Here’s chapter 2. Don’t expect 3 to be out as soon as this one was. I need to go back to school. Remember, this is bloody, so weak stomachs turn away. Hey, it might not be that bad....read on!

The next morning was very much welcomed by Ash and his friends. They were still in the Black forest, so morning more resembled twilight. But thankfully, the frightening sounds of the dark pokemon were gone, as they were all in their nests asleep. And if what the old woman said was true, then they would go back to being normal behaving pokemon.

The soft chirping of Pidgey and Spearow woke Misty, as she noticed that the forest was finally lit. Yawning, the young girl stood up and stretched. She saw that Brock was cooking some breakfast while Pikachu and Togepi shared some Poke chow. The one thing she noticed that was different was that Ash was not awake. He was usually the first one up, full of energy and liveliness. But she glanced over to where he had slept next to her and saw that he was still in dreamland. Misty saw the bandage on his arm and remembered what had happened to him the night earlier. The poor thing needed rest now. She sat down next to him and gently stroked his wild black hair. She began whispering to him.

“Ash, please don’t do something like that again. I’d be lost without you here....even though I’m often lost with you here too.” A light laugh came to her after saying that. “But seriously, be careful from now on...and remember I’ll always be there to help you out of any trouble you’re in.” Misty knew that he couldn’t hear her, but she just kept softly talking to him, running her hand through the spikes of his hair. Brock watched, and smiled.

****

Later that day, Ash finally had awoken, but not in the best health.

“Oohh...my head is killing me....” He groaned.

“That’s normal...I think.” Brock tried reassuring him. He gave the boy a bottle of pain killer. “See if that helps.”

“Thanks Brock.” Ash said in a weakened voice. Misty looked at him with concern.

As the trio continued walking through the forest, everyone started to notice that Ash was looking very weak. After a couple of miles, he was falling behind, looking terrible. Misty, Brock and Pikachu all stopped walking.

“Hey guys, what’s the hold up?” Ash’s voice still sounded awful.

“Ash, we can’t keep going with you in this condition. We have to stop.” Brock said sternly, knowing that Ash wouldn’t accept that easily.

“Brock...I told you guys that I wanted to get through here as soon as possible...I’m not gonna let some stupid old bite on my arm to slow us down....”

“But Ash, you are slowing down. It’s like all your energy is being drained. You can’t keep going like this.” Misty told him.

“Chu, Pikapi.” Pikachu added. They all looked at Ash, and he could see the stubbornness on their faces as well as the concern.

“Alright....we’ll stop. But just for a little while.”

“First, we’ll see how you’re feeling before we go anywhere Ash.” Brock stated.

****

Again, the trio set up a temporary camp. Brock went to checking his pokemon and making some food for the others. Misty and Pikachu kept a close watch on Ash. The poor boy was asleep again, resting on both his sleeping bag and Misty’s, which she had given to him. Ash didn’t seem to be sleeping soundly, as he tossed and turned, little beads of sweat forming on his brow. Pikachu pulled out a little Pika-fan to cool him off, while Misty held his arm again and gently rubbed it.

Afternoon passed into evening, and it looked like the trio was going to have to stay in the Black Forest again. Nobody was too thrilled about it, but it was more important to all of them that Ash was alright. Misty, having no sleeping bag, propped herself up against a log so that she could fall asleep. She made sure that she was no further than a foot away from Ash. Pikachu snuggled by his trainer’s feet, and Brock slept calmly in his own sleeping bag.

Ash’s sleep remained unpeaceful. His dreams were filled with horrible images...death....blood......a red-eyed monster causing all of it.....familiar.....who was he? Slashing claws....fangs dripping with blood...those eyes, those horrible eyes...gleaming in the night. Red and angry. Heavy paw prints headed toward camp...toward his friends....coming closer....no! He couldn’t stop it! Soon it would be upon them....

A frightening howl echoed through the woods, somehow jolting Ash out of his nightmare-ridden sleep. He shot up, panting hard, sweat pouring down his face. It...was only...a dream...He thought with relief. I’m still here...Brock and Pikachu too...and...where’s Misty? Brief panic seized him as he looked around for her, suddenly spotting her beside him, fast asleep against the log. Ash sighed with relief. He remembered that she had given him her sleeping bag, and felt a pang of guilt. Carefully, he picked one of them up and placed it over her sleeping form, so she would at least be warm. He smiled at her for a moment...and his thoughts were interrupted by a noise from nearby.

****

Three figures were climbing through the treetops of the Black Forest, making their way slowly and silently toward Ash and friends. One of them suddenly lost his footing, causing him to shout out and reach for his companion’s long hair for support.

“Aarrgh! James, what are you doing?” Jesse hissed angrily at him.

“I-I’m sorry Jesse, I almost fell.” James whined. “What are we doing here anyway? Wouldn’t it be easier if we just walked on the ground?”

