Triumvirate, chapter 2: Viridian Forest
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon
Notes: Just a reminder that Ash, Gary, and Ivy are based on canon characters from the manga: Red, Blue, and Green. Yes, I'm changing their names to the English anime counterparts where applicable and incorporating animeverse elements in this fic, but the characters are based on the manga characters.
The road to Viridian City was long but flat. The trio made good time hiking, the weather was fair, and so far there had been no further bickering between Ivy and Gary. They walked loosely side by side with Ash in the middle and Pikachu at his side. It seemed like the mood wasn't going to get any better than this, so now was as good a time as any to tell them—
"By the way, Ivy," Gary said. "When Gramps pulled out that device from the Snorlax, you looked surprised."
"Forgive me for being shocked about seeing some weird tech embedded in a Pokémon's brain."
Or not.
Ash sighed.
"Normally I'd agree with you there, but then you said something that got me curious. I think it was something like 'chimera'?"
"I don't know, was it?"
"Yeah, it was. You wanna tell us what that means? 'Cause from where I was standing, you looked spooked. Like you recognized the tech."
Ash jogged ahead and walked backwards to face them. "Guys, c'mon. I thought we were past this."
"If you have something to say to me, then say it," Ivy said. "I'm a big girl. I can handle it."
"All right, fine." Gary stopped walking. "I wanna know where you came from and what you're doing here. You're a long way from home, and I get the feeling you want it to stay that way."
Ivy put her hands on her hips. "And explain to me why any of that is your business?"
"Because I've got a right to know who's sleeping next to me. You know something about those Snorlax that attacked, so don't insult my intelligence by pretending otherwise."
"Wait, you know something about the Snorlax?" Ash said.
Ivy shook her head. "No, okay, I don't know anything about those Snorlax except that they tried to kill us and we stopped them."
"You're dodging the question," Gary said. "God, you know, this just makes me think you're on the wrong side of all this even more."
"Ivy?" Ash said.
She looked between the two of them. "You don't need to know why I'm here, you just want to know. I'll tell you what you need to know, and that's that I'm not on the so-called wrong side, as you put it. I helped you fight the Snorlax. And Ash, I helped you get away from that Raticate. Professor Oak entrusted me with a Pokédex and asked me to help you. I'm not here to cheat you or kill you in your sleep, or something crazy like that. And I'm not here to rob you." She gave Gary a flippant once-over. "You make it too easy, and honestly, I prefer a little challenge."
Ash coughed to cover up a laugh, and Gary shot him a dirty look.
"Look, the point is I'm not prying into your shit, so I don't want you prying into mine. It's not like I'm here interrogating you about that training you did in Johto."
"You don't know anything about that," Gary said.
"Exactly, and I don't care. So drop it already."
Ivy pushed past the two of them and continued down the path. Viridian City loomed in the distance a stone's throw away. Gary muttered something under his breath and tailed after Ivy. Ash watched them go.
"So, I guess this isn't a good time to tell you guys I caught a Munchlax?" he called.
Gary whirled. "You did what?"
By the time they'd checked in at the Pokémon Center in Viridian City and scrounged up some dinner, Ash was exhausted. Gary let him know just how idiotic toting around a Munchlax was, especially after the Snorlax attack. Worse, Ivy agreed with him. After those painful five minutes of hearing Gary tear him apart, there was complete silence the rest of the way to Viridian City. Now, the three of them sat together in the room they'd rented out for the night, still not speaking.
Ivy sat with her Umbreon, which was busy licking itself clean. The Pokémon Professor Oak had bequeathed to Gary, an Eevee, was also out and staring curiously at Umbreon. Ash couldn't take the silence anymore, so he got up off his bed, picked a Pokéball from his belt, and released Munchlax into the middle of the room.
As soon as it appeared, Gary choked on his drink and startled Eevee, who scuttled behind him to hide. Umbreon ceased cleaning itself and stared at Munchlax, its hair standing on end.
"Ash, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Ivy hissed.
Munchlax slumped over and began to tremble. Ash kneeled down next to it and it buried its face in his thigh.
"You guys wouldn't listen to me when I tried to explain, so I'm trying a more hands-on approach." He gently put a hand on Munchlax's head, and it flinched. "Look, it's just afraid. It's just a baby."
"A baby whose psycho parents nearly killed your mom," Gary said. "Ash, come on. Snorlax are dangerous. They're not meant to be tamed by people."
"Wow, coming from a guy who wants to understand Pokémon? Don't you think that starts with, oh, I dunno, understanding? Does this little guy look dangerous to you?"
"It's not like that," Ivy said.
"Then what's it like?" He pulled off his cap. "When I found Munchlax, I pulled a knife on it. I was gonna kill it, like a wild animal. But then I took a fucking second to look at it, and I saw fear. Loneliness. It just lost its parents, like I lost my mom. It's just scared and alone, and innocent."
"It won't be so innocent when it gets bigger," Ivy said.
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna prove you wrong. Both of you. Professor Oak wanted us to complete the Pokédex because we don't know a whole lot about Pokémon, right? Well, what if this is the key to understanding something about Snorlax? What if I can raise this little guy and train it not to want to kill humans when it wakes up from a nap?"
"And what if you can't?" Gary shot back. "What if it blows up in your face, and one day when that thing's not so little, it turns on you?"
"Well, then I guess you'll be able to say 'I told you so' and laugh at my dead ass."
Munchlax continued to quiver in fear. Pikachu sniffed its back, curious.
"Right, well, I'm gonna give Munchlax some food. I bet it hasn't eaten in a while." Ash reached for the food they'd purchased for dinner and selected a hunk of Pidgey breast. He set the plate down in front of Munchlax and waited.
Munchlax sniffed the food and began to drool.
"It's okay," Ash said gently. "Here." He put his cap over Munchlax's head, and it hung off the cub's ear.
Munchlax didn't need much coaxing to dig into its dinner, and it began tearing at the food with stubby fingers and small, sharp teeth. Ash scratched the back of its head.
"See? It's not dangerous."
Umbreon jumped down from the bed and sniffed at Munchlax's food. Munchlax growled, but Umbreon didn't seem to be bothered. It snatched a bite of meat from the mess Munchlax was making and trotted off to consume it in peace.
