Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.  If I did, I would not be doing this right now.  Enjoy!

So there is no confusion, all the characters are the same age and appear as they do in the TV Series.

Summary:  On their way back home to Pallet for the holidays, Ash, Misty, and Brock are suffering from the intense cold.  So, when they come across an old, decrepit mansion in the middle of the woods, they'll do anything to get warmed up...

Midnight!  Pokéball Go!

by Spruceton Spook

Part 1:

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful...

            Cold. Hungry. Tired.

            Those were the only three words that escaped out of Ash's chattering teeth as he sauntered on through the dismal, desolate woods.  He clutched Pikachu closely to his chest as the poor Pokémon shivered uncontrollably.  A few paces behind him, his pals Misty and Brock ambled on lifelessly. 

            Misty slowed occasionally to pull her backpack in front of her to check on Togepi, who was avoiding the freezing temperatures bundled up in Misty's extra clothes.  He was sleeping most of the time, but infrequently he would cry silently for some food.  

            Another strong, frigid wind blew, picking up swirls of freshly fallen leaves.  The wind never seemed to cease lately, and for about the hundredth time, Ash needed to grab his hat before it blew freely off his head.  With a heavy sigh, he stopped, set Pikachu down, and pried open the hat's adjustable tabs to make it tighter.  He groaned as he pulled the hat that was two times too small over his head.

            Brock kept walking, but Misty had stopped with Ash.  She shivered as she watched him struggle to pull the hat down.

            "Ash, if you make that hat any tighter, you'll cut off the circulation to your head," she warned in a shaky voice.

            Ash picked up his freezing Pokémon once again and looked at her.  "I'm not gonna lose my hat, Misty."

            "Then take it off.  Or be a gentleman and give it to me!  I'm freezing!"  

            Her complaining made Ash even colder.  He shrugged and began to walk again, swiftly now to catch up with Brock. 

            Misty jogged alongside him in a desperate attempt to warm her body.  The cold was really starting to get to her.  She didn't mind it at first, because it wasn't really that bad up until about two days ago, when the temperatures decided to drop a tremendous twenty degrees.  Sleeping outdoors in it was the worst.  Last night they had no choice, there was no Pokémon Center or town nearby.  Today, they were hoping on reaching the next town, where they could find some shelter, and perhaps a bite to eat.

            They had been heading back to Pallet Town for about two weeks now.  Ash and the others were well on there way to various locations involved with the Johto League, but Ash was still unsuccessful with winning a badge.  All he had on his mind lately was being home again for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and taking a well deserved vacation.  He had wanted to win a badge first, but since they had been far from Pallet, Brock insisted that they would have to start heading back if Ash wanted to get there in time.  Reluctant at first, it was the cold weather that had really convinced Ash to forget about the badge, and concentrate on thinking about the comforts of his house.

            Now mid-November, the three were all bundled up in the warmest clothes they had with them, which were really not that suitable for such cold temperatures in the first place.  Misty was very unprepared, and as soon as the cold weather hit and there was a town nearby, she purchased as many warm shirts as her money allowed her. Ash and Brock both had one warm outfit packed each, but when Misty had suggested they buy more clothes, they refused.  Brock told her there were more important things to spend their money on.  

            Even though Misty was dressed the warmest, she complained the most out of all of them.  She was not used to traveling in the cold, and the mountains surrounding the Johto territory were not that appealing.  She especially hated it, though, when they were traveling through lonely, uncivilized areas, such as the woods they were in now, where they could freeze to death and no one would ever find them. 

            "That's it!" she cried loudly, lowering herself into a squatting position with her arms around her.  Ash and Brock stopped and looked back at her.

            "What's the matter?" Ash asked.

            "It's too cold to walk anymore!" she replied, embracing herself.  "Brock, can you start a fire or something?!  I can't feel my hands anymore!"

            Brock lowered his heavy backpack to the ground. "I know it's cold, but if you want to get to the next town, we can't keep making little pit stops like this!"

            Misty didn't answer.  She looked up at Ash, noticing that he himself was looking pretty worn also.  She smiled slightly.

            "Ash is cold, too!"

            Ash stood there shivering, but said determinedly, "No I'm not."

            Misty sighed, and Brock shrugged, reaching into his back pocket for the matches.

            Misty smiled nicely this time. "Thank you! Finally!"

            Ash decided to sit down with her and Brock began to make a small mound of twigs and sticks to use as the fire.  Misty crawled over to Brock's bag, and pulled out large, insulated blanket that she had bought for them a few towns back.  It was too large to keep in her bag, and Brock truly "loved" carrying it for them.  Misty sat down and wrapped it around herself as she watched Brock start the fire.

            "Hey, don't hog it!" Ash said, grabbing a handful of the blanket.  

            "What are you talking about?" Misty shot back.  "You said you weren't cold, so too bad!"

            Ash ignored her, and pulled at the blanket even harder.  Feeling bad, Misty released it and let him slip in underneath it.  

            "Come on inside, Pikachu," said Ash, letting Pikachu curl up in a piece of it.

            "Pika," sighed Pikachu with relief as he closed his eyes.  It was the warmest he had been the whole day.

            Brock finished the fire, and the three exhausted trainers sat there speechless for about ten minutes.  Finally, Brock reached into one of his pockets, and pulled out the so called handy map (which had gotten them lost more times than it did to help them find places), and looked at it skeptically.

