Friends to Lovers
Chapter 10: Deep in The Woods
As sunlight broke in Petalburg Woods, Ash and May were walking side by side down the path to try and find where Brock and Misty were; they had gotten separated when Ash and May were helping Riolu escape his captors and now they were trying to find where their other two travelling partners were. "Brock? Misty? Where are you guys?" Ash asked as he and May were darting their glances back and forth at their surroundings and calling out to Brock and Misty; they had been doing this for a while now, but they hadn't had much success as they had gotten no response. "I don't think they can hear me... May, can you see them on the PokeNav?" Ash asked, turning his head to May. May opened her bag up and grabbed out the PokeNav before pressing the blue button to flip the screen open to show the map, but all she could see on it was a large patch of dark green, and no sign of their other two travelling partners. May stared at the screen for a few seconds before she let out a sigh of dismay and turned her head to Ash.
"I'm not having any luck either. And I don't think I even know where we are. I think we might be lost..." May replied, showing an expression of worry as she turned her glance at the forest around them; it was so large that she had no idea of how far they were or if she could get any bearings on their surroundings. Ash showed an expression of concern noticing May's worry; even though he was feeling just as confused as she was, he didn't want her to feel like they wouldn't be able to find their way around the forest.
"Hey, don't worry about it, May. I've gotten lost plenty of times while I was travelling with Brock and Misty, but we always managed to find our way in the end. I'm sure we'll be able to figure out where Brock and Misty are, and maybe even find a way out of these woods too." Ash explained, showing a reassuring smile while he was talking. Pikachu had his glance on Ash as he was listening to this, and then he showed a bright smile and nodded, knowing that Ash was right. May turned her head to Ash having heard this and, with a feeling that he was telling the truth about that, showed a bright smile and nodded.
"Yeah, I think you might be right. Thanks, Ash. You always seem to know just what to say to help me feel better when I'm down." May replied, her smile growing brighter at this last statement. Ash showed an expression of surprise at that comment; he didn't seem to notice that, since it was something he didn't pay attention to. But as long as he was able to help May, that was all that mattered to him. With that, he showed a bright smile and nodded in agreement. So the two turned and continued their walk down the path, being side by side in the process.
As the two were walking, having a look around at their surroundings, they stopped when they noticed something: there was a fork in the road leading two different ways. "Which way should we go?" Ash asked as he and May looked at the two different paths, wondering which one they should choose. May turned her glance back and forth at each road as she was trying to think, before she pointed to the left.
"Why don't we try this way?" she suggested. Ash looked at her and showed an expression of uncertainty, wondering if she knew where they were going. "Hey, we don't have to worry! After all, you said that you had always found your way when you got lost, right? I'm sure that we'll have an idea of where we are if we head this way." May cheerfully commented, showing a confident smile. Ash stared in silence for a few seconds before he simply nodded.
"All right then, let's give this route a try." Ash replied. May showed a bright smile hearing that Ash agreed with her suggestion, so with this, the two started to walk along the path and May showed a smile of awe seeing that along the sides of the path, there was were several kinds of flowers blooming through the grass.
"Wow... look at this! Isn't this beautiful? There's nothing dreamier than strolling through a path filled with such lovely flowers." May happily commented, showing a bright smile as she let out a content sigh. Ash showed a bright smile as he watched May, seeing how happy she was going down this route; he had a feeling that he made the right choice in deciding to listen to her seeing how happy she was to go down here.
As Pikachu was watching this, he turned his glance down to notice one flower in particular on the path: it was a small yellow daisy that looked like it had only started to bloom. He then turned his head to see Ash and May and showed a bright smile as an idea started to click in his head. With this, he jumped off Ash's shoulder and ran over to pick the flower off its stem before running back and jumping back on Ash's shoulder. Once that was done, Pikachu leaned over and started to poke the side of Ash's head. "(Ash!)" Pikachu said. Hearing this, Ash turned his head to Pikachu with an expression of surprise.
"Pikachu? What's up?" he asked. Pikachu then showed him the flower in his paw and then pointed to May, who was looking around at the flower patches with a bright smile. Ash then had a look at the flower Pikachu was holding before turning his glance up to his partner. "You want me to give this to May?" he asked. Pikachu nodded in agreement; that was indeed the case. He then handed the flower to Ash, who stared in silence before walking over to May.
As May was looking at the flower patches around her, she didn't notice that Ash was walking beside her. "Hey, May?" Ash asked. May turned her glance in surprise to see Ash and then showed a bright smile as she was wondering what was up. Ash then held up the little flower Pikachu had given him before showing it to May. "I guess... this is for you." Ash explained. May stared at the flower in silence before she showed a bright smile and took it from him to see for herself.
"Wow, Ash, it's lovely! Did you pick this out just for me?" May asked. Ash showed an expression of surprise, feeling uncertain of how to respond to that question, before he felt his head start to nod, apparently by itself. However, he didn't notice that Pikachu was standing on his bag from beside his head and was moving it up and down to get Ash to show that he was saying yes. May let out a giggle at this reply and she felt her cheeks start to glow red before she walked over to Ash and gave him a tight hug. "Oh, thanks, Ash. I love it." May happily commented. She then let go and started to rush off ahead, placing the flower behind her ear where she could see it, while Ash followed from behind to catch up with her. As this was happening, Pikachu watched a cheeky smile as he covered his mouth trying to restrain his giggling; he didn't want Ash to figure out what was really happening.
Soon the two arrived at the end of the path and looked around to find that where they were now seemed to look exactly the same as where they had been walking for the last few hours. "Uh... May, do you have any idea of where we are?" Ash asked, turning his head back and forth as he was wondering where they were now. May had a look around herself to find that she had absolutely no clue of where she had led herself and Ash.
"I have no idea where this is. Everything looks exactly the same out here. You don't think we're going around in circles, do you?" May asked, showing an expression of worry. Upon catching her words, May immediately let out a gasp of horror. "Oh no! What if we never find a way out?! What am I going to do? I don't want to be lost in these woods forever!" May cried. She then started to shake slightly in despair as she had no idea of what they should do now. Ash turned his head to notice this, and with a firm expression coming to his face, he walked over to May and placed both his hands on her shoulders.
"May, snap out of it!" Ash ordered. May nearly jumped from surprise at the firm tone in Ash's voice, and then she lifted his head up to see him staring down at her, and she saw that while the expression on his face was firm, the tone of his voice was one of care and concern. "I don't have any idea of where we are either, but I don't want you to start going into a panic attack about it. As I said earlier, I've gotten lost too, but I always managed to find a way to where I needed to go. So there's no reason for you to worry about it." Ash explained. May was silent as she listened to Ash, and then she looked down with an expression of shame showing on her face, realising that she was getting herself worked up over something she shouldn't have to worry about. With this, she then slowly looked back up at Ash.
"I know... I'm sorry, Ash. It's just that... everything out here looks so similar that it's hard for me to even figure out where we are. I've got you and my Pokemon here with me, but I only started to worry about what I would do out here. I know I should have more trust in you, but I only started to think about myself and got myself so worked up over something that shouldn't be a big deal. I'm sorry..." May quietly explained, as she was feeling very ashamed of herself. She was then met with a surprise as Ash showed a smile of understanding.
"It's alright. I don't blame you; I don't enjoy getting lost either. But don't worry. When we find Brock and Misty, I'm sure we'll find a way out of here as well." Ash replied. May was silent listening to this, and then she slowly a bright smile hearing that Ash wasn't upset at her for her little panic attack. Just then, a blur jumped through a tree from behind them, prompting Ash to stare with an expression of surprise, to which May looked at him in puzzlement.
"Ash, what's up?" she asked. "Look at that!" Ash replied, pointing up to the tree behind them. May turned around to see that there were little gecko-like Pokemon jumping on the branches, and one of them stopped to look down at the two; it had light green skin with a dark red coloured belly, bright yellow eyes with a black iris and a dark green tail that curled up at the end. Ash and May both stared at the Pokemon in silence before they showed matching bright smiles.
"It's a Treecko!" May happily noticed. "So this is where they live." Ash commented, grabbing out his Pokedex so he could see what Treecko's Pokedex entry said. "Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokemon. Treecko are able to climb smooth vertical walls and use their thick tails to attack opponents. Since Treecko build their nests in large trees, it is said that those trees will live a very long life." The Pokedex explained. While this was happening, a few more Treecko poked their heads out from behind the trees, one of which was hanging upside down on a tree, and they all looked down at Ash and May who were both staring at them in awe.
"Look at all of them, Ash! They're so cute. I'll bet this is their home." May commented, showing a bright smile as she looked at the numerous Treecko on the trees. Ash showed a big smile of excitement at this comment, and then he grabbed out an empty Pokeball while May turned to him in surprise.
"I've been wanting to catch a Treecko since I saw it at Professor Birch's lab, and now's my chance to do just that." Ash said. With this, he threw the Pokeball at the first Treecko they spotted, but as soon as it got close, the Treecko smacked it back with its tail. "Hey! How come it didn't work?" Ash asked, showing an expression of annoyance. Pikachu stared at him for a few seconds with an expression of disbelief on his face before placing his head into one of his paws and slowly shaking his head; he had to wonder how Ash could forget one of the most important parts of catching a Pokemon. May seemed to take notice as well because she stared at Ash with a blank expression.
"I thought you had to battle the Pokemon first before you try to capture them. Isn't that what you told me?" May asked with a matter-of-factly tone in her voice. Ash nearly stiffened up hearing this as he showed an expression of surprise upon realising that he completely forgot about that in his excitement, and then he turned around to May with an expression of annoyance.
"I knew that, May! I was trying to make a demonstration on how not to catch a Pokemon!" Ash retorted. May nearly jumped from this outburst, but then she showed a cheeky smile and crossed her arms. "Well, if that's the case, then it sounds like you succeeded in spades, Pokemon Master." May cheekily commented, winking at Ash as an effort to try and tease him. While that was happening, the two looked up to see that the Treecko was making its way further up the tree branch to leave, as it then jumped off into the forest beside it.
