Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Misty's Nightmare ❯ One-Shot

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

From: "BigRed" Subject: [Pokemon/XOver][FanFic] Misty's Nightmare Date: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 12:17 AM Misty's Nightmare. Both Pokemon and Ravenloft are the property of there respective owners, I make no claim to them. This may not be exchanged for any form of compensation. I am new to pokemon fan fiction so I hope this is a fairly original Idea. Enjoy. For those of you that are unfamiliar with it (most of you probably), Ravenloft is a campaign world in the RPG Dungeons and Dragons. It is a gothic horror setting. But even if you don't know anything about it, don't worry. I have only taken general aspects of it. If you know about pokemon you can enjoy this. If anything, knowing about Ravenloft will take some of the mystery out of this. Chapter 1. A Desperate Situation "Is the door blocked misty"? Her oldest sister asked. "Yes it is" she replied. "But I don't know what you are hoping to do, there's no hope, we should try to get out before we are trapped". But her sister (her last sister, the other two had perished in the useless defense of Cerulean city.) would have nothing of that. "This Gym is my life and I will not give it up". "But we should try to save what we can" Misty argued. "I know you aren't as tied to here as I am. You should go" Her sister replied. Misty was appalled. " You think that I would abandon my home?". "No I don't, but you have somebody that would die inside if you were killed here". "You mean Ash don't you" Misty said "but its been three years since I`ve seen him and that was before all of this". "Don't worry" her sister said. " If anybody could survive in this hell, Ash could". The conversation was cut short by the sound of something clawing at the door. Then there was a sound like rushing wind and the door started to glow. They knew this was it. Her sister took out her blade and swiped it across her arm in a practiced gesture as her pokemon crowded around to lap up the blood that was their subsistence and source of energy. " Go now before it's too late". you can get out though the tunnel in the old pool." This was the last thing that misty heard before the door gave way with a crash. Misty Ran to the pool as her sister turned to face her certain death. When she was at the gate that was at the entrance to the tunnel, She turned to look at her sister one last time and saw her directing her Pokemon in the battle. From her frantic commands, it looked like the fight was already going against her. Then all of a sudden her sister gave a shriek and dropped to her knees. Misty watched horrified as her sister exploded in a cloud of blood and gore. She then slammed the gate closed hopping that she had not been spotted and made her way down the tunnel, retching the whole way. The next thing she knew she was jumping out of her sleeping bag in a cold sweat. She stood there panting as her heart resumed its normal beat. Just as she was calming something tugged at her pants making her jump again. "Polywrath?" her companion asked in a worried tone. He had been watching over his trainer all night and had come over to check on her when she started thrashing around in her sleep. "I `m all right Polywrath, I was just having nightmares again." Polywrath looked up at her with concern in his eyes, but he knew that he couldn't protect his trainer and best friend from this threat. She had been having nightmares since the desperate flight from Cerulean city two weeks ago and it tore him up inside to see her suffering so. Misty looked down at her sleeping bag and contemplated trying to go back to sleep but gave that up as a useless gesture. It was almost sunrise anyway. She was actually surprised that she had been able to sleep though the night. Pollywrath was keeping watch for good reason. Attacks from wild pokemon had come almost nightly since she fled the doomed city. Her pokemon had fought them off but not without a dear cost. Polywrath and starime (who was resting in his pokeball conserving energy) were her last two pokemon. The others had died defending her. Her thoughts turned to the future. She was less than halfway to Pallet town. At this rate she wouldn't make it. Misty dismissed this cold fact with a sigh; it wasn't like she had a choice anyway. The two towns that she had passed though on her desperate journey had been in ruins, having succumbed to the same thing as her beloved city. She refused to consider the very real possibility that Pallet town had suffered the same fate. That fate was being overrun by hordes of wild pokemon. She thought in despair, Sure wild pokemon had become more vicious since the change but they had stuck to terrorizing travelers (to the point that contact between towns has become almost non existent. Radio communication had become almost impossible since the change. ) But they had always left densely populated areas alone. That had changed three weeks ago. All of a sudden, thousands of wild pokemon had descended on Cerulean city destroying anything in their path. They had tried fighting back but it had been futile. It was like the wild pokemon were working together to tear down man's creation. The organized fashion of the brutality made it almost like the pokemon were being directed by some evil intelligence. The only reason that she had made it out of the city is that all the pokemon in the area had been IN the city. Polywrath tugging on her pants again interrupted her thoughts. "Your hungry aren't you" misty said with a sigh. Polywrath nodded with a sad look in his eyes. "Hold on. Let me get my blade out". Misty reached in her pack to get out her razor blade as Polywrath watched on. She then knelt down next to her pokemon and folded her sleeve back. The dozens of scars on her arm marked her as a trainer of Blood pokemon as surely as any trainer badge would. Since water pokemon had become blood pokemon during the change it was natural that she would change too. Time to pay the price for her chosen profession. She slashed the blade across her arm with practiced ease. She didn't even flinch any more at the pain. She then held her arm out to polywrath who started to suckle on it like a baby. The pokemon fed with sad resignation. He knew that he was hurting his trainer but the alternative was even worse. That was to do what wild blood pokemon did, suck the life out of the living. For only blood from a living being could sate his hunger. After a few minutes misty pulled her arm away. Polywrath let go with a sigh. He was not sated but he could tell by the way misty was swaying that she was becoming light headed from blood loss. If she let him feed any more she ran the risk of passing out. Self-mutilation was not the only price she paid though. She and her sisters were looked upon with suspicion by the rest of Cerulean city (this suspicion led them to build the secret passage in the old pool that had saved her life. Just in case this turned to open hostility). Everybody knew what wild blood pokemon did to feed and the rumors of people disappearing to feed there charges kept coming up despite their best efforts the quell them. The fact that a lot of people did disappear (the Pokemon world had become a dangerous place) did not help their case even though they were innocent. But Misty loved her pokemon as much as life itself and would gladly go though opening a vein and becoming an outcast for them. Once she has recovered from her dizziness she hurriedly packed up and started on the road to pallet town and an uncertain fate. Well what do you think? Those of you that are familiar with Ravenloft should know exactly what happened to all the pokemon. The rest of you all will have to wait for the answer (assuming that I go on with this. Right now I have one or two chapters left in me, after that I will have to read up more for inspiration). I assure you that water pokemon aren't the only ones that have changed. To any of you on rec.arts.anime.misc, this should sound familiar since I broached the Idea of a Ravenloft and Pokemon crossover not too long ago. I like the Idea so much that I decided to expand on it. This is the result. I am new to Pokemon so that is why this may look a little rough Chapter 2. A Hard Choice The dawn finally