Disclaimer: Pokemon still doesn't belong to me. Can you believe it? I do, however, own a rather nice set of never before used shoulder pads. But that's something else.

"Right," said Brock, standing and looking down at Ash and Misty, "I'm going to go see if I can find something for us to eat." Ash beamed up at him. "One of you two," he continued, "should stay and watch our thing and the other should go find some firewood." The younger boy's face fell. They had just sat down. Brock grinned at him, then, grabbing a bag to carry his spoils, turned and strode out of the cave.

Misty stood and walked to the cave's entrance. She looked up at the heavily leaden sky. "It's going to start raining any minute. If we want our firewood to be any good, you should go get some right away." She paused, gave him a brief moment to contradict her, then pressed on before he had a chance to respond. "After all, you're the one who got us lost out her." She said jokingly. Still no answer.

She turned around, and a small smile spread across her face. Both of Ash's arms were wrapped around a small, flat rock which he was using as a pillow. His hat was slipping sideways over his face, and one of his legs was curled almost up to his chest. He had fallen asleep.

Still smiling, Misty walked over and knelt next to him. She carefully took off his hat and sat it nearby. One of his feet twitched slightly, but he did not wake up. With a gentle hand, she brushed his thick, black hair away from his eyes.

"Pika?" came a little voice from her elbow. Misty jumped, then saw Pikachu watching her curiously.

She held a finger to her lips. "Shh, don't wake him up." She turned back to Ash, and said in a whisper, "I'll go get the firewood." She gave his head a last, gentle stroke then rose and headed towards the cave entrance. "Do you want to come, Pikachu?"

Pikachu glanced between his sleeping trainer and Misty, an amused expression on his face. Well, Pikapi was asleep, and perhaps if he went with Pikachupi he could find out what that had been about. With a nod and a "Pi," he followed Misty.

Misty walked out of the cave, removing Togepi from her backpack. Pikachu followed her, and the two Pokemon began walking into the trees, having what sounded to be an earnest conversation. Misty glanced over her shoulder at the cave entrance. She could still see Ash curled up amongst the rocks. What had just happened? She shook her head in exasperation and followed the pokemon, eyes scanning the forest floor for dry firewood.

***

Ash opened one eye a crack and stared after Misty's retreating figure, a rather stunned expression playing across his face. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but whatever it was, it hadn't been that.

He felt slightly guilty. He had been asleep at first, but he had woken when Misty had knelt beside him. He hadn't intended to pretend to be asleep, but when he felt her hands in his hair, he hadn't dared open his eyes, and after she had volunteered to get the fire wood, he still hadn't dared, knowing she would either be furious or furiously embarrassed if she knew he had been awake all that time. So he had kept still and quiet.

He sat up, rubbing the back of his neck thoughtfully. Maybe he should have just agreed to get the firewood himself in the first place. Or maybe he should have opened his eyes as soon as he had woken up. Why hadn't he? Well, he answered himself, partly because you were afraid of getting yelled at, partly because you were curious and wanted to see what she would do next, and partly because you just didn't want her to stop.

He sight and shook his head. Thinking about it was just too confusing. He still felt guilty, though. Well, he might as well do something useful while he was waiting for the others to get back.

The boy crawled over to his backpack and began burrowing. Clothes. Rubber gloves. Underwear. Clothesline. Pajamas. His- why did he even have that?! "Ha! Found it!" he cried, emerging and triumphantly holding aloft a flashlight. Ash grinned. He could now explore their home for the night thoroughly. Not that there seemed to be much to explore, but you never knew. Maybe there would even be a pokemon hidden in one of the shadowy corners near the back.

His explorations were proving to be not nearly as entertaining as he has hoped. It had taken him not quite two minutes to follow the walls of the cave nearly all the way around. He had left his hat by the cave wall where Misty had set it as a marker, so he could be sure he went all the way around and didn't miss anything. He needn't have bothered. There was nothing to miss. He had even crawled for a little while, looking for any hidden tunnels near the ground. Nothing.

