Chapter 9: A Stench of Retaliation: Part II

"Hey, er... Purrloin?" Great! She left me to take care of the krookodile. I kind of overheard their conversation, and good Arceus, how will I explain this to Officer Magnezone? Is it bad enough that I had to use the charge on my badge to send the other outlaws to the federation without anyone noticing?

I used my badge (thankful that it still had some energy left in it) to summon a beam of light. In a flash I was at the entrance of the police department. A group of magnemites were talking amongst themselves until noticing me.

"ZTTT, I see you've captured a high-rank outlaw. That's rather impressive, ZTTT." One of them told me. "ZTTT, no wonder everyone talks about you, ZTTT."

"I'm just glad to be of service." I said modestly. "But before you go, I have a favour to ask."

"ZTTT, what would that be?" The same magnemite inquired.

"Don't let the guild know I did this, or anyone for that matter." I pleaded. "I don't think they'll want me doing something this dangerous."

"ZTTT, understood. You can leave the criminal with us, we'll take it from here, ZTTT." The magnemite assured.

"Thanks."


As I was on the crossroads, heading to the guild, John showed up behind me, right at time. His trousers were replaced with what his kind would call 'jogging bottoms' and equipped himself with a few different coloured sacks on his weist, likely for holding seeds.

"I was training at Marowak's Dojo. What did I miss when I was gone?" He asked, curiously. 'Oh, if you only knew.'

"Not much, just rescued a spoink is all."

"That's assuring. It'll be enough for the guild to know we weren't 'shirking work', right?" I nodded. "Good, good. Do you want to hear a funny story?"

"Er... Sure."

"So I was at Serenity River, cleaning off all the nasty chemicals as best I could. And as I was drying off, this lotad asked where you were." He explained. "I gave him the true story. I know of the whole 'snitches get stitches' saying, but what was he going to do? Walk up to the skuntank and tell him to cut him out? No." He began dragging on as usual, but I still listened as best I could. "Anyway, the lotad said that body lotions are a thing here and that they're not even that hard to get. Embarrassed as I was, I still laughed it off. But still, if you would've told me about that sooner, I could've joined you on another John and Shinx adventure."

"Ha... That-that's funny..."

"But thanks for not telling me- and that's not sarcasm. I really needed the day off. Maybe I should thank the skuntank, just for laughs." He began chuckling until he saw my face. He knew that speaking anything remotely close to that name agitated me. "-On second thought, perhaps not."


Before we went to the Mess Hall to have dinner, I explained to Chatot what I- 'we' did for work. "Ah, so I heard correctly that you two saved Spoink's life then?"

"Yeah, we found him at Drenched Bluff." I lied, considering Landslide Cave was too dangerous to mention. The bell ringed, and we said nothing more as we made our way to the Mess Hall.

I couldn't bring myself to eat any of the food. Not because I was sick or the food looked disgusting, but merely by the fact Team Skull were sitting near us (Trubbish and Grimer gladly gave their seats up for Zubat and Koffing). The end seats were always empty and I knew once Koffing said they have joined the guild, they would be sitting there. Their eating habits were foul, they didn't close their mouths when chewing, they made gross sounds when doing so and as always, they smelt bad. Nobody else really took notice, aside from being bothered by the bad smells (except for Chatot and Wigglytuff, they didn't mind at all), they just went on to eating their food.

Sleeping wasn't too bad. Aside from forgetting to rid myself of the horrible smell I had, nothing kept me awake.


I knew the day Team Skull joined our guild, trouble was sure to come. But never did I expect them to plan something this malicious "Hey Chief! You sure we can get into the guild dis way?" Koffing asked Skuntank. On the the Guild Entrance's left, they were standing behind a totem pole with the faces of an aipom, duskull and horsea painted on them. It was clear they were waiting for something. "How do we know if he's gonna pop out or not?"

"He will, trust me." Skuntank answered. "I've been keeping tabs on ways to get in this guild days before we joined it, and every day he always leaves." By peeking every now and then, they had their eyes set on the guild's sentry duty grate.