broke about an hour after misty had started walking. The beautiful morning contrasted sharply with her Bleak situation. There was no sign of the ominous fog that had become common after the change. Thank goodness for small favors. She feared the fog for good reason. There was one time she was unfortunate enough to be caught out in it in Cerulean City, when it released her she found herself clear on the other side of the city. Almost five miles from where she should have been. And Misty had only been in it a few minutes. Some people that were swept up in it were never seen again. And of course everybody remembers the day three years ago when the fog first showed up and swept over everything. That was the day of the change. She was also fortunate that she was walking though a wooded area. This gave her both shelter from the sun and prying eyes from above. Flying Pokemon are among the most aggressive. By this time, Misty had noticed that her progress today was a lot slower than yesterday. At first she tried to tell herself that she was enjoying the day but deep down she knew that she had not recovered from feeding Polywrath earlier. Blood pokemon were very economical in their need for sustenance. Back in Cerulean city, she only needed to feed them about every other week or so. But now with them fighting to save her life almost daily, their hunger had increased dramatically. She now had to feed Polywrath and starime almost daily and it was starting to really get to her. Not only that, but those feedings were much larger than then the small sips that they usually needed. So even though she had plenty of food (one of the benefits of almost no travelers was that there was plenty of fruits and nuts along the way for her to eat and she had been all packed up in hopes of convincing her sister to flee) and the fact that she was taking more blood boosters (A/N. a Blood booster is a drug developed in the pokemon world to help people recover blood volume after an accident or surgery. Using them the way Misty and her sisters did was technically illegal, but the authorities in Cerulean City turned a blind eye because they figured that this kept them from trying other ways to feed their pokemon) than she probably should, her body couldn't handle the stress much longer. But she didn't know what else to do. The alternative was unthinkable. Around noontime, Misty came upon a small pond. She was thankful for this because water was the one thing that she had been having trouble finding during her journey. "Polywrath, I `m going the get a drink and fill my canteen." She noticed the fear in her pokemon's eyes. "you can stay here in the road, I`ll be okay" she said. One of the cruel Ironies of the change was that Water was now deadly to the same pokemon that depended on it before. This was the main reason that blood pokemon were a lot less common now then when they were water Pokemon. The water pokemon that were totally aquatic like Magicarp and her dear Horsee did not survive the change. This is why Polywrath wanted to keep his distance. Misty on the other hand relished the chance to quench her thirst and knelt down to drink her fill and replenish her canteen. Feeling refreshed she jumped up to get going again. Then her world went black. Polywrath's frantic calls brought her around. At first she was disorientated but once she looked around she saw that she was lying on the ground at the bank of the pond. Misty then realized that she must have passed out. "I'm ok... I think," she finally said to Polywrath. But upon trying to get up she felt her legs give out and she had to sit down again. Finally the stress of providing for her charges had caught up to her. She slowly crawled over to Polywrath to calm the panicking pokemon. "Shhh... its alright, I just passed out that's all." In response to his questioning look she said "I think the heat got to me". the questioning look became a skeptical look. "So you aren't buying that are you." Misty then made a heart-wrenching decision. The only way that they stood a chance of surviving the journey to Pallet town was for her to ask her pokemon to do something she swore she to them that they would never have to do. That was the unthinkable. Polywrath saw misty take a look at her arm and followed her gaze. With a horrible clarity he realized in how bad of shape she actually was. In the rush to get started this morning she had neglected to bind the cut she had made to feed him like she always did. This time there was no need too. Misty was so anemic that the wound had hardly bleed at all. After staring at her arm for a while she said "let me rest for a while and then I need to talk to you and starime about something important". Polywrath had a good Idea what this talk was going to be about and that chilled him to the bone. "Starime, I choose you" Misty said as the star shaped Pokemon was released from its Pokeball. For as second he tensed up looking for an attack before he realized that there was not going to be any. When he looked at Misty, he was appalled at how much she had deteriorated since he had seen her two days ago. Polywrath said that it was from having to feed them so much in response to his unasked question. Starime asked back "Why did she call me out if there is no attack?" "She wants to talk to us about something." Polywrath replied. Misty heard them chatting back and forth and while she couldn't understand what they were saying she had a good Idea what the conversation was about. While she was trying to decide how best to put what she was going to ask them, she looked at her last two pokemon. From the outside the changes that had occurred during their transformation to Blood pokemon were not that drastic. The most noticeable one was that that their color had changed to the same bright arterial red that marked all blood Pokemon. Also, they now had feeding apparatuses appropriate for their new diet. On Polywrath that consisted of a sucker like mouth in the center of his swirled belly and razor sharp retractable claws that he thankfully never had to use; "Well at least until now" misty thought in despair. Starime has a similar sucker like mouth on every other arm and Talons on the ones in between. Again never used. Misty knew that what she was about to ask them to do would horrify them. Like most pokemon since the change, they were appalled at what they had become. While all pokemon now had to consume to survive, only blood pokemon had to feed while their prey was still alive. Most wild pokemon responded to this change by either Going insane or giving in to the dark impulses fully. Either one made them a menace to the human population of the Pokemon world. The only reason that her pokemon did not do the same was because of her love and support of them. That and the vow she made with them that as long as they were with her, they would never have to do what their new nature demanded of them. This was a vow that she was about to break. While she was thinking, both of her pokemon had grown silent and were looking at her expectantly. Misty finally decided that the best way to broach the topic was to be blunt. There was no way to sugarcoat this and to try would be insulting to them. So she just came right out and told them. "The next time we are attacked, I want you to feed on any pokemon that you bring down." The result was as anticipated. They both got wide eyed with fear and shook their head in an empathic NO (At least that was Polywrath's reaction, Starime was harder to read). But she had to be firm. "There's no choice. The way we're going now, we're not going to make it to pallet town". They continued to refuse. So she said. " Listen to me, with all the fighting that you have been doing, I can't feed you enough. Some of your friends might have been killed because they didn't have enough energy to fight effectively and I don't want this to happen to you." Still they refused. Misty sighed, there was one other thing that she could try, so as much as she detested doing it, she played on their guilt. "You have to do this. If you won't do this for yourselves, then PLEASE do it for me. If you can't protect me, I`m going to die out here." This hit home and both pokemon Looked up at their trainer and best friend. This was the person that stuck with them after the change when a lot of trainers abandoned their