Chapter 6- The Search for Misty

 

“MISTYYYYYYYYYY!” Ash zoomed around on the QuickSilver, ignoring everyone staring at him flying through the air

 

“Pika PIKAAAAA!” Pikachu also called

 

“(BEEPBEEPBEEP)” the transceiver phone on his head was beeping. Ash pushed the button. “(CRRRR…) ASH! This is Ebi! Have you seen any sign of her yet?!”

 

“No, I haven’t!” He answered, and turned to Pikachu, who was riding on his shoulder, “Man, I’d never thought I’d say this, but I’m actually worried about her!”

 

“Ash! This is Brock! I heard what you just said! (CRRR…) SOOOO, looks like the truth is out! You actually DO CARE about her!”

 

“Brock?” Ash muttered

 

“Yeah?”

 

“SHUT UP!!!” Ash yelled through the phone. Way on the other side, Brock screamed and fell over. He sighed and then took a deep breath “MISTYYYYYY!” He yelled, “Come on! Where IS she?” He sighed. Two days ago, Misty disappeared, and no one has had any luck in finding her. Because the QuickSilver was fast, light and had a limitless power source, it was a very valuable item for searching for Misty. Ebi DID manage to take it from Ash long enough add those final touches, it was difficult because he did not want to stop searching and get off the thing.

 

“Come on you tomboy! Where are you?!” He growled, “At least give me a sign…!”

 

SMACK!

 

“WAK!!!” Ash yelped as a rock flew and hit him in the face. Pikachu looked ahead and sweatdropped, jumping off immediately. Ash then looked up “WAAA!”

 

BAM!

 

“Guwgh…” Ash groaned, he had just crashed into a telephone pole, (the pole cracked) The QuickSilver halted. From mid-air, Ash fell back, hanging upside-down from his feet.

 

Pikachu walked over to the rock. Attached to the rock was a string, and attached to the string was a piece of paper.

 

“Grrr! RAH!” Ash grunted, trying to straighten himself, but no such luck. Reaching up, he undid the clips at his feet…

 

THUD!

 

“OW!” Ash fell headfirst on the ground. “GRRRRR…” Ash growled as he slowly got back up, and turned around and looked at the crowd, with a particularly evil glare, making them all sweatdrop and back off nervously. (Background goes black and fiery, Ash’s head is a million times bigger and he has fangs) “WHICH ONE OF YOU THREW THAT ROCK!?!?” He roared. Everybody screamed and ran away

 

“Pikachu!” Pikachu carried the letter in his mouth and ran to Ash.

 

“GRRRRR… huh?” Ash, who had been snarling like a wild beast stopped, and looked down at Pikachu, “What is it?” He saw the letter Pikachu was holding. Ash picked it up and looked at it.

 

I told ya I Was Gonna GET YOU BACK! One way or ANOTHER! IF you want to see your GIRLFRIEND again, you’d better show up, or I’ll KILL her! If you want to see her again, just look to your left and you’ll see the ABANDONED THEATRE. I’M waiting. You better come ready to DIE!

 

Yours truly, Doppelganger

 

Ash growled and crumpled the letter, tossing it to the side. He bent down and picked up the rock that hit his head. “Stupid faker! Now I’m really, REALLY going to hurt you!” He hurled the rock as hard as he could

 

(A fair distance away, Gary was walking down the street, minding his own business)

 

“Whew, I waited six whole months and paid a FORTUNE, but I FINALLY got that Master Ball I ordered” He stared at the purple ball, “I wonder, what pokémon should I use it on? Maybe if I find one of the legendary ones, like Raikou or…”

 

BAM!

 

“GAK!” A rock flew and hit him on the head. He fell over on his face, and the rare and not to mention VERY expensive Master Ball dropped out of his hands and rolled onto the street. He groaned and rubbed his aching head, and saw that his hand was empty, “AH!” He yelled as he saw the ball rolling down the sidewalk, “No! Come back!” He chased it, but the road started to slope downwards. “NOOOOO! STOOOOOOOP!!!!” He dove in an attempt to stop it, but crashed face flat to the ground as it continued to roll down the street. Gary got up, growling… his face was red with anger. “I swear… when I find whoever threw this rock…” he muttered and picked the rock up, “He’ll suffer then SAME fate!” He crushed it with his bare hands.

 

(Back to Ash)

 

“Hey guys!” Ash sat on the QuickSilver, suspended in mid-air, “I found Misty!”