"Heh-heh. For what purpose?" Zubat pondered.

"Who knows?" Skuntank replied bluntly. Whoever Skuntank was talking about, he was right, there were the faint sounds of rattling underneath the grate only zubat could notice.

"Heh-heh. Somebody's opening it." He whispered quietly. The grate had been hanging on its right, and only after a few seconds Croagunk jumped out. As he landed, however he surveyed the area, sniffing out anything he could. Without talking Skuntank gave Zubat and Koffing a seed I would've never seen before, but from what happened to them when swallowing one each, they somehow turned invisible.

Croagunk sniffed the air more, and looked around a little. From Zubat and Koffing's faces, they looked worried, as if Croagunk might catch them, or if the seed's effect may where. However, they both released a sigh of relief once Croagunk thought nobody was spying on him, and travelled down the stairs, closing the grate, but not securing it.

"He-heh, It's a good thing we used that pine-flavoured spritzee perfume." Zubat whispered, lightly coughing afterwards.

"Just wish the stuff wouldn't get down ya' throat." Koffing grieved. "It smells derrible too.

"Chaw-haw-haw, it's all worth it boys; we got our entrance." Skuntank assured walking to the grate and lifting it open with no struggle


They were now in the Messhall. It was midnight, which meant Me, John and anybody else would've been fast asleep by now. Drool washed away from their mouths, as they stared at the food on the table at the far end, pure hunger in their eyes.

"Whoa-ho-ho, where should we start?" Koffing questioned to himself.

Koffing's eyes and Zubat's senses were all over the place, Skuntank on the other hand, had one thing and one thing only in his sight: the Guildmaster's perfect apples. "Chaw-haw-haw, how about with finish, with the world's most renowned apple?" Skuntank inquired. "But remember, we can't eat too much, otherwise the guild will know somebody was stealing from them."

"Heh-heh. Would they even know?"

"Hmm..." Skuntank pondered. "Good point. Let's just eat like kings."


"UP AND AT 'EM IT'S MORNING!"

We were starting our morning briefing. Shinx's stench still lingered on him, nobody liked the smell and tried to hide their disgust, I could tell from their expressions that they weren't going to be as cheerful as usual. As Shinx was standing there, embarrassed, I gave him the lotion I got from the lotad at Serenity River.

"Just looking out for you, buddy." I assured, he returned a weak smile. He wasn't all that happy either, needless to say I can't blame him. Standing there with Wigglytuff and his crew the Team Skull leader gave us a smug smirk, I took no notice, though Shinx couldn't get his eyes off him.

"Wigglytuff? I believe you had something to announce?" Chatot hinted.

"Ah yes! How rude of me!" He said cheerfully, before clearing his throat. "Pokémon! Today's the day three new apprentices have joined us!" He declared. "The trio have gladly joined us for our great expedition in hope of making us stronger as a team! And although their arrival is temporary, I hope they become an important part of us, and will be treated with hospitality!"

"Are you sure you haven't forgot anything else, Guildmaster?" Chatot hinted once again.

"Ah, yes. Apologies for my manners, new apprentices! Please introduce yourselves to our entire guild!"

"Whoa-ho-ho! I'm Koffing!"

"Heh-heh! Name's Zubat. Glad to meet you."

"And I'm the leader of Team Skull. The name's Skuntank. Remember it." This information's kind of useless to me since I can't detect the 'hidden phonemes'. "Especially you two." He said to us. All jokes aside Shinx and I are put in a sticky situation. For as long as they are here, it's best I don't let my guard down, not even once.

Chatot began turning his head to both us and Team Skull, confused. Hopefully he'll catch on to what Skuntank meant. "Wait, you've already acquainted? That simplifies things." As figured, we're on our own. Great!

The guild were whispering to themselves in displeasure. "Doesn't the Guildmaster and Chatot think something stinks about this... literally?" The generally noisy pokémon Loudred whispered (much to my surprise).

"Ew... How can the Guildmaster handle this?" Sunflora wondered.

"I sure hope this expedition ends soon. Yup, yup." Bidoof quietly added.