charges, horrified at what they had become. This was the person that was there supporting them when they were trying to come to terms with their new nature. This was the person that promised them they would never have to submit to that nature fully and had sacrificed her body and place in polite society to keep that promise. And this was the person that had been slowly Killing herself for them over the last few days. She had done all of this for them without hesitation or complaint. Now she was asking them to do something for her. To refuse would show a selfishness towards Misty that she had NEVER shown to them. They looked at each other and then slowly bowed their heads (at least Polywrath did) and came over to hug her. She hugged them fighting back tears. "Thank you so much. I will find a way to make this up some how, I promise." Then she unsteadily got to her feet. "Let's go. We need to make some time before it gets dark." With that they started back down the road to Pallet town. And so ends another chapter of Misty's Nightmare. What do you all think? Please tell me how you like the story so far. My main concern was to keep Misty in character. I hope that I have done a good job. I could see her doing this if faced with this situation. This is only my second Fan Fiction so I really care about how you think. I have one more chapter to go (this one will have more action in it so it will be more difficult to write), and then I will have to read up more on Pokemon and Ravenloft to continue. Where do you all want this to go? While this is mostly Pokemon at this point, some aspects of Ravenloft are creeping in now. To those that know about Ravenloft, The fog should be familiar. Also a small clue as to what actually happened to all the Pokemon. Think "Ravenloft Elementals". Chapter 3. Death From Above After noon, Misty was able to keep up a quicker pace than she had in the morning. Her decision seemed to give her new resolve. However her companions were more reserved. They just walked on either side of her in silence. Even though they had agreed to do what she had asked, they were still apprehensive about it. Misty thought about trying to comfort them but decided against it. She doubted that there was anything that she could say that would make them feel better. The luck that had been with them for the last day and a half ran out at around 4 pm. Misty's first inkling that something was wrong was when Polywrath called out to get her attention. "What is it?" she said. Her pokemon pointed franticly to the sky off to the left and misty squinted to see what he had spotted. All she could see was low cloud in the sky. "That's just a cloud, I don't see why you are..." She stopped when it dawned on her what Polywrath was alarmed about. This cloud was the only one in an otherwise clear sky. It was also moving pretty fast for a cloud. By now, the cloud was close enough for misty to make out a shadowy, long-necked, winged form within. Her blood ran cold when she recognized what it was. "A Fearow" she muttered to no one in particular. Even before the change Fearows and sperows (their unevolved form) were downright nasty. The change had turned them into brutal killers that relished making their victims suffer before the end. Misty started franticly looking around for some cover but they were in the middle of a small clearing and were totally exposed. A blood-curdling shriek from above told her it was too late anyway. The Bird pokemon burst out of its cloud and dove straight at them, it wings trailing mist like the contrails of a jet. Misty barely had time to yell to her pokemon to look out before it attacked. The fearow did this by opening its mouth and releasing a beam that was the same color as the cloud that it had made for itself. Misty jumped out of the way just as the beam blasted a trench in the earth where she had just been standing. The second she hit the ground she looked up to see the Fearow bearing straight down on her. She tried to get up but she was still weak and her legs refused to obey her. The bird pokemon cawed with sadistic glee on realizing that it had its prey dead to rights. Misty closed her eyes in resignation, hoping it would be over quick. However, just before the Fearow got to Misty, a red blur slammed into her, knocking her out of the way. It was polywrath. The Fearow gave a shriek of disappointment as its talons tore into nothing but air. Then it started to climb so it could wheel around for another pass. Misty sat up gasping for the breath that had been knocked out of her and put her hand on Polywrath's arm in thanks. His actions had bought her enough time to react to the attack. She looked around quickly to access the situation. She and polywrath had ended up about 20 feet from where she was at the beginning. Starime had jumped in the other direction and was a good distance away from them. As the Fearow began to wheel around misty started barking commands to her pokemon. "Starime stay where you are...polywrath stay by me, I`m still weak." The fearow screeched as it started another dive. As Misty expected, the Bird pokemon came straight at her and Polywrath, ignoring Starime for the moment. By now she had a plan. " Okay Starime, when I say so, I want you to do a Blood Glob attack. Aim for its eyes." "Polywrath get ready. if this doesn't work, your going to have to help me dodge." While giving these commands, Misty's eyes never left the oncoming fearow. She knew that for this to work she had to wait for the last second. A blood glob attack consisted of a baseball sized blob of Very acidic blood. It was the weakest attack of a blood pokemon but it was very accurate and if used the way she intended to, it could be crippling. Also Misty knew her pokemon needed some more time to build up to the more powerful blood Gout attack. The Fearow opened its mouth to emit another mist beam attack. This was what she had been waiting for . "NOW STARIME" she yelled and the pokemon spit the glob out of one of its mouths with amazing velocity just as the fearow began its attack. the blood glob missed its intended target and hit the side of the Fearows neck. Fortunately this was enough to throw off its aim and the mist bean shot by Misty and Polywrath, Shattering a boulder that was some ways behind them. Misty and polywrath threw themselves to the ground as the Fearow flew over screaming in pain from the acid. But it wasn't ready to give up on it's prey yet and wheeled around for another pass, this time at starime. But by now Misty knew that her Pokemon were fully powered up and vowed that this attack would be its last. The Fearow then let loose with another mist beam at Starime. "STARIME DOGE NOW" misty yelled and the pokemon jumped out of the way as the beam tore a hole in the earth where it had just been. Now the fearow realized that it might be in trouble and tried to pull up but it was too late. Misty screamed "Both of you. BLOOD GOUT NOW" and her pokemon responded. The Blood gout attack was to blood pokemon what the water gun attack had been to them when they were water pokemon. Starime and Polywrath both spewed a huge stream of blood at the Fearow and hit it dead on. While the blood wasn't acidic like the blood glob it was incredibly sticky and this sealed the Fearow's fate by gumming up it wings. The bird pokemon, unable to pull out of its dive crashed to the ground with tremendous force and tumbled between the two groups; Bones snapping like wet twigs before slamming into a tree at the edge of the clearing. It struggled feebly but was mortally wounded. Misty sank to the ground gasping. The fight had totally exhausted her. If she has been able to time it, she would have been amazed that the whole thing had only taken around a minute. When she looked up she noticed that her pokemon were staring at her, not having moved. She said, "Hurry up, before it dies". When they continued to hesitate, she spoke again, putting as much command in her voice as she could in her exhausted state. "This HAS to be done, we have no other choice". Starmie and Polywrath were taken back by the force in her voice but knew she was right. The fight had left them both famished and there was no way Misty could feed then in the state she was in now without serious risk to her life. Both the pokemon turned and walked over to the struggling fearow. The