Ash landed inside the courtyard walls with a soft thump. His trench coat billowed behind him as he crouched, looking around the dark garden, searching for danger. All seemed quiet, inside and outside of the mansion. Trees rustled as he slowly made his way to the door, almost seeming to be warning him. The door stood next to a large round window. The corner of Ash's mouth tilted upward slightly when he saw it. Richie had thought it amusing to leave the large gaping hole Ash had made in the wall there, simply having it covered by glass to form a window. He teased Ash, calling it a reminder that even the great Ash Ketchum could be thrown through a wall. Richie didn't understand why Ash didn't seem to appreciate the gesture. Ash quietly entered the mansion. As Brock had said, the power was off, making it difficult to see down the marbled hallway. A pair of brown eyes, like his own, peered from the black bag that was resting on Ash's shoulder's. *It's been so long since we've been somewhere dark and potentially life threatening,* Pikachu thought. *Can you hear anything?* Ash thought, hoping Pikachu's extra sensitive hearing might be able to pinpoint Richie's location. Pikachu stuck his head completely out of the pack, his yellow ears twitching slightly. *There is a noise coming from the end of the hall,* Pikachu informed him. *Friend or foe?* Ash asked. He squinted, but was unable to see anything. *I have exceptional hearing, not eyesight," Pikachu snapped telepathically. *How on earth should I know?* Ash sighed. Ever since Ash and Misty had been married, Pikachu had begun to pick up some of Misty's more... temperamental traits. He walked down the hall, silently grateful his boots were so quiet. As he walked, Pikachu climbed from the bag and took his position atop Ash's shoulder. A soft methodical thumping worked it's way into Ash's hearing. Thump. Thump. Thump. As he neared the end of the hallway he saw the small glow of light shining onto the hallway floor. *I thought the power was out,* Pikachu thought, noticing the soft yellow glow. *The elevators are on backup generators,* Ash explained. He watched curiously as the rectangle of light became larger then smaller, in time with the thumping. It wasn't long before a rancid odor invaded his senses. Obviously Pikachu smelled the scent too, because in the dim light Ash could just see him crinkle up his black nose in disgust. *What is that?* Pikachu asked. Ash then saw the source of the noise and smell and took a step backward in disgust, visibly blanching. He felt Pikachu dig his small claws into his shoulder, the fur along his back standing on end. A body lay between the doors of the elevator, which were desperately trying to close. They pounded relentlessly against the dead man's sides, and his body jerked slightly every time it was hit. Ash had seen numerous bodies in his lifetime, in fact, during the three year span he had been on the run from Team Rocket he had created quite a few. The sight before him, though, appalled him. The man, no older than twenty, lay in a pool of his own entrails, which, upon closer examination had been pulled out through his mouth. *I suppose this is the inexplicable death Brock was talking about,* Ash thought as a slight shudder ran down his spine. *Let's go,* he thought, carefully walking around the man, towards the steps. The elevator doors continued to pound the man, taking their vengeance upon the already dead soul. The second floor was strewn with more bodies, some killed the same way as the man downstairs, others, more neatly with broken necks. The smell remained evident, obviously emanating from the bodies that were crudely disposed of in their own fluids. Pikachu's ears twitched as Ash picked his way through the carnage. *Someone's up there,* he warned Ash. *Someone alive.* Ash stopped and looked up, pushing his unruly black hair from his eyes with a hand. He squinted, but was still unable to make out anything in the uninviting darkness. He continued walking, this time more cautiously, hoping to find Richie, not the monster who had murdered all those people. As he neared what Pikachu had heard, his own inferior ears began to pick up on some weak breathing. It was raspy, almost labored. Ash stopped walking when something he had thought to be a shadow moved. He turned sideways, preparing himself. Ash was able to make out a silhouette, but was unable to see any feature of the person. He decided that he needed to see his possible adversary. *Pikachu, use flash.