Indigo Plateau was in a state of panic. Dozens of security guards were dead and 
the Pokemon Master was missing. But the thing that was most disturbing, at least 
to Lance, was the security tape that clearly showed Ash Ketchum committing the 
brutal murders. Lance sighed as the screen changed from a picture to fuzzy 
static. He turned to his colleagues, who sat in stunned silence. still staring 
at the TV, as though the black and white lines zigzagging across the screen held 
some hidden explanation.

No one could believe that Ash could have committed such horrendous crimes. Then 
again, the three years he had been missing had obviously changed him. He had 
become quiet, more thoughtful, and, as some had seen, violent. 

Lance looked around the table, uncomfortable at the absence of so many leaders. 
Only five of the eight gym leaders were at the emergency meeting he called. It 
had been quite a relief to find that Erika, Surge, and Koga had been under Gary 
Oak's psychic control when they had tried to take over Indigo.  They had been 
reinstated to their positions with the little trouble, although Surge never 
could look Sabrina in the eye again. Lorna, on the other hand, had acted of her 
own free will and was sitting in a jail cell, where she would remain for the 
rest of her life.


Lance took his seat at the head of the table. Until Richie was found, he was in 
charge of Indigo Plateau. To his right sat Agatha, her wrinkled brow furrowed as 
she contemplated the current situation. Next to her was Loreli, who absently 
cleaned her glasses on her shirt while she stared at the table. On Lance's left 
sat Bruno, his large muscular arms flexed as he held his head in his hands. The 
rest of the table was occupied by the gym leaders, save for the three that were 
missing. The empty chair that sat between Erika and Blaine was meant to be 
occupied by Brock, who had been missing since the attack on the Master's 
Mansion. Between Surge and Koga was Misty's empty chair. Everyone present was 
particularly worried about Misty because she was married to the man who had 
apparently just committed mass murder. Was she a victim? Or an accomplice? The 
third unoccupied seat stood on the end, next to Sabrina. It was supposed to be 
filled by the Viridian City Gym Leader. As of late the position had become a 
very ominous position to hold. First Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket who was 
murdered, then Lorna, a woman bent on taking over the world, and, just recently, 
none other than Ash himself.

It had taken much persuasion before Ash would take the job. In the end, the only 
reason Ash had agreed to do it was because Richie had promised to make Viridian 
Gym only open two months out of the year, therefore giving Ash ten months off, 
which pleased both Ash and Misty. Of course many young trainers were not 
pleased. Ash Ketchum was the best pokemon trainer in the world, how could anyone 
hope to beat him? Fortunately, Ash went easier on the new trainers, not too 
easy, but easier than if he were the master. He never used Pikachu and he mostly 
used newer pokemon, ones at lower levels.  Even so, he was a formidable 
opponent, and not many could beat him on their first try.

A foreboding settled upon Lance as he considered this. If Ash really had 
committed those crimes, who could ever hope to apprehend him?

"I don't believe that Ash could have done that," Blaine said, breaking the 
silence.

A murmur of agreement rose from the others. 

"None of us thought he was capable of it, but he's on the tape, what other 
explanation is there?" Lance said. 

"I find it difficult to believe that our gentle Ashton could have committed such 
crimes," Sabrina piped up, her black bangs hanging over her eyes.

"Gentle my boot!" Surge said gruffly. "Am I the only one who remembers what he 
did to Gary?"

"Gary had it coming!" Blaine interjected, his brown eyes flashing behind his 
dark glasses.

Surge shrugged. "Maybe he thought Richie had it coming," he said defensively, 
folding his thick arms across his chest.

"Richie and Ash are friends, Surge," Erika snapped, tucking a loose strand of 
raven hair into red headband.

"Needless to say," Lance interrupted. "It seems pretty clear that Ash killed all 
those people." Silence descended upon the group. "We must decide what to do," he 
continued. "If Ash truly has become homicidal, we may not be able to stop him."

A snort caused them all to turn their gazes to Bruno. "Leave him to me, he may 
be good with pokemon, but he wont be able to defeat me in hand to hand combat."

"Bruno, do not underestimate him, he has great power," Sabrina told him.

"I can take what ever he dishes out," Bruno said cockily, running a hand through 
his auburn hair, "He's little, how much power can he have?"