“That’s exactly what the twerp and his friends would be expecting. If we sneak up on them from above, they won’t be able to hear our footsteps or see us coming. Besides, they’re all asleep, so this is the perfect time to capture Pikachu.”

“Dat’s right!” Meowth said as he gracefully leaped over to them from branch to branch. He was very much at home up in the trees. “Dat little mouse won’t even know what hit him when dis cat pounces.”

“That’s the spirit Meowth. Now come on, we’re losing valuable time.” Jesse said as James reluctantly followed her through the trees. Carefully, he grabbed hold of a nice thick limb, very close to the top of the trees. Unbeknownst to James, the limb was rotting off. It snapped, leaving James hanging from it by a thread, and tearing a hole in the canopy. “Jesseeee! Jesse help meeee!” He cried.

“Shh! Be quiet James, do you want the entire forest to hear us?” Jesse whispered angrily as she grabbed his hand and helped him up.

“Jesse, this is too dangerous! I think that we’re close enough to the twerps’ camp, why don’t we just walk the rest of the way? One of us could be killed!” Jesse sighed. He had a slightly legitimate point.

“Alright, we’ll walk for the rest of the way....but we’ll walk quietly.” She finished her sentence while glaring at the sheepish James.

Carefully, the Rocket trio climbed down from the treetops. They started tiptoeing in the direction of Ash’s camp. James turned around and noticed the large hole he had ripped in the canopy. It allowed some of the strong light coming from the full moon to flood that area of the forest.....

****

Ash snuck away from the safety of camp to investigate the noise he had heard. He knew that if any of the others woke up, they would forbid him from going any further. So he was very careful when leaving. Misty’s words briefly came back to him, he remembered what she had said about him being careful. Again, he felt guilty for not listening to her, but decided that he was going out to make sure that there was no danger that could harm them, so he was in a sense protecting her. She should be grateful, not mad. Flashlight out in front of him, Ash crept toward the source of the noise he’d heard. As he walked, Ash soon noticed that the surrounding area was more lit than the rest of the forest. He noticed a gaping hole in the treetops, and saw that the large full moon was lighting the area. Hmm...he thought. I wonder what made that hole....at least I have the moonlight now.... Suddenly, pain started bursting from Ash’s wound. It was even more unbearable than before...he dropped his flashlight and fell to his knees, holding his arm tight with his other hand, eyes wide and teeth grinding. Sweat started pouring from his brow again, his breathing became heavy and ragged. Panting, he tried to stand. The pain from his arm shot through his entire body as he realized that his body was starting to reform itself. Horror filled Ash as he felt his face changing and reforming...his nose and mouth growing outward....clothes tearing as his body grew too big for them....fine black hair sprouting everywhere.....teeth growing longer, sharper....arms jerking wildly as they too grew and reformed....feet bursting out of his shoes....he felt two large, sharp objects growing from his head....all of this filled his body with immense pain too horrible to imagine. Oh god...what the hell is happening to me.... Ash clutched his head and cried out in agonizing pain. “AAAARRRGHHRRRR....” His anguished cry started off sounding human, but ended in a much more horrible, animal sound....

****

James gulped loudly as he heard a horrible, almost indescribable sound come from somewhere in the woods.

“J-Jesse...d-did you hear t-that?” He asked his partner, trembling. Meowth also cowered behind Jesse’s leg.

“Whateva dat was, it didn’t sound very friendly...”

“Oh honestly, the two of you are s-such cowards....you don’t see me c-cringing at every little s-sound...” Jesse said, trying to sound brave. “Now come on, we’re almost there.” The three reluctantly trudged on, stopping now and then at every noise. Right before the camp was in sight, James froze. A frightening, menacing growl was coming from only a few feet behind him.

“Jesse...d-do you hear what I hear?” Jesse was shaking.

“It’s...right behind us....” She said.

“J-j-just toin around and point da flashlight at whateva dat is!” Meowth begged. “Before it eats us for dinna!”

Carefully, slowly, Team Rocket turned around. They were met with two malevolent, glowing red eyes, staring right at them. The color left all of their faces, and the snarl directed toward them became more vicious.

“Hurry James, shine the light at it!” Jesse managed to get out. Shaking, James lifted his flashlight so that the creature was visible....

“RAAAGGHH!” The monster bellowed at them as soon as it was hit. It made a lunge for the trio, who all darted out of the way. They quickly began running.

“James...” Jesse shouted. “What is that thing?”

“I don’t know Jesse!” He answered in a panicked voice.

“It looked like a houndoom!” Meowth yelled to them. “Only bigga, much bigga!” The short glimpse they had caught of the creature showed that it resembled an extremely large houndoom....only its paws more resembled hands...and it had pieces of ripped clothing on its body...and its eyes...that blood red color... But none of the trio really thought about that as they ran for their lives, knowing it was in hot pursuit. Meowth called to them.

