Haunting Admissions
By: PikachuTrainer
Part Four
Phantom Battle

Characters: Ash, Misty, Brock, Aradia, and the Pokémon.

Disclaimer: Ummm… Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, Wartortle and Pikachu are all he’s right? I always had that impression. Well, for all intents and purposes, for this story they are. No, I do not own the Pokémon franchise. I wish I did. I'm really sorry if this story is similar to anyone else's work but it is unintentional if it is. It’s mostly, actually probably all, told from Ash's P.O.V. Now, on to the narrative...

Aradia looked at the two trainers and spoke, a smile still gracing her features. “One of you must battle me for the right to leave this place. The rules are that it must be a three on three match. There will be one pokemon, a different one each time, for each round, and only three rounds. The trainer who wins two out of the three battles wins the match.”

A grim smile crossed Misty’s face as she took a Pokéball off her belt, “I’ll battle you Aradia. You’ll find my Staryu a worthy opponent.”

The psychic slowly shook her head, her silver hair shimmering, “You’re not the one with the problem so you won’t be the one to begin the solution. Rosy will battle me. I’ll allow no others.”

Misty protested, “Ash can’t ba-”

The girl cut her off, “Why not? His Pokémon can hear and sense him even if they can’t see him.”

Ash nodded; then realized that no one could see it. “I’ll battle. This is my battle anyway. Misty can you please give me my Pokémon?”

“But Ash, this isn’t fair, it’s-”

“I can do it Misty.” Ash wished that the redhead could see how set in determination his face was but settled with making his voice as filled with conviction as he possibly could. Without a word Misty handed him his Pokéballs and nodded. Ash hoped that meant that she agreed with him.

“Good.” Aradia said, “We can’t hold the match in here but I think the backyard will be okay.” She led them through a pair of French Doors that opened onto a large, grassy lot. Painted on the grass was a sizable white circle with a line separating one end from the other. The psychic trainer walked to the other end of the yard and unclipped a silvery Pokéball from her belt. Expanding it, she spoke, “Come on out Drowzee.” A brilliant white light appeared, instantly forming itself into the shape of the Pokémon. When it materialized, it raised an eyebrow in the direction where Ash was standing and sneered. Ash shook his head at the haughty display and called out his own Pokémon, Pidgeotto. “I know you can do it Pidgeotto.” He shouted. The bird Pokémon turned around in bewilderment and cooed softly in distress. Ash reassured his Pokémon and waited for the signal to start.

It wasn’t long in coming.

Aradia raised her hand and at once the Drowzee leaped forward, all of its weight hurtling toward Pidgeotto. “Sand Attack!” Ash called out and at his command the bird Pokémon kicked up sand at the Drowzee, causing the Pokémon to fall back and frantically scratch at its eyes. Pidgeotto took advantage of his opponent’s momentary weakness and flapped his wings, creating a monstrous whirlwind which hit the Drowzee with the force of one hundreds of times larger. Ash crowed, raising his fist into the air at the assured victory, and prepared to give his last command but started as he saw the Drowzee stagger into a standing position and hold its ground once more. Without thinking he shouted, “Pidgeotto, Wing Attack.” But with a harsh laugh the other trainer spoke her command and her Pokémon stood its ground, fists raised. Pidgeotto found stopping much tougher than starting and collided with the Psychic Pokémon’s pound attack. Ash cried out, but was relieved to see that his Pokémon was far less damaged than he thought. The bird Pokémon stood up, let a defiant shriek echo upon the wind, and began flapping his wings madly for a whirlwind. As the small tornado grew Ash heard Aradia’s cheery voice signaling for the one attack he had really been dreading, Hypnosis. “Pidgeotto, don’t look!” He screamed over the gale. His Pokémon didn’t hear him. In less than a second it had fallen and Aradia had called her Drowzee to terminate the battle with a Headbutt. Ash couldn’t believe it; one of his prized Pokémon had fainted.

Ash gazed down at his two remaining Pokéballs, resolve in the tight grip of his fingers, and selected his next contender, Bulbasaur. “I choose you, Bulbasuar!”