Although Ash was far from little, Bruno made even the 6'2" Lt. Surge look small. 
Ash, who stood at 5'11" only came to Bruno's chest when they stood side by side. 
Ash was also strong, even without his powers, but he was built more 
athletically, not sickeningly muscular like Bruno, who's arm would ripple with 
muscles when he flexed.

"I'll repeat," Surge said. "Remember what he did to Gary? He would turn you into 
a fried meal before you could even get near him."

Anyone who held a seat at Indigo knew about Ash's powers and what had happened 
the night Gary tried to take over. The master, the elite, and the gym leaders 
all knew Ash's secret, although none of the elite had ever seen Ash use his 
powers.

"The question is," Agatha said, glancing around the table. "Do we inform the 
public?"

"On one hand, we could cause a mass hysteria," Blaine said, thinking of what 
could happen if the public heard the great Ash Ketchum was committing murder.

"But on the other, if we don't tell them, they won't realize he's dangerous," 
Surge pointed out. "Ash is famous, civilians talk to him on a daily basis." 

"But," Sabrina piped up, her calm voice eerily out of place in the tense room. 
"There is always the potential for a civilian to decide to play the part of a 
hero, and very likely get himself killed."

Silence again settled over them as they contemplated their options. The silence 
was broken by Blaine.

"Something still bothers me," he said, standing up and walking towards the TV. 
He pushed the play button on the VCR, only to be met with the sight of Ash 
breaking the neck  of one of the mansion's guards. "Why wouldn't he use 
electricity?" Blaine asked.

They all cringed as the tape moved on to show the more brutal and seemingly 
impossible murders. Lance watched as a sadistic smile formed upon Ash's face.

"I think something just snapped," Lance told Blaine.

"But he was always so quiet, so nice," Erika said. "He seems like the kind of 
person who could hurt a bug pokemon, let alone a human."

"No one knows what happened to him those three years he was missing," Loreli 
said, talking for the first time the entire meeting. "It may have been enough to 
severely scar him."

"No matter what, he is a danger to the public," Surge said. "They must be 
warned."

Lance nodded and a few murmured in assent. "We'll put out a bounty for any 
information anyone may have on his whereabouts," he informed them. "We will also 
warn that he is extremely dangerous and should be approached with caution."

Troubled glances were cast around the table as they nodded their heads in 
agreement.

~*~*~

Ditto's cave was dark, damp, and, for Misty, it caused a slight case of 
claustrophobia to set in. Misty and Duplica had met up with Ash, Brock, and 
Richie by the entrance to Ditto's cave shortly after dawn. 

Every step they took echoed loudly off the tunnel's walls and the cave was damp, 
with a slight smell of must. Misty glanced over her shoulder at Ash, who was 
hanging back, bringing up the rear. He looked quite battered, a split lip and a 
swollen eye giving him the look of a boxer. She was worried; whatever this evil 
was, it was growing very powerful. 

Pikachu had begun to feel better after a long rest and a large dose of potion 
from Ash's bag. He walked at Misty's feet, strangely keeping a good distance 
away from his brooding trainer.

They had been traveling through Diglett's cave for a day and a half, and Misty 
was glad that they would soon be in Vermillion.  She was tired of fumbling 
through the dark with nothing but the light from Brock's vulpix to guide them. 
Misty eyed every dark corner, every shadow warily. For the past day she had had 
the distinct feeling that someone was following them. Now, the slightest 
uncommon noise set her on edge. She wanted to get out of the cave as soon as 
possible. 

Misty noticed another's presence next to her, and, upon turning her head, she 
saw Duplica walking beside her. Since the night before, when they had been 
chased by pidgey, both women had had a much better attitude towards one another. 

Duplica shot a quick glance at Ash, who was a good distance behind them, before 
saying, "It he always so moody?"

Misty shook her head. "Something must be bothering him," she answered quietly.

"He is fine," a deep voice snapped from behind them, startling both Duplica and 
Misty. They turned to see Ash staring at them, a scowl on his face. Without 
another word he pushed his way between them and made his way to the front of the 
group where Richie and Brock were walking side by side in silence.

Misty watched him stalk away. "Something isn't right," she muttered.

The tension in the air was thick and it had settled upon the group like a fog. 
Brock was relieved to see the exit of Ditto's cave come into his vision, he 
wanted to get to the old temple as soon as possible. He hoped they could find 
the answers about this mysterious being with the ability to change shape. 