Bird pokemon, sensing what was coming thrashed around even more but it was too wounded to move. When they reached their victim, the two pokemon looked at the fearow with sorrow for a second before pouncing on it. Misty watched aghast as they used their talons to rip a huge gash in the side of the bird and inserted their suckered mouths into the wound as the fearow screamed in agony. Every fiber in Misty's being begged her to look away but she refused. She considered watching the act her penance for making them do it. But finally, when the fearow started to visibly shrivel while still alive she couldn't take it any more and closed her eyes and covered her ears. She stayed that way even when the screams stopped until she felt something lightly touch her shoulder. It was both her pokemon. Polywrath had tears steaming down his face and misty was sure that Starime would be doing the same if he had eyes to cry out of. She put her arms around her sobbing pokemon and rocked them back and forth while saying "I'm so sorry" over and over again. Finally, after composing them selves, Misty's pokemon helped her up and they headed off again. They needed to get away from the area just in case the fight attracted something else. That's it for this chapter. I know that I said before that this would be the last one but I changed my mind. This seemed like a good place to stop so I did. Man, this chapter was hard to write. So what do you all think of my first action scene? Unfortunately the next chapter will be even more difficult for me (i.e., it might take a while). Now for some house keeping chores. In the reviews, somebody asked if all pokemon fed on blood. The answer is no, though all pokemon (even plant types) are now carnivores. Their exact diet depends on their type. Though all pokemon have changed to some extent, the elemental types (water, air (i.e. Flying types), earth and fire) have suffered the most from the corrupting influence of Ravenloft. Of these you now know what two types have become (Water to blood and air (the Fearow) to mist). You will have to wait to find out what happen to the rest (unless you are familiar with the demiplane of dread. To those, it should be blatantly obvious what I have done by now.) Also, I know the attacks are not what they're supposed to be. That was intentional (though some will still be the same. it is also very convenient since I am not too familiar with the attacks). Till next time. Chapter 4. Rude Awaking "togipriii..." Togepi said joyfully as he played with Horsee and Staryu at the edge of the pool in the Cerulean city Gym. Misty was watching their antics with amusement while she was resting in her lounge chair. She was back at home and really enjoying herself. This was something that she never expected. All the other times she had returned home, it was very uncomfortable because her siblings never let her forget that they considered her the runt of the sensational sisters. But this time things were different. Her sisters had finally accepted her for what she was. They respected her as a very good trainer of water pokemon and as member of the family. While they still called her the puny one of the family and somewhat underdeveloped this was good natured teasing now instead of a stinging indictment. That they respected her was shown in the fact that they asked her to take on any people that came looking for a badge (She hadn't lost once to the dismay of many a trainer that came expecting easy pickings), and they asked her to play the Mermaid in their water show and listened to her suggestions on how to make it better. They had even asked her if she wanted to stay and help run the gym. Of course she declined since she had promised Ash that she would come and help him when he went to the league championships in another month. This was just a break from their adventures. The last few months had easily been the best in her entire life. She had been there when Ash had become the youngest person to ever win the johjo league and take another big step to becoming a pokemon master. She had also made huge gains in her quest to become a great Water pokemon trainer. In the last few months she had captured more water pokemon than she ever dreamed she could. She even got the Tenticruel that she had wanted since she could remember. Misty had also started to really hit it off with Ash too. They actually spent more time talking to each other than arguing. Of course this led to several embarrassing moments when Brock saw them talking and made jokes about them being "two Lovebirds". But she found that she was enjoying Ash's company more and more. They had even gone on a few "Dates" (if you call going out for burgers a date). Then in a move the shocked even her, Ash let her take custody of two of his favorite pokemon. This had come about right after he had finished first in the Johjo league Championship. Ash, Brock and her had decided to take some time off before the pokemon league championships in six weeks. Brock had already left them to go back to Pewter City and visit his dad and siblings and they had just reached the point where the roads to Cerulean City and Pallet Town diverged. She was just ready to say goodbye when Ash Gave her Squirtle and Tododile's pokeballs, telling her that they could use a break and the pool at her gym would be the perfect place. Misty was speechless. Ash's pokemon were his life and he was entrusting part of that life to her. When she didn't reply ash said "don't worry, I doubt they could be in better hands" then he took her hand "and it isn't like I am never going to see you again". Ash, then realized what he had done and looked away blushing. Misty then took the initiative and said "don't worry, I will take good care of them and thanks." She then gave him a warm hug that caused him to start quivering nervously and started off down the road before he could recover. She was already starting to miss his company. At the next town, she bought a train ticket to Cerulean city That had been two weeks ago and as much as she was enjoying herself, Misty was counting the days until she could see Ash again. Squirtle and Tododile were playing in the water with her and her sister's pokemon. Ash was right; they were really enjoying the break. They had been a little confused when she had first let them out but they trusted her. This trust had turned to excitement when she told them about the huge pool at the Gym. About this time, her sister Violet running into the room breathing hard cut her relaxation and thoughts short. The look on her face way one of confused apprehension. Something inside her told misty something was seriously wrong and she scooped up Togepi and hurried over to her sister. "What's the matter?" she asked and her sister responded, "I don't know, come outside and look for yourself." With that cryptic remark, Violet turned and lead her down the hall and out the front entrance of the gym. They could see the whole city from the gym. Then her sister pointed to off to the east and said, "Look at that". What misty saw was a strange fog rolling over the hills outside the city with unnatural speed. It paused at the outskirts of the city. Something about the fog really unnerved misty. It was like it was almost intelligent. The fog spread out along the border of the city like it was trying to decide what to do with it. After a short time though it seemed to make up its mind and reared up and swept into the outskirts. The fog methodically seeped down all the streets and then rose to engulf the buildings on ether side. In what seemed like only a few minutes the leading edge of it flowed out of the canyons of building and into the clearing around the gym. When the fog reached out almost hungrily for the gym, Misty felt a sense of dread shoot though her. She turned to Violet and said, "I think we should go inside" Violet replied "Good Idea" and they both turned and ran into the gym, desperately trying to get all the doors closed before the fog reached them. Just when the last door was locked, the first tendrils of the mist collided with the entrance and swept up turning the view outside into a white haze. Togepi, either sensing her unease or feeling the same dread she did started to cry. She tried to calm him down but she was too upset herself to have much of an effect. A loud rattling sound startled her and she looked up. All the doors were shaking in their frames. Her sister could not take it any longer and screamed " WHAT'S HAPPING MISTY! DO SOMETHING!!! