Eriscordia's eyes started to glow blood red and hundreds of shadows suddenly gathered around her. Pikachu hadn't counted on her summoning her minions so quickly so it played it safe and hid away. Eriscordia had a bad feeling but within her, she did not want to show any signs of doubt that would make her seem weak and unable. As soon as there was plenty of shadow Pokémon her eyes flashed an eerie blood red and all shadows took off in different directions to handle the meddling Pikachu. As the shadows did their job Eriscordia walked to the museum to see for herself if Ash was gone or not for a part of her had her doubts.
As she walked down the street she came face to face with a small Pikachu. As she looked at it her eyes widened for that Pikachu in particular wasn't a normal Pikachu. Instead of an easy yellow its entire body was black; the stripes on its back were now a soft, pale gray and its eyes were an intense yellow that looked like its stare could pierce anything. It looked rather angry and ready to attack. The strange Pikachu tensed its muscles and as it did so black sparks of lightning wildly danced and paraded from its gray cheeks. While that was happening the clouds high above the Pikachu gathered and swirled above its head letting out lightning of its own.
The lightning coming from the clouds suddenly dove down right in front of Eriscordia. Eriscordia was getting angry; she pointed her index finger at the strange Pikachu and fired a powerful Psybeam attack. The attack went right through the Pikachu and right after the beam went through the Pikachu disappeared. Eriscordia was very surprised at this and thought. "A hallucination? How can this be?" Her mind was crowded with a million thoughts. Thoughts of military involvement was the first but they use Pokémon, people sneaking back into the city was also one but there was no Pokémon that could create such a hallucination and once more the possibility that Ash was still alive also took place within her thoughts.
Eriscrdia looked around but the Pikachu had vanished into thin air. As she looked around a small shadow Natu flew down and stood before her as a transparent square appeared before her. On the square she saw two human males standing at Francine's gate. They were both wearing uniforms; the uniforms consisted of a gray long sleeved shirt with a large, red and bold R in the middle, some long gray pants and some boots. The men stood there waiting for orders from either Eriscordia or Petrov. Suddenly her fears washed away and she said calmly at the men. "It's about time you got here! Hurry inside, we have an intruder."
The gate opened and dozens of team members walked inside the city. There were members from all known teams, Team Magma, Team, Rocket and Team Aqua. Petrov knew they would need all the help they could get so he made several calls and members that weren't so loyal and or were rogues decided to get in on the action as Petrov promised power and money in return for their services. All teams walked up the main street and stopped as soon as they saw Eriscrodia teleport right in front of them and as she walked towards them she said.
"Glad to see you made it. Now as you were told we need to work to get what we want. You want power, money, and a team that will not let you down? Then get out there and earn it! There's an intruder lose in the city. Bring his or her head on a plate to me and you will be greatly rewarded."
The crowd cheered and ran off in different directions. All teams equipped their members with Pokémon but an earlier meeting some nights ago with Eriscordia got each and every single one of them their very own shadow Pokémon. An army of well over four dozen team members armed with shadow Pokémon, Eriscordia and her shadow minions, which were needless to say stronger than the ones handed to the team members, were the odds this intruder had to face.
As they spread through out the city all members unleashed their shadow Pokémon and as soon s they were out they were ordered to search for anything out of place. Meanwhile Pikachu had been hiding in an alley for a signal it was waiting for but a familiar sound distracted it. Pikachu turned around and saw Skitty being pushed towards a wall by a shadow Scyther and a shadow Espeon. Pikachu raced over as the Scyther raised its massive scythe to slash Skitty. Right before Skitty could fall victim to the deadly scythe Pikachu tensed its muscles and released an intense and powerful Thunder attack. The thunder hit the shadow Scyther dead on and it fell on its knees but the Espeon used Psybeam on Pikachu. Pikachu was a strong Pokémon but these shadow Pokémon were much stronger. Skitty saw Pikachu might need help so it unleashed its strongest Blizzard attack which resulted in two frozen sculptures. Skitty ran to Pikachu and both little Pokémon sat to chat. "Na, na, na, na, na. Na!"
