I don't own any of the characters in this story.

Their journey continues, as Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu travel their way to Ash's next gym battle in Mahogany Town. Togepi sits peacefully in Misty's arms while Pikachu sits on Ash's shoulder.

Suddenly, low thunder is heard from the clouds, as the gang looks up at the sky. "What was that?" Ash asked.

"I think it was thunder." Misty said.

"Pikachu." Pikachu said, agreeing with Misty. Then it felt a small water droplet drop on its head. Pikachu looked up, and saw rain pour down.

Ash, Misty, and Brock yelled, then started to run. "We have to find shelter." Ash said.

"If you haven't noticed, we're in a forest! Where is there going to be a house in a forest?" Misty asked, while holding the scared Togepi.

"Over there." Brock said, pointing to a big mansion, on a steep hill. Ash and Misty looked at where he was pointing, and saw the home.

"Come on!" Ash yelled, running faster to the mansion, with Misty and Brock following him.

Once they finally arrived at the mansion, Ash, Misty, and Brock were panting very hard. "Hopefully there will be someone inside." Misty said, as she put her hand on her knee.

Ash, Misty, and Brock walked up to the big double door. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder while Ash started to knock on the door, saying, "Hello? Anybody in there? Hello?" Nobody answered. "I guess no one's home." Ash suggested, as he leaned against the door. Suddenly, Ash gasped, as the door opened, making him fall to the ground.

Brock and Misty looked inside, and saw no one. What they did see, was a chandelier and a big staircase that almost looked like an exact replica from the one on the 'Titanic'. Misty awed in amazement. "If the door was unlocked then someone must be here." Brock said. Misty nodded, as Ash got up.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked, but nobody answered.

"This place gives me the creeps." Misty said, holding Togepi close. "Maybe we should find another house." Misty turned toward the doors, but was welcomed with the sound of thunder and lightning. Misty turned toward Ash and Brock again, and said, "Or not."

"Come on. Let's try to find the owner." Ash said, starting to walk up the staircase. Misty, Brock, and Pikachu followed, while looking around at all the designs in the mansion. Once Ash got to the top of the staircase, he turned and saw a hallway of doors. "Hm." He said, walking toward the closest door he saw. Pikachu scurried up Ash's body and to his shoulder, sitting perfectly on his backpack. Ash approached the door with Misty and Brock behind him. Then he opened the door, and walked in.

Inside were many pieces of furniture with tarps covering them. There were also many boxes and pictures. Ash, Misty, and Brock looked around the room, curiously. Brock looked around, but then stopped at a big, old picture.

Hearts floated around him, as Brock swooned over the picture. "Wow." He said, his cheeks turning red. Misty and Ash noticed this, and walked toward Brock.

"What is it?" Ash asked, looking at his love struck friend.

Brock pointed at the picture and said, "Her." Ash looked at the picture. It was black and white, but the picture showed a young woman, with long, curly hair, holding an umbrella. The woman was wearing a long dress and a hat with a ribbon around the center of it. The woman appeared to be smiling at the photographer.

"Her?" Ash asked, confused.

Misty looked at the photo, then at Brock. But surprisingly, she didn't pull on his ear, and lead him away from the picture. Instead, she said, "Hmm. She's pretty."

Ash scoffed a little, then to himself said, "I've seen prettier women than her."

Misty looked toward Ash, and asked, "Ash, did you say something?"

Ash sweat dropped, and said, "No! Nothing." But Misty knew that he was lying.

"What did you say?" Misty asked again, walking towards him. Ash started to walk backwards, while Misty continued to walk towards him. "Come on, Ash! Tell me. What did you say?" Misty asked, getting frustrated by his stubbornness.

"For the last time, I said nothing!" Ash yelled, as he bumped into a pedestal, with a glass vase on it. Ash turned around to see the vase drop to the ground and break. The sound was so loud, it broke Brock out of his love struck daze, and looked away from the picture to see what had happened.

"Uh oh." Ash said, as he kneeled down to the vase, picking up a few of the pieces.

"Look what you did! You broke the vase!" Misty said, angrily.

"Don't worry! I can fix it." Ash said, defensively, while trying to put the pieces back together. Misty sighed, while rolling her eyes.

"Pika." Pikachu said, jumping off Ash's shoulder, as Brock walked toward them.

"What happened?" Brock asked.

"I accidentally broke the vase." Ash said, full of shame and guilt.

Brock sighed. "It's okay. Let's just put it in a pile or something. Then we'll tell the owner of the house about it later." Brock suggested.

"Okay." Ash said, putting the pieces in a pile. Suddenly, Ash looked down to see if there were any leftover pieces, but instead found gray, sooty, dirt from where the broken pieces had been. "What's this?" Ash asked, as he put some in his hand.

"I don't know." Misty said, leaning in to see. "Maybe it's just dust."

"Hmm." Ash said, then he raised the dirt to his nose and sniffed it, quickly regretting it. "Achoo!" As he sneezed, the dirt blew out of his hand.

"Ash!" Misty and Brock yelled, as Ash turned around to his friends, sweat dropping.

"Whoops." Ash said, sheepishly, while scratching his head.

"You're not supposed to smell it!" Misty shouted, as Ash got up.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Sorry. Now let's go. I'm starting to get hungry." Ash said, as his stomach let out a low grumble. Pikachu jumped up on Ash's shoulder.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Brock asked, sweat dropping, as he, Ash, Pikachu, and Misty left the room, and closed the door.

Unaware to them, something evil had been released from the vase when Ash broke it. And its true self would show when it met the person responsible for releasing it.

Yep. This first chapter sucks. I'm sorry that it went so fast. But there will be more chapters later. So I hope you liked the chapter and please review.