"Hey, what?" He said to himself as he stared in confusion. There was no
one there! He took a step out, and nearly fell over a brick. On it was a
piece of paper.
"What's this?" He asked himself. He untied the paper and read it aloud.
"Be at Carley Mansion at 4:00...or else. Bring your Pokemon!" The boy's
face twisted in confusion. He turned to his Pikachu, who had come out of
the house, still sleepy. "Pikachu, we have to go to Brock's right now!"
He dashed back into the house and quickly changed into his clothes. He
grabbed his hat on the way out and started to run to Brock's house,
Pikachu right behind him.
CHAPTER 2
"I sure hope he's awake!" The boy said as he got to his friend's door.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
Ash anxiously waited for someone to open the door. Suddenly it did, and
he saw the face of...of...
"Brock?" Ash asked, shocked. The once brown-haired Brock now had
golden-yellow highlights! Ash couldn't help himself...he started to
laugh. Pikachu couldn't help himself, either. "Pik...achu, Pik Pika!!" He
giggled.
"Very funny, Ash," Brock replied. "For your information, I don't like it
either. But I overheard Nurse Joy say she liked the way blondes looked to
one of her friends, so...well, I dyed it. It's not permanent though!"
Ash sighed. Typical Brock...girl-crazy. He would do anything to impress a girl...even dye his hair, though it looked terrible against his very tanned skin!
"So are you ready to go to Misty's?" Ash asked impatiently. Misty was Ash's other best friend...although she could be Miss Know-It-All sometimes. And she constantly teased Ash and Brock...but still, the three were good friends.
"Sure Ash...just let me grab my backpack."
CHAPTER 3
A few moments later they were on the front step of Misty's house. Ash
rang the doorbell. He hoped he wasn't in for any other surprises!
Luckily, when the door opened, there stood the (normal) face of Misty.
"Hi, guys! Aren't you a little earl..." Suddenly she started to laugh. Brock's face turned red and he crossed his arms.
"Don't say it. I know it looks aweful." He replied.
Misty stopped laughing long enough to ask another question. "But...WHY?"
Ash sighed again. "A girl," he said. Misty nodded knowingly.
"Well, are we ready to go to the forest?" She asked. Ash took the note out of his pocket.
"You guys, listen to this! I found it on my doorstep this morning." He read it aloud again, and watched for his friends' reactions.
"Who do you think left it?" Asked Brock. "And...why at Carley Mansion?"
Misty looked confused. "Uh, hello? Where is Carley Mansion...WHAT is Carley Mansion?"
Brock explained, "It's an old abandoned mansion down by Starmee Lake. No one has lived in it for years...and it's supposed to be haunted."
Misty shuddered. "Haunted? No thank you, I'm not going. What about the time Ash wanted to capture a ghost Pokemon? We thought he was dead after that chandelier fell on him and Pikachu! All those secret trap doors... And what about when we had that incident with Gastly and you were posessed because of the ghost of a beautiful girl. What if there are more Gastlys in the Mansion? I don't want to go through THAT incident again!" Pikachu let out an agreeing groan.
Brock turned red again. "I didn't know she was a ghost at first! I saw her for real...on the rock!" He sighed, going into a flashback. "She was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen..."
"Snap out of it, Brock!" Misty yelled. Brock shook his head. "Sorry."
"It says to be there or else," Ash said sadly. "I don't think we have a choice...whoever left it obviously knows where we live...well, where I live anyway. Who knows what it...they...will do to me if we don't show at 4:00."
Misty sighed. "Well, all right. But I'm not going in there in front or in back. You two will have to be surrounding me...I don't want any surprises!"
Brock laughed. "So we get the honor of being your bodyguards?" He teased.
Misty closed her eyes and gave a "hrmph". That was the end of it. It was decided...they were going to Carley Mansion, ghosts or no ghosts.
CHAPTER 4
At quarter to 4:00, Ash, Misty, and Brock were on their way to Carley
Mansion. They had to pass through a dark forest to get there...not any
one of them had been through it before. No one in their right minds
WANTED to go to that spooky old mansion! All three of them were
uptight...what made it worse was that Misty kept screaming and jumping at
every little noise. A fallen stick, wind moving through the trees...