"For the record, I'm definitely gonna say 'I told you so' if this backfires," Gary said. "And I will laugh at your dead ass when I do it."
"So, we've got a Munchlax now," Ivy said. "How 'bout that."
"Just gimme some time to raise it. I know I can do this."
Gary watched Ash, thoughtful. "I guess you'd be the only one who could." Before anyone could respond to that, Gary got up and picked Eevee up. "I'm going for a walk."
He left without another word. Ivy slipped off the bed and settled down next to Umbreon as it finished its snack. She scratched it behind the ear and earned a rumbling purr in return.
"That Umbreon really likes you," Ash said.
"Yeah, we've been together for a long time."
Pikachu nibbled at the shredded remains of Munchlax's meal while Munchlax began to look around the room.
"What's a long time?"
Ivy gave him a look, and he put up his hands in a placating gesture.
"It's just a question. I just, well, we don't know much about you. And it's kinda hard to be friends when I don't even know what your favorite color is."
Ivy leaned back on her hands. "Green. My favorite color is green."
"Cool. Mine's red, obviously." He grinned and indicated the red jacket he wore.
Ivy's expression softened. "Umbreon's been with me for almost five years now. When she was still an Eevee, I got her as a gift."
"Really? Musta been someone close to you."
Ivy averted her gaze. "It was a long time ago."
Ash shook his head. "Man, you really are like a wall of ice and, like, steel and other hard things. But it's cool. I know it won't be like this forever."
"You say that like you know it's true."
"Well, sure. Kinda hard not to know things about your friends."
Munchlax had taken to ambling about the room smelling things and poking anything in reach. It suddenly found itself right next to Ivy and jumped in surprise.
"I'll be damned. It really is just a baby."
Munchlax was watching her carefully, but it wasn't backing away.
"Go on," Ash said.
Ivy slowly reached out and patted Munchlax on the nose. It made a grunting noise and sneezed. She yanked back her hand, but it was already coated in a sheen of spit and mucous. Ash burst out laughing and fell backward onto his back.
"Lovely." Ivy got up and headed for the bathroom.
Ash was still laughing and failed to hear her colorful expletives as she realized the mucous was going to be a bitch to scrub out of her shirt.
The next morning, Gary woke up early to get to the Gym and see about requesting provisions and professional medical assistance for Pallet Town's injured. He jumped in the shower while Ivy and Ash were still snoring away in their beds. Once dressed, he thought about going back to the room to wake Ash, but thought better of it in the end. By the time Gary had returned from his walk the night before, Ash and Ivy had already turned in for the night and Gary was still not sold on Munchlax joining the team, no matter what Ash said.
Outside, the air was warm and humid and the sun was lazily breaching the eastern horizon. It was a little early, but the people of Pallet Town couldn't wait. Hands in his pockets, he followed the main road to the Gym. A few people were out and about going for morning jogs and grocery shopping. Viridian was as green as its name. Trees grew in the middle of streets and created natural roundabouts. Ivy vines crept up the sides of the red, brick buildings he passed, giving the place a rustic look, almost academic. Even the air was fresh with the scent of cut grass and whatever flower was in season. Restaurants were opening, and their smells tempted Gary's stomach more than the lush greenery. Breakfast would have to wait until after his business was finished, though.
He turned to the left at the end of the street, and the Viridian City Pokémon Gym came into view. It was a large, imposing structure reminiscent of a refurbished warehouse. As with the rest of the buildings in town, the Gym was built of red brick and covered in creeping ivy. Inside there would be an arena large enough to accommodate even the bulkiest Pokémon for training purposes. As he approached, however, he noticed a few people standing around outside the Gym dressed in uniforms talking to a plain clothes woman.
"Please, I must speak with the Gym Leader. It's my daughter, she's been gone for three days and I'm afraid something terrible has happened to her!" the woman was saying.
One of the uniformed men spoke for the group. "Sorry, ma'am, but I can't let you in."
"But why not? I need help!"
"You're going to have to leave now."
The other uniformed men and women stepped forward to prove a point, and the woman backtracked on instinct.
"But I don't understand. The Gym Leader's supposed to help us."
The first uniformed man produced a wad of cash from his pocket and tossed it at her. "For your trouble. Sorry about your daughter."
The woman didn't even bother taking the cash, and it began to scatter across the road. "You think money can do anything? What's wrong with you people? My daughter's out there with god knows what else!"
"Like I said, you'll have to leave. My friend here'll escort you home."
One of the uniformed men grabbed the woman by the arm and manhandled her down the side street over her protests.
Gary watched the entire exchange. Confused, he walked closer to get a better look, but all of a sudden someone crashed into him from the right and shoved him into an alley. Gary hit a trashcan and scraped his hand on the brick wall, but he kept himself from falling over.
"Ow! What the— Ivy?"
She was peering around the corner of the alley a little out of breath. "Shh! I don't think they saw you, but keep your voice down."
"You pushed me." Gary righted himself and yanked her back by the arm with his uninjured hand. "You wanna tell me what the hell's going on?"
"Those guys in the uniforms are members of Team Rocket. Any idea why they'd be congregating around the Gym?"
"Team Rocket? You mean the guys that've been buying up land all over the continent?"
"Among other things."
"What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is there's no reason for them to be here unless they've got an interest in the area. How much do you know about them?"
"Just that they showed up a few years ago and started buying up land. Farmland, urban real estate, that kind of thing. They build low-income housing and they expanded crop distribution across the continent. Some might call them humanitarians."
Ivy yanked her arm free. "Some, but not all."
Gary peered down at her and thought carefully about his words. "I hear they recently got into the trash business. It might seem harmless, but it smells a little fishy. I don't trust any kind of organization that proclaims to be helping people by taking over huge chunks of their lives to turn a profit."
"I'm almost jealous that your suspicious nature isn't just for my benefit."
He ignored the backhanded jibe. "You talk like you know something about them. I said I didn't trust them. I didn't say I thought they were the scum of the earth or evil or something ridiculous like that."
Ivy returned to the edge of the alley and peered around the corner at the Gym. "Maybe you should."
Before he could press her for more information, she turned back to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I need to get into that Gym, and so do you. I have an idea of how we can do that, but I need you to trust me. Think you can handle that?"
