They all stood there in silence and minutes later Officer Jenny broke the silence. "You guys must be pretty confused, huh?" Ash walked up to the front of the group and as he crossed his arms he said. "You have no idea." Nurse Joy giggled in that sweet way she always did and said. "We decided to break you out of that horrible place. Jenny strongly believed you guys were telling the truth and this morning I passed by the doctor's house as I always do and saw you kids playing in the backyard and as soon as I reached town I saw well…"him" destroying the hospital."
Dante, Karin's older brother, stepped forward and looked at Ash and said. "Well, I see you touched the white sphere. Well, let's get to the point of this darling little meeting we have here. I assume my dad explained the history in the spheres, correct?" Ash and the others nodded and so Dante moved on to explain a little something about the spheres his father had not mentioned. "This is not the first time Eris and Thanades have gotten out. You're asking yourself how the hell could have Eris and Thanades been trapped back into the spheres? Well, usually it always ends pretty badly for who ever touched the white sphere." Dante stopped and sighed as he looked across the kids and said once more.
"Eris can be stopped with a move you know…" Ash knew the move so he finished the sentence for him. "Shadow's Light. I know."
"That's right. Now usually when hit with it Eris would be knocked out. It would be as if a Hydro Pump hit a Charmander. How do we get Eris back into the black sphere? Simple, we place the black sphere in the palm of her right hand and she will then be trapped in it." May was struck with the fact that Eriscordia had placed a curse on both spheres when they were first trapped in the sphere so she asked a question that was pretty much in all of their minds. "What if we manage to trap her into the sphere and she pulls off the curse she pulled off when first trapped?"
Dante shook his head and said as he looked at Ash. "Won't work. He isn't the original Thanades. The curse was meant for the original Thanades not those who followed." Ash was certainly relived to hear that but then he became both bothered and concerned with a question that popped into his head, a question he would rather ask quickly and get over it than to have it dwell in his mind and have it bother him. "Let's say I manage to beat Eris and trap her back in the sphere. What happens to me?"
They all looked at Dante and awaited his answer. In the back of his mind Ash knew there was a chance this venture would end either bad or good, it was far too early to tell but he had plenty of time to prepare for whatever fate had in store for him. Whatever was to happen he came to the conclusion that he would do all he could within his power to return Eriscordia to where she belonged. Dante also thought the same way as Ash did but he didn't know what would happen either so he decided not to frighten anyone at the moment so he smiled and said. "First we learn to crawl before we walk."
The message was pretty clear to him and he felt no worry at the moment. All through out this ordeal there was just one question that had Dante, Karin, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy and Dante's friend C.J. puzzled. Karin said as she looked at a tombstone knowing it was the same question in everyone's mind. "How did Eris get out of the bloody sphere?" Officer Jenny stood up and said. "That's what we need to find out. Who let her out?"
Both the black sphere and the white sphere were safely hidden in Dr. Marco's house. In his office room inside a vault which was hidden behind a painting on the wall. Two people in the world only knew the combination to the vault. Dr. Marco himself and Petrov were the only living people who knew the combination, a combination which was changed every 6 months for security reasons. The only way for Eriscordia to be released was to have the white sphere come in contact with a human's hand but Dr. Marco and Petrov were extremely careful when dealing with the spheres.
Suddenly an idea struck Nurse Joy. An idea that was so insane she would need physical evidence in order to prove it and even with evidence it was far too crazy but she tried to ask the question in a gentle way. "What if it was…an inside job?" Officer Jenny, Karin and Dante looked at her with widened eyes and Karin said. "Inside? Dad, would never allow that monster to have the chance to be set lose." Dante felt a little uncomfortable with that idea and said. "It could have been anyone from the outside. Petrov and dad are very responsible and mature people."
"How about we just go and confront old man Petrov with that question?" Ash said as he walked over to them and waited to hear what they thought of it. They thought it wasn't such a bad idea so they all agreed to do so. All of them hoped back in the car and then headed back into town and went down the dirt road path which led to Petrov's mansion. The dirt road ended as soon as they passed by Petrov's gate which was always at all times open, unless he was out of town or in Alexandria City. The road then turned into cement which was nicely and even laid down. At their sides they could see huge plants and wild flowers all around.