"AAAUUUGGGGHHHH!"
"PIKACHU!!!" Pikachu scrambled into Ash's arms for the eleventeenth time
while Ash and Brock jumped for the eleventeenth time.
"Misty, what is it this time?" Ash hissed.
"I...I heard something in the bushes. Honest guys, I did!"
"Oh, come on," Brock said. "It's probably just a Pokemon or something. Let's go."
Misty shook her head. "I'm turning straight back if I'm going to be pursued by wild Pokemon that come out in the dark!"
"Oh, FINE." Ash said, rolling his eyes. He took out a Pokeball. "Squirtle, I choose you!" He yelled, as the Pokeball flew through the air. Squirtle landed on the ground in front of Ash. "Squirtle, shoot that creature out from it's hiding place!"
A strong stream of water continuously flowed from Squirtle's mouth. Suddenly, out from the bushes rolled...
"Hey! A Sandshrew! How cute!" Misty exclaimed.
"Squirtle, return!" Ash shouted. The Sandshrew was obviously dazed. Ash took out an empty Pokeball. "Pokeball, go!" The ball hit the Sandshrew and the creature disappeared into it. "All right! I got a Sandshrew!" Ash exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
"So THAT was your scary creature of the night, Misty?" Brock asked with a chuckle. "More like a cute creature of the day."
"Well how was I supposed to know what it was?" Misty retorted. "Come on
guys, let's go." She started on ahead...then had second thoughts and
waited until Ash and Brock came, too.
A little while later they were at Carley Mansion. It was dark, and
neglected. Shutters were missing, glass was broken, and it had enough
dust just on the door to fill five Pokeballs.
"Well," Ash said, "It's now or never."
Misty backed away. "I'll go with never..." She turned to run, but Brock caught her by the arm.
"Come on, Misty. Ash Pikachu and I will protect you. Besides, you have Pokemon of your own. There's nothing to worry about."
Ash opened the door cautiously. Brock and Pikachu followed. Misty didn't want to be left alone in the dark!
"Hey, guys! Wait up!" She ran right in between them, just like she said she was going to. They all took quiet steps together, they didn't know what to expect...
"Ow!" Ash cried.
"What's wrong Ash?" Brock asked.
"Misty, your digging into my hand with your nails!" Ash complained.
"Oh, sorry..." Misty muttered.
"Shhh, you guys," Brock warned. "We don't know what..." he was cut off by the door slamming shut behind them. They all screamed. (Misty screamed the loudest).
"Prepare for trouble!" A female voice rang out.
"Yes, and make it double!" A male voice added.
"To protect the world from devistation!"
"To unite all people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Jessie!"
"James."
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!" A Meowth Pokemon finished.
"What the..." Brock mumbled.
Suddenly a bright light lit the large room they were standing in. Standing on the gigantic dining table were...
"Team Rocket!" Ash exclaimed.
"Whew," Misty sighed. Brock and Ash looked at her in surprise. "Well, they're better than ghosts!" She explained sheepishly.
Jessie from Team Rocket chuckled. "Hmmhmm. Thank you. Now...HAND OVER PIKACHU!"
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed.
"Never. Not in a million years!" Ash yelled. This wasn't the first time Team Rocket had tried to swipe Pikachu...but obviously, none of their plans worked before. Ash didn't want one of their plans to start working now!
"That's too bad," James answered. "Since you won't give him to us, we'll just have to TAKE HIM FROM YOU!" He pulled a Pokeball out, and shouted, "Coffing! Poison gas attack, now!" A strange, roundish looking Pokemon emerged from the ball.
"Coffing!" Greenish-brownish gas started to come from the Pokemon. But Ash wasn't about to give up now!
"Butterfree, I choose you!" He shouted. He threw the Pokeball and out came a butterfly-related Pokemon. "Butterfree, wind gust attack! Blow that poison gas back at them!"
Butterfree flapped his wings furiously. The gas was blown back into Team Rocket's faces...not to mention Coffing's. Coffing dropped to the ground, but Team Rocket covered their faces and ran away. For a few moments, Ash and his friends couldn't see them. They'd even hoped that they had left.
