Disturbance in the Unown Forest!
a Pokémon RP
with GPX+ user Xatu Breeder

Disclaimer: I own every Pokémon game that has been released in the USA, but sadly I do not own any of the copyrights to the franchise. This fic is canon-compliant, which means it does not directly contradict any aspect of canon.

A/N – 11/13/10: The locations "Unown Forest" and "Pécco Region" are ones that I made up over 5 years ago, after the release of Ruby and Sapphire but before Emerald, when I was brainstorming my own ideas for what I had imagined might be the next pair of Pokémon games, which I had originally intended to call Pokémon Emerald and Pokémon Diamond versions… So much for that. The name "Pécco", however, was one I had to come up with after the release of Pokémon Battle Revolution because the original name for my region was "Pokétopia." Again, they stole my ideas!

All of the Pokémon in the Unown Forest lived in harmony until the day humans came to the Pécco Region… These beings were strange and foreign, and they spoke in an unintelligible language that only they seemed to understand. This would not have been a cause for concern except that they seemed to have made it their mission to disrupt the peace and break up every single family that they found. Using the mysterious power of the strange balls they carried, they were able to make Pokémon disappear, and reappear, at will; once they had taken a Pokémon from the forest in this manner, that Pokémon would never return home.
This was particularly terrifying for young Pokémon, many of whom had lost their parents in this horrible way. One such family torn apart because of the humans' invasion, one of Ledyba and Ledian, was reduced to just 2 young Ledyba sisters: Dyba and Dyla.

"Dyla," Dyba whispered to her sister as they held each other close, "what are we going to do?" She sniffled, trying to hold back tears. "Mama and Daddy… They're both gone…" Her voice cracked as she said the last word, her body shaking heavily now as she cried silently.

"I-I…" Dyla sniffled, too. "I don't know… W-who will protect us?" She flitted her wings a little bit, looking around, making sure that the strangers couldn't find her or her sister. They had only each other at this point. What were they going to do? Where would they go?

Hearing the desperation in her little sister's voice, Dyba wiped her tears away and tried to sound confident. "We will! We will protect each other, Dyla! We're all we've got left, so we'll do our best to keep each other safe!"

"B-but…" Dyla paused. She could hear the heavy footsteps of a human and she froze. If she didn't move, maybe the being wouldn't see her. She didn't want to be taken, too. She found herself shuddering uncontrollably from the thought.

Dyba heard the human coming closer, and made a split-second decision. "Dyla, come on," Dyba whispered, tugging her sister in the direction opposite where the human was. "Stay low to the ground, but scurry quickly; we have to get away from it."

Dyla was frozen in the spot she stood, shuddering. As her sister tugged on her arm, she snapped out of her trance and quickly followed Dyba, afraid for both of their safety. She could hear the footsteps becoming louder. Was it following them? She didn't dare look back.

Dyba kept one of her front legs on Dyla's back, pushing her forward as she ran at her side. Just then, Dyba's antennae were blown lightly to one side; the wind was shifting.
"Dyla," Dyba gasped, keeping her voice as low as she could, "that way!" As she directed her little sister along what she hoped would be the route to safety, Dyba thought to herself, If this human is anything like the Pokémon predators in the stories I've heard, it shouldn't be able to follow our scent as long as we stay downwind…

Dyla followed as fast as she could, but she could hear the human's footsteps growing louder and ever closer… She could almost feel the ground shake from the being's heavy footsteps. "You sure this'll work?" she said in a rushed whisper, afraid of what the humans have done in the past.

"I don't know," Dyba muttered. She regretted saying that the moment it was out of her mouth; her sister must be very scared, and it wasn't going to make her feel any better if she sounded uncertain. "I mean, I hope so," Dyba amended.

Even her sister wasn't sure… Dyla heard the growl of a Growlithe behind her, which made her run even faster. The Growlithe chased and barked at them. She doubted that he was on her or her sister's side, the way he bared his teeth like that. She could also hear the human's footsteps chase after the dog. This will not end well for us… She ran faster, more determined than ever.

