OK, this part of the fic will be in Ash's POV.  If the text is too small to read,
report that to me.  I just like to write with words that's large enough to see.
Notice that today I have a rhyming problem--see?  Hehe...

Ahem...Anyway...





It was five days after that horrible nightmare.  In that five days I had recovered
very well, and on the fourth day of those five days, I had began to once again
travel with my friends, Misty, Brock, and of course, Pikachu, in Pallet Forest. 
Strange that Pallet owned a forest that was across the whole country from it, but,
oh well.

I looked at my loyal, irreplaceable, crazy but lovable best friends.  Misty, for
once, seemed quite content.  Her aqua blue eyes were closed as she bobbed her head
to some kind of music played out of her headphones from her mini radio.  Brock
was looking at magazines of women, women, and, you guessed it--women, often running
into a tree or stumbling over a twig on the ground.  I was tampering with my pokedex,
scanning everything I saw.  Well, what else could I do?  I was bored.  Pikachu was
sound asleep in my backpack.  Soon, despite our slow walking pace, we grew tired and
agreed on taking a small break.

We rested in a peaceful, very nice, but small clearing.  Strangely, there weren't many
trees around, but that kind of made it a little more pleasant.  The grass was very
green.  Oh...I guess you could give thanks to the small stream that was in eyeshot.

Brock had started cooking.  Misty was still listening to her headphones.  Pikachu, my
best friend, was asleep, so I decided to go visit my less busy next best friend.

"Hey, Mist," I said.  I sat next to her.  Apparently, she didn't hear me.  She sat on
"her" little log, still with her eyes closed.  Needless to say, I've never seen her so
peaceful and calm in my life, not even when I watch her sleep...oops, did that slip?

"Hi, Ash," she said softly.  The song seemed to go off as she removed her headphones
and placed them back into her backpack.  She looked up at the sky full of thick clouds. 
I did the same.  We both started pointing out shapes from the clouds.  For an entire
hour.  This had turned our small break into our camping spot.

While eating dinner, we still were looking at the clouds.  Brock was pretty silent,
messing around with Pikachu and Togepi.  After we finished, we went to the stream
to wash the dishes.  We laid on the ground and watched more clouds.

"Ash...?"

"Yeah?"

"Th-there's Pikachu," she said, pointing up at the sky.

"Huh?  I don't see the shape...just a bunch of clouds coming together," I said.

"Exactly...it's preparing a Thundershock...."

"What do you mean?" I started to say, then double-checked the sky.  It was about
to rain!  And by the looks of it, Thunderstorm too!

"Guys," said Brock, "we gotta find some shelter.  Remember, this IS the same storm
that gave Ash that deadly flu!"

"But Brock, he was in the cold stream with no shirt or shoes or socks on!" said Misty.

"That doesn't mean he can't get sick again with it on!" said Brock abruptly.

"You're right...let's go!" said Misty.  We ran to find a cave, a hollow tree, a cabin... 
anything we could hide from the rain in.  Luckily, we found a cave.  It looked pretty
mysterious the way it was just there, but we went in anyway.

Not a drop of water hit us.  Well, maybe one...okay, two.  Well...I think it was about
three or four...anyway, you get the point.  We lit a small fire in the cave with the
firewood we'd picked up on the way, and just rested.

I sighed.  "Well, wanna go exploring?"

"Pika!" Pikachu chirped happily.

"Okay," said Misty and Brock.  Misty added, "It's not like we have anything better to
do."

True...although it was raining and the sky grew a little dark, it was still afternoon.

So we each got out our own flashlights and walked around a little.  I was surprised
that Misty and Brock weren't the least bit scared.

"It's kind of dark...maybe we should go back," said Brock.  Well, until then I was.

"Oh, come on, guys, it's not so bad," I assured them.  "It's just a cave, it's not
like there's gonna be any demons or anything like that."

So why'd I feel so unsure when I said that?

After about 5 minutes, we saw a very, very narrow bridge we had to walk across.  Believe
it or not, it was a natural bridge.  Now THAT spooked me out.  Not like I'd ever admit it,
though....

"THIS spooks me out," I said.  Oops...I guess that slipped....

"W-why don't you go first?" asked Misty.

"Why me?!"

"You're the one who wanted to go exploring!" she said.

"Well, you're the one who said you'd come with me!" I shouted back.

"So what?  You should go, Mr. Brave!"

"Fine, I'll go, Ms. Scared!"