"Alright everyone let's get down to work!" Chatot cheered.

The guild let out an unusual flat 'hooray'. The only two pokémon who were at all cheerful were Trubbish and Grimer, who I forgot even existed.

"What's this? Where are your usual spirits?" Chatot questioned.

"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING, CHATOT!" Loudred shouted. "THIS STINKS! HOW CAN YOU EXPECT US TO BE CHEERFUL WHEN-" The whole ground shook like a violent earthquake, everyone in the building, including me jumped out of their skin! (except Skuntank, he only looked slightly startled.) Everyone's attention turned to Wigglytuff. He seemed visibly upset with his ears drooping and eyes closed; the trembling in his body suggested he was ready to unleash some held in power!

"Oh no!" Chatot exclaimed in despair. "It's the Guildmaster! His rage is building!" All balance I had was gone, I fell on my front and braced myself for whatever came! The harsh vibrations barely let me make out anything. "If the Guildmaster loses it, the consequences will certainly be catastrophic! Everyone, please! Be cheerful no matter how much it hurts!"

Out of genuine fear, the guild forced and I out a cheery 'hooray' in an instant the tremors just magically stopped. Wigglytuff's happy-go-lucky demeanour was restored, he went back in his chamber as if none of it happened. Everyone went to do their duties hoping that would never happen again. As soon as the sudden shock and confusion wore off I lifted myself back to my hind legs, knowing how I reacted, physically to the tremor, I was more than certain Team Skull found it funny; if they did, laugh it up. I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve...

Chatot called us over for today's mission. "For some mysterious reason, the guild's food stock has reached a famine. While we do have the garden at the back to retain our stock, our supply of perfect apples have all disappeared." He explained. "Although it may seem not much of a problem, it really is. You see perfect apples are the Guildmaster's favourite, and they're not just 'any apple', they are much bigger and more delicious. And if we don't replace the stock we have now... It's safe to say we'll know what will happen."

I raised my arm to ask a question. "Go on." Chatot responded.

"Now I know it's a bit late to ask this, but why did you never grow perfect apples of your own if they are so important?"

"I was getting to that part. You see, perfect apples are the way they are because they grow under the influence of the soil and grass at the end of apple woods. You'll never find any other place where the grass is greener nor the soil will be more fertile. Even expert horticulturists have tried to replicate the goodness of the apples but have all failed.

"So please all I ask is that you get at least ONE perfect apple from Apple Woods." It seemed Chatot was heavily relying on us for this job, not sure why us of everyone else, but we are the 'prodigies' after all.


We were at Treasure Town, Shinx waited as I got my items out of kangaskhan storage, which re-opened yesterday, it was better timing than ever (although I could've just resorted to using a personal vault for practicalities regardless).

"If I were you I'd put that relic fragment in storage." I told Shinx. "That's if you've no longer lost it."

"Funny thing is, it was at the guild this whole time." He said whilst giving me the relic fragment, I gave it to the kangaskhan for her to put it away.

"It's all stored safely, you can count on me, honey." She assured. From what I could barely gather from Kangaskhan was despite how tough she looks, she's considered a very motherly pokémon to all (likely due to her species inheriting that trait), who always retains a happy attitude to everyone around her.

After the deposit was done, I noticed Shinx seemed to be a bit off. I took him at the trees near the back of the markets, and began to talk out whatever problem he had. "You're scared of Team Skull, aren't you?" He nodded. I scanned the area to make sure they weren't spying on us. "You remember when they said they had some plotting to do?"

"Yes."

"Well, I thought of a plan to get them off our back. You know how Koffing and Zubat are completely useless without their leader?" I inquired, he said 'yes'. "Well the other day I snatched these warp seeds from the guild's garden; they're sure to keep Skuntank away from us for a good amount of time, and so long as he's not on the battlefield, we can take on Zubat and Koffing easily."

"But what if he finds his way back?" Shinx questioned. "We managed to find Drowzee when he used the same seeds on us."