"Treecko, wait!" Ash called before he started to run after Treecko. May stared in shock for a few seconds before she gave pursuit after him. "Ash, wait for me! I don't want to get lost!" May called, as she was trying to catch up with Ash so they wouldn't get separated.
As that was happening, Ash was rushing down the path with Pikachu running beside him as he was trying to find where Treecko went. "All right, where did you go, Treecko?" Ash asked, turning his glance back and forth to see if he could find Treecko. As he turned his head back to the path ahead of him, he looked up to notice that just up ahead, there was a tree that looked significantly taller than all of the trees in the woods; it looked like it was nearly touching the sky. As Ash stared up at the large tree in awe, he didn't notice that he was running towards a large root on the path in front of him, and before he had a chance to respond, he tripped on the root and was sent sliding down the cliff face while Pikachu watched in alarm. "(Ash!)" Pikachu called. May had been running over to catch up and she stopped when she saw the root in front of her, and then she looked down in shock to see Ash sliding down the cliff.
Back with Ash, he slid all the way down the cliff face before he landed at the bottom, slamming into a bush that was there. He then slowly reached up to the edge and pulled himself up, with leaves from the bush stuck all over him. He then looked up with an expression of awe to see just how large the tree was; its roots were spreading out on the ground around him, it looked like it was in a spiral pattern, there were several barren branches scattered all over it from top to bottom and it looked like it would be tall enough to touch the sky. Sufficed to say, it was unlike anything Ash had ever seen. "It's huge!" Ash exclaimed, showing a smile of awe. While he was staring up at the tree, he turned his head to see that Pikachu had arrived down at the bottom, with an expression of concern on his face as he was wondering if Ash was okay.
"Hey, Ash!" Ash turned his head to see May standing at the top of the cliff face, waving to him as she had witnessed his tumble. "Are you alright down there?" May asked, as she jumped off the cliff face and slid down so she could catch up with Ash, showing an expression of concern as she wanted to be sure that he was okay.
"Yeah, I'm fine, May. Look at this!" Ash replied, pointing to the tree just in front of them. May turned her glance to the tree with an expression of surprise, and that surprise quickly changed into awe when she saw just how large the tree was compared to her; she felt very small just looking at it. "I know. It's pretty big, huh? It seems almost magical too." Ash commented, showing a bright smile upon seeing May's awe. May slowly nodded in agreement with a big smile on her face, but then her smile quickly faded and an expression of worry started to show on her face.
"But... look at it. There aren't any leaves on the branches, and it looks really old and withered." May said. Ash had a closer look with her and then he showed an expression of worry seeing that she was right. "Yeah, now that you mention it, I think you're right..." Ash quietly agreed, while Pikachu slowly nodded in agreement; he could tell that the tree didn't seem to be in very good condition as well.
Just then, a small stick landed on the ground in front of the two, sticking up in the air, and Ash and May turned their heads up to spot the one responsible for the toss: it was Treecko, sitting on a tree branch above the two's heads, with a twig in its hand, and showing a confident smirk as it placed the twig in its mouth. Ash and May then climbed up from the small cliff face and stood up, turning their glances up to Treecko with matching expressions of determination. "Hey, cut that out! Why don't you come down and we'll have a battle?" Ash called. With this, Treecko stood up on the tree branch and started leaping between tree branches rapidly while Ash, May and Pikachu watched in awe.
"Wow, that Treecko's really fast!" May commented. Ash simply nodded in agreement, as he shared the same thought as her. As Treecko leapt off a different branch, it then shot the twig it had from its mouth towards Pikachu on the ground, who promptly jumped out of the way as the twig stuck out on the ground he had been standing at. As Pikachu landed safely, Treecko landed on the ground just behind him, which Pikachu turned around to notice, but before he had a chance to respond, Treecko slammed into him with its tail, which sent Pikachu flying backwards and slamming into the tree with his back.
"Pikachu!" Ash gasped as he and May stared in shock. Pikachu then slid down from the tree onto the ground, but then jumped up onto his feet again feeling ready for more. Treecko then motioned for Pikachu to come towards it again with its finger, seemingly taunting him at the same time. With this, Pikachu started to run towards Treecko, but Treecko quickly jumped out of the way as Pikachu was trying to give pursuit, and then slammed its tail against Pikachu, which sent him getting knocked backwards, but then Pikachu jumped up onto his feet again, still feeling ready for more battling against Treecko. "(Come on, bring it on!)" Pikachu called.
While this was happening, up at the top of the cliff in the forest, the Rocket Trio were there; they were feeling very worn out after having to make a run for it the other night from the Pokemon Hunters. Once they were sure that they had lost them, the Rocket Trio were now slowly walking, trying to catch their breath after their all night run. "Do you think... we finally... lost those men?" Jessie asked, struggling to speak in her exhaustion as she turned her head to her other two comrades who were slowly trailing behind her.
"I don't know, Jessie. I've been so focused on running away, I didn't remember to check behind us." James replied, shaking his head in response. Meowth then noticed one of the trees beside him and then turned his head to the others, as he had an idea.
"You guys wait here. I'm going to go have a look out to see if I can spot them." Meowth said. While Jessie and James watched, Meowth climbed up to the top of the tree and poked his head out from the top underneath the leaves and scanned the surrounding sky for any sign of the Pokemon Hunters. But there was no visible sign of them anywhere, so Meowth poked his head down with a bright smile while the other two were waiting for him. "We're all in the clear, fellas. They must have given up and left." Meowth stated. Hearing this, Jessie and James both let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground so they could catch their breath for a few moments.
"That leaves us with one less thing to worry about." James commented. "Now we just need to find where the twerps are so we can ask them for their help on turning ourselves around." Jessie agreed, showing a bright smile; now that they didn't have to worry about being pursued, that meant they could focus on finding where Ash and the others were. James then showed an expression of worry as he noticed the one flaw in Jessie's suggestion.
"But how are we supposed to find them in a forest as big as this? That could take us days, at the very least." James said. Jessie was silent for a few moments as James pointed that out, and then she showed an expression of concern upon realizing that he was right. "Oh, that's right... I didn't stop to think about that..." Jessie commented to herself. As she was thinking about how to take care of that issue, that was when the sound of a Pokemon cry reached the Rocket Trio's ears and they turned their heads in surprise.
"Hey, did you two hear that?" Jessie asked. "Yeah; it sounded like it was coming from that way." Meowth replied, pointing to the route just ahead of them. With this, the Rocket Trio jumped up on their feet and started to run towards the direction they heard the Pokemon cry from. Soon, the three found themselves standing at the edge of a small cliff that led down and started to look around in puzzlement.
"Well, now where are we?" Jessie asked. "Do you think maybe we went the wrong way?" James asked, showing an expression of concern. While the two of them were trying to figure out where they were now, Meowth looked up in surprise and then his eyes went large in awe as an amazing sight caught his attention.
"Hey, fellas, check that out!" Meowth said, pointing forward. Jessie and James both turned their heads to see what it was that caught Meowth's attention and they were left staring in stunned silence; there in front of them was a large tree that was so tall, it seemed to be nearly touching the sky. It also had several branches stretching out from top to bottom and seemed to have a spiral pattern in its growth. "Wow... would you two look at that?" Meowth asked.
"I've never seen a tree this big." James commented. As Jessie was starting up at the tree in silence, she turned her glance down to notice something and then a big smile immediately showed on her face. "Hey, you two, look down there!" Jessie said, turning to the other two and pointing down towards near the roots of the tree. James and Meowth both looked down with her to see what was up and they noticed that just at the bottom where the tree was... were Ash and May, watching the battle between Pikachu and Treecko. "It's those two; we actually found them!" Jessie happily commented, while James and Meowth showed matching bright smiles at this.
"Isn't that a lucky find!" Meowth cheerfully commented. "I knew that old saying was true: ask and you will receive." James added. Seeing that their search wasn't as fruitless as they were expecting it to be, the Rocket Trio all turned their heads to each other.
"Come on, you two! There's no time to waste." Jessie stated. James and Meowth promptly nodded in agreement; if there was any chance to ask Ash and May for their help, it had to be now. But just as they were about to make their way down to the tree, that was when they noticed something: there was a small pack of Treecko having arrived at the scene where Ash, May, Pikachu and the Treecko they had been battling against were. "We can't let them spot us. Let's hide!" Jessie quickly said, turning to James and Meowth. With this, the Rocket Trio ducked down behind a bush and poked their heads up so they could watch what was going on.
Down at the bottom with Ash and May, the two were looking down at Pikachu as he was sitting up from the battle against Treecko. "Are you okay, Pikachu?" Ash asked, as he and May showed matching expressions of concern, wondering if Pikachu was alright. Sure enough, Pikachu turned his head to the two and nodded with a bright smile, to which Ash and May showed matching smiles of relief. "That Treecko sure put up a good fight." Ash commented, showing a confident smile, to which Pikachu happily nodded in agreement. While that was happening, May looked up to notice the pack of Treecko that had arrived during the battle and saw that one of them was walking over to the Treecko Ash had been battling; from the looks of the wrinkles on its face, it seemed to be the leader.
"Hey, Ash, look!" May said, pointing to the site. Ash turned his glance to see what was up and an expression of surprise crossed his face when he noticed the group of Treecko. "Wonder if there's a problem..." Ash commented, as he and May looked at each other in surprise, wondering what the situation could be. The two then turned their heads back to the Treecko to watch and find out what was going on. As they watched, they could see the elder Treecko try to reason with their Treecko about something, only for it to shake its head in denial and then shove the elder Treecko backwards. As the elder Treecko fell over on the ground, two of the Treecko behind it yelled out in rebellion, only for the elder Treecko to lift its paw up like it was saying that it could handle this situation. As Treecko glared at the elder Treecko with a twig in its mouth, Ash and May both looked at each other in surprise, wondering what could be happening. "That's strange; it seems like it doesn't get along with the other Treecko." Ash commented.
