So the next chapter and now the story really gets going.
So on with the story!
Chapter 6: Missions Semi-Possible
The sun was just beginning to set over Treasure Town, when Team PokéHeroes returned back, carrying a wounded Staravia between them. Soon, they reached the Guild entrance and the Bird Pokémon thanked them for their help and rewarded them 700 Poké, a Max Elixir and a Rawst Berry.
"Check it out," Ignatius cheered. "I am so glad we're an advanced group, so we can keep all this money, not like when we were rookies."
"What happened when you were rookies?" the Doctor asked.
"Don't remind us," Rachel sighed. "Chatot always took 'a small portion' of our coins and left us hardly anything." She checked the coin pouch in the Toolbox. "Whoa, we've got a lot of Poké here. I'd better go deposit them in the bank."
"Ok," Ignatius said. "We'll wait for to come back."
Rachel headed back into town and went straight to the Duskull Bank.
"Welcome," the owner said. "How can I help you?"
"Evening, Duskull," Rachel smiled, taking out the pouch. "I'd like to deposit 3000 Poké into my account please."
"Certainly," Duskull said. His eyes glowed and the coins floated out of the pouch and onto the counter. "There we go. Your account is 9000 Poké."
"Thank you, Duskull," Rachel beamed. "See you around."
She then set off back to the Guild, but then she heard voices unheard of in Treasure Town. She turned and saw two new Pokémon walking up to the Kecleon Brothers. One looked like a Treecko wearing a strange red top; the other was a Growlithe wearing a black shirt over its striped fur. As they reached the store, Rachel snuck up behind a wall and listened in on the conversation.
"Excuse me," the Treecko spoke. "Could you help us? Have you seen a Pokémon that calls himself the Doctor?"
Rachel gasped. They're looking for the Doctor!
"Hmmm," the green Kecleon thought aloud. "There was a Pikachu who was called that. He's with Team PokéHeroes, they live at the Wigglytuff Explorers Guild."
"Really?" the Growlithe asked. "Is it far?"
"Not at all," said the purple Kecleon. "It's just up that hill. Unfortunately, it's closed for the night. You can rest at the new Vespiquen Rest house down the road and then check on the Guild tomorrow; see if they're not on a mission or something."
"Thank you, guys," the Treecko smiled. Then she turned to the Growlithe. "Come on, Mickey. Let's get some sleep."
"All right, Martha," the Growlithe nodded. "I've found some money in the woods. I hope it's enough…" And the two Pokémon set off down the street.
Rachel ran back to the Guild, her thoughts racing as fast as her feet. Who were those Pokémon? Why did they want the Doctor? Then she shook her head crossly. Be reasonable, Rachel. They're probably friends of the Doctor, like Grovyle was to me. But would he recognize them? If he's like me, maybe not. Better play it safe and work it slowly, see how it-
"Rachel?" Ignatius' voice rang out.
"Huh, what?" Rachel looked up saw she was back at the Guild and her friends were staring at her.
"Are you alright?" the Doctor asked. "You weren't acting normal."
"Oh, um, yeah I'm good," Rachel stammered. "Everything's fine. Come on, let's get to bed."
As they set off into the Guild, Rachel glanced back down the road, as if imagining that from here, she could see Mickey and Martha heading for the Rest house, worrying about their missing friend…
Deep in the Apple Woods, Sarah and Luke were also getting worried. They'd been wandering the forest for hours, searching for the missing items Mesprit mentioned, but so far all they found were two Apples, various berries and some seeds.
"Mom, I'm tired," Luke moaned. "Can't we stop for a bit?"
Sarah yawned slightly. "All right, Luke. We'll stop here for the night and continue tomorrow."
As they sat down by some trees, Luke spotted a large Apple on the ground before them. "That looks delicious," he said. "I'm going to get it."
He ran up to the Apple, but just as he wrapped his paws around it, a loud voice rang out above him, "HEY! Get away from that. I saw it first."
Luke jumped back in alarm and looked up to see a face peeking through the trees. It was pale, with purple hair, a cross looking grin and a black patch over one eye. "I said, get away from my Huge Apple!" it yelled.
"What do you mean?" Luke cried. "It's on the ground and you're up there."
"No," the Pokémon sneered. "It was in this tree first. I saw it there, but it fell out before I could get it."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Luke apologized, holding the Apple up. "I didn't know."
The Pokémon's grin brightened. "That's alright, kid. I'm sorry I shouted at you. Let me just get that."
Just then, a long arm with a massive hand on the end was lowered to the ground and grabbed the Apple before raising it again. Sarah came up then and looked up. "Hello there," she called up. "What's your name and what Pokémon are you?"