"True, but we had the X-ray specs with us, and even if Skuntank has a pair of them himself, we'll get out the woods as quickly as we can, thanks to our badges."

"Yeah, I like this plan." Shinx said with a smile. 'good'.


The sunlight shone brightly amongst the trees of Apple Woods, most of which were deciduous and started to show their colours darkening into reds, yellows and oranges, most apple trees are in season during this time which would probably mean the fruits will be tastier than usual. Our feet scrunched on the mouldered leaves as we advanced in the woods.

"Remember to use those x-ray specs." I told Shinx. "They could catch us off-guard at any given moment."

"Roger that." He said.


I much as I'd like to say anything interesting about the woods, it's really not that special (or exciting for that matter), weak bug pokémon would try to attack us, but would get nowhere near to doing any damage. Being that they were mostly weedles, caterpies and burmys, their choice of attacks were rather limited and predictable. Even butterfrees and beedrills stood little of a chance thanks to Shinx learning shockwave and attacking them from a distance.

Shinx told me the apples grew at the deepest part of the woods. Thankfully it's not that far ahead so we get it over and done with, the area was pretty clear, nothing really bothered to attack us, Shinx glanced at his x-ray specs for any sign of Team Skull (or anybody for that matter) he tapped me on the back, and showed me the specs. Four red dots were hiding in the trees that were on our left and right.

Shinx used his x-ray vision to detect what's hidden. "They're not Team Skull." He confirmed. "I think it's just some exeggutors."

"Are they moving?" I asked.

"No, they might be hiding, but I don't know..."

Before we moved on, I noticed something falling from the sky, it was oval shaped. The object landed only centimetres in front of us, at first glance the strange object looked a lot like an egg and began to crack... I saw several more drop and knew what this was all about!

"Get back!" I told Shinx as he sprinted away with quick attack. Explosions occurred left and right, it was like a warzone with nothing but grenades! I took note of the eggs and tried to take the safest and quickest routes. Although they began more frequent (and a bit deafening), I was able to hide behind a tree, Shinx saw my location, I didn't even need to give him advice he just sprinted off to take down the exeggutors from the opposite side, that left me with the other two to take down...

...And speak of the devil, one has shown its faces. Its expression was as hostile as any other wild pokémon, and despite my type disadvantage against it, this exeggutor is no different compared to anything I've encountered so far.

I attacked first by hurling a blast seed at it (ironic since they were the ones that were bombing us), upon contact the seed exploded and left them stunned, which gave me a chance to fire a water pulse that struck them in the face. The three-faced tree pokémon was left dazed and quite literally confused by my last attack, tottering around and attempting to attack me with seed bombs only to get hurt by their own explosions. Knowing that the confusion status is only temporary I had to take advantage of this and act fast. I thought back to my training at the dojo...


"I can see you've learnt waterfall and water pulse in your most recent travels. Waterfall is an excellent move for jumping great heights and pushing your opponent away, water pulse is great for far-ranged combat. Try practising on this training bag." Marowak dragged the bag to the centre of the room, it was twice his size and looked moderately heavy, likely due to it being stuffed with compact sand.

I started simple by charging up to the training bag with a ball of water in my two paws, using the force of the water combined with my own, the sandbag fell on its back... As did I.

"Remember to fight the power of your own attack. Coordinate with the water and retain a good stance." Marowak advised.

I attempted a second attack, this time putting my left leg in front of my body, as my right leg was behind it, my attack was a little more hooked as well to insure that my target would be sent upwards and fly further... and It worked! I was so proud of myself, to achieve something like this! As much as I missed my human body, I found it exhilarating how I could use these powers as a mudkip.

I experimented with different approaches, using the force of waterfall to bounce in the air and fire with water pulses, or even leap at the training bag and attack with a second waterfall attack. I did my best to not cause too much ruckus, but Marowak didn't really mind that much. And if you thought my experiments didn't stop there, you'd be wrong. I went as far as to use the walls and use my waterfall attack to pull off a wall jump.


