As night fell on the city Eriscordia had tied Ash to a chair in Petrov's office. The chair was wide and made of leather but had a lot of filling to prevent back problems. The office itself wasn't a big show, it was kind of small. It was painted white and had several elegant paintings on the walls mostly consisting of the legendary Lugia. The desk which was made of expensive oak wood was polished and very neat. There was only a computer and a notebook on the surface, the desk also had several drawers which were locked.

Ash had been tied up for some hours which was starting to irritate him to no end, not to mention that his time was being wasted only infuriated him beyond words. During that time all he could do was try and come up with some sort of escape plan but all he thought of was soon ruined by Petrov's constant visits. Finally, late at night the door opened and inside walked Eriscordia. It seemed every time they ran into each other she was wearing something else. This time she was wearing a long white dress with a pretty serious cleavage but she only managed to disgust him for her behavior. The dress was in a tube style and was pretty tight, it had no distinctive designs. It was just as pure white as a cloud racing through the sky at dawn. He scoffed at the thought of the dress' color, he found it rather amusing and ironic for pure was the last thing she was.

She walked in silently; the only thing that could be heard was the sound of her heels hitting the ground as she walked inside. Ever since they had kidnapped Ash Eriscordia only walked into the office once, this being her second time. The first time she tried to persuade him into joining them in their scheme to take over and create mayhem. His answer was short and simple "No." Eriscordia was mad with that answer but in her cocky nature she somehow thought she could break him. She did not want to admit it but Ash presented a major problem for her so she would try all she could to turn him.

She swiftly walked up to the desk and looked at him for a few seconds as if exploring all possibilities in which she could turn him. Torture even crossed her mind but that would just feed his hate for her. Eriscordia sat at the edge of the desk and crossed her legs, as she did the left side of the dress revealed a cut that split and her legs were out in the open. She smiled wickedly but he simple snarled at her. Eriscordia heard him snarling so she laughed lightly and said as she smiled at him. "This seems like right out of a James Bond movie, don't ya think?"

Ash thought of a million things and insults to direct towards her but he knew the more complex and colorful the insult the more kicks she would get out of bothering him. So his reply was short, simple but still stingy. "Bite me." Eriscordia lifted an eyebrow at the comment and simply smiled. Her smile of course was a front for her true feelings, deep inside she would have loved nothing more than to throw him off the building's roof but she kept her cool.

"I'm going to give you one more chance…join me and I promise you won't regret it. What do you think of that?"

Ash stood quiet for a moment and actually looked like he was thinking it over in his mind. Eriscordia was having feelings of victory within her but she looked indifferent outside as not to give away the idea that she was winning. Ash leaned in as much as the ropes would let him and looked her dead in the eyes and said. "Why don't you jump up my---" She knew exactly how he was going to end that sentence so before he could even breathe the last word she balled up her fist and hit him as hard as she could.

Her hand had landed hard on the left side of his mouth which resulted in a broken lip. He kept still and as blood built up inside his mouth he spit it out and then looked at Eriscordia with burning eyes indicating nothing more but fury and hate. The same was emitting from Eriscordia. Both just stared at each other for several minutes but then Ash broke the silence and said. "That…is the last time you pull something like that." Eriscordia leaned in rapidly and put her hands on the seat's arm rests and said as she looked at him fiercely.

"Then don't make me do it! That is no way to talk to a lady." With those words Ash couldn't help but say in a serious and cold tone. "A lady? Where? All I see is you." Eriscordia was now angrier than ever and just wanted to scream her lungs out but she remained calm and cool and said as she passed her pinky on his bloody lip. "You're seconds from dead." Ash felt no real threat from that comment but he remained quiet and just looked at her with raw, seething anger in his eyes. All he did was growl at her while she walked out of the office and locked the door.

As soon as she locked the door she turned around and came face to face with old man Petrov. She walked down towards the main hall but then stopped and said. "He won't join us." Petrov chuckled and said as he walked up to her. "I told you he wouldn't join us. The boy obviously is incorruptible."

"Whatever! Just---Have you found the white sphere yet?"

"No. I have the black one which is yours but the white one is still missing. I'm not even sure if they know where it is."

"Well, we need to find it." Eriscordia said no more and simply walked on. Once she was near the front door she said out loud. "And as soon as you find it kill him! And be prepared for a rescue from his friends."

Around 1:23 am Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy and the rest snuck to the back alley of the museum. Alexandria City was very active with all sorts of people during the day but at night the population varied between teenagers and young adults who were more active during the night. Their plan was not one concocted by professionals but they hoped it was enough to safely get Ash out of enemy hands and safely back into theirs. Officer Jenny knew the museum like the back of her hand and her being a cop helped in the ordeal of trying to get into a building by force.