"What're you even talking about? Let's just go to the Gym. It's not an exclusive club, and Gym Leaders are supposed to protect their jurisdictions. It's their job."
Ivy squeezed his shoulder to the point of aching. "Gary, just listen to me right now. I need you to let me handle this. If you want to help the people back in Pallet Town, you need to follow my lead and play along. ...Please."
Gary hesitated. He prided himself on being a decent judge of character, but Ivy had only ever set off alarm bells. Right now, she was so earnest and almost desperate that he couldn't summon his usual passive-aggressive skepticism. She was hiding something, but perhaps the only way to find out what was to let her do this.
"Fine," he relented. "We'll do it your way."
Relief flooded her face and she nodded. "Thank you." She pulled her long hair back into a ponytail and shrugged off her green jacket, which she left on top of the trashcan. "Just...do your usual constipated face and look mean, and we'll be good."
"My what? I don't look constipated—"
"Come on!"
She grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the Gym. The Rocket Grunts saw them coming and fell into a horizontal line, a clear signal that no one was getting past them. Ivy slipped her arm around Gary's and held him close.
"What the hell?" he hissed.
"Look mean, don't be mean," she hissed back.
The Rocket that had told the woman from before to leave stepped forward and held out his hand to stop their progress. He was a lean, short guy with a bad dye job.
"Stop right there, you two. No one gets in the Gym."
Ivy gasped and tugged on Gary's arm. "Honey, look, it's those heroes in black! Oooh, this is the best birthday surprise ever!"
Gary had a hard time not throwing up at the change in her. Ivy spoke with a slightly higher pitched drawl that only earplugs could make sound cute and charming. Even her body language made her look dainty and fragile as she leaned her weight on him and fluffed her ponytail.
"Heroes?" the Rocket Grunt said. "Well, I have been called that before."
"Oh my goodness, he talked to me! Honey, did you hear that?"
Ivy tugged on Gary's arm and he took that as his cue to grunt in affirmation. She smiled wide and made some kind of squealing sound, and he just about lost his composure right there.
The Rocket Grunt grinned and held out a hand. "The name's Butch. And you don't look like you're from around here, little lady. What can I do for you?"
Ivy took his hand in both of hers and shook it emphatically. "Oh, Butch! I just love that name, so manly and strong."
If she wasn't hunching over like she couldn't stand on her own, Ivy's three or four inches of height over Butch may have been a bit more obvious.
Gary crossed his arms. "We came to see the Gym Leader."
Butch caught his eye over Ivy's shoulder. "Oh, well that's not gonna be possible, man."
"Oooh, don't listen to my honey. He can be so serious and scary!" Ivy cooed. "Besides, who needs some stuffy old Gym Leader when you guys're here to protect the city?"
The other Rocket Grunts chuckled and whispered amongst themselves. Butch returned his attention to Ivy and flashed her a smile.
"O' course we're here to protect the city. Since the Leader's not in right now, you can count on us to look after things."
"Aw, see? I knew you were heroes! If you ask me, the Gym Leader can just stay on vacation so long as you're here~" Ivy ran her hand down Butch's chest playfully.
How the fuck is this guy falling for her? Gary thought to himself.
"Vacation? Nah, the Leader's away on business in Johto til the end of the month. You know, it's all work and no play for him," Butch said.
"But that's so far away! I hope you boys have more time to play instead of work."
Butch laughed. "We try."
Gary cleared his throat and Ivy winked back at him.
"Aw, my honey's getting hungry, I can tell. It was so nice to meet you and your friends, Butch. I hope we see you again~"
"Sure thing. And happy birthday."
Ivy blushed and made that awful squealing noise again. Gary had to look away lest the Rocket Grunts notice the disgust on his face.
"Okay, bye now!"
Ivy latched herself onto Gary's arm again and he practically had to carry her away from the Gym. When they got back to the alley where she'd left her jacket, she released him and retrieved it. Her sweet smile was gone, and her eyes were far away and deep in thought. There was no trace at all of the dainty femme-fatale.
"So the Gym Leader's gone and for some reason, he left Team Rocket in charge," she said. "Damnit, I had a feeling something like this would happen."
Gary followed her through the alley until they came out on another street.
"Wait a minute, what the hell was that back there?"
Ivy produced something from her pocket and began to flip through it. It was a wallet, and it had enough cash in it to buy enough meals for a month.
"You stole his wallet?"
She ignored him as she pocketed the cash and looked through the rest of the wallet's contents. "Looks like our friend Butch was just a Grunt, no one important. That means there's gotta be an Admin here running things. But what's the connection with the Gym Leader? Could he be in league with them? Or is he a victim?"
Gary took the wallet from her and threw it in a nearby trashcan.
"Hey! I wasn't done with that."
He grabbed her by the arm and forced her to look up at him. "What was that back there? And don't give me that bullshit about needing to know and wanting to know. You owe me an explanation."
Ivy sighed. "Fine, you caught me. I'm a con artist and a thief. Happy?"
She pulled away and continued walking in the direction of the Pokémon Center on the other side of town.
"No, I'm not happy. I already knew you were a thief. Ivy." He stepped in front of her and didn't let her pass. "What's your connection with Team Rocket? And why did you want to go to the Gym in the first place?"
She watched him for a moment, expression unreadable. She produced the cash she'd pocketed from Butch's wallet and handed him a few bills. "This'll feed us for a while. I suggest we get outta this city as soon as possible before Butch and his buddies realize we duped them. They know both our faces now."
"You're not answering my questions, and honestly? I'm about ready to start asking with something a little more forceful than words." His hand hovered over the Pokéballs at his belt.
Ivy looked around them briefly and licked her lips. "Don't threaten me. Believe me, this is one rabbit hole you don't want to crawl down. There's no way out."
He searched her eyes and tried to find some hint of the lie he knew was buried underneath, a crack he could exploit. But there was nothing. She only looked tired.
"What are you so afraid of?"
She swallowed and held his gaze. "I'm not afraid. I just have a very good idea of what's out there, and I wouldn't wish that burden on anyone else." She stepped around him and continued walking toward the Pokémon Center. "C'mon, we have to get Ash and get outta here. Team Rocket'll be looking for us soon."
Gary watched her walk away. One way or another, he was going to get to the bottom of this. That, or he and Ash were going back to their original two-man team and the only place Ivy would be going was back across the ocean to wherever she came from. He would make sure of that.
