Ash stood outside of his home, watching the sun set. Colors swirled together 
creating a collage of reds and oranges. It was fall and brightly colored leaves 
lined the ground. A light breeze blew Ash's hair from his face and caused his 
trench coat to billow behind him, an ocean of black waves. He had traded in his 
normal garb for his more comfortable and practical black traveling clothes.

Ash loved the beauty of Pallet Town. He and Misty had decided to live in Pallet, 
allowing Misty's sisters to run the gym. Ash had offered to live in Cerulean so 
Misty could pursue her goals, but she had declined, saying she didn't receive 
any fulfillment from being the gym leader anyway.

Misty walked through the screen door, holding it until it closed so it wouldn't 
bang as it usually did. She set her backpack on the ground. Ash wrapped his arms 
around her waist, hugging her from behind. They both stood, marveling at the 
beauty of the sunset, which was quickly turning into night.

The loud bang of the screen door and a shrill voice calling, "Hello!" broke the 
serenity. "Are we ready?" Duplica asked, not noticing the twin glares she was 
receiving.

"Not exactly dressed for traveling, are we Duplica?" Ash said, noting she was 
still in the elegant clothing she had been wearing earlier.

She glanced down at her apparel and shrugged. "Oh, I'll be fine." She looked 
around expectantly. "Now, where's the car?"

"What car?" Ash said. He pulled a pokeball from his belt. "We prefer a quicker 
means of travel." With that he opened the pokeball and Zapdos materialized.

Duplica's eyes widened as she realized what pokemon was standing in front of 
her. Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly, making her look remarkably like a 
magicarp. Ash had chosen to keep Zapdos a secret along with his powers.

After a small fight between Misty and Duplica about seating arrangements, they 
were airborne. Misty scowled as Duplica's long blue hair was whipped into her 
face once again. She had lost the argument when Ash had pointed out that Duplica 
had never flown before and was afraid of falling off. Misty had reluctantly 
agreed to sit in the back, an act she was now regretting, seeing as Duplica was 
hugging Ash tightly around the middle, a large smile on her face.

They flew all night and most of the day. It was growing dark again when Zapdos 
landed near the woods by the mountain, just outside the Mansion's courtyard 
walls. Ash slid off Zapdos, gave him an affectionate pat, then recalled him. 
Unfortunately, Duplica hadn't gotten off yet and was quite surprised when the 
pokemon she was sitting on dematerialized. She landed on her rear with a thud.

"Hey!" she cried, standing up and rubbing her behind.

Ash only shrugged. "Ok, I'll go in first and see if it's safe."

Misty stopped him from talking any further. "Ash you've been up all night and 
all day. We're all tired. I think we should get some sleep before we go barging 
in there."

Ash looked ready to protest.

"I know you're worried about Richie," she said gently. "I am too, but you're no 
help to him if you pass out from exhaustion."

Ash sighed, knowing she was right. "Let's make camp."

Duplica gave an indignant snort. "Oh, no. I'm not sleeping on the ground."

Ash had bent over, attempting to start a fire. He looked up at her. "Then go 
home." He had no qualms about her leaving.

Duplica looked around the camp. Misty had gone to collect firewood and Pikachu 
sat on a nearby log, contentedly sucking on what appeared to be a bottle of 
ketchup. She returned her gaze to Ash who had gone back to the fire. She watched 
as he lightly blew on a few glowing embers which took to the small twigs he was 
using for kindling, evolving into a fire.

She sighed, plopping onto the log Pikachu was currently sitting on. "I'm only 
staying because this story will win me the Pulitzer."

Pikachu stopped sucking and looked at her skeptically. He then stood up and 
hopped from the log. His momentum pushed the log and the next thing Duplica 
knew, she was on her back, her legs flailed in the air. Ash took a look at the 
sight and began to laugh as he warmed his hands by the fire. The night was cool 
and his breaths came out in small puffs.

Misty hadn't yet returned with the firewood and, although he had his back to 
Duplica, he heard her stand up. The crunch of leaves and her muttering led him 
to believe she was going to walk off her frustrations. "Don't get lost Duplica," 
he called. It was dark and Duplica obviously wasn't used to traveling.

"Pikachu," he said to the yellow pokemon, which had settled himself beside him. 
"Go with her. She'll get lost and I don't want to have to go find her."

Pikachu shot him a dirty look, but quickly scampered off, after carefully 
setting down his beloved ketchup.

Ash settled himself on the ground, leaning against a tree, not far from the 
fire. He sighed and closed his eyes. After a few moments he heard the crunch of 
leaves once more, only this time it was at a quicker speed, leading him to 
believe someone was running. His eyes snapped open and he quickly stood up.

A man ran into the small clearing where they had made camp. He skidded to a 
stop, his brown eyes wide and darting around the clearing, which was lit dimly 
by the fire. He stood, his back to Ash, panting.

Ash looked at him, surprised to recognize him. "Brock?" he asked.