Everyone's moods lifted considerably when they stepped out of the stuffy cave 
and into fresh air, blinking as they allowed their eyes to adjust to the bright 
sunlight. Trees obstructed some of the sunlight, making it a very pleasant 
atmosphere. Brock began to lead the way through the forest. The paths were 
overgrown after years of disuse and they spent most of their time picking their 
way over fallen trees and other debris. 

They were hot, sweaty, and tired when Brock finally came to a halt, pointing at 
the entrance to what looked like a large stone temple, hidden by trees and 
foliage. "There it is," he said.

They paused for a moment, regulating their breathing as they stared at the 
temple. Brock moved forward first, ducking under the yellow caution tape that 
read, "Danger: Cave-in." He pulled he pendent from it's resting place in his 
pocket. The sun glinted off it as he held it up, next to the door of the temple. 
"It's exactly the same," he murmured. Richie took a step forward and saw Brock 
was right, the exact same symbols that were on the pendent were carved into the 
gray stone door. 

"Let's go in," Ash said, stepping forward and pushing on the door. It slowly 
began to open, the door scraping as it slid upon against the stone floor. 

Misty was the first to enter and immediately got the feeling that she was 
standing inside somewhere that was very sacred and very old. Although it was 
unlit, sunlight filtered in through the temple's open door, illuminating a small 
bit of the golden covered inside. 

Noticing the unlit torches surrounding the vast temple, Brock pulled a pokeball 
from his belt. "Vulpix go!" he said, releasing his small fox like pokemon. 
Vulpix stared at him, his pointed ears twitching as he awaited his command. "Use 
ember, light those torches."

"Vul!" The pokemon complied, shooting a stream of flame from its mouth, which 
quickly circled the room, lighting the torches one by one. When Vulpix was 
finished, the temple was fully illuminated in all its glory.

They stood on what seemed to be the second floor of the temple, which was 
actually a very wide ledge that encircled the bottom floor, allowing them to see 
it. It was a rather high fall, if one was not careful by the wallless edge. In 
front of them were stone steps, which led down to the main part of the temple. 
In the center of the room stood two human sized gold boxes, standing on their 
ends, each reminding Misty of a mummy's coffin. Around the perimeter of the room 
stood high stone columns, presumably supporting the ledge above it. At the base 
of each column stood man sized states, each carved to look like armored humans, 
with a different pokemon head atop every one. Upon the walls, hieroglyphics were 
carved, each depicting various scenes. 

Brock recalled vulpix and slowly began to descend the steps, the others 
following close behind him.

"Brock, I thought you said there was a cave in," Misty said as she glanced 
around the temple that was seemingly in perfect condition.

"That's what I was told," Brock replied, his voice echoing off the walls.

"Why would anyone lie about that?" Duplica asked.

Brock shrugged and continued down the stairs. He reached the floor and headed 
for the golden caskets, which were, by far, the most prominent feature of the 
temple.

Misty though, was intrigued by the four statues that were carved into the 
pillars. She walked over to the nearest one, examining it closely. The statue 
stood higher than her and was clad in armor, a double edged sword hanging from 
its belt. It's head was that of a fearow, and was cocked sideways, staring at 
her with one eye.

Misty was so preoccupied with the lifelike features of the statue, she didn't 
notice Ash say in a foreign language, "Presenti! Difenda il vostro tempiale!"
She continued to stare at the statue, inching closer to it. Misty gasped in 
surprise and stepped back. Its large eye had suddenly blinked.

Unlike Misty, Duplica had heard Ash say... whatever it was he had said. He stood 
on the top of the steps, looking down at them all, a small smile forming upon 
his face. A low growling noise from behind her caused her to remove her 
attention from Ash and stare at the statue behind her. Instead of being an 
unmoving piece of stone, the head of an arcanine that sat upon shoulders of a 
human body was now staring at her. She watched with trepidation as its hand 
moved to the double bladed axe that now swung freely at its side.

Across the room from Duplica, Richie watched Ash curiously as he stood at the 
top of the steps, mumbling something in a different language. A hiss came from 
behind him, and he turned slowly, only to come face to face with a statue with 
the head of an arbok, its fangs dripping as its human hands reached for the 
spiked mace that was attached to it's belt.