"Yeah; it sounds like they're arguing about something." May agreed, slowly nodding. But then she showed an expression of puzzlement as she wondered "But what do you think it could be about?"
From their hiding place in the bushes, the Rocket Trio could hear the argument taking place. "It sounds like they're having a dispute." James commented, turning his glance to Jessie and Meowth. Jessie turned her glance to him hearing this and then looked down at Meowth; since he was the expert at understanding Pokemon, she figured he could figure out what was going on. "Meowth, could you translate for us?" she asked. Meowth showed a bright smile and promptly nodded. "Sure thing; count on me!" he replied. With this, he climbed out from behind the bush and leaned an ear forward so he could have a closer listen to the argument and understand what the Treecko were saying.
Down at the tree roots, the elder Treecko seemed to say something as it turned its head to the tree and then looked back at the Treecko it was trying to reason with. While that was happening, Meowth showed a bright smile as he could understand this. "Ooh! It's saying 'What do you think that you're doing? This tree is withering. It's only chance that you should go live in another tree, because if you stay here, it will be completely withered and you'll be ruined'." Meowth explained. Jessie and James nodded in understanding, wanting to hear the rest of what was happening. They could then see Treecko snap at the elder, pointing up to the tree while it was talking. "It's too soon to write off this tree; I was born in those branches and they've always been my shelter. Now it's my turn to protect this tree; whatever happens to it, I'll stay with it until the end!" Meowth continued translating, with tears filling in his eyes as he finished that last statement. James had been listening intently all the while, and he could feel his eyes fill with tears alongside Meowth, and then the two burst into tears while Jessie stared at them in disbelief.
"Treecko; so much heroism and pride!" Meowth cried. "A weaker person would be moved to tears by that story!" James agreed, as the two of them had waterfalls of tears flooding from their eyes. Jessie stared at the two in silence for a few moments before she shook her head. "That's not heroic!" Jessie retorted. James and Meowth both stared at her, wondering what she was talking about.
"Life's all about exchanging old things for new, especially when it comes to homes!" Jessie commented, showing a bright smile. James and Meowth were both silent as they stared at each other in disbelief, before they looked back at Jessie. "It is?" James asked. "Are you sure about that, Jess?" Meowth asked. Jessie then showed an expression of annoyance at the two's obliviousness; it was hard for her to believe that they didn't understand a concept like this.
"Yes, I'm sure! You should always strive for something new, because without change, there's no progress and progress is the future. So living in a rotten old dried-up tree..." Jessie then turned away with her arms. "...is not exactly my idea of progress." James and Meowth then both poked their heads up to notice something.
"I think the Treecko are leaving." James commented, pointing at the site. Jessie turned her head to see what was going on and noticed that sure enough, the elder Treecko was turning to leave with the rest of the Treecko pack following right behind it. "So... what do we do now?" James asked, showing an expression of puzzlement.
"What do you two think? We're going to put that old tree out of its misery and cut it down while we've got a chance!" Jessie replied, showing a bright smile. James and Meowth both stared at her in alarm before they both grabbed her arms and pulled her down before she could have a chance to move. "Hey! What do you two think you're doing?" Jessie snapped, glaring at the two in annoyance.
"Hold on there, Jess. I usually would be the first advocate for any plan of yours, but this is going too far! That's a Pokemon's home you're talking about here!" Meowth explained. "Meowth's right. Don't you remember what we talked about yesterday? You said we were going to start turning over a new leaf and that means we'll have to earn our new reputation. And I don't think this is the right way to do it." James agreed; normally, the thought of standing up to Jessie was usually the last thing on his mind, as he was aware of what kind of temper she had, but this was something he wasn't going to stand for. Jessie could only stare at the two in silence for a few moments before she let out a sigh as she realised that they were right; if they were going to start turning themselves around, that meant she had to start coming up with ideas outside of their comfort zone, whether she liked it or not.
"I guess you two are right. We'll have to stay here and watch to see what happens." Jessie commented. James and Meowth both nodded in agreement with that idea, so with this, the Rocket Trio poked their heads out from the bush so they could observe the scene.
Back with Ash and May, they and Treecko watched as the Treecko pack walked away. As Ash and May were staring in silence, Treecko turned its head up to look at the large tree; this was its home for as long as it could remember. After a few seconds, Treecko showed a smile and started to climb up the tree while Ash and May watched in surprise. "Treecko!" Ash called. Treecko didn't take any notice of Ash, though, as it ran across a branch before leaping off and landed on the cliff face which led back into the forest before rushing off while Ash stared up in shock. "Treecko, wait! Don't run off!" Ash called. However, Treecko had already gone off too far ahead to hear Ash, which left him and May watching on in silence.
"What do you think Treecko could be doing?" May asked, showing an expression of puzzlement as she and Ash looked at each other. "(Ash! May!)" Hearing another voice from behind them, Ash and May turned their heads to see Pikachu, and he was up on a high tree branch waving out to them. Ash stared in silence for a few moments before a bright smile crossed his face as he understood.
"Oh, I get it! Since Treecko lives in that tree, we should wait for it here." Ash commented. May showed a bright smile as that seemed to make sense to her, and then she and Ash turned their heads up to the direction Treecko had rushed off in. "Treecko, you'd better watch out because I'm going to catch you!" Ash said, showing a confident smile; he was sure that he was going to succeed in catching Treecko.
Meanwhile with Brock and Misty, the two were sitting at a small area in the woods; they were having a break from their search. Brock had set up a small fireplace and was cooking little biscuits on a frying pan, while Misty and their Pokemon were cheerfully munching away. "Wow, Brock, these biscuits are delicious! You really are an expert with cooking." Misty happily commented, showing a bright smile. She then looked down at Togepi, who was munching on one of the biscuits as well and let out a happy chirp as she was enjoying it. "I think Togepi agrees with me too." Misty said.
"Thanks, Misty." Brock replied, showing a smile at the compliment. Misty then showed an expression of concern and turned her glance out to the forest while Brock watched her in surprise. "Where do you think Ash and May could be? I hope those two haven't gotten themselves hurt, or that those men we saw aren't still after them." Misty said; she was feeling a bit worried that something might have happened to Ash and May while they were separated from her and Brock. Brock stared in silence before he showed a reassuring smile.
"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Misty. Ash and May went off together, right? So I'm sure they'll be alright as long as they stick together. Plus, they've also got their Pokemon so I'll bet they're both okay. We can keep looking for them after we've finished eating." Brock explained. Misty was silent while she listening to this, and then she showed a bright smile and nodded in agreement.
"That sounds like a good idea to me." Misty agreed. With this, she then resumed munching on her biscuits, feeling a lot more reassured that wherever Ash and May were in this forest, they were both safe.
Back with Ash and May, the two were sitting up on a tree branch together watching the sun set in the evening sky, with the sky having turned a bright orange colour. "Wow, doesn't the sunset look amazing from up here?" May asked, showing a smile of awe. Ash turned his glance to May seeing her bright smile and then simply nodded; he was glad to see that she was enjoying herself. May then showed an expression of concern having just realised something. "Hey, Ash?" May asked. Ash turned his glance to May, wondering what was up. "How do you think Brock and Misty are doing? I hope they aren't too worried about where we are, considering how long we've been separated from them. I hope those men haven't been looking for them..." May said, showing an expression of worry, as she didn't want to think about anything serious happening to Brock and Misty while they were looking for her and Ash. Ash could see May's concern, and then he showed a comforting smile and placed a hand on May's shoulder, prompting her to turn her glance to him.
"Don't worry, May. I'm sure Brock and Misty are alright. You should remember that they're very strong and they can take care of themselves. And I'm sure that wherever they are in the forest, they're out looking for us." Ash explained. Pikachu nodded in agreement with a big smile; he knew Brock and Misty well enough to know that. May slowly showed a bright smile and nodded, so she turned her glance back to the evening sky, and then she scooted over so she could sit closer next to Ash, something that he noticed, but he figured not to bother May, so he looked back at the sky as well. As the two watched the sunset, they could see a few black crow-like Pokemon fly through the evening sky.
"What are those?" May asked, pointing out to the crow Pokemon as they flew past. "Those are Murkrow." Ash replied. As he watched the Murkrow, Ash immediately showed a bright smile as he had an idea. "I know! I'll use Taillow." With this, Ash grabbed out one of his Pokeballs and threw it, which opened and released Taillow.
"Taillow, I need you to find Brock and Misty and bring them here while we wait for Treecko." Ash explained. Taillow nodded in understanding and then jumped up into the air, flapping his wings rapidly as he set off to find Brock and Misty. "Thanks, Taillow!" May called, waving as Taillow flew off. Once he was gone, Ash turned his glance to May while Pikachu watched in silence.
"Uh... May?" Ash asked. May turned her head to Ash, wondering what he had to say. "I'm not sure if this would be a bad time to ask you this, but... what did you want to say to me earlier?" Ash asked. May showed an expression of puzzlement at this question, as she was wondering what Ash meant.
"Wha... What are you talking about?" May asked. "Remember when we watched the Bellossom dancing?" Ash asked in response. May simply nodded in agreement, wondering where Ash was getting at with this, but she could remember exactly what he meant. "You said that you had something you wanted to say to me. What was it, exactly?" Ash questioned, showing an expression of confusion as he was wondering what May wanted to tell him back then.
"Oh... well, about that..." May slowly started, and then she let out a sigh knowing that she had been backed into a corner; she had a feeling that if she didn't tell Ash now, he wouldn't leave her alone about it. But she wasn't entirely of whether or not he had been wondering about it since he heard it from her last time, so she had a feeling she would be on the safe side for now. But at the moment, she felt like she didn't have a choice right now; she had to speak up. "Ash, there's something that I want to tell you; it's about something I've felt since we were in Petalburg City. I wanted to wait until we got to Rustboro City, but I guess I have to say it now." May explained. Ash showed a smile of understanding and placed an arm around her.
