To Pikachu's surprise the front door was wide open but everyone had gone to sleep hours ago. It slowly walked out into the front yard but there was no sign of anyone anywhere. Again it heard the same sound coming from some bushes next to it so Pikachu decided to check what it was. It ran into the bushes and ran to the backyard but there was no one there.

As Pikachu decided to give it up it turned around and ran into a shadowy figure. It stood in defense mode and sparks wildly danced from its red cheeks preparing itself in case it had to put up a fight. The figure simply lifted an arm and put it to its lips and blew a pink sort of fume at Pikachu. When the pink fume reached its nose Pikachu fell asleep.

"Pikachu! Pika pi!" Ash suddenly sat up as he heard his best friend calling out to him from the room's door. He blinked quickly to clear his vision from the fuzzy sight of having his eyes closed for so long. He saw Pikachu standing at the door and saw it standing in two legs and pointing towards the end of the hallway.

Ash got up and headed to the door as he said in a groggy, sleepy voice. "What is it Pikachu?"

"Pika pika. Pika…chu. Chu!" Pikachu ran towards the front door and Ash followed behind the small yellow mouse and asked. "Hey, where are we goin'?"

Ash chased Pikachu outside the front door, once out he saw Pikachu turn towards the back but as he was about to follow his friend he froze and looked back at the front door. He asked himself how on Earth it was wide open in the middle of the night and especially when everyone was sound asleep. He ignored it and went after Pikachu to see what was wrong. Once he reached the backyard he carefully looked around.

The backyard was huge. It had a white picket fence with thin vines raiding up from the ground of it and it surrounded the entire yard. There was a small pond with a ceramic bridge crossing over the small pond and some green bushes decorated the south side of the fence. In the middle of the yard was a wooden swing that had been painted white and by the looks of it very used.

Ash walked towards the swing and sat on it and began to swing smoothly back and forth in a slow rhythm. He looked down on the grass as the night air gently swept through it. As the air hit him he felt a cold chill announcing the coming of winter which was only two months away. A sudden peace overwhelmed him; he inhaled deeply and looked up at the night sky. There was a beautiful and enchanting full moon in the sky shinning its soft silvery light down on the Earth. Despite the fact the doctor's house was close to the town there was a deep silence, there were cars and a main road but the sound of car engines ripping through the black concrete path was absent.

A rustle in the bushes disturbed his inner peace and he need not guess or even bother to look into the bushes to see who or what that was. He sighed deeply and stood up and as he turned around he received a harsh slap in the face. The slap had been given to him by none other than Eriscordia. His face had been thrown to the left side by the harsh greeting, Ash kept still and turned his eyes toward her and said coldly.

"Nice to see you too."

Eriscordia was furious and had no patience for his smart mouth; she tightened her fist in anger. Ash saw that and turned towards her and put his hands behind his back and a grin invaded his face which of course angered Eriscordia even more.

"How dare you! It all would have worked out better if you would have gotten rid of that little witch and her father!"

"Ohh! I see…you…were using me to do your dirty work. Is that right?"

"Oh please! Get over yourself. You enjoyed every second of it, you loved hearing all those…people screaming for their lives and you loved watching the town get ripped apart."

At that minute Ash actually snarled at her. Eriscordia of course smiled in a way that made him see just how he was turning. She laughed and said. "You and I are alike. We have the same vile, nasty, dark and evil hearts buried in our chests, you just have to let go and let your true colors fly."

"Don't for one second think you and I are anything alike!"

"Oh, but we are alike. You just don't want to see it but you have all ready changed both inside and out, I know it, they know it and most importantly…you know it." As she said that she put her index finger on his nose and turned around to look at the pond. Ash followed her to keep a close eye on her in case she tried anything and said.

"Fine. I know I…changed somehow but that doesn't make me any less like me. Or any more like you for that matter."

"Well, I know this much for certain." She grabbed him by the chin and gripped tightly as she said in a low whisper to add more to the intimidating threat which of course just fueled his desire to be less like her as she put it. "The way I see it is you either join me or…perish."