Glancing over her shoulder, Dyba saw that the Growlithe was gaining fast; he would likely catch up to them in a minute. She knew then that there was only one thing to do: keep Dyla safe. It was obvious to her now that they could not both escape unharmed, so without warning Dyba flared her wings and rose into the air, dragging Dyla with her. Before her young sister could react, Dyba had pulled her up to the branches of a nearby tree, higher than little Dyla had ever flown on her own. Trusting that she would hold tightly to the branches, Dyba then turned around and dove down toward the hostile Puppy Pokémon that pursued them.

Dyla had no idea what her sister was doing. Why didn't she stay back here? And why so high up on a branch? She clung on for dear life, fearing if she fell off, she could injure herself pretty badly. As her sister flew back down, Dyla cried out, "What in the world are you doing? Come back!"

Though she could feel her heart breaking as her sister pleaded for her to stay with her, Dyba flew on straight and true, betraying no trace of her emotional turmoil to Dyla. It's for the best, Dyba told herself as tears began welling up once more in the corners of her eyes. No matter what happens, at least Dyla will be safe. I'll either drive them away, or… Or they'll leave when they take me.

"Come back!" Dyla pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes. The human had shouted an unknown command to its cloud-minded companion, then the Growlithe began spewing fire at Dyla's sister. "Get out of there!" She screamed, terrified of what would happen to Dyba if she was caught in the spinning flames.

Dyba shifted her trajectory to glide out of the line of fire and lure the Growlithe and his human away from Dyla. When it seemed as though the stream of flames was following her, she powered her wings at full speed to rise above the attack before tucking them away and clasping her elytra shut over them, at which point she did a barrel roll over the top of the attack before plummeting toward the ground.

H-how…? Why? Dyla's grip slid a little bit as she watched her daring sister battle the fiery dog. She slipped off the branch, but had just enough time to grab a hold of the edge of it. She quickly climbed back on, making sure to hold on more tightly this time. How are we gonna get out of this one? She thought, wishing she could do something to help.

As Dyba's vision spun with her aerial acrobatics, she thought she saw Dyla lose her grip. No! she thought desperately, pulling her wings back out and righting herself in midair. Looking up, she saw her sister still clinging to the branch for dear life. Dyba breathed a sigh of relief, returning her attention to her opponent just in time to see another burst of flames coming straight for her. She reflexively flew away from it, realizing a moment later that she was flying back toward where Dyla was!
Closing her eyes in concentration, Dyba used Light Screen to erect a translucent barrier, not around herself, but around her defenseless sister. The extra effort she exerted to utilize the move in such an unusual way drained her stamina, slowing her flight speed so much that Growlithe's attack caught up to her just as she crossed in front of Dyla. As a result, the fire struck Dyba as well as colliding with the Light Screen protecting Dyla; the latter held up, but as the attack dissipated it became obvious that Dyba's descent was not a controlled dive this time.

As Dyba was hit, Dyla immediately flew down to try to save her sister. Unfortunately, she wasn't very skilled at flying just yet, and it showed as her control failed. She was at least able to get under Dyba to cushion her fall, her singed sister heavy on her back. She saw the human pull out one of its demonic spheres, white and red in appearance – what had caused the trouble in the first place. The Growlithe was uttering a low growl, showing his teeth; Dyla was chilled by the very sight. "Dyba…" she whimpered, her gaze drifting fearfully up to the human before returning to the dog.

The human then spoke to the Growlithe, pointing toward the trees behind it; the Pokémon seemed disappointed at first, but he obediently turned and disappeared into the forest. Its attention now focused completely on the Ledyba sisters, the being muttered something to itself as it tossed the ball underhand at Dyla, who was still pinned under her sister. In a last-ditch effort to save her, Dyba knocked the thing back.

Dyla watched as her sister deflected the ball that had caused this forest so much trouble. So much pain.

"D-dyla…" Dyba said, her tone harsh, once she had rolled weakly onto the ground and gotten shakily to her feet. "Why did you come after me?"

Dyla was surprised that when her sister spoke, it wasn't of gladness. "I–" She cut herself off, seeing as she apparently had done more harm than help. "I wanted to help you in some way…" Trailing off, she watched as the human took out a second sphere.