"It's alright, May. Whatever it is you have to say, you can just tell me. I'm listening." Ash replied. May turned her glance up to see Ash's smile and then she couldn't help herself smiling back and she could feel her cheeks start to glow red; to her, that felt like all the support she needed to be able to finally say this. With that, she then nodded and sat up with Ash giving her his full attention. While this was happening, Pikachu suddenly felt his ears twitch and he looked down to notice something.
"Okay then, I'll tell you. Ash, I..." Before May could have a chance to continue, she and Ash turned their heads to see Pikachu pointing down at the ground. "(Ash, May, look at this!)" Pikachu said. Ash and May both poked their heads down to see what was up, and noticed Treecko had arrived back dragging a large leaf filled with water behind it.
"Looks like your idea worked, Pikachu. Treecko's back!" Ash said, showing a bright smile. May looked down with a bright smile, but then an expression of puzzlement crossed her face when she noticed something. "But... what's it doing carrying that large leaf?" she asked. As the two looked down, they could see Treecko pour out a small amount of water onto the roots of the tree, and waiting for a few seconds for the roots to absorb the water before placing a bush of brown leaves on the wet spot, and then looked up at the tree with a smile before rolling the leaf up and walking off, carrying the leaf behind its back. Ash and May stared in silence before looking at each other in amazement.
"Look at that: Treecko's doing everything it can to help this tree." May commented, as the two turned their glance to each other. Ash slowly nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right." he replied. They then looked up at the tree realising the same thing: this was Treecko's home.
As night fell, Ash and May could see Treecko return with the leaf filled with water to pour onto the roots. As the two watched Treecko place another bush where it placed the water to drain into the roots, they both looked at each other seeing how devoted Treecko was to protecting its home, and after a few seconds, they showed matching expressions of determination and nodded, having the same idea: they wanted to help Treecko as well. With this, the two started to climb down the branches to get to the ground so they could help as well.
While that was happening, the Rocket Trio were up in their hiding place in the bush having been watching this all the while, James and Meowth with expressions of awe and Jessie glaring in annoyance. "Look at that. Can't you tell how much Treecko wants its home to be safe?" Meowth asked, as he and James felt tears building in their eyes watching this display. "I know I can tell." James replied, nodding while he was talking. Jessie could only show an expression of annoyance before she turned her glance to James and Meowth.
"Come on, you two! Couldn't we just get this over with? Why is this even such a big deal?" Jessie asked, crossing her arms and turning her glance away. James and Meowth both stared at her in disbelief, wondering how she couldn't figure out why this was so important to Treecko. "Didn't you hear what Treecko said earlier? That tree is its home and Treecko said it will stay with the tree until the end of its life!" Meowth retorted. Jessie slowly opened an eye with an expression of surprise hearing this, and then she slowly turned her head to listen to what they had to say.
"Meowth's right. I know life's about exchanging old for new, but sometimes the old are things we couldn't bear to live without, and that's especially true when it comes to homes." James agreed. Jessie's eyes immediately popped open upon hearing this and then she turned her head to James, wondering what she was talking about. Elsewhere, the Treecko pack were coming back to find Treecko and they stopped to listen to this conversation. "I know it's something we seem to take for granted, but home is something that matters a lot to people: it's a place of security, a place to find people who care for you, but most importantly, it's a place of memories." James continued.
The Treecko pack all turned their heads to each other listening to this, all of them blinking in surprise, especially at the part about memories, because they knew how true that was. "Those memories are something we all hold dear to us, whether we realise it or not. And nowhere is that truer than with a place we call home, and that's exactly what's happening with Treecko too." James said, turning his glance down to Treecko, while Jessie and Meowth looked down with him to see Treecko placing a bush beside another wet patch where the roots were. James then turned his head back to Jessie so he could continue. "Jessie, really think about it for a second. If we were in Treecko's place, don't you think we would do the same thing? Wouldn't we want to protect our home and always stay by it, no matter what happens?" James asked, with a sincere tone in his voice all the while. Jessie could only stare in shock having heard all of this, and then she turned her glance down as she felt tears building up in her eyes; it seemed that James's words managed to get through to her. After a few seconds, Jessie quickly brushed her tears away.
"Oh, James, you know just where to hit me!" Jessie snapped. James stared in worry for a few moments, wondering if that was a bad thing, but then he was met with a surprise when Jessie showed a bright smile and nodded in understanding. "Okay, I understand. Come on, you two; we have no time to waste." Jessie said, showing a confident smile; that was a sure sign that they were going to help too. Seeing this, James and Meowth showed matching bright smiles.
"Oh, Jessie! I knew you'd see the light!" James happily exclaimed. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's hurry down there!" Meowth stated. The Rocket Trio all nodded in agreement, and then jumped out from behind the tree and started to make their way down towards the other side of the tree so they wouldn't get spotted by Ash and May. Just after they had gone, the Treecko pack looked down to see this and then they all looked at each other, wondering if they had been too quick to make their judgement from earlier.
At the same time, Ash, May and Pikachu were setting another bush down, something that Treecko turned to notice, and then it immediately started to glare at them. "We don't want to battle, Treecko. We just want to help you save this tree." Ash explained. May turned her glance to Treecko and nodded in agreement. "That's right. We noticed how important this tree is to you, so we thought we'd help you out in any way we can." May agreed. Pikachu nodded as well, commenting "(That's right!)" With this, the three turned their attention back to setting their bush down. Treecko watched in silence with an expression of shock on its face, before it showed a grateful smile for their help and went back to setting its bush down.
A little later, as the four were walking back to the tree from carrying big leaves that were full of water and bush leaves, they were met with a surprise: there waiting for them in front of the tree's roots were the Treecko pack that came earlier. "Hey, isn't that the group of Treecko we met before?" May asked, staring in surprise.
"Yeah, I think so. Wonder why they came back here." Ash commented, while Pikachu tilted his head slightly in surprise as he was wondering the same thing as well. The elder Treecko stepped forward to talk to their Treecko; it seemed that the pack realised that they were wrong to write this tree off so quick, and that they wanted to help as well. Treecko then turned its head away with its arms crossed, as it still remembered what happened earlier in the day. The elder Treecko then walked over and started to place its tail against the other's, and Treecko was silent for a few moments before the two touched tails; they were willing to put their argument from earlier aside so they could work together to help the tree. Upon seeing this, the rest of the Treecko started to cheer while Ash and May watched with matching bright smiles. "Looks like they're all getting along again." Ash commented. May and Pikachu both nodded in agreement; that seemed to be the case to them as well.
Just then, a loud crack startled the group and they turned their heads to notice the source; it was coming from the tree as a long crack reached up from its roots until it got all the way up to the top of the tree and then, without warning, the tree split into two halves much to the shock of Ash, May, and the large Treecko group. "That's not good... the tree's splitting in half!" May gasped.
On the other side of the tree, the Rocket Trio took notice of this as well and they were all staring in shock at the sight. "What's happening?!" Jessie gasped. "I think the tree's breaking in two. If we stay here, we might get crushed!" James replied. "Well then, don't just stand there. Let's scram!" Meowth blurted. Wobbuffet suddenly popped out of his Pokeball blurting "Wobbuffet!", before the Rocket Trio quickly turned and made a run of it, as they didn't want to be around to have one of the halves drop down onto them.
Back with Ash and the others, they were all left in shock at the sight. Without a moment to spare, with the elder Treecko leading the charge, the large Treecko pack ran over and started to push against the halves trying to stop the tree from breaking apart. As this was happening, May showed an expression of worry, wondering what they could do, while Ash had an idea. "I know! I have a rope in my bag." Ash said. With this, he grabbed his bag off his back and placed it on the ground before opening it up to grab the rope out. As May turned her head to notice him, she then looked down to think of what she could do.
'I know I could give some help as well, but what can I do? I didn't come nearly as prepared as Ash did.' May thought to herself. But then she quickly looked up as an idea came to her head: she could use one of her Pokemon! But which of them would have a move that could be of assistance at a time like this? With that, May grabbed out her Pokedex and opened it up to look at each of her Pokemon's move sets. "Let's see... no luck with Torchic or Azurill, and I know Ralts might not be able to help much." May said to herself. But then a smile crossed her face when she came to Wurmple's: she saw that Wurmple's moves at the moment were Tackle and String Shot. "Yes! That's just the thing I was looking for." May cheered. With this, she placed her Pokedex back in her bag and then grabbed out one of her Pokeballs. "Let's go, Wurmple! Use String Shot!" May said as she threw the Pokeball, which opened and released Wurmple, who then shot out a long string of silk from her small mouth that latched onto one of the tree halves. Once that was placed, Wurmple started to pull on the silk, while May ran over to give a helping hand.
While all of this was happening, the sun slowly rose over the horizon with the sky turning bright blue, causing sunlight to shine through the split in the middle of the tree, while Ash, May and the Treecko watched in amazement. The light then intensified before they could see a small seed in the centre of the forest slowly open with a small plant poking up from the centre, which then slowly grew into a large tree with several branches that had a lot of leaves that became bushes, as well as lovely yellow flowers blooming. As the large group watched the display, Ash and May could only stare in awe. "Look at that... a new tree's been born right in front of our eyes." Ash said. "Wow... it's incredible..." May whispered, her eyes wide in awe.