The man whipped around, looking at Ash.

"You stay away from me," he said backing away from Ash. Ash furrowed his 
eyebrows. "What's the matter?" he asked, taking a step towards Brock.

Brock only shook his head and took another step backwards. "Just stay back."

Ash stopped walking. He didn't understand what was wrong with Brock. "Brock," he 
said tentatively. "It's me, Ash."

"No," Brock said, fear covering his features. "You're trying to trick me. Ash is 
in Pallet Town with Misty."

Ash shook his head. "No, I flew here on Zapdos."

Brock's fear seemed to lessen slightly, although he still seemed distrustful. 
The stood across the clearing, staring at one another. Ash didn't know why, but 
he knew he had to prove he was indeed Brock's longtime friend. "Brock we've been 
through everything together. You were there when I won the Indigo League, you 
helped me when Gary tried to take over the Master's Mansion. You were my best 
man when Misty and I were married."

Brock's face softened, but he made no move towards Ash. "Where's Pikachu?" he 
asked noting the absence of Ash's ever present pokemon.

"He's in the woods, he'll be back soon," Ash told him.

They stood in silence for a moment, Brock obviously contemplating what to do. A 
soft "Pika," from behind them, announced Pikachu's return. The tension was 
obviously noticeable, for Duplica remained silent, watching the two men with 
interest. Pikachu climbed onto Ash's shoulder. *What's going on?*

*I honestly don't know,* Ash told him.

"Ash, I hope I got enough wood," Misty began, as she walked into the clearing. 
She noticed the tall man standing in the clearing and placed the wood carelessly 
by the fire, saying, "Hi, Brock!" She walked over to hug him.

*Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea,* Ash thought, wishing he could communicate with 
her the way he did with Pikachu.

To Ash's surprise Brock didn't take off running. On the contrary, he allowed her 
to wrap him in her arms, then he hugged her tightly. He buried his head into her 
shoulder.

After a few moments Ash said," Brock what's going on?"

Brock and Misty broke from their embrace and Brock ran a hand through his dark 
brown hair.

"Who's this guy and why did he suddenly go biserk?" Duplica asked. Although Ash 
was wondering the same thing, he glared at her for her lack of discretion.

Brock glanced at the blue haired stranger, but chose to ignore her for the time 
being. He directed his attention back to Ash. "I don't understand how you knew 
to come."

"Richie called," Ash explained, walking towards him. "What's going on?"

Brock walked to the fire and sat down, crossing his legs in an Indian style. He 
shook his head sadly, saying "It just took over."

"What?"  Ash asked as he took a seat next to him. Misty added some wood to the 
fire then sat on Brock's other side. None of them noticed Duplica take a seat on 
the log across from them, her notebook open and her pen ready to write.

"A week ago, Richie called me and told me an ancient temple had been discovered 
and there may be some inscriptions that needed to be translated."

Ash nodded knowingly. In the years that had followed Ash's becoming Master, 
Brock had taken up translating as a hobby. He had grown quite good at it and was 
now often called upon to decipher ancient writings.

Brock continued. "It wasn't until I arrived at Indigo that I discovered the 
whole story. The temple had been found by two teenage boys. One was found 
inexplicably dead, the other, so traumatized that when he was questioned, all he 
could do was whimper."

Ash and Misty exchanged bewildered glances, but didn't interrupt. Even Pikachu 
had set down his bottle of ketchup and was listening intently.

"Richie sent me and a team of archeologists to Viridian Forest to examine the 
temple. When we arrived, we found an inscription written outside the doors: 
Inside these walls pure evil lies dormant, awaiting those who will set him free. 
That which can be seen in plain sight, but not recognized as evil, he will 
destroy all that has been or will be. Only one can stop him, one who's worth is 
not even known by he himself. But the death of this evil will also be the death 
of this good." Here Brock paused, and cast a glance at Ash. When he continued, 
his gaze never left Ash's face.

"Inside the temple, the walls were made of pure gold and ancient hieroglyphics 
were carved in them. Many of them depicted a beast being slain by a man with a 
lightening bolt. In the center of the room, a golden chest sat on a pedestal. It 
was open and empty. Instead of letting me examine it, the head archeologist 
ordered it closed and brought back to Indigo with us. Although I thought this 
strange, I didn't question it. We returned to Indigo Plateau a few days later, 
and that's when all hell broke lose. When Richie was informed about the chest, 
he wanted me to look at it. The chief archeologist refused, then suddenly became 
enraged, grabbing a guard by  his neck and snapping it. The real surprise came 
when he transformed into the man he had just killed." Brock paused, noting the 
three astonished expressions that were directed at him.

"The thing ran off and in a short time it had managed to turn off the power to 
the entire mansion, leaving us in the dark and without communication." He looked 
puzzled. "Richie must have called you after I escaped. But then where did he get 
the power?" He shook his head then continued his story.