Dyba shook her head in frustration. "I was doing fine until you decided to lose your footing up there! If I hadn't had to turn around, neither of us would've gotten hurt! But now…"

"I didn't…" Dyla began to protest, but then she let let it drop; she knew an argument wouldn't solve anything at this point.

Dyba had stopped speaking when she noticed the human doing something very unusual; it had crouched down to their level and was now looking each of them in the eye, its expression soft.

Dyla stared warily at the human, but now that it had crouched down with a smile, she decided that it did not meant them any harm – at least for now, that is.

Glancing down, Dyba saw that it was holding two of those accursed balls in one hand and some type of oddly-shaped purple container that appeared to be full of liquid in the other. The human pointed this container at Dyba and pressed a button on it, releasing a fine mist over her.

Dyla took note of the fact that the human still held onto those wretched balls as it sprayed her sister with a strange mist… a strange mist that smelled nice, reminding her of Oran Berries.

The sweet-smelling liquid that the human sprayed on Dyba made her feel strange; at first it stung, but then gradually the pain of her wounds began to numb, dwindling until it was nothing more than a dull throb. How odd, she thought, Why would the human attack me just to turn around and heal me afterwards?

Dyla was startled to see that Dyba seemed to like the spray – it appeared to heal her wounds quickly. Such strange beings humans were, to hurt something only to fix it again.

As the sisters watched in confusion, the human stowed the container of healing liquid in the bag it had slung over its shoulder, then held out the balls, one in each hand, toward the two of them.

When she noticed the two spheres staring at her and her sister, Dyla squealed, "Eep! It's gonna capture us! Just like the others did our parents!" Dyla shivered at the thought. "I don't want to leave the forest!"

Dyba wasn't too keen on that idea either, but their ordeal today made her realize something about the situation they were in. Turning to Dyla, she spoke slowly, deliberately, as though choosing each word carefully, "I don't think the humans knew that capturing us Pokémon would tear apart our families… Didn't you notice this one stopped the attacking when it saw that you and I were together? We can't understand them, so they probably just don't understand us either." Sensing that Dyla wanted to argue, Dyba grabbed her sister's hand and continued a little louder, "I mean, sure, it attacked me, but it also healed me… Maybe humans battle with Pokémon as a sport; maybe they take care of them, protect them… Look closely, Dyla; it's actually asking us both to go along with it. We're being given a choice right now, but I have a feeling not all humans would do that. It's obvious we can't outrun them or beat them, so this may be our only opportunity to stay together. Think of it this way: we may never see the forest again, but at least we'll still have each other."

Dyla sighed, agreeing with what Dyba had said.

A wave of relief swept over her when Dyba saw the resigned look on Dyla's face as she sighed; she understood her sister's reluctance – she was uncertain herself – but if she knew one thing for sure it was that this was the right thing to do.

Holding her hand she looked around, taking in the last moments of the forest and freedom she had. She looked at the human with a bit of disdain, but seeing as this was the only way Dyla and her sister could stay together she nodded to Dyba and pushed the white button on the ball nearest her.

The sisters held hands until the very last moment, when they both simultaneously made contact with their respective balls and were transported inside of them.

Ping.

A/N – 11/16/11: I have edited certain portions of this story in order to maintain a continuity that I didn't realize was broken and to make it match up better with something else I'm working on. Most of the changes are subtle, but one or two of them are pretty major.

A/N – 2/3/13: Have you ever looked at something you wrote a long time ago and thought, "Where was I going with this?" Well, I don't know what sort of cross-continuity I was aiming for here, but I've fixed something else while randomly proofreading everything I've posted. Oh well. Maybe… hmm… *goes to work on something else* :D

A/N – 5/10/14: As has been pointed out to me by Kefalion, I had changed tense in the introduction. Very stupid, very pathetic mess-up. I heartily apologize. I have now fixed it. By all means, readers, point out any problems you find so I can correct them; I am a perfectionist, and the only thing I hate more than being wrong is not realizing that I'm wrong.

A/N – 12/30/16: This fic is part of my Pécco'verse (see my profile for more).