"Maybe they're gone," Misty said.
"Ha! You think we'd let you beat us that easily? You underestimate us!" Jessie shouted. They were on the balcony surrounding the room.
"Okay, my turn!" Brock shouted. "Geodude, go!" He flung a Pokeball at Team Rocket, and a Pokemon that looked like a boulder with fists came out.
"Arbok, go!" Jessie yelled. Arbok was a huge cobra snake, and Geodude was no match. Ash decided to help.
"Pikachu, go fight with Geodude! Thunderbolt, now!" He yelled.
"Geodude, tackle him!" Brock yelled.
Poor Arbok looked from Pikachu to Geodude, confused about what to do. Pikachu's electric shock made him weak, and then Geodude's tackle knocked him down. Jessie growled.
"Hmph! Arbok, return! Meowth, you're our last chance. Go out there and FIGHT!" Jessie shouted. Meowth looked doubtful.
"You want Meowth to fight TWO Pokemon?" He asked. One glance at Jessie and James' glares and Meowth was out there in a flash.
Brock sighed. "Geodude, return. Pikachu can handle this guy on his own." Geodude went back into the Pokeball Brock held out. Pikachu turned toward Meowth and frowned menacingly. Meowth stuck out his claws, and swiped at Pikachu, but Pikachu dodged to the side, and when Meowth wasn't looking, gave him an electric shock.
"Meoowwwwwth!" Meowth ran back to Team Rocket (well, as fast as he could, being injured and all...)
"Oooh," Jessie yelled. "You haven't heard the last of us! I still have one more Pokemon....Lick-a-Tongue, go!" She threw a Pokeball in front of Pikachu, and out came a Pokemon with a gigantic tongue. Before Pikachu could even move, Lick-a-Tongue had his tongue on him and Pikachu fell.
"Oh, no!" Ash cried. "Now what?"
"Ash!" Misty whispered. "Don't forget your Sandshrew!" Ash smiled.
"Hey, thanks Misty. Sandshrew, I choose you!" Out came another Pokeball, and out came the Sandshrew he had caught earlier.
"Huh?" Team Rocket was surprised. They had no idea that Ash had a Sandshrew.
"All right Lick-a-Tongue, get him!" Jessie shouted. The Sandshrew did what came natural...it rolled up into a ball for protection. When the tongue reached him, it had no affect on the Sandshrew. Lick-a-Tongue brought his tongue back, surprised, and Sandshrew unrolled. Suddenly, he started to run forward, then he went into a ball and came at the Lick-a-Tongue like a bowling ball. Lick-a-Tongue went flying, and landed in front of Team Rocket. Jessie and James cried out in surprise.
"You think you can get away with beating us just with POKEMON?" Jesse yelled. "We have hands too, you know. What's to stop us from kidnapping you!?" Ash turned to his friends in surprise.
"Well," he said to Team Rocket, "There are three of us, plus our Pokemon, against the two of you and your combined 4 Pokemon. You don't stand a chance!" He laughed.
"Oh yeah?" James taunted. "We can still try, can't we? Or are you afraid of fighting human to human?"
"No way!" Ash cried out. "We could beat you any day!"
James and Jessie ran at them, and Ash, Misty, and Brock were ready for them. Pikachu, however, was getting tired of how Team Rocket was acting. There was no way he would let them hurt his friends...and his master!
"Pika...CHU!" Pikachu sent a gigantic lightning bolt toward Team Rocket, and they flew back through the air.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They shouted as they disappeared.
"Good going, Pikachu," Ash said. "So, Misty, are you still afraid of ghosts in this place?" He asked. Misty shook her head.
"Not really, but still....you never know..." She began looking around nervously.
Brock laughed. "Oh, come on Misty. Ghosties and ghoulies are for little kids. Do you really believe..."
"OOOOOHHHHHHHWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
"AAHHH!" Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu all let out a surprised cry. They dashed for the door and crashed through it since it was locked. Off they went down the path...to their next adventure somewhere else.