Ash remained quiet and held a very threatening and serious look on his face. He was still wearing the clothes Dante lent him for the undercover trick back at the museum. As the rain poured down on him his hair became so wet some flicks of his hair fell on his face partially hiding his eyes which were staring coldly right into Eriscordia's eyes. Eriscordia took a few steps forward and mocked his silent but threatening approach by smiling as she walked toward him. She stopped about 10 feet away from him and placed her hands on her hips as she stood straight up. She smiled but Ash was still very silent and never removed his eyes from hers, Eriscordia was then struck with curiosity as to how he managed to survive the blast and what became of old man Petrov. Before she could open her mouth to ask or say anything Ash said in a low and cold voice.
"How did I survive the blast? Simple. There was a manhole in the basement leading down to the sewers. So before the time ran out I slipped down and ran off. Whatever happened to old man Petrov?" Instead of answering quickly like he did before he just looked at her and a very wicked and troublesome smirk invaded his face indicating that things did not go at all too well for Petrov. Eriscordia thought that through but even as dark as he had become Ash would never be capable of a thing such as murder so she waited to see his answer. Ash simply put his hands behind his back and said. "Let's just say Hysteria is an attack humans don't react well to."
Eriscordia was not at all too bothered, after all, Petrov only proved useful for certain things and ever since she took over Alexandria City he had become useless. However, Ash on the other hand was proving to be more of a plague now, a plague she had to get rid of permanently if she wanted to succeed. Eriscordia simply raised her right arm and snapped her fingers and all remaining team members released their shadow Pokémon. Dozens of shadows walked slowly and menacingly towards Ash but all he did was remain calm.
Ash slowly closed his eyes and kept his face looking forward and then lowered his head and remained absolutely quiet. Eriscordia tilted her head a little to the right and raised an eyebrow in a curious manner as if asking why he was doing that instead of attacking like she thought he would be by now. After a minute or so Eriscordia's patience was wearing thin so she snapped her fingers once more and all the shadow Pokémon raced towards Ash. He simply remained calm and quiet as the shadows raced towards him. From the bank Officer Jenny and the others watched as Ash just stood there without reacting or even saying a word which worried them but at the same time made them smile for they knew he had a plan up his sleeve.
Before the shadow Pokémon could reach Ash a low humming sound was heard in the air and suddenly Ash slowly levitated and stood some 20 feet in the air. He was still leaning his face down and his eyes were still closed. All the shadows froze and just like Eriscordia watched to see what he would do next. Ash remained perfectly still for a few minutes and suddenly the ground from underneath them all began to violently shake. The shaking began to get stronger and far more violent, the team members were so shaken up that some hung on to light posts while the majority fell on their backs from the Earth's movements. Eriscordia levitated as well but only inches from the ground and remained calm to see what her rival was up to.
As the ground shook the buildings all around were collapsing. Most of the buildings in Alexandria City were mostly composed of glass so the shaking had its effect on the glass causing tons of glass to cover the streets in a crystal carpet. Eriscordia kept watching Ash and saw the street underneath him ripping. A thin crippled line formed underneath Ash and it expanded in width. Even with all the people and shadows running about Eriscordia couldn't help but keep an eye on Ash. Just as sudden as it started the earthquake ended and the wind died down. Everything was very quiet; nothing was heard especially from Ash. As Ash levitated in midair he appeared almost terrifying, he looked like a ghost sent back from the Underworld to unleash its anger upon all those who caused it pain during its time on Earth.
Finally Ash lifted his face at a slow pace and quickly opened his eyes revealing bright yellow eyes that pierced even the most daring and defying stare. Everyone in the area stopped running and screaming and looked at Ash. Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Dante, C.J., Karin, Pikachu, Brock and May looked at Ash both with fear and curiosity. The dark image that fell on him was indeed terrifying; it was like some sort of unholy creature about to unleash powers of darkness no mortal could survive. It was also ironic for that terrifying, unholy creature was what would save not only Alexandria City and Northbridge Town from total annihilation…but also the entire world.
Everyone stood silently and anxiously but then seconds later there was a deep rumble coming from the gash under Ash who was still levitating in midair. Eriscordia's patience was right at the limit so she stepped forward and taunted him just to irritate him, a little something she enjoyed doing. She looked at him from top to bottom and scoffed but then lifted her eyebrow in interest but then said. "Nice outfit, Azreal!" Her attempt to annoy him fell on deaf ears, he continued to stare coldly at her and she was the one getting annoyed. Before Eriscordia could send her shadows after him the rumbling intensified and right out of the gap a great wall of fire rose from the ground.
