With 3 days until the tournament, the excitement was really beginning to build. In comparison to any other tournament, when the spectators are the ones full of excitement and the tension builds throughout the competitors, this tournament was one for everyone to be excited and prepared. Although the tournament was scheduled to start in 3 days, the amount of entries would mean that qualifying competitions would need to be put in place. Every corner that Ash turned on his way to meeting Miette, after she had won the practice tournament and asked for a day out with him, he saw all kinds of Pokemon and one in particular that caught his eye.

"What is that Pikachu?" Ash asked, his eyes sparkling at the wondrous sight. He lifted his pokedex, wondering if it had been tricked out.

"Pika.." Pikachu said in amazement as Ash studied the Blastoise entry from Tierno in his pokedex. 

"It must be a mega evolved Blastoise, wow! So cool!" Ash realized he was getting sidetracked and eventually continued on. 

"I said 1pm sharp, Ash Ketchum!" Miette was waiting outside the Pokemon Center, with her arms folded and a big frown plastered on her face.

"Sorry, heh, I just saw a mega Blastoise and got kinda sidetracked, my bad" Ash laughed nervously, but then Miette smiled.

"A mega Blastoise?" She asked, as they walked down the street. "Pretty cool"

"I wish I could mega evolve one of my Pokemon. The professor spoke about the possibility of a mega Sceptile, but there doesn't seem to be any noticeable sceptilite around"

"That kinda sucks, I would love to see you battle with a mega evolved Pokemon" Miette admitted, keeping the same smile on her face the whole way.

"So where are we going?" Ash wondered, looking at Pikachu to see if he knew, but he just stared back at Ash.

"You are coming shopping with moi!" Miette announced, making Ash's face drop.

"I am? Aww man" Ash moaned. Miette turned around with a face scarier than the devil himself.

"You will be coming shopping with me Ash!" Miette replied angrily, making Ash feel nervous.

"Alright, alright" Ash sweatdropped, looking at Pikachu who was having the same reaction.

"Pika..." He said quietly.

"I know Pikachu...I know" Ash replied, probably not even knowing what Pikachu said anyway.

For the most part of the afternoon, Miette dragged Ash around various clothing stores, trying on various outfits and constantly asking for his opinion. Ash wasn't really into prolonged clothes shopping and Miette sometimes had to even wake him up and make him look interested. It wasn't the best day out, but soon enough they was having a drink outside the Pokemon Center, to end the day.

"I think I should be sorry for dragging you around" Miette said suddenly, surprising Ash. "I shouldn't force someone to do something they don't like"

"It's ok, I had alot of fun for the most part" Ash smiled, trying to keep Miette happy. It was common for Ash to say things like that, he wasn't exactly someone to make people feel sad.

"I had alot of fun too. I done this for my own reasons, but it was still fun" Miette smiled and then stood up from the table. "I better get going now, I asked Serena if she could meet me just outside the forest down the road.

"At route 1?" Ash asked as he too stood up. Miette nodded. "I am heading that way anyway, I live in Pallet Town so it is the most convenient way.

"Ok then, lets go!" Miette turned around and start running, with a little teasing giggle.

"Hey, wait up!" Ash laughed, rushing after her. Pikachu loved to run with Ash, so he hopped off of his shoulder and ran alongside him.

"Pika pika!" He shouted, joining in the fun.

Serena wasn't at the forest edge, but when they got there, the forest seemed too dark, darker than usual.

"Doesn't the forest look weird? like some sort of strange dark energy is emitting through it" Miette shivered, feeling creeped out by the dark forest. 

"Well, I better get going" Ash didn't seem to mind too much, having been through a bunch of times. He walked on without caring, until a Greninja appeared infront of him like it was always there. Then, as he turned around, another four Greninja's surrounded him. The forest had been surrounded by the shadows of the Greninja's.

"This must of been shadow sneak" Ash said to Pikachu, who was standing protectively infront of Ash.

"Pika.." Pikachu said quietly, agreeing with Ash.

"A perfect guess" Parker said in the shadows. It was a voice Ash didn't know, so he looked around puzzled.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Ash kept spinning around, but he couldn't see anyone.

"That's simple really" Parker laughed, stepping in the gap between two Greninja's. "All I want is a battle. If you refuse, I will take your Pokemon. If you lose, I will take your Pokemon" 

"What if I win?" Ash was feeling frustrated, threatening to take his Pokemon just so they can battle?

"Nothing will happen" Parker laughed again. "Do you think I will hand you my Pokemon? Ha! Don't make me laugh too much"

"So why threaten me and my Pokemon? Why should I battle you?" Ash shouted, feeling angrier by the second.

"Because it is in your best interests. Think of it as practice for the tournament. I want to see what kind of Pokemon I am up against in three days" Parker returned his Greninja and then the others were returned aswell, his friends stepping out. Ash looked at them all one by one and noticed the logo.

"Who are you people?" Ash kept his guard up, feeling threatened by the group.