After 4 minutes they came upon an enormous mansion designed in a Victorian fashion. The mansion itself was painted dirty beige color and had a beautiful tainted window above the front door. The window consisted of pastel colors and the picture of a Lugia in the middle of it. The road went around a huge fountain that consisted of two Lugias which were interlaced with one another and were spitting out water through their mouths.
Nurse Joy stopped and everyone got off and waited by the door, Officer Jenny then went ahead and sounded the doorbell. Minutes later an old woman answered the door. "May I help you?" Officer Jenny leaned in and said. "Yes, is Mr. Zimmer home?"
"He is, wait here for a moment please."
The old woman walked back in and closed the door so they all remained quiet and waited to hear from the maid. Several minutes later the door opened and the old woman signaled them inside. One by one they all walked inside and Ash, Pikachu, Brock, May and Max were amazed at the size of the mansion. Inside was much bigger than they had thought that the Victorian design was not only for the outside but for the inside as well. There were paintings in the walls of gardens, people and of Pokémon as well, to the east they could see two huge doors that reached the roof semi open and inside they could see a huge fireplace and some furniture along with an Oak table in the middle of the room.
To the west there was a long and wide hallway leading down to another set of huge doors but this door was closed. And right before them was some stairs which led to the second floor and down those stairs came Mr. Petrov Zimmer himself. Officer Jenny walked up to him and greeted him. "Petrov, how are you?"
"Well, very well officer. Now, what brings you to my humble home?" As Ash looked around he was shocked that old man Petrov would refer to his home as "humble" so he said under his breath. "Humble my ass." Karin who was next to him and giggled but Brock who was in front of him hit him slightly with his elbow. Ash of course shoved him back but Karin held both of their arms and they calmed down as they listened to Officer Jenny get to the bottom of the mystery of Ericordia's escape.
"Well, this may seem a little…strange but we came to ask you if you had any idea how Eriscordia escaped from the black sphere." Petrov lowered his gaze and climbed down from the last step and said. "I was just on the phone with Dr. Nevalainen discussing this matter of her escape. Maybe it was an outside source or…she may have found a way to escape from the sphere without the help of a human." Ash had heard enough and decided to point out a true fact that Petrov was ignoring and said as he walked towards the old man. "Oh, please! Neither Eriscordia nor Thanades can escape without human contact. That is bull and you know it!"
"Ash!" May held him back by his arm and Petrov was surprised to see him there and not locked up so he looked at Officer Jenny and then back at him and asked. "What is he doing out of the police station?"
"With all due respect Mr. Zimmer, I am a cop obligated to uphold the law. As far as I can tell he has done nothing wrong---"
"There's a tape and some sidewalks and not to mention a car that had been pierced by a tree that says otherwise. The boy is dangerous!" Petrov interrupted Officer Jenny and as soon as he stopped talking all were silent but Ash had a look in his face that indicated that he was close to reaching out and strangling the old man with his bare hands. Petrov and Ash stared at each other with furious looks in their faces. Ash could tell there was something with this old man, something he was hiding. As he was about to say something he got a glimpse at a very small Spinarak at the top of the stairs. The corner of his mouth lifted revealing a grin and he said.
"Dangerous? Dangerous wouldn't even begin to cover what I am." He walked up to old man Petrov and stared coldly at him and then he said as he still stared at him. "Or as a dear friend of mine said: "We have the same vile, nasty, dark and evil hearts buried in our chests…" Isn't that correct?" After he said that he looked at the top of the stairs and looked directly at the Spinarak and it looked back at him. Everyone else looked at the Spinarak and soon pressure was beginning to build between everyone in the room.