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!!" The desperation in her voice shook Misty and she stuttered "I-I don't k-now w-what's happening either. W-What d-do you want me to do". Then the rattling stopped. Misty looked up at the doors and saw that the mist was still there but at least the horrible noise was gone. However, her relief turned to even more fear when she saw that the fog was rapidly seeping though the space at the bottom and the gaps between the doors and the frames. Soon the doors were completely covered and the fog started creeping towards them at about knee level. Her sister gave a horrible shriek and tore off down the hall, Misty thought this was a sound move and took off after her. When she reached the pool at the center of the gym, Violet was already yelling at her two other sisters that they needed to do something. Daisy's and Lilly's questions died on their lips when the fog swept though the doors that Misty had just run though. Misty desperately looked for someplace to go but the fog was coming though all the pool entrances. There was nowhere left to run. Misty turned just in time to see it envelope her sisters. Their startled shouts faded the instant they were covered. Misty had barely enough time to clutch Togepi tightly to her and close her eyes before the fog swept over her too. The first thing Misty noticed was the silence. All the noises around her like the air conditioner and the pokemon splashing in the pool were gone. All she could hear was Togepi's crying and her own ragged breathing. She opened her eyes and found her world covered in a shroud of white. She couldn't even see her own body much less anything else. She was standing right next to the pool so she did not dare move. It was almost ... peaceful. Misty rocked Togepi in her arms and comforted him " Don't worry, its okay. I'm still here." Her soothing voice had the desired effect and he calmed down. Misty decided that the best thing to do was to sit down and wait for a while to see if the visibility would improve. Now that she was sitting, she put Togepi on her lap and started feeling around her. She could just feel the concrete floor of the gym. She called out softly. "Violet... Lilly... anyone. Can you hear me?" There was nothing but silence for an answer. It was weird but her voice did not even sound like she was in a big room. A few minutes later, Togepi called for her attention and she looked down and realized that she could see him now. Then she looked around and noticed that she could also see some things around her. Misty could just make out the edge of the pool. Then the sounds of the room started to return. "Misty, Where are you." It was Violet. Misty turned and Saw her sisters huddled together across the pool from her. The pokemon were swimming around the pool totally confused at what just happened. " I'm over here. Are you all okay?" misty replied. Lilly answered, "We're fine. Was that totally weird or what?" Misty looked around and saw that the fog was gone. "Tell me about it" she replied. That is when Togepi let out a strange grunt. She looked down and saw that Togepi had a frightened look on his face. Misty asked, "What's the matter?" Togepi looked up at her and was about to answer when his eyes went wide and he let out a squeal of pain. Fear raced though Misty and she franticly looked over him to see what the problem was but couldn't find anything visibly wrong. "Togepi, what's wrong?" she said fearfully but Togepi's squeal turned into a heart-rending shriek and he started writhing in agony. Misty desperately called to her sisters "Help Me! Something's wrong with Togepi!" but her sisters had their own problems. Misty saw that whatever was happing to Togepi was also affecting the other pokemon. They were all thrashing around in the water and howling in pain, her sisters franticly trying to help them. Togepi's screams got even worse and Misty lost it. "T-THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!! SOMBODY PLEASE HELP ME!!" She cried. She was sobbing openly now. She loved Togepi more than anything else in the world and now he was suffering, maybe dieing and she could do nothing. Togepi then started going into convulsions and she shook her head screaming, "PLEASE, PLEASE STOP!!!" Finally, she remembered that there was a pokemon center right down the street and took off out the door. Her sisters were yelling at her to stop but she did not hear them. As she ran she tried to reassure Togepi with her shaky voice but his screams did something she thought was impossible. They got even worse. Misty was so panicked now that as she ran down the street with tears streaming down her face, she didn't even notice that there were other people with pokemon doing the same thing. All of a sudden Togepi's cries changed tone and what she saw when she glanced down caused her to screech to a stop and scream in Horror. Something was happening to him. As Misty watched paralyzed with fear, Togepi was CHANGING. Patches of black were spreading vein-like over his white body and she could see things pulsing and moving under his skin. His cries took on a distorted quality as if even his voice box was writhing. Finally, when the contortions of his body became so pronounced that his eggshell started to crack, Misty shook her self out of her paralysis and started running to the center again. As she did, she whimpered franticly "Please hold on, we're almost there. Nurse Joy will know what to do." She was saying this as much to herself as she was to Togepi. Then Togepi's cries became horribly wet and gargled. She looked down and her heart stopped when she realized that Togepi was vomiting up his internal organs. She whispered "please stop, don't leave me" but it was too late. Togepi gave one last shudder and then was still. Misty hugged his ravaged little body tightly to her and sank down on her knees, sobbing violently as chaos reined around her. "NOOOOO!!!" Misty sat up, her whole body shaking. Starime was at her side patting her on the shoulder. She hadn't dreamt about the day of the change for a long time. She felt tears welling up but quashed them mercilessly. Misty hadn't cried once since Togepi died and there was no way she was going to start now. Many others had died during the change, their bodies unable to handle the terrible transformation that happened to all pokemon. It was better anyway that Togepi didn't survive. He was so kind and gentle that he probably wouldn't have been able to handle what he would have become. At least his suffering was over. Misty finally leaned over and put her hand on Starime. "I'm alright, I was just having another bad dream." She then looked around. She was sleeping in the center of the living room in an abandoned house that they had come upon just before sunset. The battered door and the gnawed bones scattered around told her all she needed to know about what had happened to the owners. But it was better than sleeping again out in the open. Polywrath was right beside her fast asleep. He had been up for over 24 hours and really needed the rest. She looked at her watch. It was only 2 am. She was still weak and needed the rest even more than Polywrath did. So she told Starime goodnight and laid back down to try to get some more sleep. I'm back. This still isn't the end but that is in sight. Aren't flashbacks fun? The story is called "Misty's Nightmare" so I think that they are appropriate. As you can tell the story is starting to get more intense. This will even be more pronounced in the next chapter. It will live up to its horror designation and it's R rating. By the way, misty is 15 years old in this story though she was only 12 in the flashback. Till next time. And remember, please leave a review. I want to know what you think even if it is constructive criticism (I know there are plenty of holes in the plot but as I said before, My knowledge of the pokemon world is still limited) Authors comments: I would like to give a big thanks to Alex Warlorn (matt@lenzarts.com) for all his input on this and for taking the time to pre-read it for me. The grammar should be much better because of that. Also, this chapter is the