However, the display wasn't finished just yet, as the flowers on the tree started to wilt before their petals slowly dropped off, with small seeds dropping off the buds and landing on the ground before sinking into the soil, which caused plants to grow from them as well and as the tree slowly grew bigger, smaller trees grew as well, turning the once barren area into a forest. Ash, May and the Treecko were all in awestruck; this was the life cycle of the tree that was breaking in half in front of their eyes. As the sunlight cleared, the tree halves then fell to the ground with a loud thud, and a small seed rolled out from the remains and stopped in front of Treecko's feet, and all that was left of the tree lay on the ground, collapsed. Ash and May then both walked over to Treecko as it was still staring in shock. "Hey, Treecko? I think that tree was trying to thank you for helping it." Ash said, while he and May looked up at the remains of the tree. May and Pikachu both nodded in agreement; that seemed to be the case to them as well. But just then, Treecko showed a glare at Ash and lunged forward before tackling him, much to May and the Treecko group's shock. As Ash was trying to recover from that tackle, May showed an expression of concern and bent down to him, placing her hands on his shoulders to help him up.
"Ash, are you okay?" she asked. Ash lifted his head up to May and nodded, prompting May to show a smile of relief, before the two turned their attention to Treecko with expressions of annoyance. "What did you hit me for?" Ash asked. Treecko turned its glance to the fallen tree for a few seconds before it showed a smile and then turned to Ash with an expression of determination; it was ready for a battle against him.
"Are you trying to tell me you're ready to battle?" Ash asked, staring in surprise at this. But then a bright smile came to his face and he showed an expression of determination before standing up. "All right then, let's go!" Ash stated, feeling ready to battle. While that was happening, May heard a squawk from nearby and turned her head to see that it was Taillow flying towards them, with Brock and Misty following right behind him. "Brock, look! There they are!" Misty said, pointing to where Ash and May were.
May showed a bright smile before she started to wave to them. "Guys, we're over here! You're just in time! Ash is about to have his battle with Treecko!" she called. As Brock and Misty caught up, the battle between Ash and Treecko was about to start.
"All right, Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash said. Pikachu released a strong bolt of electricity, and Treecko promptly jumped out of the way as the bolts simply hit the ground it had been standing at, before one bolt suddenly hit it. However, Treecko quickly broke out of it and leapt forward, feeling ready for more. At the same time, the others were watching the battle from behind.
"Look at how strong Treecko is, and how fast it can go!" May commented. "Yeah; it probably doesn't help that electric attacks aren't very effective against grass types." Misty agreed. Treecko started to give chase after Pikachu, who was already making a run for it and smacked him with his tail, knocking him back a bit, before proceeding to charge forward again.
"We've got to try something else, Pikachu. This isn't over yet. All right, now!" Ash called; he had an idea. With this, Pikachu charged forward towards Treecko, prompting the latter to jump up into the air, giving Ash his window of opportunity. "Now use Thunderbolt!" Ash called. Without any hesitance, Pikachu released a strong bolt of electricity which hit Treecko directly, sending it dropping out of the air and landing on the ground, knocked out. The Treecko pack stared in shock while May showed a bright smile of awe at that strategy.
"Wow, did you see that? Ash's idea worked!" May cheered. "Of course! Grass Pokemon can usually diffuse electricity on the ground, but they can't do the same in mid air. I've got to say, that was actually pretty clever of Ash to try something like that." Misty commented, with a smile coming to her face as she understood how this made sense.
With Ash, he was staring in surprise that his idea actually proved to be a success, but then he remembered that he couldn't afford to waste any time, so he grabbed one of his empty Pokeballs from his bag. "Go, Pokeball!" Ash said before throwing the Pokeball, which hit Treecko and opened up before catching Treecko inside it, before closing and dropping onto the ground. The group watched as the Pokeball rapidly for a few seconds before stopping, which meant Treecko was securely inside. Ash showed a bright smile at this and picked up the Pokeball. "All right! I caught a Treecko!" Ash cheered, holding the Pokeball up in the air while Pikachu jumped up and let out a cheer of excitement at their success.
A little later, Treecko was let out from his Pokeball, as he was the new member of Ash's team. "Treecko, do you want to come and travel with us?" Ash asked. Treecko promptly nodded with a big smile; that sounded like a good idea to him. The elder Treecko then stepped forward and showed Treecko the seed that was left behind from the fallen tree; they wanted to plant it in the ground so a new tree would grow in its place. Treecko looked down at the seed before nodding in agreement; that sounded like a good idea to him.
Soon, the seed was placed into a small hole in the ground that Treecko dug up, and Treecko placed a small bush over the hole. That meant the seed was ready to start growing soon. Once that was taken care of, Ash and the others were ready to get going. "So long, everyone! Look after the tree!" Ash called, as he and the others turned to wave goodbye to the Treecko. The Treecko pack all started to wave goodbye to the group as they were ready to keep moving on their route towards Rustboro, with Treecko now alongside them. As Treecko looked down at the area that was once his home, he could see that the seed was already growing as a small plant; soon, it would grow into a tree that would make a new home for the pack.
Soon after that, Ash and the others were continuing their road through Petalburg Woods to get to Rustboro. As they were walking, Misty was showing an expression of concern as there was something she wanted to ask about. "Hey, May?" she asked. May turned her head to Misty with an expression of surprise, wondering what was up. "Were you and Ash alright while Brock and I were looking for you? I mean, we were separated for almost a full day. Were you guys okay?" Misty asked. May quickly showed a bright smile and nodded.
"Yeah, we were fine! There's nothing to worry about; those men we ran into before didn't find us at all." Ash agreed, showing a thumb up of support. Misty showed a smile of relief at this reply; that meant she had been worrying about nothing at all, but it also meant that Ash and May were both safe while they were separated. Just then, a rumble could be heard and everyone turned their heads to see that it was coming from Ash's stomach, to which he quickly showed a sheepish smile. "Uh.. sorry about that, guys. May and I didn't really have anything to eat while we were with the Treecko." Ash nervously explained. Misty simply shook her head while letting out a silent sigh to herself while May showed a smile of amusement. Luckily, Brock took notice of this as well.
"Well, that's a problem. We're coming near an open area, so who's up for stopping to have some lunch?" Brock suggested. The others quickly perked up at the mention of this, because they all had big smiles on their faces and they immediately nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that sounds great!" Ash agreed. "What are we waiting for? Let's move!" May cheered, her eyes going big in excitement. "Leave it up to Brock to handle our meals; he knows just what to do!" Misty said, while Togepi let out a cheerful chirp from Misty's arms.
Sometime later, Ash, May and Misty all stood beside each other looking down with bright smiles. "Wow! That smells great!" The three happily commented in unison, with Pikachu nodding in agreement. They were watching as Brock was stirring a pot full of stew he had set up for lunch; they had been waiting for a good while now for it to be ready, and they couldn't wait for the finished result. Brock lifted up the ladle he was using to stir the stew to have a taste and then he looked up at the others with a bright smile on his face.
"Yep, it's ready. Let's eat, guys!" Brock said. Everyone promptly smiled in excitement at this and they started to grab out the Pokeballs containing their Pokemon so they could bring them all out for lunch: Ash had three, May and Misty had four and Brock only had one so far, through that didn't seem to be the issue for him.
"Okay, everyone, chow time!" May said, throwing her four Pokeballs up into the air. "Come on out, guys! It's lunch time!" Misty said, throwing her four Pokeballs up in the air just like May did.
"Forretress, come and get it!" Brock said, throwing out his one Pokeballs. "Guys, it's finally time to eat!" Ash said as he threw his Pokeballs out while Pikachu leapt off his shoulder, feeling just as excited for lunch as his friend was.
All of the Pokeballs in question opened up to release their Pokemon: first came May's consisting of Torchic, Azurill, Ralts and Wurmple, followed up by Misty's roster of Horsea, Starmie, Psyduck and Goldeen, then out came Forretress as he was the one Pokemon Brock currently had and last, but not least, there was Ash's team of Larvitar, Taillow, Riolu and Treecko. After a few seconds, all of the Pokemon turned their heads to Treecko with expressions of surprise as he stood in silence like the odd one out of the roster. Treecko seemed to notice this as well, because he turned his glance to the rest of the roster noticing that they were all staring at him. "(W-what?)" Treecko asked, starting to feel uncomfortable. Luckily, Ash and the others took notice of this as well.
"It looks like Treecko might be feeling a bit weird around all our other Pokemon." May commented, staring at this with her hands on her hips from puzzlement. "Well, that's because everyone is all staring." Misty added, turning her glance to May while she said that. May nodded in understanding; that seemed to make sense. Ash didn't seem to think there was a problem, though, because he showed a bright smile and bent down to the roster.
"Hey, everyone, there's no reason to be suspicious. Let's all say hello to Treecko!" Ash said. With this, the roster all turned around to greet Treecko, but Treecko simply turned his glance away and then grabbed onto a tree before climbing up it and heading up to a tree branch while the rest of the Pokemon watched in surprise. "Hey, Treecko, come back unless you want to miss lunch!" Ash called. From up in the tree branch, Treecko pulled out a small twig from the leaves and placed it in his mouth while the group watched silently.
"You don't think that Treecko would rather eat twigs than Brock's soup, do you?" May asked, showing an expression of puzzlement. "I don't think that's the reason why." Misty commented. Sure enough, she was proven right as Brock walked over having seen this as well.
"You're right, Misty. Treecko are tree-dwelling Pokemon. Plus, they're pretty shy, so it's probably just more comfortable up there." Brock explained. Ash had been listening to this and then he showed a bright smile as it came together in his head; since Treecko made his home in a tree, it made sense that Treecko would feel more comfortable being up in one. Treecko wasn't paying attention to this conversation, though; he was sitting up in the tree branch with his arms crossed, preferring to have his solitude.
A little later, everyone was sitting together enjoying their lunch; Ash and his friends were enjoying Brock's soup while all of the Pokemon were enjoying special Pokemon food. As May swallowed down a spoonful of soup, she had a bright smile on her face. "This is yummy! Brock, you should have your own cooking show." May happily commented, before she grabbed another spoonful to eat.
"Thanks, May." Brock replied, showing a smile at this compliment. As this was happening, the group looked up to see Torchic running back and forth with an apple on her back and a vine of purple grapes in her beak. "Hey, May, what's the deal with Torchic? It seems pretty wound up." Brock commented, noticing Torchic's joy as she was happily running around with her lunch.