"Oh, I could never get that Spinarak to fully obey me. C'mon girl, let's get you upstairs." Petrov walked back up and took the Spinarak in his hands and walked up to the second floor. As soon as he was out of sight Officer Jenny walked up to Ash and said in a low tone. "What do you think you're doing? We're trying to get old man Petrov to help us." Ash quickly snapped back and said sharply. "Something about that guy stinks. I can sense it—I can tell. I—I can just tell, trust me, Officer Jenny."
Officer Jenny sighed deeply and looked at him in question. She had a profound and deep respect for Petrov Zimmer but she also had a bad feeling so did Nurse Joy. Both kept quiet about it but they knew how to play their cards but with Ash's harshness it would be much more difficult. Officer Jenny then was struck with something, ever since Petrov laid eyes on Ash he had been acting in a manner none of them had ever seen.
Officer Jenny backed down and decided to let Ash stir things up for old man Petrov. As soon as he came back downstairs Ash noticed the Spinarak was not there with him which added a little more to his suspicion about that Spinarak. Petrov went back down and looked at Ash seriously, something in his stare let Ash know he was up to something. After a few awkward minutes Petrov smiled and chuckled a bit which of course confused everyone else, Ash quickly turned around and saw Ericordia standing behind them.
Eriscordia laughed and right in front of her was May whom Eriscordia punched and knocked out. Before anyone could do anything she transformed into an Aerodactyl and grabbed May with her colossal claws and flew up high. On the roof was a giant crystal but that did not stop her, she burst right through and flew away. Max ran outside and saw the Pokémon carry his sister away towards the south side of the mansion.
Meanwhile back inside the mansion Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Karin, Dante, C.J. and Ash were pretty clear on old man Petrov's actions and a lot of questions were answered at that moment. Officer Jenny looked at Petrov in a way she had never before, her stare no longer had any respect or compassion for him and she asked. "Why? You are a much respected man in this town. The entire town trusted you!"
"Things change, my dear. I figured with Eriscordia's help I could accomplish great things." As soon as he said that Ash broke out in laughter and Petrov looked at him and said. "What is so funny?"
"Ah, nothin'…just the fact that you're being a total ass! You think just because you let her out she'll help you? God, you're pathetic!"
Max ran back inside and said he saw May being carried off to the south. Nurse Joy immediately knew that the Aerodactyl was headed towards Alexandria City. Ash, Dante, C.J. and Karin stepped forward in a threatening attempt to confront old man Petrov but as they did some shadows walked down from the top of the stairs. From the east side of the house more shadows showed up and from the west side even more shadows appeared. The shadows were the same as the ones that attacked the hospital, Petrov laughed and as the shadow surrounded Ash and the others Petrov made his escape out the front door.
The shadows were closing in at a slow pace and before they could do anything Ash and Pikachu looked at each other and smiled. Pikachu stood still and sparks emerged from its cheeks and Ash lifted his left arm and aimed his hand at the shadows. Ash used Water Gun to soak up the shadows, he circled around and wet each of them and as soon as he put his hand down Pikachu jumped up high and released its most powerful Thunderbolt attack on the shadows. All shadows went down easily and as soon as they were down everyone ran to the front door and as soon as they got the door open they saw old man Petrov taking off in a black Cavalier.
Everyone jumped back in the Tercel but Ash walked towards the front gate. Petrov raced to the front gate but just when he was inches away from a clean getaway the gate shut closed in front of him. Petrov stopped the car and got off to open the gate. He pulled on it with all his might but it wouldn't even budge. He kept trying but then a sudden feeling over came him; he slowly turned around and saw Ash standing at the end of the path. Ash began to slowly walk towards Petrov and as he did all plant life from both sides of the path instantly withered and died.
Ash had a very serious and angry look on his face and his eyes were glowing as bright as the yellow sun above them. Petrov was out of tricks and Eriscordia was not there to stop Ash. Petrov remained looking at him, he was serious but deep inside he was panicking. Petrov jumped back in his car and backed up a little and then hit the gas and broke through the gate and took off. Ash stopped in the middle of the path but then minutes later Nurse Joy showed up behind him and she said as she lowered the window.
"Forget it, we know where May is. We have to hurry though."