Ash looked at her coldly and as he grabbed her by the wrist he tightened his grip and said in a cold matter as he kept tightening his grip. "I'd rather "perish" than to join you and your little sick and twisted games. I know all about you, we were told about what you did." At that very second Eriscordia laughed and said. "Oh, please! Those people will say anything to get you to side with them. They fear you and would rather be in your good side for their sake than to truly trust you."

Ash slapped her hand away and harshly snapped back. "That's not true!"

Eriscordia stood there smiling while Ash just stood there seriously looking at her, there was a part of him, which believed her, and a part which refused to believe a single word coming from her. It was a no win situation for him, he didn't know the Nevalainens well enough to actually fully trust them but he knew Eriscordia played dirty. Eriscordia lifted her shoulders and walked up to him and said in a calm voice.

"Well, you have your facts. You do what you want but if you stand in my way I will not hesitate to take action."

"Neither will I."

Eriscordia smiled yet again and said in a foul manner this time as she swiftly waved her hand and a pink dust like substance was created around her. She walked towards him and gently passed her finger on top of his lips and said. "It's a date then." Having said that she disappeared into the pink substance and vanished into the night.

Ash was furious by Eriscordia's words. He could feel the anger rising from within, he felt like torching a tree to try and cool down. He snarled lowly and as he turned around he heard the bushes rustling and from them walked out Pikachu who had been asleep in the bushes.

"Pika?"

Ash smiled at the electric mouse and picked it up and said after he let out a loud yawn. "It's pretty late. Let's go back inside, what do you say, buddy?"

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu lifted its paw in the air and smiled at its trainer and both walked back into the house to get some sleep. Once back in bed Ash could not stop thinking about how Eriscordia said they were exactly the same inside. Those words bothered him to no end but he couldn't help but agree with her at some points, he knew he wasn't the same anymore, not deep inside at least.

In the morning Eriscordia was walking through the park. As the sun was rising over the mountains the Pidgeys were up and chirping about as they flew through the sky searching for food. She sat on a bench and looked right into the town's buildings and saw some people walking towards the hospital. An idea sparked within her and a wicked smile shun in her face.

In the hospital Tanya and Marco were all ready sitting in the cafeteria having breakfast. The hearty meal was grand and in the table sat other nurses and doctors who were friends with Tanya and Marco. As they spoke and chattered other people walked inside and joined them for breakfast. After they were done Marco went on to the fifth floor and Tanya went to the front counter to see what she had for the day. Her first assignment was to check on some people in Intensive Care so she went to the elevators and punched in the third floor to get to work.

Once in the third floor she walked down the busy hallway towards the end of it to the IC room. When she arrived she was greeted by an old woman who had a serious heart attack the week before.

"Why, hello, darling. How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine, thank you Mrs. Cotton. So how are you?"

Mrs. Cotton lifted her hands in gesture and said. "I've seen better days, dear."

Both women chuckled and as Tanya put her clipboard down to check on some of the medical equipment she heard some screaming through the window. They looked at each other puzzled and Tanya ran to the window to get a glimpse of what was happening. Tanya reached the window and looked down on the street. What she saw shook her up rather badly.

Outside of the hospital stood Ash, he seemed rather angry and disturbed by something. Right behind him were several shadows in the shape of several different Pokémon. He slowly walked inside the hospital and as he did so did the shadows, he simply walked but the shadows shot out attacks such as Shadow Ball and Night Shade. Suddenly they all stopped and Ash looked right at the front counter and as he stared it caught on fire.

He stayed there as the shadows ran all over the hospital destroying some equipment and, they ran to every floor scaring people and destroying stuff. It seemed as if all they were doing was just damaging and not hurting people. Tanya ran down to the first floor and as she got out of the elevators her father saw her and ran to her and said. "It's Ash. He sent those shadows. We have to get everyone out of here."

Back in the house Ash, Karin, Brock, May, Max and Pikachu were in the backyard playing a bit of touch football. They had released all of their Pokémon to make things more interesting. As the huge group of kids and Pokémon played around they soon grew tired and just sat in the backyard and Skitty saw the pond and ran to it. At the edge it looked at its reflection and splashed around with its paws. Grovyle saw a tree and climbed it and sat in the tree's cool shade and remained relaxed as the rest of the Pokémon ran around.