Ash once again found himself walking in between Gary and Ivy as they proceeded north out of Viridian City. He'd woken up to find himself alone. So he did the only thing that made sense: he went in search of food. After buying breakfast at a nearby restaurant for himself and for Gary and Ivy whenever they chose to show up, he went back to the room and packed up his things. That was when Ivy and Gary burst through the door and started shoving clothes into backpacks like they would get up and run off otherwise.
"Time to leave," Gary had said by way of explanation.
Ash asked about going to the Gym and getting help for Pallet Town, but Gary said it wasn't happening and they had to leave immediately. Ivy said something about getting supplies and went downstairs to the PokéMart. Within twenty minutes, they were back on the road and no one was speaking.
Ash sighed and glance back at the city as it shrank with their departure. "Guys, come on. I dunno what happened this morning, but my mom and the other people in Pallet Town are way more important that your bad blood. So someone better explain what's goin' on right now."
Gary walked in front and didn't look back. "Why don't you ask Ivy? Since you seem to have better luck getting her to talk."
Ivy rolled her eyes. "Don't act like this is all my fault. It's not like I had anything to do with the Gym Leader being out of town."
"Out of town?" Ash said. "Then who're we gonna get to help the people in Pallet Town?"
Gary sighed. "We'll just have to go north to Pewter. Pallet's not in their jurisdiction, but I hear the Gym Leader's a reasonable guy."
"Okay, but why the rush? I mean, I wanna hurry up and get help, too, but this morning you guys looked like the roof was on fire or something."
"Long story short, Gary and I had a little run-in with some Team Rocket goons and now they're probably pretty mad I stole all their money. So best to get a head start on them," Ivy said.
"Team Rocket? You mean those groupies in black spandex? I get a weird vibe from them."
"My point exactly."
Gary muttered something under his breath, but Ash didn't make it out.
"Wait, you guys didn't say there was a forest between Viridian and Pewter," Ivy said.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, Viridian Forest. It's huge," Ash said.
Gary stopped a few steps from the mouth of the forest and looked up at the trees. They were much taller than the few they'd passed on their way out of town. "Going around would slow us down days, maybe even a week."
"No way, we have to get help for my mom and the others." Ash pushed past him and reached for a Pokéball at his hip. "Hey, Ivy, I'm really sorry, but Pidgeotto'll be a big help in here with the Bugs. You okay with that?"
Ivy looked between Ash and the forest that faded to shadows the deeper she looked. "No, but I don't have a choice. Going around the forest isn't an option."
Ash nodded and released Pidgeotto. It flew to a high branch and cooed, its sharp eyes peering into the shadows. Ivy swallowed and clenched and unclenched her fists.
"This place'll be crawling with Weedle and other poisonous Bug Pokémon," Gary said. "I don't plan on getting stung."
He reached for a Pokéball at his hip and released Growlithe. It barked and trotted in a circle around his feet with its tongue hanging out.
"Aw, hey buddy." Ash kneeled down and ruffled Growlithe's fur. "Ready to fry some Bugs?"
"Not unless it's absolutely necessary," Gary said.
Another Pokéball flashed with light and Ivy's Houndour stretched out on the grass. As soon as it saw Growlithe, it snarled and crouched. Growlithe swished its fluffy tail and began to circle.
"My other buddy!" Ash smiled at Houndour and reached out a palm for it to sniff.
"Two noses are better than one," Ivy said. "Let's get moving."
Gary led the way with Growlithe, while Pidgeotto hopped overhead from branch to branch searching for Bugs to devour. Ash and Pikachu were in the middle, and Ivy brought up the rear with Houndour. Almost immediately, Houndour and Growlithe wandered off the path to take in the surroundings. They kept an eye on each other and gave each other a wide berth, occasionally growling if one came too close to the other.
The canopy was so thick that the sunlight fought a losing battle to shine onto the forest floor. As a result, most of the green vegetation had migrated up the tree trunks, while shorter grass, dead leaves, and innumerable varieties of fungus covered the forest floor. It smelled damp, like clothes that are left too long in the washing machine.
"Hey, check it out. It's a Metapod!"
A large, green pupa was suspended in the air above. It hung from a branch on a thin, silk string. Ash whipped out his Pokédex and scanned it with the built-in laser pointer. Ivy peered over his shoulder as the Pokédex screen lit up with the captured image. Ash punched a button and the screen switched to a page of text in the form of an academic report about Metapod.
"Looks like Professor Oak's got Metapod pretty much covered," Ash said.
"It says Metapod only spend about a week in their cocoons before evolving into Butterfree," Ivy read over his shoulder.
"Sweet!" Ash fished around his pocket for a new Pokéball and threw it at Metapod. With a flash of light, Metapod disappeared and the Pokéball dropped to the forest floor. Ash picked it up and smiled. "Gotcha."
"Are you done? We need to keep moving." Gary was already pressing ahead and leaving them behind.
"He's right," Ivy said.
"Okay, I know something's definitely weird when you're agreeing with Gary. When're you guys gonna tell me what's goin' on?"
Ivy averted her gaze. "I know you guys have a lot of questions, but I'm asking you...as a friend. Please, just let it go, at least for now. I don't wanna drag you into something you'll regret later."
Ash put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Okay. That's all I needed to hear."
"...Really?"
"Really." He turned to keep walking. "Oh, and when you are ready to share, I'll be ready to listen. And I know Gary will, too."
After a little while, he heard her footsteps following at a distance and grinned to himself. Pikachu was perched on his shoulder and nuzzled his ear, which sent a low-voltage shock of static electricity down his arm.
"I know, buddy. I'm always right about this stuff."
A hunk of green blood dripped down from the canopy and landed at Ivy's feet. Half of a Weedle carcass soon followed. Its legs were still twitching. Above, Ash's Pidgeotto was happily scarfing down Weedle's other half. Ivy repressed a shiver.
"As if I didn't have a good enough reason to hate birds already," she muttered to herself.
It was cool and humid the deeper they wandered into the woods, and she was glad for her jacket. Houndour panted with its tongue out as it trotted next to her, having lost interest in Growlithe some time ago. Dusk was setting in, and with the canopy so thick, it already felt like the middle of the night. She held a makeshift torch in front of her, courtesy of Houndour, to light the path.