"Pika! Pi, pika, pikachu!"
Skitty had just explained how May and the others were being kept locked inside cages on the last floor of the tall building. Pikachu decided to help so it told Skitty to lead the way so they could help May and the others. As the two little Pokémon went on all team members were searching the city for the intruder Eriscordia so coveted. Through out the city there were 48 team members and each of them were equipped with two shadow Pokémon. So the intruder had to face a total of 96 shadow Pokémom.
A great number of people were walking down the main street and their shadow Pokémon had been released. The shadows suddenly got a whiff of a very hostile scent which set them on a wild mood. As the shadows looked around everyone heard a thunderous roar. Both Pokémon and humans looked about to place the sound with something but they saw nothing, suddenly the sky grew darker, and a dark shade covered the sun. As everyone was busy watching the sun a strange and thick fog began to roll from out of the nowhere. A shadow Entie growled letting the members know there was something in the fog.
A shadowy figure slowly walked to the edge of the fog but maintained hidden within the fog. As it walked right to the edge they noticed the shadow take shape like a human. The shadow let out a shrieking snarl letting them know it was not human at all. All members were struck with the realization that they were face to face with the intruder but before they could act they were distracted by a black transparent aura that swiftly swam in the fog. The aura quickly raised high into the sky and took the shape of a great black and transparent raven. It stretched in size and expanded its massive wings and as it opened its beak a shadowy beam erupted from within and struck all humans and Pokémon. The people were brought down heavily and the shadows turned into a light dust which was swept away by the wind.
As quick as it appeared the fog vanished and the sun returned to normal but was still covered by thick rain clouds. A carpet of unconscious people littered the main street but there was no sign of the intruder anywhere. Back at the bank Eriscordia was hit with a feeling of hostility, not only was Petrov missing but something in the back of her mind told her to look out the window. She slowly walked towards the window facing the north side which was where the main street laid. Eriscordia looked down and saw a huge group of people laying on the street unconscious and some black dust as well. She knew the dust was from her shadow minions and only a legendary Pokémon had enough power to take on her shadow minions but to have taken all those out so quickly and silently would have been done by something stronger than any legendary. She had to face the reality that her doubts, fears and suspicions were all indeed true.
After what seemed forever Pikachu and Skitty finally reached the top floor and saw some light at the end of the air vent. Skitty pushed open the vent and out popped Skitty and Pikachu. "Pika!" "Na!" Those were the greetings Pikachu and Skitty yelled out as they saw their human friends in the cages. As soon as they laid eyes on the two little Pokémon their faces lit up with hope and joy.
"Pikachu you're all right! I can't believe it!" May said as she opened her arms to welcome in Skitty who ran to her and hugged her. Officer Jenny was indeed delighted but their celebration had to be cut short since they couldn't waste time on pity celebrations that might be in vain. "Okay, does anyone have any fire and water type Pokémon?" At the mention of those two types in particular they all knew what she was meaning to do. May had a Torchic, Brock had a Mudkip, Dante had a Houndour and a Houndoom and C.J. had a Vaporeon and a Seadra. Three fire types and three water types and with Dante's Flaffy and Meowth using their strongest Body Slam they would be free in no time.
Pikachu had been shown where their backpacks had been put so they ran over and while Pikachu searched for May's Torchic and Brock's Mudkip Skitty released Symphony so she could look for C.J.'s Vaporeon and Seadra and Dante's Houndour and Houndoom. Symphony ripped through the backpacks and pushed the button on the pokeballs and Houndour, Houndour, Vaporeon and Seadra. Dante and May were up first so they gave their Pokémon the orders. "All right listen up. Inferno, Hellfire, I want both of you to hit these bars with the strongest and hottest Flamethrower you guys have, I mean boiling hot."
"Okay, Torchic as soon as they hit the bars I want you to hit the bars as well with you toughest Ember attack. Got it?"
"Mudkip as soon as they stop their Flamethrowers and Embers I want you to use Water Gun on the same spot they hit the bars."
"Arcana, Blutengel, when the Mudkip hits the bars with Water Gun I want you to do the same."
