We marched forward in silence, or rather, they marched and I was carried. The only sound was that of the occasional stick cracking underfoot-even the usual sounds of the forest were entirely absent. The smell got worse as we carried forward, until it was almost as bad as it had been before without the cloth.

Bugsy called us to a stop at a small clearing. Halfway across, a wall of thick, purple dust hung in the air. "Poison powder," he said. "There's no going through that; we'll have to go around."

"Why is it there?" I asked.

He turned to the left, and started walking parallel to the blockade. His pokemon adjusted to maintain their formation. "Many of the wild pokemon here can learn how to produce the stuff. Maybe they fought among themselves."

"So much of it, though?" When that wild Paras I'd met on the first day had used a powder attack on me, there hadn't been very much of it by comparison-the attack was smaller than I was.

Rather than respond, he simply continued walking. Did he not know? Or was he refusing to talk to his 'prisoner'? I wasn't sure-in the position Yanmega was carrying me, blood was starting to run to my head, and it was a little difficult to think. Either way, we shortly stopped moving again. Looking up, I saw another wall of dust blocking our progress, green in color this time.

"Sleep powder," Bugsy said. "What...?"

Something about the situation struck me, as dizzy as I was starting to get. "We're getting boxed in," I said.

He turned to me, a suspicious look on his face. "Beg pardon?"

"These clouds are, uh..." I took a moment to put my thoughts together. "They're holding us in place, so we can't leave the forest."

His look turned speculative, and he spun to inspect the wall. "Wild pokemon wouldn't be smart enough to execute a strategy like that," he said, "too many moving parts. Now that you mention it, though..." After a moment of contemplation, he nodded to himself. "All right, we're going to wait for Vespiquen. Once we have more information, we'll proceed."

"All right, great." I nodded haphazardly. "So, while we're waiting, uh...could I go ahead and stand up? This is really uncomfortable."

He looked me over. "Sure, that should be harmless. Yanmega, drop him." He caught me as I suddenly fell, then pushed me to a standing position. "Just don't try to remove the strings while we wait."

We stood in silence some distance away from the cloud, biding our time. As promised, I kept still rather than risk disturbing my bindings. Bugsy, Pinsir and Heracross each stood on guard, keeping watch in a given direction. No wild pokemon leapt out to intercept us; nor, in fact, did any even wander through the area. It seemed as though we were completely alone, and it felt that way for the next few minutes, until Vespiquen finally descended from above the trees.

"Vespiquen, report," Bugsy said.

"We are currently trapped by several clouds of various powders," Vespiquen replied, in a high-pitched, lilting voice. I blinked in surprise-it could talk?-but she continued despite my confusion. "The clouds are being reinforced by one of four Vileplumes, each commanded by a trainer wearing all black. One trainer saw me in the sky, and released a pokemon which seemed to be an Ice or Water type, at which point I retreated."

Bugsy nodded. "Understood. Yanmega, begin speed boosting."

Yanmega lifted off from the ground and began to beat its wings, faster and faster. Bugsy approached me, and began to remove my bindings. "The trainers Vespiquen mentioned are likely responsible for the recent disturbance," he said. "My apologies for the suspicion. You will be free to go, once we escape the situation."

"Um, no problem," I said. "So, how are we getting out?"

He glanced over to Yanmega, who was now zipping around us. "Almost there," he muttered. "We can't fight the trainers, not when we're in their trap and heavily outnumbered. The plan is the same as before-return to Azalea Town and make our preparations there. Speaking of which. Pinsir, Heracross, return."

" Vespiquen!" He barked. "Air Slash, on the powder!"

Vespiquen thrust her arms forward, and a blade of wind rushed forward, parting the cloud.

"Brace yourself, Leonard! Yanmega, get him out!"

Before I could respond, I was suddenly launched forward by the small of my back, wind bending my spine backward. A moment later, I hit the ground, tumbling across it before skidding on my face, coming to a stop a moment later.

"Ow," I mumbled around a mouthful of dirt. Once the dizziness wore off, I sat up.

I was on the far side of the sleep powder, now, and Slowpoke Well was within sight. Unfortunately, so was a large blue pokemon of some kind, with a red flower sprouting from its' head, and its trainer. That's probably Vileplume, huh. Both were running toward me.

"Vileplume!" The man shouted. Yup. "Sleep Powder!"

Bugsy flew between us, borne forward by Yanmega. Both passed directly through the dust, disrupting it, and a moment later, crashed to the ground. The trainer grinned nastily. "Well, that works too." He picked up Bugsy in a fireman's carry. "I'll just take this. Vileplume, remove him." With that, he turned and began to walk away. The Vileplume began to glow, and a small sphere of light began to swell in front of its hand.

Crap crap crap crap. What could I do? Even if I somehow avoided the attack it was charging, I still couldn't rescue Bugsy at this rate. I had no pokemon available to handle this, and I couldn't get help from any of Bugsy's, he'd put them all back except for Yanmega and-ah!

"Vespiquen!" I shouted. "Rescue your trainer!" Vileplume twitched as I shouted, moving its arm-and the ball of light moved with it.

Ok, with any luck she heard me-a burst of wind shot past me, knocking over the trainer-good, that's that sorted. Vespiquen flew forward, and completely ignored the Vileplume, moving straight for Bugsy. Oh. No help, huh?

Well, then. How was I supposed to handle this? The ball of light was shaking now; I could only assume it was nearly finished doing whatever it was doing. If only there was some way I could handle a three-foot tall plant. Actually no, hold that thought, I'm stupid.

I burst into a sprint toward the Vileplume. It had been getting closer while it charged, so it was easy to snatch off the ground. Ignoring its half-hearted flailing, I used my forearm to hold its body to my chest, and grabbed its arm. As I moved its arm, the light moved with it. Well, that was surprisingly easy. Maybe it can't do other things while it's charging up? Now then, where to point this...

Looking over at Vespiquen, I saw that she was launching narrow bursts of wind at some kind of seal. The seal didn't seem to care very much, responding with blue beams of light that froze wherever it touched. Vespiquen had a few patches of ice on its body already, and it seemed to be struggling to stay airborne. Perfect. "Hey Vespiquen, watch out!" I shouted, pointing the Vileplume's arm at the seal.

"What the fuck?" The trainer said. "You've got to be-"

The ball of light exploded outward, a massive beam firing toward them. Vespiquen fluttered out of the way, but the seal was clipped by it, and I adjusted my aim slightly to hit it head on. It was too much-after a moment of exposure, the seal dissolved into red light, and returned to its pokeball on the man's belt. Seizing the opportunity, Vespiquen knocked him flat with one more burst of wind. A moment later, the beam tapered off, and I immediately chucked the Vileplume as far as I could toward the woods.

"Do not move," Vespiquen said to the trainer. "You will be coming with us."

"Let's get going quick, before the others you saw get here," I said. "You keep him in line, and I'll carry Bugsy." So saying, I placed him over my shoulder.

She nodded to me. "Very well. I do not accept orders from any other than my trainer, but your plan is wise." She fluttered over to me and tapped a pokeball on Bugsy's belt, which absorbed the sleeping Yanmega, then returned to the downed trainer. "Get up. Drop your Pokeball belt on the ground and step away from it, then move. Otherwise, your wellbeing is forfeit."

Swearing under his breath, he complied. Vespiquen took the belt, and then we began to run toward Azalea Town.