            "Guys, I don't know if we'll get to the next town before dark," he said downheartedly, looking first at Ash and then at Misty.

            Misty groaned. "I am not sleeping out here tonight!"

            Brock shrugged. "Well, we might not have a choice," he replied, folding the map back up. "Unless. . .we get going now, and keep up a strong pace."

            Misty hopped up.  "Fine, let's go then!"

            Ash looked at Brock.  "God help her if she ever wants to climb Mt. Everest," he said with a snicker.

            The three packed up as quickly as they could, and started out once again.  As they put more of the forest behind them, it began to open up more, and before they knew it, they came across a large open field.  What they saw next completely astonished them.  Right before their eyes stood a massive, but awful looking mansion. Its yard was weed-strewed and battered, but it did take away from the mansion's depressing, dilapidated appearance.  

            "What is this place?" Ash asked, looking up at the mansion's dark windows.  They stood out easily against the mansion's white, chipping exterior.  Some windows still had red shutters attached to them, but others were bare.

            "Looks like some sort of mansion, or a hotel," answered Brock.

            The three approached the mansion's front stoop, and Pikachu hopped out of Ash's arms to investigate.

            Misty walked up to one of the low windows to look in.  "Think anyone's home?" she asked, glancing back at Ash and Brock.

            Ash had already made his way up onto the mansion's front porch.  He gazed into one of the windows, but could barely make out a thing.  

            "Don't know.  It doesn't look too busy to me."

            Brock joined Ash on the porch.  The three stood silently, but no noise came from either the mansion or the yard.

            "Looks deserted," Brock stated.  "Or at least nobody's home right now."

            Misty began to hop up and down excitedly.  "So I guess they wouldn't mind if we borrowed it for a while, would they?"

            "I don't know, Misty," Ash said wearily.  "I don't think it's nice to just barge into someone's house.  Besides, how the hell are we gonna get into the place?"

            "Pikachu, pika chu pi!" Pikachu yelped wildly, hopping up and down at the front door.

            "What's up, Pikachu?" Ash asked, kneeling down.

            "Pi!" he replied, pointing up at the doorknob.

            "I think Pikachu's telling us to try the door," said Brock.

            Ash stood up, and grasped the doorknob in his hand.   He slowly turned it.  It wouldn't budge at first, but Ash could feel that it was not locked.  Tightening his grip on the knob, Ash jammed at it, and the door swung forcefully open, revealing a dark and uninviting corridor before them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

            "Jessie, I'm cold!" James whined, shivering irrepressibly.  

            He, as was Jessie, was dressed only in his Team Rocket uniform.  Although he had the full advantage of being completely covered, he tried his best not to feel bad for Jessie, who he caught often shaking.   It was her idea in the first place to keep going, while he and Meowth insisted on giving up for a while and returning to the headquarters, where they could acquire some warmer clothing.  Jessie refused; they were this close now, and if they wanted a Christmas bonus this year, they would at least attempt to bring Pikachu back home with them.

            Jessie, James, and Meowth were crouched behind a bush.  For the past three hours since they had first caught sight of the twerps, they followed them silently, waiting for the perfect moment to attack.  The cold had certainly set them back, however.  Jessie tried not to show it, but James could tell she was suffering.

            "Jessie, I'm cold!" he repeated, although more emphasized this time.

            Jessie glared back at him.  "Quit whining, James!  We can't give up now.  We're hot on those twerps' trail!"

            "Hot isn't exactly the word I'd use in the situation," Meowth mumbled.

            "You two are such wimps!" she cried, returning her attention back to Ash and the others.  "Hey, look what they're doing now."

            "Huh?" James and Meowth said simultaneously, as they focused on the three unsuspectful kids prowling around the mansion.

            "What are they doing there?" Meowth asked.

            Jessie shook her head, and pulled out her binoculars.  Through them, she could make out Ash fingering with the doorknob.  She gasped slightly to herself.

            "I can't believe it," she muttered.

            "What is it?" James replied.

            Meowth noticed the same thing.  "They're breaking into da joint!"

            "Really?"  James grabbed the binoculars out of Jessie hand.  He smiled energetically.

            "Hey, maybe we can break in there too and get warm!" he suggested.

            Jessie grabbed the binoculars back.  "Are you crazy?" she exclaimed.  She stood up.  

            "Come on," she ordered as she began to walk towards the mansion.  James and Meowth were pacing slowly behind her.

            "What do you have in mind, Jess?" James asked, suddenly amazed at the size of the grandeur before them.

            "Something doesn't seem right," she replied.  "Those goody two-shoes would never do something illegal like that.  There must be something else we don't know about."

            Jessie stopped in front of the front porch, which, moments ago, was occupied by their arch-enemies.  James stopped too, but Meowth walked straight up onto the porch.  He glared through one of the windows.

            "Don't see them anywhere in there," he said.

            "Fine," Jessie replied.  "For now, let's stay low."

            James began to moan. Even though he knew Jessie was just as cold as he was, he wasn't going to protest.  Jessie had something up her sleeve, and by this time they were ready to try anything.  They would have to succeed some time, and maybe the hundredth time was the charm.

TO BE CONTINUED. . . .