Sleeping Ash

Chapter One

With the help of her beloved Beautifly & Blaziken, May had finally reached the summit of Mt. Silver. Greeted by a sharp blizzard, May was unable to see anything but fog and rocks covered in snow. She had come a long way since the 10 year old girl from Petalburg City. Her planned trip to Johto had left her intrigued by Mt. Silver. Drew and Harley wouldn't touch the place, and she came back to find out why.

May's stomach violently growled. She went to pick a bottle of water out of her pocket and huffed at the orange ice refusing to budge. She looked up to Blaziken and asked, "can you use ember to thaw the drink out?"

Blaziken nodded as he received the bottle from May. Snowflakes breezed through Blaziken's nostrils as his head swayed three times and sneezed. Blocks of ember and balls of fire jumped out of his mouth. Beautifly quickly dodged the flames and hid behind May. The bottle dived into a limp of snow. May picked it up and tried to drink what she could of it.

The orange slush was too thick to ooze out of the bottle cap. May's throat was too dry to be patient. She opened the bottle cap and gulped lumps of orange slush. The heat from the burnt bottle transmitted into the pores of pink gloves and reached her hand.

May stopped drinking after the sharp tang reached her neck. She closed the bottle again and placed it in her pocket. She picked up her pokeballs and looked up to Blaziken and Beautifly.

"Both of you have been really helpful," May told them. With a smile on her face she opened the balls and returned them without another word. Now they can both stay warm, thought May. She walked forwards towards what seemed to be a silver tomb. May took her steps slowly, until she began to hear high pitched cries.

Sparks of thunder fought it's way through the fog. May wanted to step back, but her gut instinct demanded her to do the opposite. Those cries weren't just normal cries of a pokemon, there muffled, but aggressive. She scurried to the tomb and placed her ear against the top corner to her left. She could hear the pain in the cries. The sounds of banging to get out.

A pikachu was trapped inside that tomb.

"PIKACHU!" May shouted. "CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Pikachu's crying ceased, but Pikachu responded with stutters muffled in tears. "Don't worry, Pikachu," May assured the electric mouse. "We're going to get you out!"

May jumped to her feet and dragged the lid to the tomb away, and eventually the lid splattered on the floor. The yellow mouse with red circles around his cheeks jumped out of the tomb. Pikachu landed on May's shoulder and pinched her shoulder for all his life. May could feel Pikachu's tears drip onto her neck: they were piping hot.

Out of curiosity, May leaned over in the tomb to see what else was there. May gulped and saw a young boy in a slumber. The boy must have been around the same age as her or maybe not, she thought. May's arm hopped into the tomb and tapped on the boy's shoulder. The boy rolled over straight. May's stomach churned and her heart shook in the sensation of what she witnessed. The boy was a mate. A very dear friend. One of the best soul mates she ever had. Ash Ketchum and his pikachu had been caged into that tomb, but by who?

May hopped into the tomb and shook Ash's shoulders. "Ash..." May's fingers crawled to his lips. "Please don't be dead." May's eyes glistened as the snowflakes hit Ash's face. Still nothing. "Wake up Ash," May begged. "Please wake up, we need you."

"He won't die today,"announced a female voice. The voice had a fake vibe of sincerity that reminded May of poisoned honey. "But he will never wake up."

May panted as she got up and faced the lady. The lady was as pale as her white dress and sandals. A pink transparent shoal served as a scarf with a parasol over her head. Friendly brown eyes, model's lips and long locks of scarlet hair with her fringe platted around her forehead. She blended into the fog when she took a step backwards.

"Who are you?" May asked.

"Dahlia Hawthorne," the lady said. She lowered her head, closed her eyes and smiled. "You must be May?"

"That's correct," May muttered. She gulped and asked, "How did you know my name?"

"Ash says he's had many friends," Dahlia replied. She opened her eyes and took a step closer to May. "But he's told me all about you, May. Blaziken and Beautifly, where they your first two pokemon?"

May nodded.

"They are enchanting," Dahlia said with a smile. She looked up to May and giggled. "You're very beautiful May," Dahlia told May. "He was right... you had the most beautiful blue eyes in the world."

Pikachu growled and flashed his teeth. May figured that Pikachu was mortified and that Dahlia was responsible for Ash falling into a comotose. Dahlia's compliments were just to distract her. "What have you done to Ash?" May barked.

"I haven't done anything," Dahlia ensured. Her parasol spun around as she denied any harm was conflicted at Ash. "Ash has not been harmed. He's just a little sleeping beauty for the moment. The gods have great plans for him."

"How did he get there?" May asked. Ash might not have had any bruises, but Pikachu was covered with both physical and mental scares. "How did you meet you? And why did you just leave them there? Did you want them to DIE?"

Dahlia chuckled. "You're so sweet," she cackled with a burst of enthusiasm in her voice. "It would be so mean to hide things from you, especially as you care about him so much." She tip-toed around the tomb as May kept her eyes on Dahlia. "You see, I'm permanently retired. I've been a wondering soul since my retirement and also lonely. Then I meet this energetic guy named Ash, who was exactly who I needed to make the gods happy and for my revenge complete..."

"Your revenge?" May spat. "Why did you use a complete stranger as part of your revenge plan? Did the gods choose him?"

"Do you want Ash back?" Dahlia asked. The tone in her voice was a lot more morbid. She grinned and she stopped walking. May knew that Dahlia wasn't going to give a reply to those questions."You like travelling don't you?"

"Yes," May answered. "To both of those questions."

"Then I shall set you a task," Dahlia announced. She smirked as her lips dropped into a neutral smile. "I believe it isn't very complicated."

"What is it?" May asked in anguish. "I'd do anything as long it wakes Ash up!"

"Now listen very carefully," Dahlia demanded. "I shall say this... only once."

"I'm listening."

"I will give you a master ball, what I want you to do with the master ball is to go to Hazakura and catch me a meloetta so we can use it's magic to revive Ash."

"But Meloetta's a rare pokemon," May stated, "How can I capture it?"

"Meloetta walks around the Hazakura area. If you don't see her in the temple, you'll see her on Dusky Bridge."

May accepted the master ball from Dahlia, examined the purple ball and noticed the yellow m on the ball. After looking at the ball, she placed it one of her pockets in her coat.

"Where do I find Hazakura?" May asked. "And what does Meloetta look like?"

"You'll have to find that out for yourself," Dahlia replied. "I don't know anymore."

"Are you sure Ash will be fine?"

"He will be safe and sound, as long you don't mention me," Dahlia requested. She smiled and clenched her parasol. "If you ever say my name the curse will kill Ash. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," May replied.

"Now you must go, find out where Hazakura is and capture Meloetta!" Dahlia shouted. "Oh and one more thing before you go..."

"What's that?" May turned her back on Dahlia but her eyes were still on her. Pikachu remained as mad at Dahlia as ever.

"You have three days. Ash will die if you don't hurry."

Pikachu screamed and launched bolts of thunder at Dahlia. Dahlia remained unaffected, as she stood there with a wicked smile on her face.

May legged it.