"Torchic always gets excited about food, but I think it might be eating too much." May explained. Misty turned her glance with a cheeky smile as she commented "Well, Pokemon do tend to learn certain types of behaviour from their Trainer." That didn't sit well with May, because she showed a glare wondering just what Misty meant. Ash then noticed that Treecko was still sitting up in the tree, so he placed his bowl down and stood up to look up at Treecko.
"Hey, Treecko, you okay? You're not going to sit up in that tree all day, are you?" Ash asked, as he and Pikachu looked up at Treecko. After a few seconds, Ash didn't receive any response from Treecko so he figured that was a yes. "Well, all right. Your lunch is here if you get hungry." Ash said, holding up a bowl of Pokemon food that he was saving for Treecko. "(Yeah, I'll keep an eye on it!)" Pikachu added.
From up in the tree, Treecko heard everything that Ash had said. "(Okay...)" he replied, though he wasn't planning on coming down anytime soon. He then looked down to notice that some bushes were rustling from nearby. From a bush, a large snake-like Pokemon poked its head up; the Pokemon had deep blue skin with light purple markings, bright yellow markings on its head and around its eyes and bright red eyes and fangs. As it watched Ash and the others, it spotted Torchic running with her apple and grapes before heading back into the bushes, having spotted a target.
As Torchic was cheerfully running, she didn't notice that a tail was poking out from a bush beside her, and then she tripped on the tail and landed on the ground, causing the apple she was carrying on her back to fall off and hit her on the head, knocking the vine of grapes out of her beak before rolling away. Torchic quickly jumped up on her feet to give chase after the apple. "(Wait! Come back!)" Torchic called as she rushed after the apple as it rolled past a bush. As Torchic ran through the bush, she showed a bright smile when she saw that the apple had stopped rolling away. "(There you are!)" Torchic happily commented. She was about to take a bite out of the apple, but then she noticed something in front of her and slowly lifted her head up to notice a large snake-like Pokemon glaring at her. The Pokemon then lunged forward, prompting Torchic to let out a scream of shock, before it grabbed the apple she had been carrying on her back in its mouth.
"(You give that back!)" Torchic snapped. The Pokemon didn't pay attention to her though and munched down on the whole apple in one bite, which caused Torchic to start jumping up and down in anger. "(That was my apple! I was going to eat that!)" Torchic yelled. But then she stopped jumping and showed an expression of alarm when she saw that the Pokemon was now glaring at her and lunged forward to get at her next. "(Help!)" Torchic cried, realising that she was now in serious trouble.
However, just as the Pokemon was about to grab Torchic, a small twig landed on the ground between them, prompting the two Pokemon to look up in surprise and notice someone coming towards them: it was Treecko. Treecko landed on the Pokemon's head before flipping through the air and landing on the ground in front of her, placing one arm in front of her to protect her. "(Treecko?)" Torchic asked, showing an expression of surprise to see him here. Treecko then turned his head to Torchic to make sure she wasn't hurt.
"(Are you okay?)" Treecko asked. Torchic showed a bright smile and nodded in agreement; she wasn't harmed at all. Treecko showed a small smile of relief at this reply before turning his attention back to the snake Pokemon as the two glared at each other. "(If you want her, then you'll have to go through me first!)" Treecko stated, before he lunged forward to attack the snake Pokemon. However, it moved out of the way of Treecko's charge to aim straight towards Torchic.
"(HELP!)" Torchic cried out, loud enough for Ash and the others to hear her from where they were, as they all stood up upon hearing the cry.
"What was that?" Ash asked, showing an expression of worry. May let out a gasp of shock as she could recognize who that was instantly. "That was Torchic!" May gasped. Without any hesitance, the group rushed off to find out where Torchic was.
Back with Treecko and Torchic, Treecko was watching with a glare as the snake Pokemon was throwing Torchic up into the air on its tail. "(You leave her alone!)" Treecko snapped, unwilling to stand for this kind of treatment. The snake Pokemon then turned to Treecko and let out a hiss before it suddenly heard someone call out. "Stop that!" The snake Pokemon and Treecko turned their heads to see Ash and the others arrive, with May being the one to yell that out.
"What is that?" Misty asked, showing an expression of surprise at the Pokemon they were staring at. Ash grabbed his Pokedex out from his bag to find out for himself. "Seviper, the Fang Snake Pokemon. Seviper is known for its angry disposition, immobilizing its opponents by wrapping its body around them." The Pokedex explained. May showed an expression of determination, as she could see that one of her Pokemon was in trouble.
"Don't worry, Torchic, I'll save you! Ralts, use Confusion!" May called. Noticing this, Misty decided to step in and give her some help too. "Starmie, use Psybeam!" Misty said.
With this, Ralts sent out small purple psychic wave while Starmie released a strong blast of energy from its jewel. However, Seviper moved out of the way of both attacks and then shot out a string of white poisonous bards from its mouth, which struck the ground in front of Ralts and Starmie and sent them flying backwards. With Ralts, she was sent slamming right into Riolu, who quickly took notice. "(Ralts, are you alright?)" Riolu asked, showing an expression of concern as he helped Ralts on her feet. Ralts shook her head and then turned to Riolu with a bright smile.
"(Yes, I'm okay. Thanks, Riolu.)" Ralts replied, nodding. Riolu showed a smile of relief at this and then the two turned their attention back to Seviper as it shot out a large cloud of black smoke which covered the area and made things hard to see for the group.
"This is Seviper's Haze attack!" Brock said, as he was able to figure out what this was right away. May looked around nervously before turning her head to Brock. "That's a fitting name for it, because it's hard for me to see anything." May commented, showing an expression of worry as she wasn't sure of where she was. Luckily, Ash was standing beside her and noticed her concern, so he reached over and grabbed her hand so she'd know she was safe with him. May showed an expression of surprise seeing this, and then she looked up at Ash showing a comforting smile, and she happily smiled back.
While this was happening, Treecko looked up to notice that one of the trees beside him had a branch tall enough to get above the smoke, so he ran over and climbed up the tree to get to the branch and once he was up there, he spotted Seviper holding Torchic in its tail, so he jumped off the tree and slammed Seviper's head with his tail, causing it to let go of Torchic and then Treecko jumped off to catch her in his arms and run back over to the group. May quickly showed a bright smile seeing that Torchic was safe.
"Torchic!" May gasped as Treecko placed Torchic down on the ground. Without any hesitance, Torchic ran over to May and leapt into her arms as May hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay..." May whispered from relief, while Torchic snuggled up against her. Ash watched her with a bright smile before looking down at Treecko.
"Thanks, Treecko. Good job!" Ash happily commented. However, it seemed that Seviper wasn't done just yet as it lunged forward with a glare on its face. "It's coming back!" Brock warned. Treecko turned around to notice this and before he had a chance to react, Seviper's tail started to glow bright purple and it slammed its tail against Treecko, sending him flying backwards and slamming against a tree, after which he then landed on the ground, badly hurt.
"Treecko!" Ash gasped. Seviper then charged forward to finish Treecko off, but May quickly stepped forward to deal with this. "Oh, no you don't, Seviper! Wurmple, use String Shot!" May called. Wurmple shot out a long string of silk from her mouth which wrapped around Seviper's mouth and slammed it shut. After a few seconds of struggling, Seviper managed to break the silk off and started to charge towards the group, ready for more battling.
"Now, Ralts, use Confusion!" May called. "Starmie, use Psybeam!" Misty added. With this, Ralts sent out light purple psychic waves and Starmie shot out a strong blast of energy from its jewel, with both attacks hitting Seviper directly. Seviper was then flying back and slammed onto the ground, before it slowly got up ready for more.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash said, wanting to finish this off. Pikachu then released a strong bolt of electricity that hit Seviper directly, causing it to turn away and slither away back into the bushes. Once it was gone, the group started to relax. "Well, I hope we see the last of that thing." May commented showing a smile of relief that Seviper would leave them along for the time being.
However, they still had something else to worry about: Treecko was grabbing his arm from pain after the direct attack from Seviper. Ash and the others quickly ran over to check on him. "Are you okay?" Ash asked, showing an expression of concern. Treecko struggled to get up on his own for a few moments, but then fell back down on the grass due to the pain in his arms.
"Taking a direct hit from Seviper like that; it's no wonder Treecko looks in such bad shape!" Misty commented. "And it just did that just for you, Torchic. What do we do?" May asked, showing an expression of concern. Torchic could only watch with worry in her eyes, as she wasn't sure of what would happen to Treecko.
"I'm pretty sure I saw a Pokemon Centre just up ahead." Brock replied. Ash then bent down and picked Treecko up, before standing up as he held the Gecko Pokemon in his arms. "Just hang in there, Treecko. We're going to get you fixed up in no time." Ash said. Treecko still held on to his arm, finding it difficult to endure the pain.
While this was happening, the Rocket Trio poked their heads up from behind a bush nearby with Jessie showing a smile. "I've just spotted something that will be sure to make our day!" Jessie commented. "A taco stand with a Jacuzzi out back?" Meowth suggested. "I think she's talking about that Seviper and its amazing battle ability." James replied, sharing a similar smile to Jessie; they had been watching the battle from hiding, and Seviper had caught Jessie's eye.
"A Pokemon like that would make a perfect addition to my team. After all, after Arbok left, all I have are Wobbuffet and Wurmple, so something like Seviper just seems perfect for me!" Jessie happily stated. James and Meowth both looked over at her wondering the same thing. "But how do you suppose we're going to catch it?" James asked. Jessie simply showed a confident smile, as she knew just the way to handle that.