"I'm an Ambipom, ma'am," the Pokémon replied. "The name's Alcazar. You folks new here, or something?"
"Yes, we're new," Sarah nodded. "We're looking for some items that may have been lost around here."
"Just a minute, I'm coming down," Alcazar called out. Seconds later, the Ambipom jumped down from the tree and landed among them. Now Luke could see the Pokémon properly. His body was covered in the same purple fur as his hair and there were three scratch marks on his chest. Luke also noticed that Alcazar's arms were small and thin, and then realized that the hand that took the Apple was actually on the end of one of his tails, the second tail was exactly the same.
"Now then," Alcazar said. "Tell me about these items you're missing."
"Well," Sarah began, "we don't really know which-"But suddenly a loud roar echoed through the trees. Luke and Sarah spun round in time to see a huge creature emerge from the bushes. It looked like a large metal dinosaur, with a silver, horned head, massive claws and a powerful tail.
"It's an Aggron!" Alcazar shouted. "Run for it, you two, I'll distract it."
Sarah grabbed her son in her mouth, and carried him like a lioness would carry her cub. She dashed behind a tree and then turned back to see Alcazar leap back into the overhead branches. The Aggron lowered its head and smashed into the tree in front of it. Alcazar then jumped onto the monster's back and clung on with his smaller hands.
"All right, savage Steel beast," he cried out. "Time for some music to soothe thee." And he pulled out a small metal cylinder, held it to the Aggron's head and pushed it down. A blue light flashed at the end and a soft buzzing noise rang out.
Sarah gasped. "I know that sound." Then she dashed forward, pulling out her sonic lipstick with one paw and tuning it to the same frequency, and called out, "How about we make it a duet?"
She held it up and pressed the button. At once, the Aggron's eyes began to droop and eventually, it fell to the ground and started to snore. Alcazar leapt off its back and dashed off, calling out softly, "Let's get out of here, before it wakes up."
Sometime later, they were out of the woods, where they stopped to catch their breaths.
"Alcazar," Sarah panted. "That device you used earlier… can I see it?"
"Certainly, ma'am," the Ambipom smiled, holding it out in its smaller hand.
Sarah gasped in amazement. "I knew it," she cried. "That's the sonic screwdriver!"
"Sonic screwdriver?" Alcazar asked puzzled. "I always called it a buzzing light-stick. Personally I think my name for it has a more distinct ring."
"Listen, Alcazar," Sarah said. "That's one of the missing items we're looking for. Can we have it please?"
"Sorry, ma'am," the Ambipom replied. "This light-stick is my only chance to find my daughter."
"Your daughter?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, my daughter, Minka," Alcazar sighed. "She was taken by a Skarmory three nights ago. I tried to save her, but that bird was super tough; took out my eye and gave me these scars." He pointed to his chest. "When I came to, Skarmory was gone, and so was Minka. That's when I found the light-stick and discovered its powers. I felt it would be enough to save her." A tear trickled down his face.
Sarah felt sorry for the poor Pokémon, and she sympathized with him. She remembered all the times when Luke was kidnapped by alien life forms – the Bane, the Slitheen and the Trickmaster – and the trouble she went through to save him. Of course she did have some help…
"Alcazar," she said slowly. "Let us help you with that. We're looking for someone too."
"Hmmm," Alcazar pondered. "All right, ma'am-"
"It's Sarah Jane," she interrupted. "And this is my son, Luke."
"Okay," the Ambipom nodded. "I accept your help, Sarah and Luke. Tell you what, you find Minka, I'll give you my light-stick. Deal?" He held out a small hand.
"Deal," Sarah agreed, taking it in her paw. Luke put his paw on too.
"Great," said Alcazar. "Now come on, I know a good place to spend the night."
They came to a large tree, where Alcazar climbed into the branches and rested in a small bend. Sarah and Luke found a soft clump of grass under the tree and settled down to sleep. Sarah stayed up for a short while, looking out into the horizon.
"Goodnight, Doctor, wherever you are," she sighed as she curled herself round her son and slowly fell asleep.
At the same time, near the Midnight Forest, a small rag-tag band of Pokémon were about to get an unusual new member.
"Come on, guys," Eliza the Glameow called out. "We have to keep going."
"Can't we take a break?" Clayton the Armaldo groaned, from several feet behind her. "It's past sunset already."
"Why are we doing this anyway?" Kerry the Spinarak complained as she staggered after them.
"I told you before," Eliza said. "My boyfriend, Byron, is in trouble. We need to find him and fast."
"Honestly," Feathers the Swellow sighed, flying overhead. "Is it really worth dying of exhaustion just for a trapped Bidoof?" He landed in front of the group. "I say we stop for the night and continue onwards. All in favour?"
