Chapter 19 – Part 1 “Ash, Ash!” a sound invaded his dreams. It was that of a female and full of desperation as it reached out for the few tendrils of consciousness it had awoken. “Ash please wake up! Come on Ash, don’t you dare leave me here, not before… Oh Ash wake up!” Again the voice pulled on his mind while another force took place on his shoulders as hands clenched him tightly to shake him back and forth. Taking in a deep breath, Ash was forced to sit up and shift to his side as he coughed and spluttered the last remaining remnants of water from his lungs. Sitting up he was nearly thrown to the floor again as Misty flung her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. “Thank god, I was so worried that you’d gone…” her voice was muffled in his jacked and tailed off without an end. Breathing heavily, he wrapped his arms around her and returned the comforting hug, gently kissing her red hair in the process. Pulling away from him, she hid her face under her fringe, turning away from him to wipe her face. Seeing his trainer was now available, Pikachu leapt into Ash’s arms, each checking that the other was ok and pleased to be reunited. Now able to look around his surroundings for the first time, Ash noticed that not a drop of water was present in the dark stone chamber they were in and the only source of light came from a small window high in the wall on their left. Getting shakily to his feet, he found he was just able to peer through the opening and survey the valley that flowed around the building. “How did we get in here?” he asked while remaining at the window. “I don’t know.” Replied Misty from the floor as she ran her hand over Pikachu’s ears. “I just woke up and found you and Pikachu just lying there. Neither of you were moving and I thought you’d…you’d…” her voice grew quieter and vanished as a few sobs took over. Hiding her face in her hands she allowed her tears to flow freely as she saw Ash lying there motionless, barely breathing next to his yellow pokemon. Ash hurried over to her and knelt down next to her to pull her into a hug to gently soothe her. Responding, she wrapped her arms around his chest and cried onto his shoulder. A fresh wave of tears and sobs racked her body when she recalled that her pokemon were missing again, especially her little Azurill. Feeling a little uncomfortable and left out, Pikachu began walking around their little cell, sniffing the floor and surrounding air for anything that might hold a hint to releasing them from their prison cell. He completed one complete circuit and felt his ears and tail droop when not one clue had yielded to his search. Scampering up the wall, he clung onto the bars over the window to stare into the distance over the sea of green trees that swamped the building. Noting that the two teenagers had pulled away from each other, he hopped back down to the ground and waited to see what his trainer had in mind. “Well, what should we do now?” asked Misty after Ash had helped her to her feet, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. “I really don’t know…” he replied with a sigh before approaching the nearest wall and beginning his study for a possible exti. Running his hands over the surface, he pressed gently on a few stones, letting out a small gasp of surprise when one vanished into the wall. Before he could register what had happened, the floor beneath him disappeared and his stomach flew into his mouth as he fell through the hole as Misty’s calls echoed through his ears. His flight was halted with a thump by a soft and squishy cushion that was conveniently placed directly beneath the hole. Looking up, he could see Misty’s and Pikachu’s anxious faces peering down at him through the trap door. Calling up to them that he was ok and nothing was broken he instructed them to follow and stood back as they jumped together and joined him at the bottom. “This was lucky.” Observed Misty as she inspected the soft, purple pillow. The texture was of a sort that she had never seen before and the mass was able to expand and contract in any and which way it was pulled. “Ditto!” screamed the pillow. Falling back in shock, Misty was saved from a heavy landing by Ash as he walked behind her. Untangling themselves and sitting up, they both gaped as a giant Ditto awoke from its slumber after such a rude awakening. This ditto was larger than either had seen before and it towered over them as they cowered in fear. Slowly, the pokemon began to glow as it used its transform and in its place sat a completely spherical pokemon. “Electrode!” it cried and began to glow a bright white light. Seeing the initiation of an explosion attack, the pair leapt to their feet screaming at the top of their lungs before chasing Pikachu into the darkness. Running blindly they managed to dart around a corner, into a side corridor, shielded from the blast. “This place keeps getting weirder and weirder. No wonder no one has been able to get a Soul badge in almost three years. It seems like you have to almost die before you can ever find Koga to challenge.” Exclaimed Misty to the darkness. Silently agreeing with her, Ash reached around to check his pokebelt before leaping up in horror and searching the surrounding area. “No, no, no, no, NO!” he exclaimed, frustrated and upset. Turning to face Misty in the darkness he explained “All my pokeballs are gone. It really is only us and Pikachu!” Slouching back down next to Misty they regained their breath and composure before deciding to continue down their corridor and see where they emerged. Silence reined between them as five minutes, then ten minutes, and finally fifteen minutes faded into the darkness as the tunnel progressed on and on. Suddenly, they were no longer walking along a corridor but stood at the opening to another chamber. This time, the walls, floor and ceiling were made of a rough sandstone that was bathed a golden yellow by the lights flickering in the braziers by the wall. An ornate cabinet stood directly in front of them before the floor tiling changed from a uniform square to various different shapes, none of them the same, each with a different letter engraved into the tile. Approaching the cabinet together they took a moment to admire the dusty gems and faded gold plating that served as decorations around the edges of a screen of glass. Wiping the dust and dirt from the pane revealed an old and faded yellow scroll of parchment. The scroll read thus: “My first comes from the start of a local region, one not hard to find and not easily beaten This second may come twice in a look but can only come once in a lock My third is the start of a legendary beast, the king of the land if you will The finale of this word comes at the start of the hound of the number five and eight This next little word can be found in the middle of a fist and near the end of a twist. My sixth is the same as my third to start this wonderful next word. This fifth is what a slow brother has as a bro but loses if a king An Eevee has plenty of this sixth while a Vulpix has none My next comes in Abra, Paras and Ekans but never, ever in a Muk. Now finally my last comes last in last but never last in an end” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~