The wall stood about 30 feet high, the light emitting from the fire wall was so great it almost made it seem like dawn. All the people out on the street gasped in fear and shock. As the members ran about the shadows prepared for anything but it proved useless. Ash lifted his left arm and the wall of fire shot forward and straight at the crowd before him. All shadows were incinerated into a lose black dust, as for the humans some made it inside the buildings on that street but for those who were not as lucky they were lying on the street with a few small burns but nothing overly serious. Eriscordia on the other hand had teleported to avoid the wall.
Ash's eyes returned to their soft brown color but as they did he scanned the area for any sign of Eriscordia. He knew hitting her with just one blow was too much to hope for so he readied himself for just about anything to come his way. As he searched about a wave of razor sharp leaves swiftly cut through the air and were going straight for Ash. He looked at the leaves and lifted his left arm and as they flew closer they began to slow down until they made a complete stop. As the razor sharp leaves stood there they started to fall to the ground one by one. Once the last leaf hit the ground he looked up and said as he laughed. "Bravo! Bravo indeed. Razor Leaf attack? Why not try Bubble attack or something like that? Don't jerk me around, Eris!"
As Ash took a step forward he then felt Eriscordia's presence right behind him. He slowly turned around and saw his rival standing there looking at him. Ash noticed no anger, fear or any emotions at that, he wondered why for he would think anger would be the only feeling she would be displaying at the moment. Both of them stared at each other for the longest time. Back up on the bank they had been watching everything from the very beginning and were anxious to see what other attacks and ideas Ash had hidden away.
After several minutes Eriscordia finally spoke up and said in a cold tone. "So far you have been the biggest pain in the---butt I have ever had the misfortune to meet." Ash couldn't help but smile but this did not bother Eriscordia for she was confident that she could bring Ash down once and for all and continued. "Let's see how long you last out here."
"Long enough to send you back where you came from."
Both Ash and Eriscordia turned around and gave each other their backs and slowly marched away. All who were watching found this rather odd but they kept watching nonetheless to see what they were up to. After a gap of about 23 feet stood before the two rivals both of them began to actually glow. After the glowing light subdued they could see they had taken the shape of other Pokémon. Where Eriscordia stood now stood a Dragonite but this Dragonite had different colors. Instead of a light orange color it was now white, the belly, antennas and skin on the wings were a soft, pale gray. Where Ash stood now stood a Charizard. This Charizard was also different; it was completely black except for the belly, the skin in its wings and the fire on the tip of its tail which were also a soft, pale gray.
Both dragons snarled at each other as their eyes burned with their prospected colors. At the same time both of them took off high into the sky and began to blast powerful attacks at one another. Eriscordia opened her mouth and unleashed a massive Dragon Rage attack so Ash did the same thing and unleashed a massive Dragon Rage attack. Both of them were hit at the same time and with equal amount of force. Eriscordia began to glow once more so Ash did the same at the same time. It was as if whatever one was going to do the other knew.
As soon as they stopped glowing there were now two Mews. One was black the other white; their eyes however remained the same. Both of them flew off in opposite directions, after they were so apart that they looked like specks in the night sky Ash extended his left arm and his small paw began to glow purple, Eriscordia did the same thing and wound up with her right arm extended and her little paw glowing purple. At the end of their paws was a purple sphere which seemed to grow with each passing minute. Both took off at the same time and headed towards each other at high speeds, when they were close to each other both lifted their arms and as soon as they came face to face both of their paws met and as their palms touched each others' the spheres blew up and caused a massive nuclear like explosion in the sky.
The impact of both spheres caused an explosion due to the fact that both attacks had been sent out with equal force and strength and it also caused for both of them to fall back. Eriscordia hit a satellite atop of one of the buildings while Ash hit his back on a building wall. As soon as they picked themselves up they changed shape once more and this time both changed into Flygons. Both shrieked and flew at high speeds towards each other and just seconds before there would be a collision both of them swiftly flew up into the night sky. With only a few mere inches separating their bodies both kept their heads up looking into the sky but at the same time storing energy to deploy a seriously strong and destructive Hyper Beam attack.