"While the thing was distracted I was able to examine the chest. The ancient 
writings told of an evil so devastating that it had to be locked away, because 
only one was powerful enough to kill it. The writings described the evil as one 
with the powers of a ditto, able to transform it's shape to look like anything."

"That's why you didn't believe that it was me," Ash said, understanding Brock's 
reaction.

Brock nodded. "With the power out, Richie and I tried to find our way out of the 
Mansion, without being discovered by the evil. As we walked, we found bodies 
everywhere, some with broken necks, others, killed the same inexplicable way as 
the teenage boy. We made our way to the bottom floor of the Mansion and had 
almost made it out when Richie's assistant, May, called out to us. We waited for 
her as she ran down the hallway after us. As she reached us, her beautiful 
features shifted and she transformed into a copy of Richie." Brock hung his 
head. "It had tricked us."

Misty smiled sympathetically, gently placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. 
Brock took solace in this, and with a deep breath he continued. "The thing 
launched itself at Richie, and they began to fight I quickly lost track of which 
was which and stood, helpless as they fought. Before long, one had pinned the 
other, his hands wrapped around his neck. The one with the upper hand looked at 
me and told me to run. The other cried out for me not to leave him. I still 
couldn't tell one from the other so I stood, rooted to the spot. Then the Richie 
that was being choked slammed the heel of his palm into the other's chin, 
snapping his head back. The force of the blow sent him flying. The Richie that 
had just sailed through the air looked at me and once again told me to run. He 
pulled something from his pocket and threw it to me. 'Don't let him get it' were 
his last words before the other Richie knocked him unconscious with a powerful 
punch. Then the conscious Richie turned and advanced on me, transforming into a 
replica of me as he walked."

Brock looked at Ash sadly. "I didn't want to leave Richie, but I had to. 
Whatever Richie had given me was obviously important. I did the only thing I 
could. I ran."

Ash nodded. "I know. You did what you had to."

After a moment of silence Ash spoke up. "Obviously Richie was still alive after 
you left if he made that phone call to me."

"Yes," Brock agreed, but stopped when he realized what Ash was thinking. 
"Ash..." he trailed off, not wanting to say that Richie was probably dead by 
now.

Years of friendship enabled Ash to understand what Brock was thinking without 
him speaking the words. "Brock if there's even the slightest chance of him being 
alive I have to try."

"Ash, it killed everything it came across," Brock protested gently.

Ash ran a hand trough his dark hair. "I have to at least try."

Misty and Brock exchanged sullen glances. Pikachu climbed into Ash's lap. *I'll 
go with you.*

Ash smiled gratefully at the little pokemon and scratched between his ears. 
Pikachu hopped from his lap and Ash stood up, his expression determined in the 
dim firelight.

"Ash, please..." Misty began, but trailed off knowing she couldn't stop him.

Ash turned and began to walk from the clearing. He stopped. "Stay here. I'll be 
back soon," he said, his back to them. Then he disappeared into the shadows, 
Pikachu at his heels.

As soon as he was gone Duplica hissed, "Is he crazy? That thing will kill him."

Misty rolled her eyes and Brock simply stared at her. After a few moments of 
silence he said, "Who ARE you?" He wondered why a complete stranger had been 
sitting at their camp.

"Brock, you remember Duplica," Misty said, her voice monotone. Noting his 
quizzical glance she muttered, "Don't ask."

"So," Duplica began, breaking the silence that had settled over the group. "What 
did Richie throw to you?"

Brock's face lit up in remembrance. "I never got a chance to look at it," he 
said, pulling the object from his pocket. He held it up in the glow of the 
firelight to allow himself and the women a good look at it. Gleaming in the soft 
glow of the fire, a golden pendent hung from a chain, also made of gold. Strange 
markings covered the pendent. The smallest markings circled the perimeter, 
gradually becoming larger until there was one big symbol in the center. The 
largest symbol was a bolt of lightening, which caused Brock and Misty to 
exchange worried glances.

"Hey!" Brock said. "I recognize this. The same symbols in this pattern were 
inscribed on some ruins I inspected on the outskirts of Vermilion City."

"What was at the ruins?" Misty asked.

"I don't know," Brock answered sadly. "They were closed after a cave in. I never 
got to examine the rest of them."

"Do the symbols mean anything?" Duplica inquired.

Brock squinted his eyes and lowered his head so the pendent was only inches from 
his face. "Yes, but I'm not sure what yet," he admitted.

"I wonder what is so important about this that Richie wanted you to protect it," 
Misty said, picking up the pendent from Brock's hand and turning it over a few 
times.

Brock shrugged. "Hopefully Ash will find him and he can tell us himself."



A/N: Well, here it is. Chapter 3. Hope you liked it. The next chapter will hold 
more action, I promise. Sorry this took a while to post but I had writers block 
twice, on two different parts of this chapter. Hopefully the next chapter won't 
take so long. Well, you know the deal, read and review. Thanks.