First thing they did was secure the area. Officer Jenny knew the Museum had a broken window that only Marcos, Petrov and she knew about. On the second floor of the corner there was a window that if pushed inside it would open easily. Dante released a Crobat from a pokeball and whispered an order at the bat Pokémon. "Kay, here's what I want you to do. Fly up to that window and push it inside, it should open easily. Once inside check the area and make sure no one is nearby, got it, Lestat?"

Lestat acknowledged its trainer's orders and did as it was told. Lestat flew high up to the window and pushed it open. It did as easily as Dante said it would be. Once inside Lestat checked every corner of the room, it was the janitor's room so the only things inside were mops and detergents. It saw some rope on the floor that had been cut with either scissors or claws. Since that was the room where May had been kept in the door was slightly open. Lestat flew out and flew to the roof where it hid amongst the shadows and looked down on the hallway. Everything was quiet and calm so the little bat Pokémon thought the area was safe. It quickly flew to the window and chattered lively down to its trainer letting them know it was safe to continue.

Officer Jenny took out a hook from a backpack she was carrying and Lestat flew down and grabbed the hook. It flew back up and tossed the hook on the floor. Officer Jenny pulled the rope until it wouldn't budge at all indicating that the hook had gotten caught on something. One by one they all climbed the rope and reached the room. Once they were inside they had to find Ash but avoid running into Petrov or Eriscordia. They figured so many people running around looking for the same person would save them a lot of time but at the same time there was the risk of loosing one or getting caught so it was decided that Officer Jenny, Dante and C.J. were the ones that would go and look for him.

Pikachu had tagged along with them and refused to stay behind so it crept along side of Dante and looked around as well. By the look of things the second floor was empty but they had to be careful no matter what. As they crept along the hallway they ran into some elevators and a stair case, obviously the elevators would make too much noise so they went down the stairs. Officer Jenny was the first in line so she carefully scanned the area for any signs of Petrov or Eriscordia. Truth be told Officer Jenny was worried and a bit frightened; she always was when dealing with situations that involved innocent people getting hurt or worse. She swallowed her feelings and concentrated in the task at hand, Dante and C.J. had a tough history of break ins and robbery from a former handful of friendships they shouldn't have made and with Officer Jenny with them it wouldn't turn out so bad.

They ran into the middle of the first floor and saw some paintings, figures and as they looked up they saw the huge skeletons on the roof. They snuck around carefully; as they searched they heard a door closing and heard voices. Officer Jenny hid behind a huge wax figure of an Ampharos, Dante hid behind a sculpture of a Lugia and C.J. hid behind a door. Officer Jenny and Dante saw Eriscordia walking out of a room talking on a cell phone so they listened in.

"Now is that going to be a problem? No, I didn't think so. Just get your team over to Alexandria City and we'll have no problems."

Meanwhile C.J. kept as quiet as possible, he leaned his ear on the door to see if he could pick up any sounds but as he waited he was startled by someone's voice whispering something. "Lucky for you I'm the only one here." C.J. quickly turned around and saw Ash tied up on the chair. He exhaled in relive and walked towards him and said. "Oh, man…you scared the crap outta me."

"Hmm, didn't realize I was scary."

C.J. calmed down and walked over to Ash and untied him. Meanwhile Officer Jenny and Dante seized the opportunity now that Eriscordia had left to look around. Dante reached for the doorknob of the room she had just come out of but before his hand could touch the doorknob they heard faint footsteps behind them. They quickly turned around fearing that they had been caught but ran into C.J. and Ash. After a brief reunion and the usual questionnaire of whether anyone was injured or needed anything they began to creep back to the stairs that led to the second floor.

Hopeful that no one had seen them they slowly but rather quickly ran up the stairs to head out of the city and try and find a way to stop Eriscordia and her malignant plans. As Dante, who was the last in line, put his foot on the last step they heard a serious of loud noises. They looked forward and saw one of the windows of the hallway and saw a metal plate rise up from the windows frame. They frantically looked at all windows and saw the same thing happening. Someone must have activated the defense system that would lock down every single window and door in order to keep anything in or out depending on the situation. Officer Jenny suddenly remembered the rest of the group and quickly ran towards where they had left them followed by Ash, Dante and C.J.

Once they were in front of the janitor's room they saw the door wide open and no signs of anyone there. Dante became worried about his sister and looked around, he noticed that the defective window hadn't been blocked by the metal plate so he ran to it and looked out of it. There was no one in the alley so they presumed they had been caught and they were right. All through out the museum they heard Eriscordia talking through the PA system and said. "Looking for something?" After she said that she began to laugh out loud so they all ran back to the first floor and saw Petrov with several of those shadow Pokémon surrounding Nurse Joy, Karin, Brock and May.

