhumanly world doesn't exist in here."

"But what about all the joy and love in the world...?" Ash said in a small voice. It seemed to tower over Ash, in a mighty, booming voice, "What JOY?! WHAT LOVE?! When someone breaks your heart, there is no love..."

Ash backed away and said in a small, little voice, "I want to go back..."

Acting as if it doesn't care, it encouraged Ash to go back to his own world. "Like I said, you are welcomed to go back to your cruel world any time you like, but don't say I haven't warn you." Its voice sank through Ash and made him pondered that if going back is a good decision or not. Ash felt an imaginary coin was flipped in his heart; then in the same small, little voice, he asked, "How can I come back here if I wanted to?"

It concealed its evil grin from Ash, "When you feel weak, just go to sleep and you can reach me... remember, this door is always opened to you."

Ash nodded. "How do I get out of here."

"Just concentrate of going back..."

Confused by his other counterpart's directions, he looked on in a bewilder stare, then a light bulb clicked inside of him. Ash stood and closed his eyes. Memories flashed back, memories of the good times, times he would never forget... Never... Brock cooking...... Tracey sketching...... Gary battling...... Duplica duplicating...... May humming...... Melody singing...... and Misty...... Misty......?

Whoosh

He's back...

"Hey everyone, look at Ash!" Gary suddenly cried out, and the group gathered around the unconscious Ash. His body began to seemingly dissolve, there is a weird energy coming off him, something that's not exactly human. Ash's calm face was gone as his body slowly went back to his old shadowy form...

Ash's head slowly shook and he mumbled something. The group of humans leaned closer and was able to catch a several word. "Sorrow... Destiny... Pain... Melody... I'm sorry... Darkness... I'm stupid... Insanity... Chaos... Death... Mist... I hate you..." Ash stopped his mumbling and opened his energized eyes and woke up from his deep slumber. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and gave the group a good yawn. "Hey guys, why the long faces? Guys...?"

No one had said anything in particular and no one responded to Ash coming out of a coma like slumber. Ash tried to search everyone's eyes for an answer, but he met none.

Misty broke away from the ring that surrounded the boy. Her heart ached in pain as she had her back against the group. She stared out at the sea, hearing a monotone voice being repeated over and over and over again.

"Mist... I hate you..."

I didn't know it then, but Misty and I are losing our grip of our friendship; something we worked hard to build and something we cherished and loved.

I guess all great things must come to an end. At that moment, I wasn't able to remember exactly how I did fell in love with her. I felt that the Misty I known and love was gone and I had no way to bring her back. Maybe she wasn't the person I had always though she was. Maybe I was childish and young back then and did not know what love is, and I still don't today. Maybe she changed and I couldn't adapt to her.

I was tempted to stay in that 'world'. I barely escaped it the first time I enter, using the last love and joy inside of me. With every sorrow and pain I receive, it grows stronger; and any time I am hurt and betrayed, it grows stronger.

I cannot fight emotion, its something that's inside of me. I didn't know what would happen if I just did not care and stayed inside that world, and I don't want to find out.

To Be Continued

Well, that's it for part 5, hope you liked it. A big thanks to everyone who reviewed my fic, I hope you guys review again. Thanks for reading.