"It's simple; all we need is a plan to lure Seviper into one of our traps and we'll be all set to go!" Jessie replied. James and Meowth both stared in surprise for a few moments; given that they were working on turning themselves around, they didn't think they would have to use their traps. But having just witnessed how strong Seviper was, they knew that it wouldn't be easy to capture it. "Come on, you two! Let's get moving!" Jessie then said. James and Meowth both nodded in agreement, while Wobbuffet popped out blurting "Wobbuffet!"
With Ash and the others, they were running down the path to find the Pokemon Centre. "Guys, look! There it is!" Misty said, pointing forward. Sure enough, just ahead was the building with the red 'P' sign. "Nurse Joy, we need your help!" Ash called as he and the others arrived at the door, which opened automatically to let them in.
Out in the woods, a pack of Beautifly and Zigzagoon were cheerfully munching on some apples. The Zigzagoon looked up to be met with Seviper glaring at them from behind a bush, and they immediately jumped in panic and made a run for it leaving the apples behind. Once the Pokemon were gone, Seviper gathered up all the apples in its mouth and munched on them for a few seconds before swallowing them, letting out a slither of content. From a tree branch nearby, the Rocket Trio were watching this display.
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Meowth commented. "With those manners, the doctor and everyone else." James added. "Oh, I can't wait to have such a powerful Pokemon under my complete command!" Jessie happily sighed.
"Well, we know it has a fondness for all things fruity and it's headed right for my trap so it won't be long now." Meowth said. As Seviper slithered along the ground, it noticed that just up ahead was a basket full of different kinds of fruits, while not noticing a hole that had been dug up in the ground waiting for it. Seviper showed a bright smile and started to make its way towards the basket, while the Rocket Trio watched from a bush nearby.
"Ooh! It spotted the fruit!" Jessie excitedly cheered. "Keep moving forward..." James said. "Now go on and fall in the hole." Meowth added. Seviper was about to start munching on the fruit, but then it started looking from side to side to make sure no one was there. Unfortunately, the Rocket Trio didn't seem to realise this as they all stared in surprise.
"What's it doing?" Jessie asked. "Maybe it don't like the basket?" Meowth suggested. "I told you the pineapple was a bad idea." James commented. After looking around to make sure there was no one around, Seviper turned around and lifted the basket up with its tail, missing the hole completely and heading off. The Rocket Trio were left staring in shock, and then they quickly jumped out from behind the bush, seemingly unaware of where they were standing.
"That fruit basket wasn't meant as a gift!" Jessie snapped. "This was expensive! Fruit doesn't grow on trees, you know!" James yelled out, stamping on the ground and being unaware of what he was saying. "What's the big idea of getting away and making me look bad when you're supposed to be standing here on this trap?" Meowth asked. As soon as Meowth said that, there was silence for a few moments before the Rocket Trio realised where they were standing and slowly looked down at the ground nervously.
"What trap, exactly?" Jessie asked. "You mean the one we're standing on right now?" James asked, just to be sure he knew where they were. "Yeah; good thing it didn't work so well." Meowth commented. After a few seconds, the ground gave way underneath their feet and the Rocket Trio were sent dropping into their own hole.
A little later, the Rocket Trio had managed to get out of their hole trap and were looking out for Seviper in another hiding place behind some trees. "Now, are you two sure you understand the new plan? I don't want any more mistakes!" Jessie stated. James and Meowth both nodded in understanding; fortunately for them, they knew exactly what they had to do.
"You say something clever to get Seviper's attention..." James said. "And then we both jump out and snatch it up in the Poke-Net!" Meowth finished. Jessie showed a bright smile hearing that they both remembered, and then the three turned their heads to see Seviper coming their way, so they ducked down to hide. As Seviper went past them, Jessie then jumped out from behind the bush.
"Seviper, it's lunchtime!" Jessie happily called. Seviper promptly turned around to see where the food was, but was instead met with James and Meowth jumping out holding a net to capture it with. "You're a part of our team now, so I suggest you stop struggling and accept this as your lucky day." Jessie explained. However, Seviper didn't seem all that willing to give up so easily, as it glared up at them.
"I think it's mad!" Meowth blurted, so he and Meowth started to pull on the net to restrain Seviper, but they were being outmatched by Seviper pulling back. "Oh, come on, you creampuffs! Put some muscle into it!" Jessie snapped, showing an expression of annoyance. With this, she grabbed the net to start pulling as well, but Seviper effortlessly bit through the net, sending the Rocket Trio flying backwards and slamming into a tree while Seviper slithered away.
"My spleen! I give up!" Meowth groaned. "How about we catch something easier like a taxi?" James suggested. However, Jessie didn't seem faltered at all because she was showing a big smile and an expression of determination; she was all the more raring to catch Seviper for herself. "Catch this one, you cupcakes. Now that I've seen how tough Seviper is, I want to grab it even more!" Jessie stated.
At the Pokemon Centre, Ash was looking through the glass to the room where Treecko was being tended to; he was placed on a table while Nurse Joy monitored him with Chansey beside her. As Ash was watching in worry, he turned his glance to see someone walking over: it was May with Torchic in her arms. "May, how come you're here?" Ash asked.
"Torchic was getting worried about Treecko, so I thought we'd come over to see what's going on." May replied. Ash nodded in understanding, and then he and May turned their attention back so they could watch Treecko and see if he would be okay. As May noticed Torchic watching in worry, she showed a caring smile. "Don't worry, Torchic. Nurse Joy knows what she's doing. I think Treecko will be okay." May softly explained. However, that did little to ease Torchic's worries; she was still thinking about how Treecko protected her from Seviper. "(Treecko...)" Torchic worriedly said with tears filling her eyes; she really wanted him to get better as well, so she could properly thank him for saving her.
Back with the Rocket Trio, they were enjoying a lunch break after their failed attempts at catching Seviper and they were having rice balls to munch on to fill them up. "Seviper always seems to be one step ahead of us." James commented underneath a mouth full of rice. He then took a bite out of his rice ball while Jessie did the same.
"Which means we've got to work that much harder and come up with a new plan." Jessie said. Meowth then stuffed the rice ball he was eating into his mouth. "I work much better on a full tummy." Meowth commented. He then reached down to grab the last rice ball, only for Jessie and James to do the same thing which meant that all three of them had their hands on them. The three stared in surprise before glaring at each other for a few seconds, and then they held the rice ball up in the air with matching bright smiles.
"Rice ball free for all!" The three cheered in unison, only for Jessie to suddenly snatch it away from them. "But you know it's over and I'm the winner!" Jessie happily commented. James begged to differ, though, because he promptly grabbed it away from her while she was left staring in irritation.
"That's so rude! You don't see me or Meowth grabbing, do you?" James asked. He was then met with a shock as Meowth climbed up onto him to grab the rice ball for himself, with Jessie doing the same. The tussle lasted for a few seconds until Jessie accidently lost her grip on the rice ball, and it was sent flying into the air and landed in the nearby lake with a splash, much to James and Meowth's horror.
"That was the last one!" James cried. "Fallen to a watery grave!" Meowth blurted. The two then turned their heads with tears flooding from their eyes. "What do you think? Should we say a few words in its memory?" James asked. "Here lies a rice ball I didn't get to eat..." Meowth said. Jessie simply watched in the two in silence before she shook her head with a smile on her face.
"Oh, quit your sniffling. It was just like a rice ball, like any other." Jessie said before holding up a spare rice ball she had with her. James and Meowth both turned their heads up and showed matching expressions of surprise upon seeing this.
"Where'd that come from?" James asked. "And where's ours?" Meowth added.
Jessie simply showed a big smile as she held the rice ball close so they wouldn't be able to get their hands on it. "Where do you think it's from? I saved it just in case." she cheerfully replied. James and Meowth both showed matching glares as that didn't sit with them.
"In case of what?" James asked. "Yeah, of what?" Meowth agreed, as he was just as upset as James was by this. Jessie wasn't faltered by their dismay because she simply showed a bright smile.
"You two should know that all's fair in lunch and war." Jessie stated. She then brought the rice ball to her mouth, ready to chow down. "Down the hatch!" Jessie cheerfully commented. But as she was about to eat, a tail slowly reached forward and grabbed the rice ball away from her as she wasn't paying attention, which left her to bite on thin air. She then opened her eyes to notice this, and turned her head to see that Seviper had snatched the rice ball away from her and munched down on it in one gulp. The Rocket Trio stared in silence for a few moments, before Jessie showed an expression of anger and pointed accusingly at Seviper. "How dare you steal from me, you overgrown Weedle! Don't you know who I am?!" Jessie snapped. Seviper simply showed a sneaky smile at its theft and stuck its tongue out at Jessie, something that infuriated her even more. "What?! You gave me the raspberry?!" she snapped. James and Meowth were both watching this and they figured that maybe they should remind Jessie of what to do before she forgot.
"Jessie, now's your chance." James whispered. Jessie turned her head to the two, showing an expression of surprise as she started to wonder what they were talking about. "Catch it while it's close." Meowth explained; this was Jessie's chance to catch Seviper now that they were staring it in the eyes.
"Oh, that's right. I knew that." Jessie commented. With this, she grabbed out one of her Pokeballs and threw it, which opened and released Wobbuffet. "Teach that thieving Seviper a lesson!" Jessie ordered. With this, Wobbuffet started to glare at Seviper and then there was nothing but silence as the Pokemon glared at each other for a few seconds. As soon as he could tell that this wasn't going anywhere, James slowly turned his glance to Jessie.
"I'm pretty sure you know this already, but Wobbuffet can't do anything until it's attacked by something else..." James explained. Jessie simply showed an annoyed glare in response, to which James nearly jumped in surprise, and then she promptly returned Wobbuffet into his Pokeball.