"I am NOT scared!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"I am not!"

"You are too!"

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Ahh...I was wondering when you two would be yourselves again, instead
of pretending to be nice all the time," said Brock.  "Flirts," he muttered. 

"We are NOT flirting!" shouted Misty.  "I'll have you know, Brock, that never
in my life have I flirted with Ash, and never has he flirted with me!  It's
either regular talking or regular arguing, have you ever heard of that?!  And
besides, I don't know why you always call *us* flirts, I mean, you're the biggest
flirt in the world, always dreaming about Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny!  We
never flirt, I can't believe...."

"Hey Misty, whenever you're done, meet us up on the other side!" I shouted from
the middle of the bridge.  Brock was right ahead of me.

"Huh?!" she exclaimed.  "Uh...guys, wait for me!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Five minutes later, we reached what I called a Split End.  The cave started to
divide itself into three sections.

"Hey guys, wanna split up and see what's in where?" I asked.

They opened their mouths, and I could tell it was to protest, but before they
could, I said, "Okay, then!  We'll all meet right here in one hour."

"AN HOUR?!" Brock and Misty exclaimed.

"All right, half an hour," I said.

"That sounds just a little better," said Misty.  "I still don't feel too sure
about this."

"Guys, chill.  Nothing's gonna happen.  We got our pokemon, remember?" I reassured
them.  This was the only reason I had my bravery.

They sighed, but soon agreed.  I went straight ahead to the middle path, Brock took
the left, and Misty took the right.  We kept sure to have our flashlights on; it
was pitch black.  We were thankful the lights were so strong...although it wasn't
enough to illuminate even half the area....

I started walking.  I noticed that my flashlight was losing power, but, oh well... 
it still had some anyway, right?  As I walked, I began to see cave paintings and
writings.  They were so cool.  They were beginning to get scarier and more real
looking...coolness!  Or at least that's what I thought until I started hearing
voices.  By now, it had been five minutes and I was surely out of earshot of
my friends.  The voices got louder and creepier.  I came to a dead end.  It was
an oddly colored wall, a color I've never seen before...a light color somewhere
around gray and orange...but everytime I think that, the color seems to change.... 
The wall felt soft, but it was extremely stiff.  Weird....

Now the voices weren't so cool anymore, and neither were the paintings.  I started
to see shadows wherever I pointed my flashlight.  And strangely, the paintings seemed
to move...out of the walls....  I was very intimidated.  I reached for my pokeballs...but
by the time my hand stopped shaking and reached for my belt...


(Misty's POV)


I started getting more unsure and scared by the minute, but little did I know
that this actually wouldn't scare me the least bit.  This part of the cave was
oddly peaceful.  I mean, it wasn't beautiful or anything, but calmingly silent. 
Nothing was there.  Hm, that's a disappointment...but to me, it's a huge relief. 
I kept walking along the walls...still, nothing.  How boring...and relieving!! 
I went back to the entrance part to wait.  But then, after a while, I heard a
scream of pure terror...and it could only come from...gulp...Ash!!!


(Brock's POV)

Exploring definitely isn't my greatest pleasure.  If there wasn't a beautiful
girl or sick pokemon waiting for me, I had figured, then screw it.  And so that was true. 
I went back to the entrance to wait, and I saw Misty with a look of panic on her face.

(Regular Mode)

"What's up with you, Misty?  Did you see something scary?" asked Brock.

"No!" Misty shouted, "I heard Ash scream!  It's good you came about now...I gotta
go see what's wrong...come with me," she said.  Brock sighed reluctantly but obeyed.

When they reached Ash, they saw him walking towards them.

"Hey, Ash, are you alright?!" asked Misty worriedly as she walked up to him.

"Of course I'm all right.  I'm not a scared little wussy like you, Misty," he said, saying
her name with an icily mean voice.

"Well, gee, Ash, I was just trying to ask if you were all right!  I heard you scream!" she
said.

"Ash, did you find anything unusual and not so pretty?" asked Brock, trying to keep them
from arguing.

"Yeah.  Your face," he spat with a smirk.  Brock was taken aback, and held in a gasp.

"What did you just say, Ash?" asked Misty and Brock in unison.

"There isn't anything back there, so let's just go.  The storm should be over by now,"
he said as he pushed past them and started walking.

Misty and Brock exchanged worried glances, but said nothing after that, and just followed
him out.


TO BE CONTINUED....