Part 1 Prologue 4 Months Ago Ash awoke with a start. He had no idea what was going on. ….Well, more so than usual. The last thing he remembered was a loud noise, then being swept away by a mountain of snow, and some really painful rocks. He seemed to be alright, though he was missing his favorite hat, his jacket, his backpack, and his pokedex. “Where am I?” He mumbled. “Why, you’re in my home,” said a voice. Ash whirled around searching for the source of the voice. It came from a young man, a little older than Ash, maybe older than Brock. He wasn’t much to look at, plain features, plain brown hair, plain black eyes. In fact there was nothing remarkable about him, with the exception of his staff. His staff was a midnight blue hue, and seemed to be made of solid stone. Atop it rested an astounding rainbow colored jewel, it was probably worth all of Kanto and Johto put together. “How did I get here? And where are Pikachu and Charizard?” Ash asked. “Ummm, on either side of you.” the stranger replied. Ash discovered this to be true. They each lay sleeping to his left and right. “As to how you got here,” the stranger continued, “My pokemon saved you. Sorry about your stuff though, couldn’t save it.” Ash looked and saw a strange white and green pokemon, with a pink object embedded in it’s chest. He was sure he had seen in his pokedex somewhere, but couldn’t remember where. He thought it was called a Gardevoir. “How long have I been out?” He asked. “Oh, four days or so.” “What?! Four days? I gotta find Brock and Misty!” The strange man only smiled. “I’m afraid they’re long gone. If I’m not mistaken, Officer Jenny gave them tickets to Pallet Town. Seems that when they were told you were dead, they didn’t even bother to see if it was true.” “What??!! That can’t be true! Who are you, anyway!?” Ash cried. “Oh, but it is true. I am incapable of lying. My masters don’t like the thought of me lying to them. And as to who I am, that is none of your business. Now I want you to look at something.” The bizarre man pulled out a red gem on a pendant. It seemed to glow with a life of it’s own. He began to wave it back in forth. Back and forth. Ash began to get drowsy. He seemed to go into a trance- like state. The man spoke suddenly, “Are you angry at your friends for abandoning you, Ash?” “Yes.” came the reply. “How angry?” “Very angry.” “I imagine so. After all, you gave them just about everything they have. If not for you, Misty would have given up and gone home long ago. Brock might never been reunited with his father. They owed you Ash, and when the time came to repay you, they left you for dead. You have the right to be angry. In fact, that’s exactly what I want you to do. Unleash you anger out on the world. On those you once trusted. And when this stone is around your neck, you will have the power to do so. So do it. Now, you are going to get very sleepy now. And when you wake up, you will not remember any of this. This is what you’ll remember….” And the strange man told him, and Ash immediately fell asleep, joining his two friends. From nowhere, a strange voice spoke, “Did you do it?” “Yes master. He and his friends will not trouble us in the future.” The stranger replied. He put the stone around Ash’s neck, and quite suddenly, Ash’s left arm got shorter. A LOT shorter. Then it simply disappeared, leaving only a ragged stump behind. And the odd man left, along with his pokemon, leaving no trace of his presence.