"Aye," said Clayton.
"Aye," said Kerry.
"You can't stop now," Eliza spluttered. "We're almost there."
"I know," Clayton said patiently. "But we've been going all day. I'm sure Byron can survive one night before we can-"
"LET ME GO, YOU FEATHERED BASTARD!" a sudden voice yelled out over their heads.
They all looked up to see an incredible sight. A Pidgeot was flying overhead, its majestic head pointed in the direction of the forest and a Buizel in a grayish coat struggling in its talons.
"I SAID, LET ME GO!" the Buizel screamed.
"Good heavens," Kerry gasped. "That foul-mouthed Pokémon's in trouble!"
"We've gotta help him," Eliza cried.
"Right," Feathers said, lowering a wing. "Kerry, climb on."
The Spinarak scuttled on to Feathers' back and the Bird Pokémon took to the air, and flew up to the Pidgeot. As they neared the larger Bird, it turned around, and Feathers and Kerry immediately saw something was wrong. Its eyes were glowing sinister red and there was a strange black thing across its chest.
"What is that?" Kerry gasped.
"I don't know," Feathers said grimly. "But we have to help that Buizel. You know what to do."
"STRING SHOT!" A sticky strand of silk shot out of Kerry's mouth and wrapped itself around the Pidgeot's tail, slowing it down.
"Nice one," Feathers cried. "NOW, CLAYTON!"
The Armaldo gulped slightly. "Oh, I don't know if I should…"
"You can do it, Clayton," Eliza reassured. "It won't hurt from up there."
"Ok then, ROCK BLAST!" The Prehistoric Pokémon smashed out a rock from the ground and flung it with all its might. The rock struck the blob on the Pidgeot's chest, making the bird shriek in pain and loosen its grip on the Buizel… and the water Pokémon plummeted through the air and crashed into the trees.
"Oh no," Feathers gasped. Kerry dropped her silk line, and the two flew to the ground. The Pidgeot let out a squawk of frustration and flew away into the night.
Feathers and Kerry rejoined Eliza and Clayton on the ground, and they all ran to the clearing where they saw the Buizel fall. They found it in the middle of some broken branches, lying very still.
"Is he all right?" Kerry breathed.
"It fell from several feet up onto a hard floor," Feathers stated. "I don't think anybody could survive that."
"Let's take a look," Eliza said, placing a paw to the Buizel's neck. "I can't feel a pulse; I think he's dead."
Suddenly the Buizel let out a strained gasp and sat bolt upright, startling everyone. He shook his head and looked up. "Aw, dang," he groaned. "Another fall from a great height… that is so not good for my health." Then he realized his company. "Oh hi there, sorry I had to drop in on you like this."
"Who… What… How…" Clayton stammered. "You're supposed to be dead; how did you…?"
"The trees broke my fall," the Water Pokémon explained and then smiled at Eliza. "Hi, I'm Captain Jack Harkness. Who are you?"
"Eliza," the Glameow said uneasily.
"Nice to meet you, Eliza," Jack grinned.
"What are you trying to pull, mister?" Feathers yelled out. "How did you really survive?"
"If I told you," Jack replied as he got to his feet and brushed himself down, "you probably wouldn't believe me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get going. That Bird's heading for Midnight Forest; I have to follow it and find something for a friend of mine."
"Wait, you're heading to Midnight Forest?" Kerry cried. "That's where we're going. Maybe we can help you out."
Jack paused and thought about it for a moment. "Hmmm, seems reasonable. Okay, I accept your offer."
"Hold on a minute," Eliza said. "We're going to find my boyfriend in there. We don't have time to help other Pokémon with their problems; we're not an Exploration Team."
"Now hold on," Feathers stated calmly. "Just because we're not a certified Team doesn't mean we can't help others in their time of need. Besides, we're both heading in the same direction, so we can help Jack with his problem and then we can find Byron afterwards."
"If we can make it there," Clayton muttered.
"All right," Eliza sighed reluctantly. "We'll help Jack out… in the morning."
So the group found a place to settle down for the night and went to sleep. Jack however stayed awake, looking out into the horizon. Wherever you are, he thought, whatever you're doing, I'll find you, Doctor.
At the Guild, in Team PokéHeroes' bedroom, the Doctor was just about to go to sleep when strange thoughts entered his mind. Where are you, Doctor? ... Goodnight Doctor… I'll find you, Doctor…
He shook his head and the thoughts disappeared. But as the Doctor closed his eyes and fell asleep, he had the strangest feeling he'd heard those voices before….
And I'm done. So now things get interesting. Also, I'll be away for the long weekend, so the story's put on hold for a while.
See you round.