“Jesse! James! It’s gettin’ closa! We can’t keep runnin’!”

“I know Meowth, we- Oof!” Jesse tripped over a root sticking out of the ground. She could hear the thundering sound of the monster as it tore in her direction.

“Jesse!” James shouted as he rushed to her side, helping her up. In seconds the beast had caught up with them. It stopped for a moment, then dove at them. James grabbed his flashlight and tried to defend himself and the other two with it. The monster simply opened it’s jaws and crunched the flashlight to bits, biting down on James’s hand as well. James cried out as Jesse pulled out Arbok’s poke ball.

“Arbok, go! Bite attack now!” Arbok appeared from his ball and clamped his jaws down on the creatures’ arm. It released James’s hand from its grip and Jesse recalled Arbok before it could attack him. Staggering in pain, James used his unbitten hand to pull a ball from his belt.

“Weezing, smokescreen!” Weezing immediately complied and used his smokescreen to cloud the monster’s vision. While the beast was coughing and shaking its head violently, Jesse, James and Meowth all took off as fast as they could, never wanting to go near those woods again as long as they lived.

****

****

On the outskirts of the Black Forest, there was a large, open field. Some farmer had found it many years ago and taken advantage of the space. It was now a perfect pasture for his flock of Mareep. The night was cool and calm, and the sheep pokemon were all sleeping peacefully. The moonlight kept the field well lit. An occasional snore was the only thing that disturbed the silence. None of them noticed the pair of gleaming red eyes watching them intently, or the fangs that prepared themselves to sink into their throats. None of them knew that their peaceful field would soon be covered with blood.....

****

Misty woke the next morning, the small amount of sunlight creeping into her eyes. She yawned, and noticed that she had been covered by her sleeping bag. She sighed. She should’ve known that he would do something like that. She looked over to his sleeping bag, expecting to see him asleep.....but he was gone. Panic filled Misty’s mind.

“Ash? Ash! Where are you? Ash!” She called. Pikachu woke up and also noticed his missing trainer.

“Pikapi! Pikapi!” He called desperately.

“Pikachu, what happened to Ash?” Misty asked. Pikachu shook his head.

“Pi, pikachu.” He answered.

“Well we’ve got to find him. Can’t you find his scent or something Pikachu?”

“Pika.” Pikachu started sniffing the ground, searching for his trainer’s scent. It only took him a couple of seconds to pick up Pikapi’s familiar odor. “Chu!” Pikachu yelled as he took off after Ash’s trail, Misty not far behind. While they ran off, Brock and Togepi still slept peacefully....

****

Ash woke up to find himself outside of the forest. He was right on the outskirts of it. Ugghh...what the hell hit me? Oh god, my head...it feels like it’s going to split... Wait...where am I? This isn’t camp...I’m not even in the forest. He looked down at himself. Wha! What happened to my clothes? They’re all ripped up! And my shoes are gone...what the hell happened to me? Where is everyone? As if on cue, Ash heard Misty and Pikachu’s voices calling his name. He immediately answered.

“Misty! Pikachu! I’m over here you guys, can you hear me?”

Pikachu’s ears twitched. He heard Pikapi’s voice. His trail had led them nearly to the edge of the forest, and it sounded like his voice was coming from just outside of it.

“Pikachupi! Pikapi, pikachu!” He called to Misty.

“You can hear Ash?” She said. Pikachu nodded. Both of them ran for where Ash’s voice was coming from, the now unfamiliar sunlight stinging their eyes.

When Misty and Pikachu reached Ash, they were shocked with what they saw. He was lying on the ground, cuts, scratches, and bloodstains on his face. His shirt and jacket were barely clinging on to him, as they had been torn to shreds. His pants were filled with holes and tears. His usually wild hair was even more so, going in all directions and filled with pine needles and dirt. There were scratches and cuts on his arms and the rest of his body as well. Misty gasped.

“Oh my god, Ash! What happened to you?!” She ran over to him and helped him to his feet, holding him up. Misty looked him over again, horrified at his condition. “Look at you, you’re covered in blood! And your clothes are destroyed! Ash, tell me what happened!” She demanded. Ash groaned.

“I...I don’t know what happened...I remember falling asleep on my sleeping bag...and the next thing I know I wake up here...” That didn’t really satisfy Misty.

“How could you not know what happened to you Ash? Especially when you look the way you do now! I’m dead serious Ash, tell me who did this to you now!”

“I don’t know Misty...I don’t even know if someone did this to me or not...”

“Damn it, stop being so cryptic Ash! How could no one have done this to you?” She asked, almost sounding frantic.

“I’m telling you, I don’t remember what happened! It’s like there’s a big chunk of my memory missing or something....” Misty noticed that Ash’s voice was trailing off. He seemed very tired. She sighed.

