ANOTHER CHALLENGE When Ash and his friends stepped thought the portal, they found themselves in another world. A huge white castle was in the middle of a beautiful meadow. The meadow was filled with Poke'mon of all kinds. Vulpixs, Bulbasaurs, Pikachus, Raichus and new Poke'mon as well. "Please don't capture any." Lita said. Ash noticed they were now wearing long dress's. The same dress's they wore when they first met. May lead the way to the castle and thought its doors. There, in the middle of a huge room, was a table. The other queens sat there. Ray stood at the head of the table in her long white dress. Saraya was there with Mew. She floated over head. "You guys did it!" Mel said. "I didn't think they would." Amy said. "You owe me ten dollars, Mel." Nina said and held out her hand. Mel grabbed some money and gave it to her. Nina smiled. "Hello, Ash. Great to see you again." Erika said with a smile. "Hi Ash!" Saraya said and waved. Mew waved back. "Stop it Mew!" she yelled at the Poke'mon. Mew just giggled. Lita, Blaze and May took seats. Ash and his friends did the same. "Welcome back Ash, Misty and Brock. Were glad you remember all." Ray said with a warming smile. "Sort of all." Ash said. Ray's smile changed. "What?" asked Ray. "Gato asked what happened to Tigress. What does that mean?" asked Ash. Misty and Brock looked at Ray in worry. Misty blushed at remembering what had happened. Ray looked sad. "That's what I bring you here for. I'll explain, Ash. You were the second person to touch my staff while in use. Because of that, you put your life into it. You needed another life to live. Tigress gave you her life and killed herself." Ray explained. "What!" gasped Ash. He couldn't believe it. "We tried to stop her, Ash. We knew you wouldn't want that."Brock said. "But Tigress made a few good points that Misty could tell you about." Lita said with a smile. Ash looked at her and she blushed. "Anyway, I then sent her to be reborn and find true love, like she always wanted. You are alive because of her and you need to face her." Ray said to Ash. "Face her? What happened?" asked Brock. Ray got sad. Saraya grabbed her hand and looked at her. "You did what you could mommy." she said. Ray looked at there sad faces. Tears sparkled in Ray's eyes. "She was reborn but capture by evil. Her heart changed as a kid and she grew up into a teenager. She calls herself Tigra. She remember's, somehow, that she was Tigress. She was half and half. She isn't now. Or, she shouldn't be. She tried to turn herself back into Tigress to make her evil, instead she just gave herself powers that match no ones. Not even Mewthree's. She now lives in a castle much like Mewthree's that isn't far from here. What I fear is...." Ray trailed off and broke into tears. She looked away. Saraya hugged her mom's leg in comfort. May turned to Ash. "What we think is that a part of Mewthree entered Tigress when she was being reborn. The Black Crystal was not destroyed and it gave her evil. Ray's power wasn't strong enough at that point to reflected it. So now, Tigress has challenged us to a battle. She also wanted you to come, Ash. We told her no so she isn't expecting you." May explained. "Why me?" asked Ash. He then answered his own question. "Because she loved me." he said. Misty looked sad. "Pika." Pikachu's ears went down. "Hey, tough luck. But didn't Ray promise love?" asked Gato. "Yes, but Mewthree's evil broke the promise. Tigress is mad at Ray now for that but doesn't realize its her evil that did it. So, we ask for your help." Blaze said and stood up. Wind Dancer pawed the ground and snorted. "To do what?" asked Misty. "We need you to find Echo." Mel said simply. "I think they would like to know what Echo is, stupid." Lita said. Mel shoot her a mean look. "Echo is a dolphin. I know, you think that's dumb but he isn't normal. Echo has the power to move in time and move things you wouldn't think could be moved. He is powerful. We need him to move the evilness from Tigress. If he can't, then go back in time and stop the evil from entering her." Amy explained. Ash and his friends stood up. "We'll help you of course, but from what we can do here. We can't leave the castle." Erika added. "Why don't you find Echo?" asked Ash in a harsh way. "Because we need to keep Tigress away. She is after a crystal called the Pure Heart Crystal. It is inside someone's pure heart. Everyone has a Heart Crystal but only one has a Pure Heart Crystal. With that crystal Tigress could be the most powerful person in the world. We need to stop her before she finds it." Nina said simply. "What about Emerald and her friends?" asked Brock. "They are fighting with us and have there own memory back." Erika said. "Sorry, but I won't help." Ash said softly. Everyone looked at him. Ray stopped crying long enough to stare at him. "We always seem to get involved in this and end up getting hurt or killed. I was killed by Poison when I was helping Emerald." Ash said. His friends looked confused. "No you weren't. You were able to stop him from attacking Misty." Brock said. "Yeah, and if you were dead, you wouldn't be here right now." Gato pointed out. "That's because Mist gave me another chance. She said I had too much to live for to die now. I might die on this mission of something worse. I'm sick of it!" Ash yelled and still didn't look up at Ray. "As much as I want to help