"I think we should stop for the night," Gary said from up ahead. "It's dangerous to keep hiking in the dark."
There wasn't a whole lot of room on the forest floor, but they managed to light a fire and roll out their sleeping bags. Once the last of the light had faded, night's chill set in like a cold front with a grudge. They huddled around the fire and roasted some of the food Ivy had purchased in Viridian City.
"Better let the others eat, too, huh Pikachu?" Ash said.
He released the rest of his Pokéballs all at once, revealing a stout Wartortle and an Ivysaur along with Munchlax. Gary followed his example and let Scyther, Eevee, and Golduck out.
"I guess it's a party," Ivy said. She let out Umbreon, but hesitated in releasing her last Pokémon.
"What's wrong?" Ash said.
"Nothing, just that it was in a bad accident. I got some really good treatment, but I haven't let Batty out since then."
"Batty?" Gary said.
"Just let it out," Ash said. "It's gotta eat."
Ivy nodded. "Yeah, you're right."
She released the Pokéball and a very large Golbat emerged. Its left wing was bandaged and splinted, and its left eye was also heavily bandaged. It crouched on the ground with its massive wings folded as it twitched and peered around. Ivy rose and held out a hand toward it.
"It's okay, Batty. You're safe."
Golbat's gigantic mouth opened and closed as it tasted the damp, night air. Ivy walked around to its left side and gently peeled back the bandage on its wing.
"Hey, looks like you're doing much better."
Gary approached and peered at the wing. "Broken wing?"
"Yeah."
"What happened?"
"It doesn't matter. Batty's okay now."
She felt his gaze on her back and knew he wasn't satisfied with her evasive tactic. After she removed the bandage on Golbat's wing, she tested the one concealing its left eye. But when she pulled it away, there was nothing but an empty socket and a thick, jagged lesion sewn up with black stitches.
"Shit," Ash said.
Ivy ran a hand over Golbat's ear, and it shuddered. "It's okay. You're okay."
Golbat stretched its wings to test them, but decided against flying and took to hobbling on all fours as it followed its fellow Pokémon to search for food. Soon, everyone had found dinner. Ivysaur and Wartortle were munching on grass, while Pikachu stole some of Ash's food. Growlithe and Houndour had chased down a Nidoran and were now in a race to see which of them could rip it apart faster.
"That Golbat's pretty beat up," Gary said. "I don't suppose you're in the mood to share anything?"
Ivy put her food down and stared into the fire. "What happened to Batty was a horrific attack. I'm the one who pulled it out of there."
"Out of where?"
"Gary, leave her alone," Ash said.
Gary snorted. "Right, what's one more secret, anyway?"
Umbreon curled up next to Ivy's lap once it had finished eating and went to sleep. It began to purr when Ivy started petting its back.
"It was Team Rocket," she said finally. "They broke Batty's wing and gouged out its eye. I saved it before it was too late."
"Team Rocket? Why?" Ash said.
Ivy shrugged, and Gary chuckled.
"You know, the way you keep your secrets I have a hard time thinking you're not trying to protect Team Rocket."
"I'm not," Ivy bit out. "Lemme remind you that my past's none of your business."
"Whatever. I'm going to sleep."
Ash nudged Ivy in the shoulder. "Don't worry about it."
They settled in for the night in sleeping bags with two shoulder lengths in between them. Even in thermal sleeping bags, with the campfire doused the frigid air seeped in and made Ivy shiver. Houndour curled up at her side like a natural heating pad, and she turned over to hold the bony canine close to her middle. It was going to be a long and miserable night.
After a night of nearly freezing to death with only Growlithe at his back to keep him warm, waking up inside a self-heating furnace was welcome for about two seconds. Then Gary realized how sweaty he was and jolted away. Blinking, he tried to sit up and got a mouthful of black hair.
"What the—"
He spit out a few hairs and struggled to unzip his sleeping bag. Ash, whom he'd somehow cuddled up to in the middle of the night in search of warmth, perhaps, jerked awake.
"W-What? What's going on? Where's the fight? Ew, why's it so sticky in here?"
"Ugh, gross." Gary continued to spit out hairs that weren't there. When he finally extricated himself from his sleeping bag, he looked up and saw Ivy sitting a little ways away changing her shirt. He stared, vision still blurry with sleep, and she caught him.
"Finally, you guys're awake." Clothed once again, she looked back at them over her shoulder. "We should get moving."
Above, Pidgeotto was already feasting on a Caterpie. Chunks of it dropped to the forest floor in between Ivy's and Ash's sleeping bags. Gary turned flushed, either from anger or embarrassment or some combination of the two, and hastily rolled onto his other side to get out of his sleeping bag.
"Pidgeotto's making me hungry," Ash said.
Ivy tossed him a granola bar. "Have at it, Champ."
While Ash happily gorged himself on trail mix, Gary packed up his gear without looking at anyone.
"How 'bout you?"
A pair of booted feet entered his vision and Gary scowled. Ivy was holding out another granola bar for him to take.
"I'm not hungry, thanks."
She leaned down and tapped his cheek with the bar. "Sure you are." Her lips curled in a smirk that made him want to punch her in the face. But she left him to his devices before he could get a chance to convince himself it would be worth it.
The trio finished packing up their things while munching on breakfast. Ash picked up Ivy's pack to toss to her, but he fumbled.
"Whoa, whatcha got in here, bricks?"
Ivy saw that he had her bag and quickly snatched it away. "No."
"Okay then..."
Packed and ready to go, they resumed their hike deeper into the forest. Gary took point again and Ivy brought up the rear, like before. Pidgeotto hopped along above them, plucking stray Weedle and Caterpie from the treetops. The deeper they traveled, the thicker the dead vegetation on the forest floor became. After a couple of hours, the path became nearly impossible to traverse.
"Hold up," Gary said.
He reached for a Pokéball at his belt and released Scyther. The green mantis was of a height with him when it stood up on its hind legs. Scyther's translucent wings buzzed and it made clicking sounds as it looked around warily.
"Clear a path."
Scyther obeyed and began hacking and slashing with its wicked sabre-like appendages. It made short work of the clogged mulch and vines blocking the path, and soon the group was moving again, albeit at a slower pace.