* Pikachu complied, and began to glow. The yellow light grew brighter and crawled along the hallway until it illuminated a pair of ebony shoes. The light stopped, going as far as it could, leaving the rest of the figure clocked in shadows. "Come into the light," Ash said quietly. "Ash?" The figure asked, before stepping into the light. A man with disheveled brown hair was suddenly fully illuminated. Golden brown eyes similar to Ash's stared at him, although his right eye was surrounded by a black and blue bruise. Dried blood the color of rust lay in streaks down his temple, contrasting greatly with his light brown skin. He wore a navy blue suit that was torn in several places. "Richie?" Ash said, appalled at the treatment of his friend. He began to walk towards him when another voice stopped him. "Ash, no!" Ash whipped around, his trench coat fluttering with the movement. His jaw dropped when he saw Richie standing behind him, exactly the same as the one in front of him, right down to the black eye. The second Richie spoke. "It's a trap." Ash whirled around again as the first Richie called out, "He's lying!" Ash looked between the two, unable to tell the difference. *Pikachu,* he thought desperately. *Can you tell which one is Richie?* Pikachu hopped to Ash's feet, his ears flattened to his head. "Chu," he said sadly, shaking his head. A silence settled over them as Ash stood between the two identical Richie's. "Ash." Ash turned to look at the first Richie. "Come on, we've been friends since we were ten. Don't you recog-Watch out!" Ash ducked as the blade of a sword sliced through the air above him, where his neck had been only moments before. From his crouched position he used his arms for balance and kicked the legs out from the man he now knew was not Richie. The Richie look alike fell to the ground, his sword slipping from his grip and sliding away. Ash sprung to his feet at the ready. "Ash!" The real Richie said, looking as though he was going to jump in and help. Ash raised his hand in a stop gesture. "Stay there, I need to be able to tell which of you is which." Richie reluctantly stayed put. Ash returned his attention to his attacker, who had made it back to his feet. He said nothing as he bent his knees and raised his arms, preparing to fight. Pikachu scampered out of the way, allowing Ash room to maneuver. Richie's clone was the first to attack, aiming a left jab at Ash's jaw. Ash blocked the blow with his forearm and countered with a swift punch to the stomach. The man's air expelled from his lungs with a loud "Oof," and he stumbled backwards, but managed to keep his footing. He charged at Ash and quickly aimed a flurry of punches and kicks at him. Ash managed to parry many of them, but a well placed roundhouse kick sent him flying. Whatever the thing was, he was fast and powerful. Ash landed painfully on his shoulder with a crunch, a few feet away. Ash slowly pulled himself to his feet, glaring at the replica of Richie. He had had enough. The fake Richie's eyes narrowed as his adversary was suddenly surrounded by a golden glow. He spoke for the first time, a deep penetrating voice much unlike Richie's light and airy tone. "I see I have underestimated you. I will return when I am stronger and finish this." Ash stopped powering up and watched with curiosity as particles of light formed around his figure. The light began to weave itself together and formed a dark gray clock atop his body, covering his form from view. He back flipped a few yard behind him, and on the final flip his hands grabbed his earlier dropped sword. With a swish of his cloak he was gone, leaving Ash, Richie and Pikachu to wonder what had happened. ~*~*~ Three figures sat huddled around a fire, trying to remain warm in the rapidly decreasing temperature. A soft rustling of nearby bushes caused them all to look up. A pikachu leapt into the clearing, squeaking a small cheerful "Pika!" as a greeting. "Where's Ash?" Misty asked, looking around expectantly. He appeared through the foliage supporting a very battered looking Richie, with an arm laced under his shoulder. Misty rushed to help him, taking the burden from Ash, who also appeared slightly worse for wear. Ash noted Brock staring suspiciously at Richie as Misty gently helped him sit by the fire. "Believe me Brock, it's him," he said, rubbing the shoulder he had hurt in the battle. It had been dislocated and was still very sore from when Richie pulled it back into it's socket. It didn't comfort Ash at all knowing that his adversary had enough power to dislocate his shoulder with one kick. Duplica remained silent, watching the scene and taking notes. After all, some of the best news stories were written by