Something strange happened, and nothing could prepare those affected in any manner that would make the shock any less. Ash stopped, and stared at his companions, and asked them if such a competition really existed, or was it merely a ploy to get them out of the area. Misty blanched and wondered what had gone wrong in her plan—why of all times did he have to get a brain now, when their lives were in mortal danger? She sweat-dropped before shrugging away his question and saying that she'd heard it almost the instant the competition opened.

             "How?"

             "How what?"
             "How did you hear about it?"

             "Uhhh…I was by the stream and a Clefairy told me!"

             "Where's the Clefairy now?"
             "I don't know, probably off telling other people about it right now. Are you saying I made this up? I'm telling you now that I didn't dream it, just for us to get up and walk a few hundred miles in the middle of the night for the hell of it; I thought it'd be something you'd be interested in. Of course, if you want to leave the titles for some other trainer—Gary, perhaps—then turn around and go back to sleep Ash"

             "Gary? Grrrr I'm not letting him win this competition, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and I'm going to be the world's number one trainer, I'll show him! Get a move on Misty!"

             "But Ash, you were the one who stopped and turned around the wrong way, you're walking back the way we came!"

             But Brock was wrong with his navigational skills; they'd stood in a triangle shape whilst the argument had taken place, and he thought the road ahead looked familiar, yet it was the path they followed now that brought them back to the evil within.

                                                                                                                      ***

             Whilst his companions held their conversation, albeit a depressing one, James dwelt hard on the events of the last week, and the more he thought about it the more he felt that something wasn't adding up right. He felt a tingle run along his spine, still having not noticed the return of the dismal pain all that much, so he stretched slightly until he heard a satisfactory popping sound—as well as a gasp as he touched something behind him that he hadn't expected.

             He jolted and turned to face whoever was near him, since he thought he'd been alone the entire time, which threw a spanner in the works of the creature's intentions. It worked fast to create a distraction so he wouldn't suspect anything, and took on the form of a young woman, the transformation smoothly complete before the slightly disoriented male focused in on her properly. A slight blush rose across his cheeks as he offered an apology for touching her, losing concentration on everything around him as he looked into her eyes; the creature's spell was working and he was becoming enchanted by it in all forms of the word. 'She' accepted his apology and said that her boyfriend had deliberately lost her in the woods, so she'd been looking for somebody else as all the trees looked the same, the fabrication gliding smoothly from the evil creature's lips. Whilst toying with a piece of loose hair over his eyes, she apologised for startling him, then she whispered that she felt cold from the little clothing she wore, and pressed closer to the male, driving his thoughts and hormones into overload. Some prey was just too willing.

             All of Meowth's fur fluffed out to the point of nearly suffocating him when the unknown force touched his friend, and although he knew Jessie would still be pissed off at him, he told her that they had to leave the hovel right at that minute to save him, to which she retorted in an extremely foul manner. He repeated his request, coupled with a growl far worse than any he'd used before when angry. Not even Giovanni or the Persian that had stolen his love away had deserved that amount of contempt. She shot him a panicked look as she said she'd go, taking great care in covering her wounds so they wouldn't be too bad as she walked, but she still cried when the cold of the outside atmosphere hit them. It was too cold for what it should be at that time of year; their breaths crystallised as they hit the air, Jessie's eyes stung in severe pain and the ground crunched beneath their steps, signifying the unknown force was definitely in existence, and was definitely a danger they should fear. They found James almost immediately, but they could see the creature as what it should be, not as the illusion it had created to lure James into its clutches. It looked like they were too late to save him.

AN

Thanks to my reviewers, and I apology for the slight delay with this chapter. If anyone wants to see a quick sketch of what's enchanting James, head to the website address in my profile, it's saved in the original art section as 'creature.jpg'. For some reason fanfiction.net won't let me display the link in typed formed, never mind hyperlink! Grrrrrrrr! Thanks to Charles Rocketboy for pointing that out too!