Despite the early afternoon hour, the sun was barely visible through the treetops. No birds chirped, and no Bugs clicked or sang. The forest had fallen silent.
"Hey, are you sure this's the right way?" Ash called from a short way back.
"I'm sure."
"How sure?"
Gary rolled his eyes. "I'm following the map."
"How do you follow a map in a place where everything looks the same?"
Gary was about to say something snarky when he noticed a Bug crawling up a nearby trunk. He'd seen something like it before, but he couldn't remember where. Stopping, he pulled out his Pokédex and scanned it.
"Spinarak," he read aloud. "What're you doing all the way out here?"
"What is that?" Ash looked around him at the little green spider. "Haven't seen one of those before."
"What's the hold up?" Ivy stayed back a little ways, unwilling to get too close to Pidgeotto perched overhead.
Gary typed a note in the Pokédex about encountering a Spinarak in the Viridian Forest, then snapped it shut and slipped it back in his pocket. "Nothing. Let's keep moving."
Scyther eyed the Spinarak, but decided it wasn't worth it and resumed its hacking and slashing through the forest. They continued for another fifteen minutes or so until the temperature became noticeably warmer.
"Ew, what's that dank smell?" Ash said.
Gary smelled it too. Scyther finished hacking through a final bunch of thick vines and leaves, and on the other side the way was clear. Scyther hunched down and ruffled its wings as it crawled forward, alert.
"What the hell?"
Gary peered into the clearing, which was far larger than he'd expected. Old pieces of exoskeleton and unidentifiable bones littered the forest floor all through the clearing. He kneeled down and picked up a bleached bone.
"This is creepy," Ash said as he stepped on a hollow chunk of exoskeleton. "And did I mention gross?"
Growlithe and Houndour were busy sniffing the air and growling as they explored the clearing, while Pidgeotto flew to Ash's shoulder and perched there. It ruffled its feathers and cooed nervously.
"Oh my god." Gary walked toward a tree trunk where something like a large cocoon was stuck to it. He drew his hunting knife and moved closer to get a better look. The cocoon was spun from white silk and impossible to see through. Curious, Gary carefully began cutting through the shell with his knife and peeling back the many layers.
"Whoa." Ash pulled out his Pokédex and aimed it at the dead Bug he'd nearly stepped on. "Pinsir. I thought those things were s'posed to be at the top of the food chain."
The Pinsir, or what was left of it, was lying on the ground with one of its curved pincers snapped in half. Its body was mangled and missing a couple limbs, and black, viscous goo oozed from deep gashes in its carapace. Ash scrolled through the Pokédex for anything about natural predators, but this didn't look like the work of a Pidgeot or a Fearow. As far as he knew, they didn't live this deep in the forest. Pidgeotto flapped its wings in distress at the sight of the mutilated Pinsir and hopped to the ground.
"Guys," Ivy said. She was at the edge of the clearing and looking up toward the tree tops. "We need to get outta here. Now."
Gary had managed to saw through the cocoon down to its base and was working on prying it open. "Whoa, crap!" He stumbled backward and narrowly avoided getting smacked in the face. A body—a human body—slumped forward out of the cocoon but didn't fall out completely.
"Oh." Ash winced. "Okay, gross was an understatement."
Ivy paced around the edge of the clearing, her eyes still skybound. "Guys, I'm serious over here."
Gary and Ash were busy examining the corpse. It was a young man, and judging from the gear he wore, he'd been out here looking for Bug Pokémon. His face was pale, like it had been drained of all its blood. Upon closer inspection, his clothing was ripped over his chest, revealing half a dozen large puncture wounds.
"God, that reeks." Ash covered his nose and mouth. "That looks like what I saw on the Pinsir back there."
Scyther hissed at the corpse and clicked its hidden fangs.
"Looks like he doesn't like the smell, either," Ash said.
Ivy jogged toward them. "Guys, hello? I said we need to get the hell out of here."
Gary was crouched down and examining the corpse's belt. "He had a Pokémon with him. I wonder if it's still alive."
He took the Pokéball and released it. A gaunt Nidorino appeared looking ready to fight. The poison-tipped quills on its back stood up on end as it bared its fangs in a menacing snarl.
"Whoa there." Gary put out his hands and slowly stood up. "I'm not here to hurt you, Nidorino. Easy."
Scyther hissed at Nidorino, and the two Pokémon faced off, each ready to lunge.
"Hey!" Ivy said. "If you two're done, we really need to get out of here."
They finally acknowledged her distress. Gary frowned. "What's the matter?"
Ivy grabbed their hair and yanked their heads back so they were forced to look up.
"That is."
Gary's eyes went wide as he took in the warped canopy. It was covered in fine, white silk spun into tunnels that disappeared into the trees. Large tunnels. Caught up in the webbing were various Pokémon, from fearsome Beedrill to tiny Nidoran. All were strung up, broken, and splattered with the same black poison that had killed the Bug catcher and Pinsir.
"What the hell is that?" Ash said.
Ivy released them. "Spider webs."
"But I didn't think Kakuna and Metapod could do something that big."
"It's not Kakuna and Metapod," Gary said. "That Spinarak I found before—"
"Spinarak?" Ivy interrupted. "Why didn't you say something?"
"It was just one. And besides, they're pretty rare in Kanto."
"No, there's never just one. And another thing? Spinarak aren't big enough to do that." She pointed up at the suspended web tunnels.
Ash swallowed hard. "So...what is?"
All of a sudden, Nidorino and Scyther abandoned their stand off and looked up. Nidorino beat the ground with its stubby front claws while Scyther ruffled its wings, ready to take off. Pikachu and Pidgeotto huddled closer to Ash in fear.
Shlip, shlip, shlip.
The canopy leaves began to shake as something approached from all directions. Ivy, Gary, and Ash huddled back to back with each other. Spinarak emerged from their nests in the canopy and slowly dropped from the webbing above on silk threads. Houndour and Growlithe spewed embers at them, and they fell in burning, black lumps one by one.
Shlip, shlip, shlip.
The thunderous footsteps drew closer and shadows blocked out what little light made it through the canopy. Gary clenched his jaw as a spike of fear traveled up his spine.
"Holy—!"