 

“That’s great!” exclaimed Ebi

 

“Way to go Ash! True love never fails!” added Brock

 

“Shut up Brock! And I didn’t mean I found her FOUND her! I just know where she is!” Said Ash, sitting two stories in mid-air on the QuickSilver “I’m right in front of some weird looking theatre! According to this note, Misty’s in here!”

 

“(CRRR…) Note?” Asked Brock

 

“Did you say theatre?! Wait there Ash, we’ll be right there! Whatever you do, don’t go in! If I know anything (which I CERTAINLY do!) it’s full of traps! If you’re planning on going in, bring plenty firearms, and a lot of bullets!”

 

“Sorry! Don’t have any! Unless you’ve installed retractable machine guns into QuickSilver!” Said Ash, “You DID install some, did you?” he asked, hopefully

 

“(CRRR…) Sorry, only a cooler full of soft drinks. I guess you can throw them! Just… stay out of the theatre! You don’t want to get drawn into a fight, do you?”

 

“Of course I do!” Ash answered

 

“(CRRR…) Ugh… why do I even bother… Just listen up Ash! Whatever you do, DON’T GO IN! All right?!” Ebi took a deep breath and sighed, “We’ll be there soon! Ebi out!”

 

“Sheesh… just how weak does that Ebi think I am?” Ash muttered, he stood up in the Quicksilver. The clips locked his feet into place. This DEFINITELY looked very unusual, because there was a crowd gathered up and staring at him. He continued stand around, but it was just getting irritating. Misty’s gone, and he was supposed to just sit and wait for those to show up?! Ash got up, “Whatever! I don’t need ‘no eyes’ and ‘four eyes’! I’m stronger than those two combined! I’m going in!” Ash swooped down and dashed towards the doors, “I’M A COMIN’ MISTY!!!!”

 

WHAM!

 

“Waaaaaa…” Ash lay on the ground, moaning. He should’ve looked before doing that dramatic entry, bursting through the doors thing. The entrance was locked and bolted from the outside. “Just how am I supposed to go save Misty if I can’t even get through the front door!?” He kicked at it, “Come on! Stupid door! OPEN UP!” He turned around and saw the crowd staring at him, “WHADDAYOULOOKINGAT?!” He roared, they sweatdropped and backed off. Ash turned and looked at the bolted door and growled. He started kicking it, punching it, tackling it, scratching it and even biting it, anything to break it down, “GRRR! Do as I say door! I ORDER you to open!” At this point, Ash’s state of mentality has degraded to such a degree, he was now repetitively slamming his head to the door, trying to break it

 

“Pika, Pikachu!” Pikachu pulled at Ash’s pant leg, getting his attention. Pikachu then pointed at the pokéballs attached to Ash’s belt.

 

“Oh yeah! I’m a pokémon trainer! I guess I kinda forgot about that… eh-heh-heh…” He pulled out his pokédex and pressed the white button, “Which pokémon should I use… AHAH!” Ash pressed the button. One of the pokéballs on his belt disappeared in a flash and was replaced with another. Ash turned his cap and threw a pokéball, “Tauros! Take-down!”

 

The wild bull reared and then charged at the door, smashing it to pieces. “Oh yeah!” He looked behind him; people were still staring at him. Ash sighed, “Will you stop acting like I’m crazy?!”

 

“Who’s acting?” he heard someone from the crowd call out.

 

“(Sigh) Come on! There’s a Super Fiend in there! He’s holding my friend prisoner and I have to go in and rescue her!” He yelled out

 

“Wait… you mean to tell us… there’s a Super Fiend in there?” Someone said

 

“Well of course! Doppelganger right inside! What do you think the fuss is all about?”

 

“AAAAAH!!!!!” Everyone screamed and ran away

 

“(Cough) Man…” Ash squinted and coughed due to the cloud of dust. He waved his hat to blow away the dust. “Is everyone THAT afraid of them? There’s no way they could be THAT bad… ugh… whatever” Ash looked at the streets again, to see if Brock and Ebi arrived yet, they were nowhere in sight. However… he did spot something from the corner of his eye, “Hello… what’s this?” he said, looking at the purple pokéball (which Gary had ‘conveniently’ dropped earlier) rolling down the sidewalk, “OH SWEET!” he exclaimed, grabbing the Master Ball, “Awesome! Things are finally going my way!” he said happily. Looking around, Ebi and Brock still weren’t here, and Ash had enough of waiting. He wasn’t gonna just stand around anymore. He took off the QuickSilver and slung it across his back, called back Tauros and walked through the entrance, with Pikachu following him.