Now that their orders were clear Inferno the Houndoom, Hellfire the Houndour and May's Torchic stepped forward and released two massive Flamethrowers and a powerful Ember on the bars. After a few minutes they stopped and C.J.'s Pokémon stepped forward and played their part as well as Brock's Mudkip. Arcana the Vaporeon, Blutengel the Seadra and Mudkip hit the boiling bars with a showering Water Gun attack. As soon as the water hit the bars smoke bounced right off the bars and a wave of heat infested the room. After the water stopped another wave of fire hit the bars and after three minutes the fire stopped and another shower fell on the bars. Right before the water would stop Dante asked Symphony to release two more of his Pokémon.
Symphony released two more Pokémon and when they materialized there stood a Flaffy and a Meowth and Dante gave his orders. "Vitky, Lillith, I want you to hit the bars as soon as the water stops with your strongest Double Edge attacks, all right?" Both Pokémon acknowledged their trainer's orders so Vitky the Flaffy and Lillith the Meowth paid close attention to the bars. As soon as the water stopped Vitky landed the first blow but it did not manage to break the bars. Lillith gave it a try but the bars would not budge either so both Pokémon looked at each other and decided to hit the bars at the same time. Vitky and Lillith ran towards the bars and hit them at the same time with their strongest Double Edge attack and that managed to break the weakened bars and set their trainers free.
Officer Jenny thought using the attack combo would take up too much time so she looked around for the keys to the other cage. As she moved around several boxes she heard a jingle like sound indicating that she found what she was looking for. She dove her hand inside a box and dug out a set of keys which were kept together by a rusty old ring that looked like it had seen better days. In the ring there were five keys, she tried all of them but it was the last one that was the key to open the cage. Once freed they all made their way out of the room to figure out how to get out of the building in one piece.
Meanwhile as the sun set itself to sleep behind the mountains, the sky grew even darker and wicked. Eriscordia shrugged at the thought of the night's darkness, after all the light was her domain and the darkness was Ash's domain. For a while now she had been on the look out for someone in particular. She had been searching in alleys, hidden corners and on the highest buildings. One place she did not search was underground, under the streets of Alexandria City. The sewers were perfect for going anywhere and moving about without being noticed and her failing to check that out would turn out to be a fatal mistake.
As Eriscordia walked the streets in search for the intruder she picked up a very familiar scent but this time the sensation of extreme anger came along with it. As she took several steps she became a bit dizzy, she looked up at the street lights and the light became fuzzy and blurred. She kept walking forward and noticed no other humans in the area. Eriscordia looked around frantically and saw that there were no members anywhere, no Team Rockets, Team Aqua or Team Magma. From the minute it took her to get out of the bank all members she had gathered had disappeared into thin air. She kept walking down the street and as she wondered and questioned a thick eerie fog rolled in and covered the entire city in a matter of seconds.
She stopped and looked about, her heart was racing and her breath had become heavy and somewhat slow. As her eyes scanned the area she heard a low chuckle. The sound seemed to be coming from everywhere, confusing her further than what she already was. Suddenly Eriscordia came to the realization that an attack had been placed on her. Hysteria was a powerful attack which made the victim see and hear things that were not really there. She closed her eyes and concentrated and once she was sure she had overpowered the effect of the Hysteria attack. Once her eyes opened the team members all stood around her looking at her in a funny way as if questioning her sanity for the display she had shown once she walked out the front door.
Eriscordia's rage grew and her patience shortened. She knew Hysteria was not an attack any Pokémon knew so she was indeed convinced of Ash's survival so she walked up to the middle of the crowd and yelled out to him, "Where are you! Show yourself, you coward!" At that instant an eerie and disturbing howl wrapped the night's atmosphere and sent a chill through its audience's spine. The howl had been heard from behind the huge group of people and shadow Pokémon down on the street so each and every single person and shadow turned to face a huge abandoned building and right in front of the building was a shadowy figure staring back. That figure was none other than Ash Ketchum himself. As he stared back thunder struck high above in the heavens and rain began to pour down on them.