"Where did Ash learn the ancient tongue?" Brock asked Pikachu, who stood at his 
feet. Pikachu said nothing as he kept his eyes on the fourth and final statue 
adorned with the head of a nidoking. As soon as Ash said the phrase, the 
creaking of rock alerted Brock to the statue, which had just amazingly broken 
apart from the stone pillar it had been carved into.

Misty screamed as the statue tore itself from the stone pillar and lunged itself 
at her, the fearow head screeching as it attacked. She watched in horror as the 
sword was swung down at her, but the blow never came as she was suddenly pushed 
out of the way. Misty landed hard on the ground, a heavy weight on top of her. 
She looked up to see warm brown eyes boring into her own.

"Ash?" she asked.

He grinned at her, then as if he could sense the attack, rolled them both out of 
the way as the fearow statue's sword slammed into the stone floor, sparks flying 
at the impact.

"You!" a voice cried angrily.

Misty looked up from her place on the floor to see none other than Ash standing 
on the top of the top of the steps. She looked in amazement at the other Ash who 
still remained on top of her.

"I left you for dead!" the Ash on the top of the stairs boomed, but in a deep 
voice that obviously wasn't Ash's. 

"Better check more carefully next time," Ash called up to him, standing and 
pulling Misty to her feet.

"Never mind, these warriors will finish you off for me," it said calmly, 
gesturing to the stone statues, which were each advancing on a member of the 
group. "I have what I came for." It held up the golden pendent.

*Pikachu!* Ash thought quickly. *Get the pendent!*

"Look out!" Misty cried as the fearow once again swung its sword at Ash, 
narrowly missing his neck.

Richie didn't dare take his eyes off of the large purple snake head with the 
mace grasped in its human hand, but he could hear the exchange between Ash and 
the shape shifter. It made sense now, why Ash was acting so moody, it had not 
been Ash. He backed slowly away from the advancing statue, watching the mace, 
which was now being swung over the snake's head. The arbok struck, and Richie 
dove to the ground before scrambling to his feet and taking off across the 
temple, his attacker right behind him.

Duplica quickly moved out of the way when she saw Richie come running at her, a 
large statue with an arbok head chasing him, swinging a mace. She then returned 
her attention to the arcanine, which was still growling at her, the large double 
headed axe raised. It swung at her and she ducked, the axe becoming powerfully 
embedded in the stone pillar she had been backed up against. The arcanine 
grunted as it tried to pull its weapon from the pillar. She began to run, but 
was knocked to her feet by the statue's thick foot. She fell to the floor, her 
blue hair splayed about her face. It pried its axe from the pillar and raised it 
over its head. Duplica screamed and covered her head with her arm, but the clash 
of metal on metal caused her to look up.

Above her stood not only her attacker, but another statue, fighting it. She 
stood up quickly, and upon further inspection realized it was the exact same 
statue, except this one seemed less fierce because instead of an arcanine face, 
it was none other than her ditto's pink smiling face.

Brock watched as Pikachu went scampering up the stairs, chasing after the shape 
shifter. He saw, to his dismay, the shape shifter push the small yellow mouse 
off him, then run out of the temple, slamming the door behind him, locking them 
in. He didn't know how it had gotten the pendent, but the only thing Brock could 
assume was it was not only a shape shifter, but it was also a pickpocket. He was 
pulled from his thoughts when a lance landed inches from him, with enough force 
to embed itself into the stone floor. Brock realized it had been thrown by the 
statue with a nidoking head, who let out an angry roar after missing its target.

"Brock!" Ash called as he dodged yet another attack from the fearow's sword. 
"You have to find a way to stop these things!"

"Are you saying you can't stop them?" Richie called as he ducked and the arbok's 
mace slammed into a pillar.

"They're made out of rock," Ash replied as he backflipped away from the fearow, 
who screeched angrily. "I might be able to slow them down, but I don't have 
enough power to destroy all four."

"Ash, you're going to have to get this thing off my back if you want me to look 
for a way to stop them," Brock hollered as he dodged another lance from the 
nidoking.

Ash summoned up his power and used a thunder bomb on the fearow, who was slammed 
into a wall behind it with a tremendous force. He then ran after the nidoking, 
who had given up on the lance and had begun chasing Brock around the temple. Ash 
took a leap onto the nidoking's back, who stopped chasing Brock and gave all his 
attention to the unwanted rider upon his back. He began to run frantically, 
trying to throw Ash off.