“Alright, I’ll stop asking, for now. Let’s get you back to camp where it’s safe....sort of.” She lifted Ash’s arm over her shoulders and helped him to walk back to the campsite. Ash looked over to Pikachu while they were walking and smiled weakly.

“Hey Pikachu, glad you’re safe...” He said.

“Pi.” Pikachu said cheerfully. As Ash turned his head back to the path in front of him, Pikachu eyed him suspiciously. When he had picked up Pikapi’s scent, it was normal. But when they reached one area of the trail, it had changed to a different scent. It still smelled of Pikapi, but there was something wrong with it...it almost smelled evil...if that was possible. But now Pikapi’s scent was normal again, and Pikachu wondered what had happened.

****

Once camp was reached, Ash Misty and Pikachu all had to go through an interrogation from Brock. He got the same answers from Ash that Misty did, and both of them were left confused. Ash was bandaged again, given new clothes, and cleaned up. Misty was very concerned about him, seemingly more than the other two. She was constantly checking on him, asking him if he was alright. Ash honestly didn’t mind the attention, and willingly rested his head on her lap after he was done getting cleaned up.

“So Ash,” Brock began. “Are we going to stay another night?” Ash glared at him.

“No way...we’ve stayed here too long as it is. I wanted to get through here fast, and it’s taking longer than ever because I keep gettin’ hurt. Well now I’m just gonna keep going, injury or not, because I’ve gotta get to the next gym.”

“But Ash, you’re really hurt.” Brock protested.

“I know I am, but-”
“Brock, I think Ash is right.” Misty interrupted. Brock was shocked. Did Misty just agree with Ash? “Every night we’ve stayed here, something horrible has happened to Ash. I think it’s best that we just get out of here as soon as possible and find the nearest motel.” She finished. Brock thought for a moment. She did have a good point.

“Alright, let’s pack up.” He finally said. He started putting some of his things away. Misty was about to get up, when Ash stopped her by holding her arm.

“Just let me rest here a little longer, will ya? It’s kinda comfy...” He said, his face a faint shade of red. Misty smiled.

“Okay, but just for a couple of minutes, then we have to go.”

“I know.” He answered, leaning his head more on her lap and closing his eyes like he had before.

****

After everything was packed, the group started out again. Pikachu decided to walk on the ground again rather than add his weight to Pikapi’s shoulder. Togepi was still tucked away in Misty’s bag. It was a great relief for all of them when the edge of the forest was finally spotted. The group quickly walked to it, welcoming the light of the sun to their eyes.

“Well, we finally made it out.” Ash said. “Now all we’ve got to do is find our way to the next city and the next gym.”

“Hey, look over there.” Brock said, pointing to a farmhouse. “I bet that whoever lives there could give us some directions.”

“You’re probably right Brock. Come on guys, let’s go.” Ash concluded as he walked toward it, companions following. When they reached the house, Ash walked up and rang the doorbell. An old woman came to the door. She had a rather solemn expression on her face.

“Hello children....how can I help you?” She asked.

“We were just wondering if you knew the way to the next city with a Johto league gym, ma’am.” Ash said.

“Well, I don’t know for sure, dear...but my husband does. You could speak to him, only....”

“What’s the matter ma’am?” Misty asked.

“Well...last night, something horrible happened in our mareep pasture. He says a wild pokemon must’ve gotten in there, but it looks to me like a demon was in there tearing things apart. He’s very upset about it. If you’d like to talk to him, he’s out in the pasture. I suggest that if you have a weak stomach, you’d best not go out there.”

“Don’t worry about it. Misty here tells me that I have a steel pit for a stomach, and those must be strong.” Ash said. Misty rolled her eyes.

“Very well...” The lady lead Ash and co. into her house and out to the back where the pasture was.

“Ash, what do you think could’ve happened in the pasture that would be so terrible?” Misty whispered.

“I don’t know Mist, but it looks like we’re gonna find out soon.” He answered. The woman opened the door, revealing the field.....and everyone gasped.

The entire pasture was spewed with the bodies of dead mareep, many of them torn to bloody shreds. Several others had gaping holes in their throats, and some were mostly gone...eaten. Their bright yellow wool was stained deep red. Blood covered the grass of the field, turning the once lush green grass into a brownish red graveyard. There was not one living mareep out on the field. Indeed, it looked like a demon had been through there.

Misty covered her mouth, tears coming to her eyes as she looked at the massive field of dead pokemon lying before her. Brock looked away from the horrible scene of slaughter. Ash just stared, eyes wide...as memory came flooding back to him....

“AAAARRRRGGHHH!” Ash again clutched his head as the terrible memories invaded his mind. He could see it all before him....this was his work.....everything was getting darker....Ash shut his eyes....and blacked out.

To be continued...

Holy shit I have a train to catch...you people better be grateful!! Bye!