Eriscordia walked out of the control room which was at the back and said as she approached them. "Well, well, well, it seems that every time you guys try to pull something I always seem to win. Now, we have ourselves here a bit of a situation. Those of you on the stairs walk over to the rest of the group." No one made a single slight movement or said anything except for Ash whose answer was a threatening snarl. Eriscordia was not in a good mood so she snapped her fingers and a shadow Pokémon that looked like an Absol stepped forward and walked slowly towards May and Karin.

Ash quickly stepped forward and then the rest of them did the same. Petrov smiled and Eriscordia went to another door, she opened it and looked at Ash seriously and coldly. "Well, Ashy boy, since you so refused to join us…well, you know how it goes. I warned you what would happen if you got in my way. And you know what? You're in my way."

"Stop playing around and let's get this over with!" Petrov barked at Eriscordia's measly word play which was beginning to annoy him. Eriscordia looked back at Petrov seriously and rolled her eyes. She grabbed Ash by the neck and the others stepped forward in protest afraid she might do something to harm him. Eriscordia aimed her right hand at the group and a small sphere of burning red and yellow colors appeared inches from her palm. Everyone calmed down but the tension began to build up as Eriscordia threatened them. Ash of course was concerned for his friends so he did all he could to calm everyone down. "Look, guys, it's fine. Eris let ém go."

Eriscordia chuckled and said as she lowered her arm. "Oh, don't worry. They'll be fine as long as they're smart enough to stay away. Now, you my friend are another story." She snapped her fingers and the shadow Pokémon walked towards Ash. Eriscordia pointed her finger towards the door behind Ash; he got the idea and went in through the door. As he stood on the door step and looked down to see some stairs leading down to a room. Even though it was pitch black he was able to see in the dark and realized he was walking down to the basement. He walked down the stairs slowly, his mind at the moment was completely blank, no ideas for an escape, no witty comebacks or insults, just an empty mind remarkably at peace.

Once he reached the floor he saw a shadow in the shape of a human on the floor. He knew it was Eriscordia but he kept quiet and waited to see what she would say. "It's a shame, a real shame. Of all the people who have touched the white sphere you have been the cutest." Flattery, shyness and even a hint of embarrassment would be the emotions he would have felt after hearing a comment like that but at the moment he felt nothing. It was as if every human emotion had been drained out of him and emptiness replaced them all. All he did was slowly turn around and look at her with emptiness in his eyes.

Eriscordia sighed and pointed her finger at the wall of the basement. Ash looked to where she was pointing and saw a screen with huge red and bold numbers counting down from one minute. He looked back at her and she said in a low tone. "I will miss those pretty brown eyes." Ash scoffed and gave her the finger as he turned towards the wall. Eriscordia raised an eyebrow and said under her breath. "How colorful."

Eriscordia quickly closed the door and then locked it. She snapped her fingers and the shadow Pokémon disappeared into thin air and Petrov and she managed to get the group out of the museum. Once they were outside Petrov locked the front door and ran to the other side of the street where Eriscordia was tying up Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Dante, C.J., Karin, Brock and May's hands together with flex cuffs. Petrov rushed over as fast as he could and as soon as his foot touched the sidewalk the museum blew up.

The explosion was so great and powerful that the group fell down from the force emitting from it. Pikachu who had hid when Petrov and Eriscordia found the group stood across the street in awe and looking at the fire the explosion left in horror. Tears built up and rapidly fell down its cheeks as it yelled out. "Pi ka pi!"

"No!" That was the response from the group as they gathered themselves and saw the museum lit up on fire from the explosion. Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Karin and May were overwhelmed with tears from the slaughter they had just witnessed. An innocent victim, another guiltless life taken by the evil of the spheres and the worst part was that Eriscordia had no one to stop her. As they watched in both sadness and despair the fire wildly moved around in a deathly dance of death and destruction eating away at everything in its path. Eriscrodia stepped forward and looked at the group and saw their faces, she could smell the fear coming from them.

Eriscordia was not one to care for anyone or even feel anything for no living creature. She stared for any signs of Ash but after 3 minutes she gave up and turned to the group and said with a huge smile on her face. "Okey dokey then, unless you want to be turned into ashes…you'll do as I say." After hearing that all they wanted to do was beat Eriscordia with the first object they could get but unfortunately more lost lives would mean nothing to her so they agreed to follow them. Eriscordia walked toward Petrov and said.

"I'll take them back. Meanwhile you find the white sphere and get the black sphere back from your place. You have two hours!"

"Right away!" Petrov got in his car and drove off in a hurry. Meanwhile before Eriscordia moved away she turned to the fire lit museum and said as she walked away. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Eriscordia then walked towards the group who was still stung from the loss of a good friend and the only hope to stopping Eriscordia and her plans.