Thunder rumbled outside. Now he was just getting board. He hoped Misty, Brock, and Pikachu would be back soon. Preferably with food. Thunder again, then the rain started. Not heavy yet just a few drops. He could hear them spattering on the rocks outside. Bother exploring. Turning off his flashlight, which hadn't really been needed any way, he began to stride briskly back towards his hat. When he experienced the unfortunately familiar sensation of the ground giving way beneath him.

This "pit," however, was really quite different from Team Rocket's pits. Team Rocket's pits broke open, dropped you a few yards, and left you there. This pit caved in and slid you down a very steep and gravely incline that slid with you. And it seemed to keep going for a very long time.

Ash cried out when he felt the ground collapsing beneath him and grabbed for the edge, which broke off and came rolling down with him as soon as his fingers closed over it. He scrabbled desperately, trying to find a hold somewhere. He kicked his feet into the slope beneath him, trying to find some purchase. Nothing worked. He was caught in a miniature rock slide, and the surface beneath his stomach was moving down just as fast as he was. He struggled, attempting an odd, upward swimming motion, but that only got more dirt in his face and small rocks down the back of his shirt.

He seemed to slide like that for a very long time before the pit finally decided to drop him. Along with all the dirt and gravel that had been accompanying him, he shot out over what seemed to be a ledge of solid rock and fell. He had had just enough time to wonder how far he was going to fall like this, when he hit the ground. Hard.

For a while, Ash simply lay there, assuring himself that he was no longer falling and that all of his body parts were still attached. He took another moment to be grateful that he wasn't completely buried. He wasn't even half buried. All right. He supposed the first thing he should do was to have a look around. He opened his eyes. It was pitch black. Ok, first thing, see if he could find his flashlight.

The boy pushed himself into a sitting position, and immediately lay back down. Change of plans. First thing: wait for his head to stop pounding and his stomach to settle back into its usual location before the small amount of food he had managed to get down that day came back up.

After a few minutes, he decided to try sitting again, and eventually managed it. Just about everything hurt, and his left arm didn't seem to be working quite right. He supposed he had landed on it. Nevertheless, he brushed as much of the dirt and gravel off of himself as he could and, with a groan, pushed himself to his knees. Light. He needed light, so he could see how far he had fallen and if it was possible to climb back up. He had dropped his flashlight when the ground had given way, so…

He put his hand to his belt, reaching for Charizard's poke-ball, and felt nothing. He began to feel a small seed of panic taking root in the depths of his stomach. Where were his poke-balls? Where was his poke-belt? Even though he knew it was useless, and his right shoulder protested strongly, he continued to search his waist with both hands, as if his belt and its contents would suddenly reappear. It was no use.

He managed to calm down enough to register the fact that most of his clothes seemed to be torn and slightly damp in places, and to realize that his belt must have come off some time during the long slide down. Still on his knees, he groped around on the ground, trying to find his poke-balls by feel.

"Come on," he said aloud. They had to be around somewhere. "Come on!" It was no use. He wouldn't be able to find them without light, or with out help. He was now trying not to panic. Misty and Brock should be back soon, and Pikachu would be with them. They'd notice he was gone, see the hole in the ground, and come looking for him. They would have flashlights, and Pikachu could use flash, and they could find his Pokemon and get out of there.

Ash began to clam down. Yes, that was what would happen, and while he was waiting, he could keep looking by feel, maybe try to figure out exactly what kind of pit he had fallen into and- His train of thought broke off, and he stared into the blackness. He could swear it looked a bit lighter over to his left. Or maybe less black was a better term. He squinted hard, and thought he could almost see what looked like the walls of a tunnel of some kind. Maybe there was another way out, and he wouldn't have to wait. He could go get help right away.

He stood anything was better than just waiting around here. He took off his vest and laid it on the ground in what he hoped resembled the shape of an arrow pointing the way he was going to go, in case the others came looking for him.

After a few moments of groping, he found one of the stone walls of the pit and paced his hand on it. "Hang on, guys," he said to his missing Pokemon. "I'll come back and get you as soon as I find a way out of here." Then he set off, heading to what he was now fairly sure was actually light of some kind and not just a trick of the eyes, one hand brushing the wall, and trying not to look as nervous as he felt, even though there was no one to see.