first one that in my opinion really deserves the R rating. You have been warned. Enjoy. Chapter 5. Last Stand Misty's attempts to get some more sleep were doomed from the start. As much as she tried to put it out of her mind, the past three years would not let her rest. Actually, the first few weeks after the change were quite hazy. Her sisters finally came for her five hours after the horror began. They found her still on her knees in the center of the street. They had been ready to lay into her for running out on them but their recriminations faded away once they got a look at her face and the little body in her arms. They had to fight back tears themselves. For Misty, it was as if the best part of her died with Togepi. She felt as if the horrors of what had happened were trying to crush the rest of the life out of her. After that, the memories of the rest of the aftermath came in a series of disjointed scenes of despair. Things like Ash's frantic last call to her before the phone lines stopped working. He had a sorrowful look on his face that she imagined mirrored her own. He asked that she please take care of Squirtle and Tododile for him and that he would try to see her soon. He looked ready to say something else but her lack of response put him off and he bit it back. She honestly didn't remember if she had said anything at all to him. Her sisters must have filled in some of the details when they had answered the call because he said he was so sorry over what had happened to Togepi. He then asked if he could talk to his two pokemon alone for a minute. She brought them over to the video-phone (they were still weak and disorientated from the change) and left. Whatever he said to them must have been important because they had a solemn look on their faces when she returned. It was the last time she heard from him. The phone line quit for good a few hours later. The other events were even more fragmented in her mind. Like the deaths of Horsee and Goldeen. One of the things that they found out almost immediately was the detrimental effect that water now had on their pokemon (the fact that one of the first things her sisters did when the change started was to get the pokemon out of the water saved a lot of lives). Horsee died slowly on land, unable to return to his watery home. Goldeen proved that horribly when unwilling to stand dry land any longer, she flopped back into the pool and swam to the bottom. They watched helplessly as she literally dissolved into a cloud of blood. Other pokemon died after that but by this time Misty had sunk so far into her shell of blackness that she hardly noticed. All the Pokemon seemed doomed anyway. They couldn't eat. Any food that they tried to keep down just came right back up and they kept getting weaker and weaker. Misty rolled over in her sleeping bag and stared at the ruined ceiling of their shelter. She shuddered as she ran her fingers over the large scar on her wrist that was a reminder of her next somewhat clear memory. When the feeling of hopelessness became too much for her to bear, this seemed to be the only way out. She could imagine from the Horrified gaze on Polywrath's face what she must of looked like when he found her. Sitting there with the razor blade still in her hand watching her life blood flow out to make a large pool at her feet with dead eyes. Polywraith's wouldn't let his best friend end it like this though. He slapped the blade out of her hand and started screaming at some of the other pokemon to help (at least that is what she thought that he was saying) and put his hand over the wound to stop the bleeding. The last thing that she remembered before passing out was all her pokemon crowding around her with tears in their eyes. When she came too at the hospital, she found herself enveloped in a three-way hug by Daisy, Lily and Violet. They were very upset that they had let her sink so far without doing anything. They also had some astounding news. It seems that some of the pokemon had licked the blood off that they had got on themselves from saving her and found that they liked the taste. However this hope soon gave out to despair when the pokemon couldn't drink the blood that they got from the Cerulean city pokemon center's blood bank. Something was different. Misty herself came up with the key in a flash of inspiration. Her blood had been fresh. Her sisters almost completely flipped out when she left the room and came back with another razor blade (which she had been hiding in her room.) but she told them that she was just going to test a theory. She went over to polywrath (who by then was almost too weak to stand), knelt down beside him and tried not to cry out too much when she slashed her arm. She then held out the dripping wound to polywrath and told him to drink. He was hesitant at first but when he did his eyes went wide and he was soon sucking on her arm greedily. Later, reports of wild (formerly) water pokemon draining the blood from victims confirmed it. The fact that she could help her pokemon seemed to bring back some of the light in her. What they were doing soon tarnished the reputation of the gym but they didn't care. Their pokemon were everything to them. And it wasn't like they were slaughtering people in the streets to help them (no matter what people thought.). It was their own sacrifice to make. Then as Misty laid there, her thoughts returned to the more recent past. When she first set out from the ruins of Cerulean City, She was really looking forward to the fact that she might see Ash again. However, That had been before both Squirtle and Tododile had died in her defense. They were always protective of her and had become even more so after she fled her home. She told them to watch themselves but they had ignored her. She had even tried keeping them in their pokeballs but they popped out on their own whenever she was attacked. They were among the first to fall to save her. This fact had been weighting more and more on her heart in the last few days. How could she face ash when she had failed him so completely? She didn't know how he could forgive her when she couldn't forgive herself. She was almost ready to give up hope. But then she remembered that she still had two pokemon depending on her. As long as there was that, she would struggle on to the bitter end. It wasn't as if she really expected to survive much longer anyway. Suddenly, Misty was shaken out of her brooding by Starmie. She sat up in her sleeping bag and asked, "What is it?" Starime pointed with one of his arms and Misty looked in that direction. The house that they were in was a fairly nice one-story brick ranch before it was ruined. The living room was good sized and had a kitchen-dining room combo on one side of it. On the opposite side, there was a hallway that she presumed lead to the bedrooms. On the wall to the right side of the hallway was the entrance way flanked on either side by windows. Starmie was pointing to the opposite wall from this. This wall had a smashed sliding-glass door that lead out to a patio. Misty could see nothing but something had changed that sent a chill down her spine. Finally, she realized that what was bothering her was that it had all of a sudden gotten very quiet outside. The night noises had stopped. Then Misty heard a noise. It was the sound of something.... No, LOTS of somthings moving around. Whatever they were they were pretty large by the sounds they made as they came towards the house. This was not good. Misty's pulse started racing and she started to get up but Starime motioned her to stop. It was too late to hide. There was a full moon and she caught movement outside. The large shadow of something stepped in front of the space where the sliding glass door was. The outline was all too familiar to Misty. It was a Scyther. And from all the movement behind it, there was a whole pack of them outside. Starime tensed up in anticipation of a fight but Misty gently squeezed one of his arms to restrain him. This was not a battle they could hope to win. Misty, and her two pokemon were out of the moonlight and her only chance was that the Scythers had not seen them. There was a lot of debris on the floor and she hoped that they blended in with it. It was a slim chance, but maybe they would move on if they didn't sense anything inside. Misty