Brock, using the statue's preoccupation to his advantage, ran back to the 
coffins and began desperately reading the inscriptions, trying to find a way to 
stop the rampaging statues.

The nidoking statue finally succeeded in throwing Ash off of it. He flew 
backward, crashing into a pillar before sliding down it and landing in a 
crumpled heap. "Ow," he said as he looked up, pushing his sweat soaked hair from 
his face. 

The nidoking was about to turn back to Brock when Ash quickly stood up, 
releasing a thunder bomb at it. The ball of yellow electricity hit the statue 
sending it flying to the ground and sliding across the floor. 

The fearow statue stood up, shaking it's head clear after the unexpected attack. 
Its anger had risen and it set its sights upon the first human it saw, the 
redheaded woman. The fearow screeched as it ran after Misty, who took off 
running when she saw the statue coming at her. Having nowhere else to go, she 
sprinted up the stairs, the fearow on her tail.

Ash wiped his sweaty forehead and took a quick assessment of what was going on. 
Richie was still dodging the arbok's mace, while Duplica's ditto had transformed 
into a statue to defend her. Brock was frantically trying to decipher the 
inscriptions on the caskets and Misty... where was Misty? Then he saw her, on 
the second floor, running from the fearow statue, her red hair trailing behind 
her. 

"Pikachu!" Ash called. The pokemon leapt onto Ash's shoulder. "Thunder whip!" he 
said, pointing to the fearow. Pikachu complied, sending a thin bolt of 
lightening at the fearow statue. The bolt lassoed its thin stone neck and the 
fearow nearly fell, being jerked back in mid-run.

"Pull it off the ledge," Ash commanded. Pikachu mentally tugged on the bolt with 
enough strength to pull the statue right off the ledge. It fell through the air 
and landed with a crash.

From the second floor, Misty had her hands on her knees, supporting her upper 
body as she tried to regain her breath. "Thanks!" she called breathlessly.

Ash, unfortunately, did not have time to acknowledge her, for before his very 
eyes both the fearow and the nidoking statues were standing up, neither seeming 
to notice that they weren't even scratched on attacks that would have killed a 
human. They both began advancing on him. Ash shot two thunder bombs, one from 
each hand. The statues were hit, but remained standing and continued advancing.

"These things won't die!" Ash yelled, backing away. "Brock, hurry up!"

"I'm trying!" Brock cried, running a finger along the gold as he read. 

Duplica's ditto was taking a beating too, and Richie wasn't sure how much longer 
he could dodge the mace, each swing became progressively closer to hitting him.

Ash backed into a wall, his thunder bombs not having enough power behind them 
anymore to do any real damage to the statues. Misty watched in horror as the 
fearow raised its sword to strike as the nidoking lifted its lance. Ash raised 
his arms as a useless attempt to block the attacks.

"Got it!" Brock cried. "Il pericolo è andato! Ritorni alla vostra origine!"
Ash cringed as the fearow swung its sword, but it stopped in midair. All of the 
statues stopped and stood still for a moment, before breaking into hundreds of 
pieces of rock and crumbling before their very eyes. Ash stared at the two piles 
of gravel that sat in front of him and slid down the wall in relief and 
exhaustion. Duplica and Richie made their way over to him, collapsing next to 
him and leaning against the wall, both exhausted from their own fights. Misty 
and Brock were the last to join them, relief etched upon their faces.

They sat in silence, each contemplating their own thoughts, until Brock said, 
"It got the pendent."

"Pika!" Pikachu piped up from Ash's shoulder. He held up the pendent with a 
yellow paw.

Ash laughed. "Good job Pikachu," he said ruffling between the pokemon's ears.

They all smiled, but Brock continued. "While I was reading those caskets I found 
out exactly what we're dealing with." He paused. "It doesn't look good."



A/N: Yes I'm still around, and yes I am still working on this fic. Sorry about 
the long waits between chapters but school and sports keep getting in the way. 
By the way, I planned to have the "ancient tongue" be Japanese but then I 
remembered, I can't speak Japanese. So the language is actually Italian, for 
anyone wondering, and FYI, (Fake)Ash was saying "Arise! Defend your temple!" and 
Brock said "The danger is gone! Return to your origins!" Just a small tidbit of 
info for those of you who care. Please review, thanks a lot.