"Well, we are Team Shadow of course" Parker frowned, feeling quite annoyed. His casual attitude made him seem friendly, but his intentions were quite evil. 

"I have never heard of you guys, but who would want to hear of an evil group of people like you?" Ash was still on the defensive, noting that they had all reacted with frowns or scowls at Ash's words.

"Don't insult us with such immaturity, Ash Ketchum" Jeremy scowled, his eyebrows furrowing in anger.

"How do you know my name?!" Ash shouted, backing off from the group. He wondered if Miette or Serena had been listening in, maybe hiding in a bush, waiting to help Ash. He was surrounded by this 'Team Shadow' and things weren't looking good.

"My identity ray really packs a punch, I am glad it works so well" Jeremy pushed his glasses up. "The future is now thanks to Science, or so they say" 

Ash's face completely dropped, he felt like he had been shocked by Pikachu. "Yo-you sound just like someone I know" Ash said weakly, feeling freaked out by Jeremy, who seemed like an exact replica of Clemont.

"What?! This vermin has a friend just like me? I can't even look at you anymore!" Jeremy turned away, feeling disgusted. This just freaked Ash out even more. Elizabeth slapped Jeremy on the back of the head.

"Stop being such a fool, you fool" She shouted, making Jeremy cower. 

"I am sorry" Jeremy pleaded in apology, while Ash just stared like he was looking at a ghost.

"You guys are weird" He spoke bluntly.

"Pika..." Pikachu agreed, sweatdropping.

"It doesn't matter about us, what matters is if you are going to battle me or not?" Parker got back to the topic on hand, waiting for Ash's response.

"The future is now thanks to science!" A voice said from the tree. Everyone looked around in a confused state, then heads turned to Jeremy.

"I didn't say anything? Who is mimicking me!" Jeremy looked around, just as confused as the others. Suddenly, smoke began to shoot around in all directions, blinding Team Shadow's view. Ash didn't move, he just continued to stand in position, with Pikachu ready to battle. As the smoke cleared, Clemont stood beside Ash with Serena.

"What's going on?" Clemont asked Ash, turning to the ones called Team Shadow, who were just starting to recover.

"Are you the one mimicking my line?" Jeremy stepped forward in anger, while staring right at Clemont, is eyebrows furrowing in continued frustration. "Huh?"

"What? Your 'line'?" Clemont asked, completely dumbfounded.

"YES! The future is now thanks to science...?" Jeremy's voice became quieter, but he was still angry. He asked it as a question to make Clemont understand.

"Oh, so you like creating things too?" Clemont seemed happy to see someone like him, but Jeremy was angry.

"You will pay for stealing my line!" Jeremy threw out a pokeball. 

"Lets all just calm down" Gary came walking along, casually having his hands in his pockets. "What seems to be the problem here?"

"We was just about to have battle, right Ash?" Parker said, staring straight at Ash, who gritted his teeth in anger.

Gary looked left and right, clearly feeling tension in the air.

"I have been listening the whole time and this isn't just a battle. They are threatening them!" Iris suddenly came swinging from a tree, landing next to Ash.

"Axew ew!" Axew exclaimed, agreeing with Iris.

"Well, it seems like the cavalry has arrived. Now I can't steal your Pokemon for wasting my time and not battling me" Parker called out his Greninja again and it instantly used smokescreen, covering Team Shadow in smoke. "We will meet again, Ash Ketchum" Parker's voice faded, almost as if he was disappearing.

"What a bunch of creeps" Serena finally spoke, looking at Ash with worry. "Hey, are you ok?"

"I'm fine" Ash clenched his fist. "Those guys, thinking they can just come here and threaten people. That's not how you train your Pokemon, by forcing people to battle. Are they just beating the weaker trainers to take their Pokemon and make them quit the tournament?" 

"Maybe he wasn't going to steal your Pokemon, he could have meant something else by it. Like, make them unusable" Clemont suggested. "After all, they didn't seem all that evil, infact, they were all total idiots"

"Yeah, that creeped me out. The only one actually talking was the dude with the spiky hair. The twins at the back said one thing, that Jeremy guy reminds me of you way too much and the girl just seemed violent, kinda like Misty" Ash frowned, reminding himself of Misty's violent antics. He felt a sudden slap on his head.

"I am right here you dimwit!" Misty said surprisingly. Ash turned around to see everyone was there. "We heard what was going on and came running, what happened?"

"They saw some of you arrive and decided to leave" Ash turned to where the smokescreen was clearing. "But I know they will be back. When they do come back, we will beat them in battle" Ash was clearly determined. The ones who was with him before Team Shadow left all gave nods of determination. 

"Wait.." Serena looked around, puzzled.

"What is it?" Ash said with worry, but then he also realized what she was puzzled about. Miette wasn't here, yet she was talking with Serena almost five minutes ago. Serena being puzzled suggested Miette was meant to be with her this whole time.

"Where's Miette?" Serena said, making the others look surprised as they too realized she was the only one not there.