knew enough about Scythers to know what would happen if they spotted her. While the only outside evidence of the change on them was the fact that their green color had faded to a mottled gray, their temperament had changed dramatically for the worse. They would attack without hesitation if they thought something was inside the house and their flare for torturing their victims was well known. At least she was not as terrified of bug-types as she used to be. Misty's heart sank when the one outside the door motioned and more came fully into view. She counted at least a dozen that she could see. By this time, it was all Misty could do to keep from panicking. She dare not move a muscle now for fear of any motion giving them away. Thankfully, Starime understood the desperation of their predicament and was being still. However, Misty had the terrible feeling that she was forgetting something important. It came to her with a horrible jolt. Polywrath was still asleep! Misty started desperately thinking of something to do but at this point, the scyther in the door way used his arm blade to clear some of the broken glass of the sliding door with a crash. Polywrath was jolted out of his sleep with a loud cry that alerted the Scythers to their presence. The one in the doorway spotted them and let out a cry to the others and they stormed inside. Misty yelled at Polywrath to get up. She tried to come up with a plan but knew it was probably hopeless. She felt wave after wave of despair trying to overcome her. Was she about to fail her last two pokemon? She cared more about that then the fact that she was probably about to die too. Then one of the Scythers charged them. To say that Polywrath had a rude awaking was an understatement. The first thing that his sleep clouded mind was able to comprehend was an unfamiliar pokemon saying "Come on, there's prey inside!!". Then he heard Misty cry out. "POLYWRATH, WE'RE UNDER ATTACK, GET UP!!!" When he looked towards the sound of the first voice he saw numerous shadowy forms coming though the sliding glass door. He jumped up almost instinctively to face his attackers. One of them was already charging him. Misty ordered "Polywrath, Blood Glob NOW!!" and he spit one right in the face of the attacker. The Scyther (Polywrath finally recognized what the attackers were) Screamed in pain as the glob of acidic blood hit its face and started to sizzle. Blinded, it collapsed to the ground. The others scythers, seeing what had happened to one of their own stopped for a second to get a better gage at what they were up against. Polywrath did the same. He knew almost at once that they were in way over their head and looked at Misty for direction. What he saw made his heart sink. Misty was standing there with wide eyes. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to come up with something. She wasn't trying to run, which was good as it would be useless and expose their backs to the Scythers, but the hopelessness of the situation was definitely getting to her. The Scythers started advancing again. They had run out of time. This is when Starmie called out to him. " Polywrath, get her the hell out of here!! I'll hold them up!!" This was a plan that he and Starime had worked out in advance just in case they ever got in a situation that they obviously couldn't handle. They had agreed that he was the stronger of the two and would have the best chance of saving Misty. The problem was to get Misty to go along with it so they had decided not to give her a choice in the matter. Starime cried out and flung himself at the nearest scyther. Polywrath grabbed Misty's arm and pulled her to the doorway. Misty's eyes got even wider and she cried out "Starime, NOOO!!!!" and started fighting against Polywrath with all her strength. Didn't she realize that this was the only way? Polywrath was stronger though and continued to pull Misty to the doorway. Misty whimpered "Starime... please... I can't loose you too", but the fight seemed to have gone out of her and she let Polywrath lead her to the door. Polywrath looked back and saw Starime hit another Scyther with a Takedown so vicious that he impaled it on one of his talons and it went down in a huge spray of red blood. As Polywrath and Misty made it to the door he thought he might just get her out of this. That was before they got outside. There were more Scythers waiting for them. Polywrath's heart leapt to his throat when he realized that they were trapped. He turned and led Misty along the outside wall of the house to keep them from being surrounded. One of the scythers yelled out and shot towards them almost too fast to see. It was a Quick Attack. Polywrath had just enough time to push Misty out of the way and jump back as the Scyther shot though were they had been, blades flashing, but it missed. Misty, pushed hard by Polywrath, smacked her head against the wall and went down stunned. The Scyther that had attacked tried to launch another one but Polywrath nailed him with a blood gout so powerful that it slammed the scyther into the wall of the house with a bone crunching thud and it went down in a heap. It did not get up. Polywrath then put himself between the Scythers and Misty (who was sitting by the wall trying to shake the cobwebs out of her head) and prepared for the next attack. This is when one of the scythers called out "Get the pokemon first, then we can take our time with the human!!". From the way it held itself, it was obvious that it was the leader of the pack. This Scyther then turned its stare to Polywrath and spat "Did you hear that SLAVE!! By the time we're done with that bitch, she'll be begging us to kill her!!" the sadistic leer it had on its face left no doubt what it had in store for Misty. For once, he was thankful that she could not understand pokemon. Polywrath glanced back at Misty protectively and what he saw made him almost cry out in despair. Misty was just standing there. What was so upsetting was that she had the same dead look in her eyes as when Polywrath had found her three years ago after she had slit her wrist. That is when Polywrath heard Starime scream out in agony from inside the house. Then there was a Horrible wet, ripping sound and the scream cut out. From the way that Misty flinched and sank to the ground it was obvious that she had heard Starmie die too. Polywrath was alone with Misty now and he knew that he was all that was between her and an end that was a thing of nightmares. He had no choice. He had to do something that he swore that he would never do. One fact of life of being a pokemon after the change was you had to live with the rage. This was a seething, all devouring anger that was always lurking in his subconscious. All pokemon had to deal with it and to succumb to it was the first step to damnation. The Scythers in front of him were evidence enough of that. It was a daily struggle to keep it at bay, especially in a fight. But there was also a temptation. Polywrath could feel from the depths of his soul that it was the key to unlocking the power within him. So now with no other alternative, he let the rage sweep him up. He would brave the rage to save Misty. He just hoped for her sake that if by some miracle they survived this, that he could pull himself back out of it. Misty was the world to him and now these BASTERDS in front of him were trying to HURT her. There was NO way that he would allow that. He'd KILL all of them before they laid a blade on her. As he felt rational thought start to be swept away in the anger, Polywrath yelled out to his attackers. "I WON'T LET ANY OF YOU TOUCH HER, YOU HEAR MEE!!!" then he leapt at the hated enemy. Pollywrath's angry cry shook Misty out of her deepening well of despair. For the past few minutes she had been living a nightmare. She had been faced with a horrible situation and had frozen up. She watched helplessly as Starmie decided to sacrifice himself for her. When she heard him die, it was like another part of her went with him. She should have taken control of the situation but instead it had taken control of her. She felt like she had let down her two friends and that had already caused the death of one of them. Now she was sitting there impotent as the other one was fighting a desperate battle to save her. She had to do something for Polywrath. He was all she had