Karin saw Grovyle and was in complete awe. She admired it from the bottom of the tree and said as Ash passed by. "Is that Grovyle yours?"

"Yeah."

"He's awesome. I always wanted to see one."

Symphony saw Grovyle and flew up to it and looked closely at it. It chirped and flew back down now that it had gotten a glimpse of the strange Pokémon up close. Karin and May went back in the house to gather a few snacks and drinks for themselves and the Pokémon as well. In the kitchen they took everything that was sweet and tasty, Oreos, Cameos and other snacks were snatched and about a dozen of cans of soda were also brought out.

As both girls took the snacks out Karin noticed a note on the kitchen counter, she took it and read it to herself and sighed. May saw her standing there and asked if there was something wrong and said. "Oh, nothing. Just a note saying I have to go into town and look for someone. Mind of you guys watch over the house while I go?"

"Sure, no problem. Are you sure you want to go by yourself? You could ask one of the guys to company you."

As May said that Ash and Brock walked in and overheard the conversation between the girls and Ash said. "I could go with you." Brock took the snacks out of May's hands and said. "You three go on, Max and I will look after the place."

Karin smiled and said. "Thanks Brock. Well, c'mon guys, Petrov's place ain't too far from here." As they said that the three kids went out into town to look for an old friend of the families. Petrov Zimmer was one of the people in Northbridge Town who knew the history better than anyone, better than Marco himself.

As the three young kids walked past the hospital they saw a huge crowd of people and police surrounding the hospital's entrance. They stopped for a minute to see what was going on and as an old woman laid eyes on Ash she screamed loudly and ran away. The crowd looked at the old woman who was pointing out at him as she ran and the entire crowd looked at him with fear. Officer Jenny walked over to Ash and said. "Hmmm, they always come back to the scene of the crime."

Ash looked at Karin and May and then at Officer Jenny and said. "What do you mean?" Officer Jenny pointed out at the hospital's entrance and they saw the hospital had been attacked by something. The walls looked like they had been burned and slashed by some creature with huge claws, there was a bit of a fire at the front counter which was being put out by a Mudkip and its trainer and the elevators had been destroyed. Officer Jenny took some handcuffs and said as she looked at Ash.

"I'm sorry but this for our own and good as yours as well."

"But I didn't do anything!"

Karin and May ran and stood in front of Ash and spread their arms as they tried to block Officer Jenny from arresting him for something he didn't do and Karin said. "Officer, he's been at our house all morning and night long. He hasn't left our sight for one minute."

"That's right! All we've been doing is playing with our Pokémon in Dr. Marco's backyard."

Marco and Tanya were very confused; they saw Ash tear the hospital apart with the help of some shadows but Karin and May were sure he was with them all along. Both looked at Officer Jenny but she wasn't so convinced but she said. "All right. I believe you guys."

As her words swept through the crowd everyone began to protest the officer's decision. Some people waved their fists in the air showing their anger and concern and some shook their heads but only a few tried to enforce the officer's choice.

"Now, now everyone! We mustn't argue with Officer Jenny!"

"What if he does it again and creates more chaos and injuries?" A man from the back protested as he held up a bat and waved it in the air in rage as a homicidal maniac would when his victim would escape. Another man then protested that statement by replying. "What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty!" The crowd then went into a frenzy which resulted in people fighting and arguing, nothing serious, it was mostly people calling each other names, some shoving each other and others just yelling.

Ash looked at the crowd and fell silent. How could a crowd become so out of control in only a matter of seconds? Mixed feelings of anger and sadness overwhelmed him, he tried to figure out a way to stop the madness but all he could do was stand there. If he pulled off an attack the crowd would just have more prove of him as something he wasn't. As he looked around he managed to tune out the crowd's angry screams and vulgar and harsh words. He also came to the realization that he had been set up by none other than Eriscordia herself, he figured she must have been angry by him ruining her plans.