 

(Location- Teal Ville ‘Phantom’ theatre)

 

Ash kept quiet as he snuck through the building. It was dark and creepy, but his duty as a future pokémon master meant that he mustn’t be afraid and back down from a challenge. This was the pledge all trainers hoping to become the master sworn. Ash sighed, and this is why so many of them are dead, and the new pledge he sworn included this, and more.

 

“(Pikachu)” He whispered, “(Could you pick up Misty’s scent?)”

 

“(chu…)” Pikachu sniffed, trying to find ANY sign of her, but no such luck.

This place reminded Ash of the Dark Forest, but at least that place wasn’t this eerie. None of the halls were lit, so it was nearly impossible to see. Using the QuickSilver’s headlights would change things, but it would also give them away.

 

“(Pikachu, you’ve got good ears. Listen too)” whispered Ash. Pikachu focused, trying not to breathe even. He tried to listen to anything that would lead them to Misty. All of the sudden, his ears raised. He heard something. “(What is it Pikachu?)” Asked Ash, but he heard it too… the sound of faint, indistinct talking, “(I hear it too! From there!)” Said Ash. He ran as fast as he could deeper into the darkness. He kicked a door open and ran in. He sprinted down the hallway and entered an open room. He looked, he was in an oval room. There was chandelier hanging from the ceiling, on one side were two doors and a balcony right above it. On the other side were two wide flights of stairs that lead up to both sides of the balcony, and there were two more doors. In the darkness, he could see her. There she was! “Misty!” She was sitting on a wooden chair. Her arms and legs were tied up two metal rings.

 

“Ash!” She called his name, “It’s you!”

 

Ash ran up to her, “I’m so glad you’re okay!” He started pulling and trying to undo the rings. After about a minute, he freed her.

 

“Thank you so much Ash!” Misty exclaimed, hugging him

 

“Uh… heh-heh…” Ash turned a shade of red and rubbed the back of his head, and then he straightened up “Misty! We’ve got to get out of here before that faker comes!” Misty didn’t move, and just gazed at Ash, “Misty? Why are you…” He went even redder. Misty moved her hand up and brushed him across the face gently with her hands, Ash couldn’t say anything. He was in shock. Misty leaned her face closer to his… and her gentle smile turned into a wicked grin.

 

SMACK!

 

Misty punched Ash on the face, hard. Ash fell onto the floor and looked up at her, shocked. She stepped into the shadows, out of sight, and stepped out as someone else. “WHAT THE…?” The person smiled. He wore a cloak and a hood, covering most of his body and half of the face. The half of the face that showed was that of a teenager. There was no mistake about it; this was Doppelganger’s true form.

 

“Doppelganger! You dirty bastard!” Ash yelled “What did you do to Misty?!”

 

“What do you mean?” Doppelganger spoke, in a hushed voice

 

“You know what I’m talking about! You took her, and I want to know where she is right now! Either you tell me right now…” Ash yelled, and took up a fighting stance, “Or I’ll beat it outta ya!”

 

Doppelganger just laughed at him, “Back in the forest, you saw nothing. But over here, in my territory and with my REAL strength and skills…” A fist flew out from the cloak and smacked Ash hard. Ash’s head spun, dazed, but he quickly shook it off and punched at him, but he hit nothing but cloak.

 

“WHAT?!” Ash yelled as the entire cloak drifted and hung from his arm. There was no one inside!

 

Doppelganger jumped from behind and kicked Ash on the back, knocking him over onto his face, landing on the cloak. Doppelganger’s hand shot out, grabbed the cloak and yanked it hard. Ash spun a few inches into the air and hit the ground again.

 

“PIKACHUUUUU!” Pikachu launched a powerful thunder attack…

 

“HMM!” Doppelganger covered himself with his cloak… the lighting had no effect!

 

“WA?!”

 

“PIKA?!”

 

“Too bad for you, my cloak’s insulated to resist the elements!” Doppelganger said, darting forwards and kicking Pikachu hard. Pikachu went flying into the wall, and dropped to the floor, dazed.