left. But his angry charge had taken her completely by surprise. She had never heard so much rage in his voice. Polywrath shot towards the nearest Scyther and was on top of it almost before it could react. He dodged its swiping counterattack and put his full weight into a devastating Tackle that drove the Scyther to the ground with him on top. Misty then watched aghast as Polywrath slashed his talons viciously across the Scyther's face ripping it to bloody shreds. With another angry cry he brought his two hands together and smashed them down on the Scyther's head causing it to explode like an overripe melon in a shower of blood and brains. Misty was horrified. What had gotten into him? But then she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. One of the Scythers was taking advantage of Polywrath's distraction to launch its own attack. Misty could be appalled later: now she had to help Polywrath. She jumped up and called out "Polywrath, BEHIND YOU!!!" and even through his anger her voice still seemed to get to him. Polywrath jumped out of the way and the Slash attack that was meant for him instead cut the fallen Scyther's body in half. Before Misty could even order any counter attack, Polywrath spit a Blood Glob at the Scyther that just attacked but it was able to get its blade up in time to shield its face and the glob impacted on that instead. However the acid still caused the Scyther to scream in pain and go down for a second. The action was happening too fast for Misty to stay on top of. She had no choice but to give up trying to direct the battle. The best thing that she could do for Polywrath now was to be eyes on the back of his head. Another Scyther behind Polywrath geared up for a massive attack and Misty yelled out another warning. However this attack was different. Instead of charging right in, it started spinning faster and faster with its blades outstretched. Misty recognized this as a Blade Storm attack. The scyther then started whirling towards Polywrath like a razor lined tornado. Polywrath responded with a Blood Gout but the scyther was spinning so fast that the blood was deflected by its blades. Polywrath just barely dodged the attack. But still got a nasty gash on his arm. The Scyther had no intentions of stopping though and came back at Polywrath still spinning. Polywrath responded with an attack that Misty had never seen him do before. Instead of spiting out a gout of blood, he burst forth with a beam of intense red light. The effect when the scyther was hit was that it became encased in a block of coagulated blood. The scyther stopped spinning and fell to the ground with a clunk. While this new attack was unfamiliar to Misty, she realized that it was a variant of the ice beam attack that water pokemon had used. Misty was amazed. How did Polywrath get the power to use this new attack? Then she realized that it was probably because he had fed on the Fearow yesterday. He was more powerful now then he had ever been. This revelation also made her heart sink even more. What If she had made her pokemon feed earlier? Maybe more of them would still be alive now. In her already depressed mind it was just another sign of her failure. Then one of the Scythers called out. It was the same one that had called out earlier before Polywrath went mad. Polywrath must have understood what the Scyther was saying because he all of a sudden tensed up and jumped around to face her. That is when she saw three Scythers coming strait at HER. With her back against the wall of the house she had no place to go. Polywrath was too far away to react in time and his newfound attack could probably affect only one opponent. From the look of angry desperation on Polywrath's face, he realized it too. She thought with amazing detachment "So my life is going to end now", At least she wouldn't have to see any more of her pokemon die. But the fact that she was in part responsible for all of their deaths was a crushing burden to bear. However, Polywrath still had something to say about that and his face became even more twisted with rage. That is when he opened his mouth and let loose with a heart-rending scream that seemed to erupt from the depths of his soul. The force of the scream was so that the air actually SHIMMERED from the intensity of it in a cone starting from his mouth and ending at the Scythers. For Misty, it wasn't so much that she heard the scream as felt it. Its dreadful power sent Misty to her knees as wave after wave of bone shattering pain shot its way though her body in time to the scream's varying tone. She put her hands over her ears but that did not help. It was all Misty could do to keep from throwing up as nausea swept her up. However bad the effect of the scream was on Misty, the effect on the advancing Scythers was far, far worse. Though her pain, Misty saw them fall to their knees and lift their heads to scream a scream that had no chance of being heard over Polywrath's. Even in the moonlight it was obvious that blood was streaming out of their eyes, nose, mouth, and all the joints in their armor. Then a huge geyser of gore spouted from each of their open mouths. When Polywrath finally stopped, they fell to the ground, twitching spastically in pools of their own blood. The first thing that Misty saw after the scream was Polywrath stagger. It was obvious that the attack had taken a lot out of him. But then, Misty observed a blur of motion behind him and she desperately tried to yell out a warning but it was too late. She cried out in anguish as a Scyther took advantage of Polywrath's weakness and distraction to catch him totally off guard with a vicious Slash attack and then jump back. The result was devastating. It opened up a huge gash in his side that immediately caused his internal organs to burst forth and pool onto the ground. Polywrath's gaze turned to one of shock and then it screwed up in pain as he collapsed. Misty realized with mute horror that the attack on her had been to distract him. She was his biggest weakness and the Scythers had exploited it perfectly. Misty had never felt so terribly USED in her entire life. As the Scythers closed in to finish him off, Polywrath tuned to look at her. What she saw in his eyes was not the fear or pain that she expected, but regret. He was blaming himself for this. Didn't he realize that the blame was all hers? She met his gaze and mouthed, "Its not your fault". She didn't know if he understood her but a single tear ran down his face, sparkling in the moonlight. Then a Scyther's blade came down and he no longer had a face. The next one ended his life. At this point the Scythers that had been in the house came out and spotted her. They were covered in Starime's blood. They immediately came at her but the leader of the pack barked out a command and they stopped. The Scythers instead turned and joined the others that had started feasting on Polywrath. Obviously they were in no hurry to kill her. Knowing what she did about Scythers, Misty guessed that they had something special planned for her. Of all the emotions that she expected to flood though her, the one that actually set root in her soul was numbness. She didn't feel much of anything at all. The small part of her that still had some spirit screamed out to get up and run. But what was the use? Even if she did escape, Misty would be at the mercy of the next pokemon that came across her. She would be just as dead in the end. And anyway, after the events of the last few minutes, she doubted that she really deserved to live. Besides, she could see that every once and a while, a Scyther would glance up from the feast in her direction. They had no intention of letting her get away. At least in a little while, the nightmare that had been the last three years of her life would end. Well, what do you all think? I figured that it was about time I ended a chapter with a real cliffhanger. They are EVIL but I have always wanted to do one. I do like the way that this one came out. There is now officially only 1 chapter of Misty's nightmare left (I am actually amazed that I got this far.). I hope to have it out before too long but it will be another hard one to write. BigRed ===== Paul "BigRed" Shannon pjshanno@yahoo.com "Life is too important to take seriously" __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com