As the crowd began to get a bit out of control as several people shoved each other and began to call one another very harsh names there was a sudden sound of an ear shattering screech that brought everyone down on their knees. All in the area covered their ears in a vain attempt to filter the maddening screech, the screech lasted for about two minutes and then all was silent. Everyone turned around only to look upon an old man beside a small Whismur. The old man had white hair and a gray streak on the right side, he had faint green eyes that let all who looked into them know he had seen plenty in this world. He wore a gray tailor suit that seemed to have been made in Europe or Italy; he had on a pair of very well shinned shoes of fine leather.

The old man walked towards the crowd with a very serious look on his face which indicated he was very disappointed in the sight before him. He walked up to Officer Jenny, Marco and Tanya and cleared his throat and said. "Last time I looked I lived in a town where people lived…not wild animals!" The man had a strange accent, as strange as Tanya's but more refined and deeper. The old man then looked at Ash and said just as seriously.

"You've caused quit a dilemma, young man. All I've heard are accusations and not once did I hear anyone say they have the evidence to back those accusations up."

A security guard came forward with a videotape and said to the old man. "We have him on footage causing this. Not to mention he was also responsible for the mess from yesterday." The old man grabbed the tape and said as he looked at Ash. "We're going to view this. Officer Jenny, Marco and I and if you are identified you will be locked up until we figure out what to do."

Karin and May gasped in horror but Ash remained silent as the ever rising anger within him began to burn away at him from inside and said in a cold manner. "But I did not do anything. I was at their freaking house the entire time! No, there's no tape to prove that I was but I am not lying! You have to believe me."

The old man shook his head and went into the security room along with Officer Jenny and Marco to see the contents in it. After 25 minutes of a grueling wait all three of them came back but with a look in their faces that indicated the news they brought was not good at all. Ash's heart began to pound at a fast rate and his breathing had accelerated from the mere look on their faces. Marco lowered his gaze as well as Officer Jenny but the old man stood there looking at him indifferently and said as he grabbed the handcuffs.

"It was not an easy decision, Ash, but we have to think of everyone's safety including your own. Until we can find a way out of this mess you will be placed under arrest."

Ash looked at Officer Jenny and Marco and both looked at him sadly and then at the old man who looked at him seriously with no emotion in his eyes. Then he looked at the handcuffs in disbelieve and an urge to cry couldn't be helped but he did not just to show he was tougher than he looked. None of this seemed fair, receiving the "gift" which in sense was turning out to be nothing more than a damnation and now being falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. Karin and May were struck with disbelieve and anger with a mix of sadness to see a friend go through such a terrible moment.

Ash knew he couldn't change the old man's mind but he could however stick to his defense. He looked at the man and the officer who was about to place him under arrest and said in a sad whisper. "I didn't do it…" The tough guy routine had collapsed and a tear raced down his cheek and the girls couldn't help but cry as well. Officer Jenny wanted nothing more than to say he could leave but she had a deep and strong respect for the old man that stood in front of her. Marco felt the same way but he knew the decision was not easy and felt it was all right since he and the town would be safer that way and he trusted the old man.

Ash finally gave up and lowered his gaze as he dried off the tears in his eyes. Millions of thoughts were crusading through his mind at the moment but he remained calm and collected as Officer Jenny placed the hand cuffs on his wrists behind his back. Some people cheered and others lay silent as they witnessed an act of injustice take place. Anger quickly took hold of Ash and he looked at the ground and his eyes began to glow with a bright yellow color. He sensed a hostile essence in the area and then saw an Espeon sitting by an Oak tree. Immediately he knew it was Escordia and he also saw a smile which disgusted him to no end. He snarled and as his lips rose he revealed his teeth, his canines were now longer which gave him an even darker image. Eriscordia of course felt no threat since she knew he knew very well that of he tried anything he would only get into deeper trouble. He heard Eriscordia's voice in his head and quickly knew it was telepathy. "I told you to stay out of my way." Ash of course answered back with a rather angry tone. "Consider yourself dead, witch!"