Spiders, red and yellow behemoths large enough for an adult human to ride, appeared at the mouths of the silken tunnels and sang a cacophony of clicking and hissing at the intruders in their nest. Their wicked jaws dripped black poison to the forest floor, where it smoked when it hit the ground and ate through whatever was unlucky enough to end up underneath it.
"Ariados," Ivy gasped. "A whole nest of them!"
There had to be about a dozen fully grown Ariados hovering above. They snapped their jaws and made awful sucking sounds, and soon they were lowering themselves to the ground to attack. Scyther took to the air with a screech and rammed the first Ariados to touch down on the ground. It sliced into the spider's armored abdomen like a knife through a feather pillow and buried its razor appendages inside to the hilt. With a screech, Scyther dug its maw into the Ariados and began to blend its insides and eat it alive. Ariados writhed and tried to wriggle free, but the green mantis's hold was ironclad.
Unfortunately, Scyther could only handle one spider at a time. The other five and their brood of tiny Spinarak set their sights on Ash, Gary, and Ivy. The closest Ariados reared back and spit a glob of poison at them, but Nidorino jumped and took the direct hit. It Tackled the attacking Ariados without remorse, biting and clawing at whatever part of the giant spider it could access.
In the commotion, Ash, Gary, and Ivy broke apart. Pidgeotto took to the sky, but it couldn't fly properly with all the Spinarak streaming down from above and its wings became entangled with webbing. The Spinarak converged on it and bit into it with their small fangs, releasing dose after dose of deadly venom. Pidgeotto squawked in pain.
"Pidgeotto!" Ash screamed.
Pikachu climbed up Ash's back and leaped into the air. It fired off a lightning bolt and hit a few Spinarak. The spiders fried and fell to the ground. Pidgeotto fell with them, and Ash ran to its side. It was convulsing and its eyes were dilated. Poison oozed from multiple entry wounds, and its wings were covered in tangled spider webbing. Ash shook the bird.
"Hey, buddy, you're gonna be okay."
Pidgeotto shuddered once more before falling still. Its dark eyes were bright and glazed, and Ash could see his reflection in them. Tears welled in his eyes.
"Pidgeotto!"
"Ash, look out!"
A String Shot caught Ash's right arm and pinned him to the forest floor. He rolled over and tried to pry off the webbing, but it was drying fast and sticky to the touch, impossible to break. An Ariados reared up on its hind legs and charged at Ash, but Houndour and Growlithe each sprinted in from opposite sides and chomped down on two of Ariados's bladed appendages. Their bites were laced with fire, and Ariados tripped and fell. Then, out of nowhere, Ivy ran and jumped on Ariados's back and rammed her serrated hunting knife deep into the massive spider's brain. Ariados shook violently and crumpled to the ground, still.
Ash stared in horrified awe as she yanked her knife, now slick with green spider blood, free of Ariados's carcass and jumped down. She then started picking at the web binding Ash to the ground. It chipped under her knife, as hard as cement.
"Uh, Ivy?"
"A little busy."
"Behind you!"
Ivy looked over her shoulder at the two Ariados now cornering Gary, Scyther, and Nidorino. "Damnit. Ash, stay here."
She got up and ran to help Gary with Houndour and Growlithe at her heels.
"Yeah, no problem. I'll just hang out here, totally fine."
Pikachu began to spark nervously, and Ash looked up. Spinarak were descending from the canopy, and their next meal was all but waiting for them on a silver platter. Ash swallowed.
"Oh, fuck."
Meanwhile, Gary was stuck behind Scyther and Nidorino, the latter of which was trembling with fury but suffering spider bites from its last tussle with a now dead Ariados. Gary racked his brain for a strategy, but no matter how he spun it, two Ariados were stronger than Scyther and a wounded Nidorino that was only fighting against them on instinct, not out of any sense of loyalty.
"Gary!"
Ivy skidded to a halt behind the two Ariados with Growlithe and Houndour at her heels. Growlithe barked in distress when it saw Gary cornered. The two Ariados realized they were surrounded and wasted no time in attacking. They spat twin streams of poison at each of Gary and Ivy. Gary rolled to avoid the attack, but the sleeve of his jacket got doused and began to deteriorate and smoke under the corrosive acid. He hastily pulled the jacket off and threw it away.
Ivy was faster and managed to dodge the attack, while Houndour charged at Ariados. It snapped at the spider's bladed legs. The colossal arachnid spun around and tried to stab Houndour as the canine darted in between its legs and snarled. Growlithe jumped on Ariados's back and shook as though wet. Embers fell from its orange fur and burned everything in the vicinity. Nidorino backed up from the flames, wary.
Ivy backed away from the fight. "Houndour, fry 'em up!"
Houndour mimicked Growlithe's Ember attack and began to shake out its super-heated fur, but Ariados finally aimed right and struck it with one of its bladed legs. Houndour whimpered and fell.
"Houndour!"
The other Ariados managed to shake Growlithe off its back and scuttled away from the embers, but it didn't go far. The fire attack barely scathed it through its plated armor. If anything, it had only made it madder.
Scyther took the opportunity to fly up and attack from above. Ariados fired off a sticky String Shot, but Scyther was fast and avoided it. The green mantis rammed Ariados and sank its sabre claws into the spider's abdomen. Unlike before, it forwent feasting on the spider and instead began hacking away at it. Razor-sharp scythe claws made short work of the tough exoskeleton and shredded Ariados's innards to a gooey, green pulp.
Ivy ran to scoop up the injured Houndour, whose back leg was broken and bleeding where Ariados had stepped through it. Gary ran toward the remaining Ariados.
"Growlithe, try Flame Wheel!"
Growlithe roared and charged, fearless.
"Nidorino, use Fury Attack!"
Nidorino, perhaps more for its own purposes than out of any sense of obedience to Gary, nevertheless shook its poisoned quills and fired them at Ariados. They soared over Growlithe's back and rained down on the enormous spider. The poison wouldn't do much, but the numerous wounds were enough to throw it off-balance and piss it off even more. Growlithe took advantage of the distraction and sprinted head-on toward Ariados. Flames kicked up under its feet and grew rapidly until they surrounded the brave canine's whole body. It rammed Ariados and the fire exploded. This time, the flames caught and spread underneath the spider's armor through the puncture wounds Nidorino's Fury Attack had opened up.