With another blast seed in my hand, and using what I practised, I jumped over the exeggutor, lobbed said seed whilst simultaneously firing a water pulse at my target. Once my feet landed I sprang towards a tree and bounced off it, hitting the exeggutor with a concentrated waterfall attack. The exeggutor was down, leaving me a chance to breath for air... Only for the next exeggutor to approach me.

I groaned to myself, although I hate to admit it, that last one took all my effort (and two of my blast seeds) to even knock unconscious. Regardless that still didn't stop me from confronting this one. The three faces stared daggers at me, trying to look intimidating, however they just came of as a little derpy.

My body unwillingly let itself off the floor, floating upside-down, immediately knowing this was the exeggutor's doing, to which I shot another water-based projectile at the pokémon, pressuring it to multitask. As I predicted, my opponent was forced to let go of me, being upside down though, I fell on the floor at an awkward position, putting strain on my neck, I shrugged it of, but not after having a seed bomb directly shot at me on contact! The explosion sent me back a good distance, feeling a burning sensation throughout my chest! Blunt trauma spread across my back, as it slammed against the hardened bark of a tree. I looked back at the exeggutor who prepared its next attack.

The pain kept my body firmly stuck to the body to the ground, refusing to let me get up. I thought back the pain, barely able to stand up... Ironically the tree that caused my injuries, just so happened to also hold my weight, as I leaned on it for support.

My clothing, bag and sacks, were surprisingly still intact from the explosion. I dug my hand in the sack containing stun seeds, and threw it towards my opponent. The seed released a powder, that intruded on the exeggutor's face. This inflicted my opponent with a petrified state. From what I've learned, if a pokémon enters the petrify status, they'll be unable to move at all unless someone or something makes contact with it.

I spotted Shinx hiding behind a bush, by the looks of it, he handled those exeggutors better than I did. I was up close with the tree pokémon. Shinx, knowing what I was planning, pounced with a bite attack to the waist. I joined in by using a strength attack to ram it against one of the many trees. At last, all of them were knocked out. Granted that didn't do my busted back any favours.

"Woo-hoo!" Exclaimed Shinx, almost out of breath. "We make a great team, don't you think?"

"Yep," I simply replied. He offered a high-paw (with no fingers, I really can't call it a high-five) to which I returned. His spirits seemed to be uplifted.


We were closer and closer to the end of the woods. It was quite easy to tell, as the grass was more thick and showed off its greener colours.

As good as it was to get this mission over with I couldn't shake off the feeling that we were being followed.

"Any updates on the X-ray specs?" I asked Shinx.

"Nope." Was all he said. The warp seed that lay in my paw was grasped tightly, if by any chance we get taken by surprise, I'm a step ahead of them.

"John! Up there!" Shinx exclaimed.

"Where?!" I was ready to throw the warp seed, not only after I realised he was talking about the Perfect Apple Tree. The apples, big with a shiny red colour that was reflected by the moisture, were dangling from the tree. All we have to do now is to get them. "Oh..." Embarrassing... "Anyway, if nobody's in those trees you can-"

"Hold up." He told me. "I can see three red dots... It's Team Skull!"

In fear of being gassed, we both backed away, from the tree I gave Shinx a stun seed to use for himself.

"We- We know you're hiding in there!" Shinx shouted "...C-Come out!"

"Chaw-haw-haw! They're not as foolish as I thought they were!" That was undoubtedly Skuntank. The toxic trio revealed themselves as they jumped down the branches, I can tell by their faces that all three of them are up to no good.

"Heh-heh, it's wimpy and company." Zubat retorted, that alone was enough to make Shinx grit his teeth. "What took you so long?"

"We've been 'aving us a picnic of perfect apples, while waiting for you to show up." Koffing mentioned.

"So..." I said. "We're not blind, there's clearly more on the tree." I pointed out. "And after what happened this morning, you'd be an idiot to eat all of Wigglytuff's perfect apples... Oh wait, it was you lot who did that, wasn't it?"

"Chaw-haw-haw! Care to elaborate?"

"Chatot mentioned food supplies were lower than usual." Shinx explained. "Most of it ran out; that included the perfect apples."