 

“PIKACHU! NO!” Ash yelled, he tried to hit Doppelganger again, but Doppelganger blocked it with his arm. He kept striking at Ash, his cloak twirling and waving through the air. “GAH!” Ash was hit again and again. With the cloak flying around in his face, not only did it distract Ash, but it covered the body and arms, so Ash couldn’t see where the attacks where coming from, or the body which he was trying to hit. Doppelganger grabbed Ash by the hair and pulled his head down, and then slammed him in the face with his knee. “AAAH!” Ash screamed, but Doppelganger didn’t stop, smashing on the back of the head with his elbow. “Ungh…” Ash felt these two hits, and couldn’t take another one. Ash got hurt and collapsed…

 

Doppelganger laughed, and stepped on Ash’s head. Ash closed his eyes, expecting the finishing blow, but nothing came. “If I finished you off now, then that wouldn’t be any fun!” He laughed, “This is a theatre after all, and I don’t want to disappoint my audience (myself) with a sudden ending!” He covered himself with the cloak and ran into the darkness.

 

“DAMN!” Ash punched the floor, “He got away!” He growled, “You’d better run faker! If I find you, you are going to PAY for that, and Misty too!”

 

Ash got up, picked up the two metal rings and ran through the hallways, not bothering to be quiet. As he ran, he was throwing, bashing and kicking all of the furniture and different objects in his way.

 

“PIKA PI!” Pikachu yelled angrily at him, Ash stopped running and calmed down.

 

“Yeah, you’re right Pikachu” He sighed, “Trashing the place isn’t a good idea, unless I’m doing it to him”

 

Both he and Pikachu continued on. Then they reached the end of the hall, and there was another door. Ash silently opened it, and Pikachu looked in to see if it was safe. It was fine, and they both entered. This place just got creepier and creepier. They found themselves in the room full of costumes. Hanging from the walls, there were some Shakespearian ones, Vikings, and a whole lot of other artsy ones. Then there were the creepy ones, clown costumes, and the crying black and white clown mask with the tear painted on. Not to mention more creepy masks hanging from the walls everywhere. Just looking at them made Ash shiver. Suddenly, they heard a slamming sound, making both of them jump. They looked back. The door had shut itself… Ash reached and grabbed the knob, trying to turn it, with no success. They were locked in.

 

“Dammit!” Ash swore. Now they were locked in a scary room full of scary costumes of scary monsters! He felt like there was someone, or something staring at him. He could feel his heart beating, and almost hear breathing. There was a rustle, Ash turned and looked, but there was nothing. “(Why the heck did I come here?)”

 

“(Pika, Pikachu, chu Pika)” Pikachu spoke

 

“(Yeah, I know)” Ash squatted “(Misty)” he sighed, “(The things I do for friends… but even I have my limits, and for anyone else I would’ve hesitated to come in here, but why not for her?)”

 

“(Pika! Pika Pikachu!)”

 

“(No, I do NOT LIKE her!)” He snapped at Pikachu, but then calmed down, “(No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, I like her, as a FRIEND! That’s all!)” he said hastily

 

Pikachu rolled his eyes and sighed and spoke “(Chu, Pikachu Pika)”

 

“(Whaddaya mean tell her? Tell her what?)” Ash asked, his face went red, but it was dark so no one could see.

 

“(Pikachu Pika)”

 

“(No, I don’t know what you mean…)” Said Ash, still red, “(I don’t know what is all this talk about… you know… me and… her)” Ash sighed, “(I just can’t see us like that)” He turned his head, “(Although sometimes, I really wish I could JUST see what it would be… us like that…)” he though to himself, “(What IS it that I’m feeling?!)” He breathed deeply. “(Do I really feel that way about her? And how would I know how she feels about me?)”He quickly raised his head. “(No, way, it can’t be …)” He thought sadly to himself. “(Now I don’t even know what I want anymore.)”

 

His train of thoughts was interrupted by something. He felt like something was nudging him in his mind, that he all of the sudden knew where to find her…

 

“Misty!” He exclaimed, and got up. Running through the hallways, forgetting his fear, of the darkness, of the danger… all that mattered was he find her.

 

“Pika!” Pikachu got up and followed him. He didn’t know what Ash heard, because even he didn’t hear anything, while all of the sudden Ash could sense where she is…

 

Ash dashed through the hall, he could see a door, slightly open. Light was coming through it. This had to be it. Ash didn’t waste any time with the stealth, he kicked it right open and ran through.