Miles into the dark sky both of them swirled around each other and grabbed their claws as if holding one another to hit the attack right at the target. At the same time they opened their mouths and blasted one another with a devastating Hyper Beam attack, one that proved useless for as soon as the beam cleared away they saw each other still flying high. Ash snarled and flew straight down towards the ground and as soon as he landed he changed shape once more but this time he turned into a Minun. He ran to the end of the street and stood still as he watched Eriscordia who was still high in the sky. Eriscordia spotted Ash and swiftly swooped down to the street and as soon as she was in range Ash shrieked as he released extremely powerful Thunder attacks right at Eriscordia.
Eriscordia evaded each thunder as she moved sideways and back and forth. Where ever the thunder landed it left massive smoking holes on the street. The bystanders stared deeply into the holes realizing just how dangerous both of them were. Ash however had no thoughts in his mind; the only thing running through his mind was one objective only: "Hit Eriscordia". He stopped sending Thunder attacks from the sky and noticed Eriscordia drawing closer so he closed his eyes and stood still. Eriscordia had been blinded by rage so she paid little attention to what her rival was up to which would prove to be a bad mistake.
As soon as Eriscordia was in range Ash unleashed an even more powerful Thunder attack. The thunder raced down on Earth from the clouds above and hit her right on her back violently slamming her to the ground. The thunder kept racing down on her but then she grew wise and changed into a massive white and pale gray Onix. The thunder no longer had an effect on her so she raised her massive tail high up and dropped it mercilessly on Ash. Officer Jenny and the others gasped in fear as they had just witnessed a massive Onix drop its heavy tail on a small and meek Minun. Eriscordia's witty move did not last long for minutes later a massive black and pale gray Groudon rose from under the tail and as it did it tightly gripped the Onix's tail in its mouth and tossed the Onix with all its strength.
Eriscordia landed right on a building which after the impact began to tumble down as most of the foundation had been crippled by a loose Onix. Ash then changed into a small Cyndaquil and Eriscordia changed into a Treeko. Both raced towards each other and as soon as they were close Eriscordia unleashed a wave of high speed Bullet Seeds. Ash sort of panicked but managed to dodge most of them but the ones that did hit him hurt enough to make him cry out. "Cynda, cynda, cynda, cyn, cyndaquil!"
"Treeeeko, ko, ko, ko, ko, ko, ko!"
Ash was beginning to get furious and he knew if he let his rage blind him Eriscordia could use that as an edge so before she could fire another Bullet Seed attack he unleashed a Flamethrower, which roasted her, but it barely did any damage. That situation was beginning to really get to both of them since every attack they launched at each other was either evaded or barely did any damage. Both stood in front of each other and gasped for air as they tiredly kept an eye on each other. Both of them then began to glow and as soon as they stopped glowing they had changed back into human form.
Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Dante, C.J., Karin, Brock, May and Pikachu looked restlessly waiting to see what they would do next. They could tell both were tired and worn out but the look on their faces indicated that the fight was far from over, not only did they look mad but the way they were breathing indicated that the attacks, although having little effect, were doing some damage, even if it was very little. The awkward silence between the two rivals was nerve wrecking to those in the area as they watched carefully in case one would move. Brock, May and especially Pikachu were not only concerned but afraid, they had never seen that look on Ash's face before. It was indeed terrifying and something they were hoping never to lay eyes on again after Ash traps Eriscordia into the sphere and they would continue on with the rest of their journey.
Suddenly they both changed shape once more and now Ash had turned into a black Scyther with bright yellow eyes and Eriscordia changed into a white Scyther with blood red eyes. Both Scythers jumped towards each other and swung their scythes at one another. The impact from the scythes was very heavy; when both scythes touched they let out a clanking sound like that of a Trojan sword as it clashed with the sword of a Greek in war. It seemed every time they changed shape the fight would get more violent and far more dangerous for both of them. Eriscordia swung her scythe a little too close to Ash's right leg but she missed by just a few inches. This frightened Pikachu so the little mouse quickly ran to the streets but Symphony ran after it and Skitty saw the two little Pokémon running out so it tugged on May's leg and yelled out. "Na, na!" May turned to face her little Pokémon and kneeled down to see what was wrong. "What is it, Skitty?" Skitty then pointed at the door and saw it open and then noticed Pikachu and Symphony were missing.