"Chaw-haw-haw! They nailed it on the head like a hammer!" Skuntank remarked. "And what do you mean idiots? We all know we won't get the blame for eating them. And if you two were to tattle on us, it probably wouldn't do well for your great expedition." He's got a point.

Shinx whispered in my direction. "Let's get rid of these freaks while we have the chance."

"Chaw-haw-haw! Mighty rude for you to whisper about knocking us out?" Skuntank said. "Why, we were going to offer our help for your mission." Shinx's expression remained bitter, not trusting him in the slightest (nor did I for that matter).

"You don't believe me? Getting the perfect apples couldn't be easier." His attention turned to the left side of the tree. "Watch this." He headbutted the tree with full force, causing it to rain perfect apples. Now's the perfect opportunity to use a warp seed on him. A blast seed might not damage him enough, if I use a sleep seed or totter seed the effects might not last long enough and one stun seed (which is all I have left of that seed and gave to Shinx) isn't strong enough to petrify them all at once.

Skuntank returned back to his original position which was a better timing than ever for me to use my warp seed. "Go on, scoop up those perfect apples and scuttle back to the guild. Chaw-haw-ha-" Not putting down my opportunity I threw the warp seed in his direction! A cloud of dust engulfed him as he vanished. "Next time if you want to make someone fall for your ploy. Best not to end your sentence with a laugh."

Zubat and koffing backed away from the dust, looking rather stunned "Whoa-...ho-ho"

"No hard feelings." I told them I told them as I readied my water pulse-

"John! Look out!" Shinx alerted me, as Skuntank, charged at me seemingly out of nowhere, using his headbutt attack to send me flying! I let loose a grunt, the attacl itself wouldn't have hurt as much as it did if it wasn't for the damage I already sustained beforehand... Regardless it prevented me from fighting back. Shinx stood in front of me, making sure I don't get hit by his next attack

"Chaw-haw-haw, don't even think about it." He warned Shinx as he was ready to attack. Seeing the damage I was in, he backed away slightly, but still kept his stance.

"Whoa-ho-ho Great job Chief!"

"Heh-heh, they can't fight back when the other is at risk."

"Chaw-haw-haw! You two wimps really thought you stood a chance? Warp seeds are useless when are you are at the depths of the dungeon."

Shinx was quick to respond. "What? But it worked for-"

"At the depths of any dungeon, there are no nearby rooms. Therefore they're useless. Chaw-haw-haw!"

"I'm still, not backing down!" Shinx asserted. "I'm done with being a coward! so long as my friend doesn't get hurt, I'll fight all three of you."

"Heh-heh, look at this Chief we got a tough guy here!" Zubat retorted.

"Whoa-ho-ho. Shall we show him our special attack, Chief?" Koffing offered.

"Sure." His attention turned back to Shinx, I told him that he didn't need do to this, but he chose not to listen. "In recognition of your courage... We'll be honoured to take you on fair and square. Chaw-haw-haw!" Zubat kept to the sidelines, as Koffing and Skuntank moved closer.

"I-I won't hold back." Shinx said.

"Neither will we." Skuntank responded. "Let's see if you can withstand this attack, Koffing and I, are going to use..." Shinx's heart beat fiercely, as brave as he is, I could tell he's afraid. I dug through my bag for an escape orb- "Our noxious gas combo!" Both of them let loose a gas cloud, the gas went through our mouths, as our body movements slowed down and grew tired, forcing itself to sleep...


Koffing and Skuntank were gone, Zubat however, was left sedated by the effects. I looked all over the area for Shinx and couldn't find him. The effects of the gas still left me with some dizziness, I let myself settle down until my mind was clear enough, before getting up, which was painful. My constant back aches made it difficult to walk, let alone stand, but I cast it aside to find Shinx. I called out his name..."Shinx?!" No response. Checking the X-ray specs he dropped, I could see a red dot where Zubat would be located and a yellow dot where the tree is. 'Thank Arceus.'

He popped his head out the leaves and told me something unfortunate. "I've looked all over this tree. The perfect apples... They're gone."