Ariados screamed and lost the strength to remain standing. Slowly, it roasted from the inside out. Fumes rose through cracks in its armor and released a rancid, damp stench into the already stagnant air. It twitched, helpless, as it succumbed to a slow and torturous death.
Gary wiped his mouth, conscious of the way his heart was racing with adrenaline and fear. Ivy had recalled Houndour to its Pokéball and joined Gary.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah."
A flash of electricity caught their eye from the other side of the clearing, and Ash was shouting.
"But Ash isn't. C'mon!"
Ivy left, and only Pikachu stood in between Ash and the army of Spinarak descending on him like some kind of sick judgment. He tried to free his arm, but the web was as hard as a rock and wouldn't budge. Only fire would disintegrate it, but he didn't have a Fire Pokémon. Pikachu was doing its best to zap any Spinarak that hovered too close using Thunderwave, but it couldn't get all of them. Some made it to the forest floor and began crawling toward Ash.
"Get away!" Ash stomped with his feet and crushed a couple spiders that wandered too close. One managed to crawl onto his trapped arm, and its fangs glistened with poison. Without concern for the risk, he grabbed it with his free hand and crushed with all his might. Spinarak popped and green blood slicked his hand and fingers. "Oh, nasty."
He looked up and the sight that greeted him was not a pleasant one. The spiders just kept coming, and Pikachu wouldn't be able to fend them all off at once.
Think, Ash! Something that'll take them all out at once. Think!
Ash wiped his slimy hand on his favorite red jacket and fumbled for a Pokéball at his belt. It tumbled free and released Ivysaur. The blue reptile lifted its snout and peered at the horde of Spinarak hovering ever closer. It released two long, sentient vines and began slapping spiders right out of the sky, tearing them in half with the force of its attacks.
"Ivysaur, that's not gonna cut it," Ash said as he shrugged off his jacket held it up against his face. "Stun Spore them, and I mean all of them!"
Ivysaur ambled closer to Ash and growled low and guttural. The flower on its back began to quiver and expand until a cloud of yellowish dust shot from between the petals and wafted into the air. As soon as the nearest Spinarak inhaled a whiff of the poison, they twitched erratically and fell to the ground, paralyzed. Ash breathed deeply through his jacket and closed his eyes. He flinched as he felt thump after thump of spider carcasses raining down on him, but he just held the jacket tighter around his face and prayed it would be enough to spare him the Spinarak's unpleasant fate. Ivysaur continued to shoot jets of paralytic spores into the air and walked down the length of Ash's prostrate body.
"Ash!"
"Wait, don't breathe that in!"
Gary grabbed Ivy's arms and held her back before she could run into the danger zone. It felt like longer than the two minutes it took for Ivysaur to clear out the Spinarak. When the air was free of the paralytic, Gary and Ivy rushed to Ash's side. Pikachu lay motionless, awake but unable to move. Ivy pulled the jacket from Ash's face. He was dazed and confused.
"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up." She tapped his cheek to rouse him.
"Ugh... Is it dinner time yet?"
Ivy shook her head and laughed. "Idiot. All you think about is food."
"Growlithe, melt this. Carefully." Gary indicated the webbing gluing Ash to the ground.
Growlithe trotted over and began to chew at the white substance. Its teeth cut with fire and slowly ate away at the webbing until it had created a hole big enough for Ash to pull his hand free. Ash gripped his head in his hands once liberated.
"Dude, I feel like I drank my weight in vodka last night."
"That's what you get for using Stun Spore on yourself, dumbass." Gary held out a hand and helped him up.
"Whatever, you're just jealous 'cause I thought of it first."
"Please," Ivy said. "Gary's not creative enough to think of it at all, let's not kid ourselves."
Ash grinned despite looking like he might throw up at any moment. "Ah, soooo true."
Ivysaur ambled around sniffing at the paralyzed Spinarak and prodded one with its snout. It stepped on the spider's head and bit down on its back half, pulling it apart and chewing experimentally. It liked what it tasted and moved on to the next spider and repeated the process until it was sated.
"We should get outta here before the ones Ivysaur can't stomach wake up," Gary said.
"Funny, that's what I said before we got attacked by giant Bugs." Ivy pulled out her Pokédex and scanned one of the dead Ariados. "Huh, this thing really does know a lot." She paused before adding, "But I guess it had no idea there was a nest of these nasties all the way out here. Bet one of them got away from a trainer. Look at that." She pointed to a note in the Pokédex. "They multiply faster than Rattata. Huh, maybe that's because they lay like a zillion eggs at once. The more you know."
Gary shut the Pokédex for her. "Okay, we get the picture. Savor this moment, 'cause it won't happen again."
Ivy smirked and pocketed the Pokédex. "Of course."
"Can we get outta here now?" Ash scooped up Pikachu.
Gary crouched down in front of Nidorino, who had calmed down now that it was weighed down with numerous injuries and stress. He held out Nidorino's Pokéball.
"Hey, Nidorino. I can help you," he said.
Nidorino grunted and pawed the ground, still wary.
"It's pretty beat up," Ivy said.
"The poison shouldn't affect it much. It's a Poison-type, after all. Actually, we're lucky it took that Sludge Bomb for us. It's basically immune, but we're not."
The remains of Gary's jacket lay crumpled in a smoking heap near the Ariados carcasses, a grim reminder that luck had saved them this day.
"That guy was his trainer," Ash said. "And the spiders got him. I bet Nidorino's pretty traumatized."
"Yeah," Gary said. "But I can't leave it here."
Nidorino was barely standing at this point. It didn't put up a fight when Gary recalled it to the Pokéball he'd pried off Nidorino's dead former trainer.
Ivy noticed Pidgeotto's maimed carcass lying several feet away. "Ash, your Pidgeotto..."
Ash's face was hidden beneath the brim of his cap. "Yeah."
The Spinarak Ivysaur had paralyzed were starting to come to, and Growlithe snarled in reaction.
"C'mon. We need to leave."
Gary led them out of the spider nest and back to the path before they could be spider food. There was no time to retrieve Pidgeotto's body. The many Spinarak slowly woke up and crept toward the bird's carcass, where they resumed their previous assault. Even with their larger relatives gone, they would not go hungry tonight.