The trip down the strange tunnel was not at all pleasant. On the plus side, it was wide and tall enough for him to walk upright, and as far as he could tell, did not branch off. On the other hand, it was damp and smelled like a shower that needed cleaning, the walls and ground were very rough, and Ash kept tripping and falling on very uncomfortable pieces of rock.

But there was light ahead, although Ash was becoming less and less sure it was daylight. It had an odd, flickering quality to it. Not reddish like the light of a fire though. More blue, like-

The passage lit up with a wavering green light, and Ash was acutely aware of the water soaking into his sneakers and through his socks. He pulled his foot back and looked around, fascinated. The tunnel had opened out into a small cavern. The strange light was coming from the lake he had just stepped into. So much for another way out.

It was eerie. He supposed he should just turn and head back, but the flickering light coming from the phosphorescent lake intrigued him. He could see that the lake was not really that big. It only filled about a quarter of the cavern. The light of the lake was slowly dimming to a dull, green glow. He supposed he must have stirred it up when he stepped in it. Going back definitely looked like a good idea.

He turned around, then swallowed nervously. The passage he had come through should have at least been somewhat illuminated by the dimming light of the lake. Instead, it seemed to be darker than it had been before his toe had touched the water. A creeping, seething, tangible sort of dark. He began edging backwards, around the rim of the lake. The shadows crept out of the passage after him.

Now he was getting scared. It was just a trick of the light. It had to be. The light from the lake had almost completely faded. He kicked a stone into the lake, thinking any light was better than none. He immediately wished he hadn't. The water lit up again, a bright blue-green. The shadows on the ceiling and walls appeared to be crawling.

"Ash…" Ash jumped, breathing hard.

"Who… Who's there?" "Ash… Intruder…"

The shadows from the passage rushed out along the walls, merging with those on the ceiling. Intruder… The words sounded more like an echo than a real voice.

"I didn't mean to. I was just trying to find a way out," he called, not knowing to who or what he was speaking.

"It was an accident. I fell down by accident."

Ash didn't even bother asking what that meant. He had to get out of here. Now. "Oh yeah?" He tried to keep the fear out of his voice, make it sound angry instead. "Well, you're not going to get me without a fight!" He made a dash for the tunnel, not thinking what he would do when he got back to where he started. He would do whatever he had to.

A barrier of shadow sprang up to block his way, looking thick enough to be tangible. He skidded to a halt. He didn't know if he could pass through it or not, but some instinct told him that he did not want to try. Did not want to even touch it, whatever it was.

The little bits of shadow scurried faster along the ceiling, moving closer together. Ash could have sworn he heard them laughing. "What are you and what do want me for? Come out!" He had to get out, get his pokemon, and warn Misty and Brock to stay away.

Ash watched in fascinated horror as the shadows cast by the light of the lake seemed to coalesce, solidify, joining into an almost recognizable shape, and slide through the air towards him. His last thought before it surrounded him was a hope that his friends would escape this fate.

Notes: Yet again, apologies for the long wait between chapters. I don't even have an excuse this time, other than the fact that real life exists. Humf.

Ok, now a little warning. Ash is my favorite character. Unfortunately, I'm one of those authors who makes lots of horrible stuff happen to her favorite characters, so Ash, much as I love him, will probably not be having a very good time. I'll feel guilty about it afterwards, and have to think of some way to make it up to him.

Now, to my reviewers. Thank you so much, all of you! I always read every single review I get, and it really makes my day. I've had several requests for AAMRN, and to those of you who asked, don't worry. I have plans. :) Also, both the kids and Team Rocket will show up again later.

About Ash's pokemon. I haven't quite decided what team of pokemon I want Ash to have with him. Pikachu, of course. He has Charizard (let's just say Charizard has come back by this time) and Bulbasaur (same with him,) but I haven't been able to decide on the last three.

That's about it. Next chapter is on it's way, and while you're waiting, please review this one. I can never get too many reviews. :)