reporters who had the sense to simply keep their mouths shut and observe. "Are you ok Richie?" Misty asked in concern. He nodded. "I'll be alright." He looked at Ash, who stood a few yards away, still massaging his aching shoulder. "How about you?" "I'm fine," he said, dismissing the subject. Silence descended upon the group until Richie, his bruised face tired, spoke up. "What are we supposed to do about that thing?" Ash, still apart from the group, shrugged, wincing slightly as pain shot through his shoulder. "Richie, what was so important about this pendant?" Brock asked, pulling the object from his pocket. Richie's expression became troubled. "That's just it, I don't know. Not long before that thing took over, I found it on the floor. I had planned to show it to you. When it attacked me, it kept trying to get the pendant." He shrugged. "So I threw it to you." None of them noticed Ash, who was still a good distance away, out of reach of the small fire's light, narrow his eyes the moment the pendent was pulled from Brock's pocket. A faint whistling had begun in Ash's ears as soon as the pendent became visible. The whistle grew, becoming louder and louder until Ash could hear that it wasn't whistling, but screaming. It was the sound of many voices wailing in shrill tones, pain and hate filled within each horrible note. The screaming became louder until his friends voices were completely drowned out and all that was left was the howl of tortured souls. It became overbearing as he squeezed his eyes closed and clamped his hands over his ears in a futile attempt to drown the noise out, although it only seemed to grow louder, becoming almost a roar. Then it suddenly stopped. Ash cautiously opened his eyes, then slowly let his hands relax, removing them from his ears. His head was pounding as his hearing returned to normal. He could make out the conversation that was taking place only yards away. His friends had continued to talk, oblivious to Ash's sudden reaction to the pendent, which had only ceased when Brock had tucked the pendent back into his pocket. "I saw those exact symbols on a ruin at Vermilion City," he heard Brock saying. "That can't be a coincidence," Richie said. Ash composed himself and began to walk towards the fire saying, "We should go there. We may find some clues about how to destroy this thing." They all nodded in assent. Ash sat next to Misty, staring into the flames of the fire as they danced with one another. He remained silent, his eyes contemplating the odd phenomenon that had occurred moments before. "Ash?" He turned to look at Richie, who, along with the others, was staring at him quizzically. Richie cocked his head. "Are you alright? I was talking to you and you kind of zoned out." Ash absently rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm fine. What were you saying?" Richie raised an eyebrow, but continued. "I was wondering how you knew to come." It was Ash's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You called me." Richie's expression became dumbfounded. "I never called you." The entire group, Duplica included, shot incredulous looks at him. "Yes you did," Duplica said, breaking her code of silence. "I was there." Richie glanced at her, unsure as to who she was. He returned his gaze to Ash and said, "I never called you. I couldn't. The power was out." "I'm having the distinct feeling of deja vu," Misty muttered, running her fingers through her fiery red hair. "Well," Ash said. "That means that whatever that thing is called me, impersonating Richie." "So it WANTED you to come?" Misty asked. "Apparently," Ash said, returning his gaze to the fire. "Get some rest. As soon as the sun rises we'll head to Vermilion. We will have to travel by foot, Zapdos won't be able to carry us all." He continued to stare as the flames fought one another, writhing and tossing each other in a swirl of red and orange. His mind was flickering as fast as the flames, each thought coming to the surface, only to be quickly pushed away by another. A/N: Did anyone catch what Misty meant about the deja vu? And is my writing getting a little gory or what? Anyway, it's Christmas vacation and everyone knows what that means: more time to write! I have one little problem for you all. I was suddenly hit by inspiration and have felt the need to start another fic. It's completely different from this and If I Could Change the World. I don't usually write two fics at once, but when inspiration strikes sometimes you have to give in. Don't worry though, I will do my best to regularly update both stories. Hope you have a merry Christmas!