With a war cry the Grass Pokémon shot out of his confinement and threateningly bared his fangs at the opposing Pokémon, then, completely disregarding the fight, turned around and gawked at his trainer. Ash rolled his eyes, “Bulbasaur, pay attention.” Ash could have sworn that his Pokémon raised an eyebrow, but it turned back toward the match at hand and hunkered down for a difficult battle. Aradia withdrew her Drowzee and, lightly balancing the device on her fingertips, called forth an Abra. Quickly, Ash shouted for his Grass Pokémon to use a Vine Whip. Bulbasaur immediately let loose two cord-like vines and drove them down into the spot Abra had been sitting. Before they could reach, though, the Psychic Pokémon’s eyes glowed sapphire and it was teleported to the opposite end of the ring. Swiftly redirecting his attack, Bulbasaur leaped toward the Pokémon and raised his vines to assail his foe. The vines almost having reached their target, Ash suddenly realized that the Abra hadn’t moved since the second attack had begun. Before he could warn Bulbasaur, the Psychic Pokémon lifted a hand and disabled Bulbasaur’s Vine Whip. Ash was relived that was all it had done and tried to push thoughts of losing away. This time Ash chose a more degenerating attack and told Bulbasaur to power up for Poison Powder. Aradia seemed to take the words literally; she had not trained with Poison Pokémon, and signaled for Abra to wait for its adversary’s move.

Bulbasaur didn’t.

Instantly, a cloud of purple spores descended upon Abra, making the Pokémon cough and claw at its face. “Remember what I taught you, Bulbasaur.” Ash hollered at his Pokémon, gratified as the Grass Pokémon nodded in agreement. Bulbasaur set his sights on the wall behind Abra and leaped toward it, hit, and launched off at full speed in the direction of the hapless, Psychic Pokémon. Abra was distracted, but saw something running at it from the corner of its eye and shot a powerful Psybeam at it. Bulbasaur managed to dodge most of the beam, though one foot was burned, and directed a Razor Leaf attack on the Abra. The leaves sliced into it right before a very determined Bulbasaur ran his opponent into the ground. Abra fainted. “Yes! Great job Bulbasaur, return.” Ash called as he pumped his fist in the air in victory. From the sideline he heard Misty and Brock cheering as well, and flushed in embarrassment as Misty bragged about his abilities in battle aloud. Coughing slightly, he turned his gaze toward the Psychic trainer and was surprised to see her façade slip a bit. The girl’s smile now resembled a grimace more than anything, but as soon as Aradia noticed where her enemy’s eyes were looking her countenance brightened. No unease showed. “That was a fine battle, Rosy,” she exclaimed, “but I’ll guarantee that my next Pokémon out-levels and out-powers yours. Ready ta play?”

Ash nodded. “Of course, go Wartor-” He looked down. “Pikachu?”

Insistently tugging upon his pants leg was the little yellow Pokémon Ash had traveled with ever since his first day as a Pokémon Trainer. Ash could see through him now, see the grass and the trees behind him, but it was still his buddy. “Pikacha, pika pi chu.”

“You want to battle, are you sure?” Ash felt unease tug at his mind. What if Pikachu was too weak from what he had gone through to fight?

“Pika.”

“Alright then,” he spoke hesitantly, “Aradia, I’m not disobeying the rules if my Pikachu joins am I?”

The girl gave a wide, laughing, grin. “This should be interesting. As long as it can make itself corporeal, go ahead.”

“Alright buddy.” Ash said, “Lets try it.” He knelt down next to the Electric mouse. Pikachu seemed to be trying to will himself to become solid, his eyes were tightly closed and his fists clenched. “C’mon buddy.” Ash muttered. A slight crackling sound punctuated the stillness and he watched, amazed, as his Pokémon solidified before his eyes. Grinning, he announced, “We’re ready.” Then he heard Brock’s voice whisper, “They are? I still don’t see anything.” Shaking his head, Ash thought, this really is going to be an interesting match.