Tigress, its not my problem." he said. He turned and began to walk away. Pikachu followed and everyone watched him. "If it's not your problem, why do you cry?" asked Ray wiping away her own tears. Ash stopped. His head lowered, Misty saw a tear drop fall to the ground. "Because you do care." Blaze said. Ash said nothing. CRASH!! Everyone looked up. Even Ash. A window had been smashed. A creature landed in the middle of the table. She stood up and showed herself. She had long, jet black hair that was shaped like cat ears at the top of her head. She had a long, black cat's tail with her short, ruffled black skirt. She wore a black shirt with a turtle neck collar. Her eyes gleamed blue. She smiled at everyone, who had backed away from the table. "Well, Tigra will be most pleased to find that you have brought Ash and his friends." the girl said. "Yeah, well tell Tigra I'm not coming." Ash shouted to the creature. The girl jumped and landed in front of him. "I beg to differ. She has a special place for you." the girl said. "What are you freak?" growled Lita. "I'm sorry I didn't inderoduce myself. I'm Catze, Tigra's loyalty companion." the girl said with a sly smile. "What do you want?" asked Mel. "You should know." Catze said. She began to search around the room. A black visor appeared across her eyes. She searched around and found her target. The visor was gone. "A Heart Crystal of course." she said. She leaped from Ash and in front of Misty. Misty stepped back. "No you don't! Everyone, change!" Ray yelled. Everyone staff's appeared. Everyone raised there staffs and shouted something different. "Grass Poke'mon Power!" "Ice Poke'mon Power!" "Water Poke'mon Power!" "Psychic Poke'mon Power!" "Normal Poke'mon Power!" "Fire Poke'mon Power!" "Electric Poke'mon Power!" The element's circled around there holder. In a flash, they were changed. Catze growled. "Forget you." she said. She jumped back a few feet from Misty and suck her hand forward. Misty saw a black cat head in her palm. A black beam shot out from it. "Misty!" Ash cried to her. He was too far away to do anything. The beam hit her where her heart was. She cried and screamed in pain. Sparkles shined around the spot where her heart beat. A black glow surround it. "Come to me Heart Crystal." Catze hissed. "Tiger, go! Stop her!" Ash yelled and threw the Pokeball. Tiger appeared with a howl. He's memory also back. He ran at Catze. She took her other hand and slapped him back into the table. Lita crossed her arms. "Thunder Jolt Blast!" she yelled and threw her arms out. Lightning bolts exploded. They went at Catze. She took her other hand and shot a black beam. It went though the lighting and hit them all. Saraya clung to her mom's hand. Ray stepped back. Catze then hit Ash, Brock, Tiger, Pikachu, and Gato with the beam. A black light energy wrapped around them all. They couldn't move. Misty screamed and cried as a red crystal was brought from her chest. As soon as it was out, Misty was silent. She fell lifeless to the ground, her eyes closed. "No!" Ash cried. Catze took the crystal in her hands. She never touched it, however. It was surrounded by a black light so you couldn't touch it. Only that part. Catze smiled at the crystal. "Not a pure one, but it'll do. Ta-ta!" she said and disappeared with the crystal in a flash of black smoke. "NO!" Ash cried again. The queens recovered and ran to Misty. Saraya ran over and broke the light that held Ash. He ran to Misty. Ray helped the others. Amy held Misty. "She's in sort of a deep sleep, but not dead. She won't wake up until the crystal is returned." May said. "What can we do?" asked Brock in worry. "I'm getting that crystal back." Ash said. Everyone looked at him. "You just said-" "Forget what I said Gato! I have to help Misty! I'm going after Catze and getting her Heart Crystal back." Ash said. Wind Dancer nighed and trotted over behind Ash. Ash looked at the horse. She nodded in agreement. Pikachu ran to his trainer's side and looked at the others. "I'm with Ash. I'm helping my trainer." Gato said. She stood by Pikachu. Brock stood beside Ash as well. "Misty's our friends, count me in." Brock said. Lita joined. "I'm gonna crush her!" she said. "You can't leave me!" Mel said. "I'm in!" Blaze said. "Count me in!" Amy called. "Me too!" Erika yelled. "Don't forget me!" Nina said. "I'm not going to be left!" May told her friends. "Wait up!" Tiger said. They all stood with Ash. Ray nodded. Suddenly, rain began to come though the window. That didn't stop them. Ash got on Wind Dancer. Pikachu climbed on his trainers shoulders and Gato got behind Ash. "I'll go alone for now. One of you come to help me find the way." Ash said. "I'll go." May said. She got on behind Ash. "The rest of us will meet you there with a plan." Brock said. Ash nodded. He returned his wolf Poke'mon friend and Wind Dancer walked to the door. She pushed the door open with her nose to revel a horrible storm. She opened her feathered wings and took off. "Be careful!" Saraya called. After putting Misty in an extra bed that Ray had, all the people left got together. "I already have a plan." Amy said. "Speak up!" Mel said. Wind Dancer flapped hard agasined the wind to keep her balanced. Ash clung to her white mane. Rain pelted his face. "Hang on Misty. Were coming." he whispered. To be continued.... Note: Kinda makes you wonder.... I hope you enjoyed it!