 

“Misty!” He yelled out and stopped running. Looking around, he saw he was standing in the middle of a stage. There were rows upon rows of seats, but it was completely deserted. There were spotlights shining down on the stage, and some of them were moving slowly. He squinted as one of them shone into his face. It moved away, and continued to move. Then he could see a dark figure. The spotlight moved across it, and he could see who it was. It was Misty. Ropes were tied around her arms, and she was hanging from a rope hanging from the ceiling. Her eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving. He immediately felt pain, sadness, and anger…

 

“Took ya long enough to get here” Someone said in a nasty, mocking tone. Out of the shadows stepped in a figure. Doppelganger started laughing at him, and Ash growled, “You should see your face!” Doppelganger pointed at him, and then looked up at Misty hanging from the high ceiling “Oh, don’t worry. She’s alive. I’m not the type of guy to harm a defenceless girl.” He turned back to Ash, “It’s you I want”

 

Ash glared at him, “I’m sorry, but I’m not your type” he said sarcastically

 

“Oh! So you find this funny, eh?” Doppelganger spoke in an annoyed tone, “Well how about this?” He pulled out a knife.

 

Ash took a fighting stance, “Fighting with weapons now? Well go ahead! You got yours…” his hand reached for a pokéball, “And I got mine!”

 

Under the hood, Doppelganger smiled, “Oh, that’s not what I had in mind” He spun around and pulled away a curtain, revealing many ropes. He slashed one with the knife, and from the ceiling, a large sandbag fell down.

 

“WAA!” Ash quickly dove out of the way, and the bag missed him, barely.

 

Doppelganger smiled and slashed another rope, causing another one to fall, and another. Ash kept yelling and jumping out of the way of each one. “Usually, this many sandbags don’t hang from the ceiling. But in MY theatre, I find it to add some nice effects, wouldn’t you say?”

 

“YAAAAA!” Ash yelled and charged at Doppelganger on the other side of the stage. Doppelganger spun and hacked another rope, one after the other.

 

(CRASH) One fell downwards, but Ash moved to the left as he continued to sprint towards Doppelganger

 

(CRASH) One fell towards Ash, but he jumped diagonally to the right, missing it as he continued to dash. Ash was almost there, just a few more metres…

 

Doppelganger shook his head and issued Ash to stop. He had the knife to another rope. He pointed up to Misty hanging from the ceiling. Ash stopped, and he was just a few feet away from him, and his fist was only a few inches, but the knife was touching the rope.

 

“Go ahead, hit me! Then your lady love is gonna come crashing down!” Doppelganger laughed.

 

Ash growled. Pikachu was on his shoulder and sparking. They didn’t know if Doppelganger would really do such a thing, but they weren’t gonna risk Misty’s life just to find out. “Whatever happened to you not being the type of guy to harm a defenceless girl?”

 

Doppelganger shrugged. “There’s a fine line between harming and sacrificing, especially if it has to do with MY personal safety. Now Romeo, if you don’t want her splattered all over the floor, I suggest you back off”

 

Ash spat “You’re afraid to fight me! That’s why you’re hiding behind her back!”

 

“No, I’m not afraid” Doppelganger sneered, “You know I could easily beat you. If you try to fight me this time, it’ll be the same as back there. I have no interest in simply breaking your body… I’m going to keep on tormenting you till you lose your mind…!”

 

Up in the air, hanging from the ceiling, Misty’s eyes opened up. Looking left and right, she groaned miserably. She just remembered the situation she was in. She then heard voices. She looked down, and saw the person who kidnapped her, and… “Ash?” She said weakly

 

Down on the ground, Ash growled, but did as he was told. Backed off, and dropped to his knees, “Please, she didn’t do anything to you! She’s got nothing to do with this! Just let her go!” He pleaded, “I’m the one you want, so just don’t hurt her!”

 

Up in the air, Misty had heard what he just said, “Ash? He’s risking himself, for me?” She felt her heart beating…

 

“Hmm…” Doppelganger muttered, then turned to Ash “Quit whining and stand up” Ash got up. “Now, I could just slice this rope and finish her off right away, or I could just let her go and enjoy revenge on you! I pick…” He turned to the left and kicked a switch. The floor underneath Ash opened up and both he and Pikachu fell into the deep, dark hole. “Both!” He sliced another rope, causing one to fall from the ceiling and into the pit. There was a large crash, “I know that won’t finish you off, but it’ll make sure you don’t go anywhere until I get everything I need! And don’t worry about your ladylove here! You’ll be seeing her soon!” He continued to laugh as the trap door closed.

 

“Ash…!” Misty said in shock and fainted.

 

Things look very bad. How are our heroes going to escape from this? And WHERE ARE Brock and Ebi???? Find out next time on Pokémon: Ultimate Adventures! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’ll gladly listen to any you might have.

 

(TO BE CONTINUED)