Aradia nodded, brought out her last silver Pokéball, and then stopped. With a thoughtful countenance she said, “I think we’re going to need to make the battlefield a bit more even.” She closed her eyes and lifted her hands to the sky. A few seconds went by in calm, but then Ash tilted his head to the side, he could hear something. It was a whistling sound, soft at first but soon shrill and piercing. Once again, images passed by his eyes, mountains millions of years old, gnarled trees still in youthful bloom, rivers, childish in the need to race everything, lakes full of Magikarp and Kingler, and an ocean, fathoms deep and covered in glistening ice. At first the scenery seemed only to be an image, a vision, but Ash could feel the stinging cold, the crunch of tundra beneath his feet. He realized that he should be much colder. Then, even that bit of discomfort left. It was starting to scare him how much Aradia could do. Abruptly, a shiver ran a course through the ice. An enormous azure head broke from beneath the frost and two large obsidian eyes gazed placidly at the gathering below it. Then the Lapras looked toward its trainer, icy breath spilling out in waves. Aradia raised her hand and the Ice Pokémon gave a faint nod. Its head disappeared for a moment; then reappeared in another spot under the ice. Ash took that as a signal as to where the arena was to be set, and he and Pikachu hurriedly took their places.

“Pikachu, Thunderbolt!” He shouted, but the electric mouse had barely made the air buzz when a shockwave ripped through the ground, knocking him down. The shockwave turned out to be a real wave and a second later its freezing depths plunged forcefully into the ice. Ash watched in shock as his best friend was carried to the edge of the ice raft he had been standing on. The electric mouse grabbed onto the very rim of the tundra and held on, desperately clinging to the wet ice. Ash moved forward, ready to forfeit the match to see his Pokémon okay but Pikachu somehow made his way back onto the safe, almost dry, ground. Ash looked up to see the Lapras powering up for another Body Slam and knew that his Pokémon would not survive it. But, suddenly, it didn’t seem to be a Body Slam the Ice Pokémon was creating. Ash’s brows furrowed, then cleared as he shouted, “Pikachu, jump!” Fortunately Pikachu listened to him and leaped forward just as Aradia’s Lapras froze the wave that had been in front of Pikachu into a solid icy cage. Anything under it would have been trapped. Pikachu missed the attack and landed on all fours on the top of the cage. Ash and his buddy must have had the same idea because, at exactly the same moment Ash shouted to use a thunderbolt before the ice he was standing on melted, Pikachu jumped and called the powerful electrical attack from the sky. The electricity sped through the Lapras and the water around it, blackening the edges of the Pokémon’s back shell. The Ice Pokémon was only somewhat fazed, immediately it slammed its fin into the water, creating another wave. Pikachu leaped up again, but Ash shouted, “Agility!” He could see that the Pokémon’s attack was no longer one of Ice; it was a Hydro Pump. Pikachu sped onto the next floating, glittering raft a second before the water hit the vacated one. Using Agility, Pikachu managed to jump onto the ice cage that formed when Lapras used another Ice Beam and fire another Thunderbolt at the behemoth. Lapras slowed down, tried to raise its fin in wrath but dropped it rather limply into the water beside it. “Pikachu, Thunder.” Ash yelled, ready to end the match. A small wave formed, but Lapras didn’t freeze it or fire another Ice Beam. Pikachu misjudged the move and leaped on the wave he thought would be solid under him.

It wasn’t.

Pikachu dropped into the glacial water beneath him. “Pikachu!” Ash screamed, running across the ice to dive in to rescue the electric mouse, but stopped rapidly when he saw a spark light the heavens, and a lancing bolt of lightning strike down into the sea. The ice under him lit up in a brilliant rainbow of shades and he watched silently as the Ice Pokémon itself crashed down upon its own terrain. When the lightning stopped, Ash searched for Pikachu in the choppy waves, and found him drifting a couple feet below the water. Ash dove in and hastily caught his Pokémon before he drowned, if that was possible. He grabbed the side of the ice raft and hauled himself up, shivering violently. Peculiarly, his surroundings suddenly didn’t seem as cold as they had been and he looked up to find himself back in the Psychic trainer’s warm house. He noticed that his skin didn’t seem so blue as it had and that Pikachu wasn’t frostbitten, only a bit battered.

“I guess you’ve earned the right to leave.” Aradia said, a small, unexpected frown upon her face.

“That was the greatest match I’ve been in in a long time,” Ash exclaimed, a smile lighting his features, “Thank you for the advice.”

The merriment on her enemy’s face, which usually ignited others, had a different effect on the Psychic trainer, she smiled back, though the grin seemed a bit wicked in nature. “You come back if you want any more help with your quest. I’ll give it for free next time. Good bye, Rosy.” Ash smiled and waved, though he knew that he wouldn’t ever come back to the girl’s house. He didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her.