"All right, guess it's time to try something else. Wurmple, come on out!" Jessie said, as she figured that she could use the other Pokemon she had with her. With this, she grabbed the Pokeball out and threw it, which opened and released Wurmple who landed on the ground in front of her. "Wurmple, show that Seviper what you've got!" Jessie stated, pointing to Seviper as Wurmple's target. With this, Wurmple started to charge towards Seviper, but Seviper simply moved out of the way while Wurmple turned around in surprise, and then Seviper's tail started to glow bright purple and it aimed towards Wurmple, but the little worm Pokemon quickly jumped out of the way leaving Seviper to strike the ground and get its tail stuck. "Yes, now we're getting somewhere!" Jessie cheered, showing a bright smile. Once Wurmple landed on the ground, she turned to face Seviper and shot out a string of silk which wrapped around Seviper's body so it couldn't move. "All right, Wurmple, well done!" Jessie happily commented, to which Wurmple turned around to her and showed a bright smile cheering as well. But while Wurmple wasn't looking, she heard chomping behind her and turned around to find that Seviper had bitten through the silk effortlessly and had also gotten its tail unstuck from the ground. Wurmple promptly jumped from panic and quickly ran over to Jessie before returning herself into her Pokeball. Jessie could only stare in surprise at this turn of events, before she turned her attention to Meowth.
"All right, let's see if you're any use, Meowth. Double-Edge Attack!" Jessie stated, grabbing Meowth while he was left in shock before throwing him in Seviper's direction. "Wait! I don't know that attack!" Meowth yelled out. Once he got close enough, Seviper slammed him with its tail, sending him flying back towards Jessie and James and slamming into them, knocking them backwards onto the ground and causing a rice ball to fall out of Jessie's pocket and start bouncing across the ground to Jessie's alarm.
"Oh, my last rice ball!" Jessie gasped. She then jumped up on her feet and started to run after it, while James and Meowth lifted their heads up from surprise at this. "What?" James asked. "She had one hidden!" Meowth commented.
"Oh no, you won't get away!" Jessie snapped. She then lunged forward to grab the rice ball, but she let out a scream of alarm when she saw that Seviper had opened its mouth to snatch up the rice ball and she was aiming straight towards its jaws and she quickly turned around to get out of the way, but unfortunately that caused Jessie's hair to get caught in Seviper's jaws, to which Seviper bit down and tore Jessie's hair off much to the alarm of the Rocket Trio, especially Jessie with the three screaming in alarm as they saw Seviper holding Jessie's hair in its mouth. As soon as Jessie saw this, she let out a loud wail with waterfalls of tears flowing from her eyes.
"Not my hair! My flowing hair is my trademark!" Jessie wailed. But then, her shock and sadness was quickly replaced with anger as a nasty glare appeared on her face. "You just made a very big mistake, Seviper!" Jessie snapped with fury burning in her eyes; this was where she drew the line. Seviper showed an expression of alarm, as it started to realise it may have made a mistake it shouldn't have, while James and Meowth watched in fear with their eyes having shrunk in size; this was what Jessie was like when she lost her temper, and that was something they knew to stay clear out of the way of.
"Poor Seviper..." James worriedly commented. "It knows not what it's done!" Meowth gasped. Sure enough, the two were right as Jessie let out a loud scream of fury before she rapidly scratched Seviper's face with her bare hands, prompting it to let a cry of pain.
"She used Fury Swipes!" Meowth blurted. "Emphasis on fury!" James added. This was then topped by Jessie jumping up into the air and slamming her foot directly on Seviper's head. "Her unstoppable Megahorn Kick!" James exclaimed. "It's super effective!" Meowth added. Sure enough, Seviper had been knocked out, but Jessie didn't seem to be done just yet, as she grabbed Seviper's head and pulled it up as she was still raring for more payback.
"You rice ball-stealing, long hair-chomping..." Jessie said, shaking Seviper's head back and forth rapidly while having her fist up as she was ready to start punching Seviper's face in next. However, James and Meowth were both to quick to run in and stop her.
"Wait, wait!" James called. "Now's your chance, Jess. Catch it!" Meowth explained. Luckily, this quickly reached Jessie's ears as she turned to the two with a bright smile as she let go of Seviper who slowly dropped onto the ground and tapped the side of her head. "Oh yes, of course, catch it! That's just what I was about to do." Jessie cheerfully commented.
"Oh, boy..." James groaned, letting out a sigh of relief that Jessie had snapped out of her rage-induced state. "That was a close call." Meowth commented, nodding as he seemed to agree with James on that. With this, Jessie threw one of her empty Pokeballs on her belt at Seviper, which opened once it hit Seviper's head and Seviper was captured inside, after which the Pokeball closed and dropped onto the ground before it started to shake. After a few seconds, the Pokeball stopped shaking which meant Jessie's capture was successful. Jessie showed a bright smile seeing this, and then she picked the Pokeball up and held it into the air.
"I caught a Seviper!" Jessie cheered. James and Meowth both happily cheered along with her, raising their hands in the air while Wobbuffet popped out of his Pokeball blurting "Wobbuffet!" in celebration along with them.
At the Pokemon Centre, Ash and the others were waiting for an update on Treecko's progress, and May was sitting at a chair nearby with Torchic sitting on her lap; Torchic was still feeling worried about how Treecko was doing. Just then, Nurse Joy came out to see the group and she had a bright smile on her face. "Treecko will be just fine. It needs to rest for a little while and then we can bring it out." Nurse Joy explained. Ash showed a bright smile hearing that Treecko would be okay and Torchic seemed to share his sentiments because she let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Nurse Joy." Ash replied.
May then looked down at Torchic seeing her smile of relief. "Are you feeling better now, Torchic?" she asked. Torchic lifted her head up to May and cheerfully nodded in agreement. May then looked up at Nurse Joy with an expression of puzzlement as she was wondering about something. "Nurse Joy, I was wondering. Could the Nurse Joy we made in Oldale Town be your little sister?" May asked.
"Everyone always asks me that, but no." Nurse Joy replied. Brock then walked over, figuring that he should explain the relations here. "May, this Nurse Joy is the younger sister of the second cousin of the Nurse Joy in Oldale Town's first cousin. Isn't that right?" Brock asked, to which Nurse Joy cheerfully nodded while May could only stare in stunned silence. Luckily, May didn't seem to be the only one who was confused because Misty was scratching her head in bewilderment.
"Uh, could you say that again, Brock? You had me and then you lost me at second cousin." Misty commented, turning her head to Brock. "I hear you, Misty. I'm a bit lost on that too." May agreed, showing a nervous smile. Just then, the group turned their heads to see Chansey running over in what seemed to be a panic.
"Chansey, what's wrong?" Nurse Joy asked, showing an expression of concern. In response, Chansey pressed her hands against the sides of her head until they resembled Treecko's hand and her eyes went yellow. "Are you saying that Treecko snuck out of its room by itself?" Nurse Joy asked. Chansey promptly turned to Nurse Joy and nodded in confirmation, which prompted the group to all stare in shock. Without any hesitance, the group quickly rushed out of the front door to start looking for Treecko.
"Treecko, where are you?" Ash asked. "Come back!" May called. "Are you out there?" Nurse Joy called, with Chansey calling out for Treecko as well. Torchic then rushed over as well, as she had been left behind inside the Pokemon Centre while the others left, and she started to look around with an expression of worry on her face.
"(Treecko? Treecko, are you here?)" Torchic worriedly asked. As she turned her glance forward, she noticed something lying on the ground just ahead of her. She ran over to find that there was a long piece of bandage paper lying on the ground, so she picked it up in her beak and ran back over to the group to show them it. "(Guys, look at this!)" Torchic said, placing the paper back down in front of the group.
"What's that?" Ash asked, showing an expression of surprise. "It's Treecko's bandages." Nurse Joy replied. The group then looked up in the direction that Treecko had apparently run off in; it seemed that he had rushed off towards the hills.
"Why do you think Treecko ran away?" May asked. "There's only one way to find out." Ash replied. With this, he started to run off ahead while the others followed after him to find where Treecko went.
Out in the forest where a small waterfall was rushing down into a lake below, Treecko was sitting on a rock at the top of the waterfall; he was looking down at the rock at the bottom of the waterfall right near where the water was rushing down. After a few seconds, Treecko spat the twig in his mouth down to the ground below, and then he leapt off the rock diving head first towards the bottom of the waterfall.
Back with Ash and the others, they were out in the woods looking for Treecko. "Come on, Treecko! Please let me know where you are!" Ash called. "(Treecko, where did you go?)" Pikachu asked, with Torchic looking out for Treecko as well as she was standing beside him; she was really starting to worry about where he could have gone and if she would be able to find him.
"I'm surprised that Treecko was able to get so far considering it hadn't fully recovered." Brock commented. "Yeah, so am I. Where do you think Treecko went?" May asked, nodding in agreement with Brock. As Misty was looking around for any sign for Treecko, she could suddenly hear something coming from behind some bushes nearby.
"Hey, guys, I just heard something coming from this way!" Misty said, pointing off to the left. The others turned their glances in the direction Misty was pointing at and saw that just up ahead was a small waterfall. As they poked their heads out from behind a bush, they noticed that there was Treecko; he was plummeting towards the bottom of the waterfall before he shifted himself to aim his tail towards the rock, only to bounce off it and splash into the water. Torchic showed a bright smile upon seeing her and then she jumped out from behind the bush and was about to run over to see Treecko, but she was stopped when May grabbed her and pulled her back so they could watch what was going on.
"Guys, look! There's Treecko!" Ash happily commented. But then, an expression of puzzlement crossed his face when he noticed what it was that Treecko was doing. "But... what do you think it's doing?" he asked, turning his head to the others. "It looks like it's doing some sort of training." Misty suggested.
"That's exactly right, Misty. It's working out." Brock agreed, nodding. The others turned to Brock in surprise wondering what he meant. "I'll bet Treecko is still upset with itself about losing to Seviper." Brock explained. The others then turned their heads to watch Treecko, understanding what exactly he was doing. "So now Treecko's pushing itself to train..." Ash commented to himself.
"Guess Treecko really doesn't like to lose, huh?" Misty asked. May quickly showed a bright smile of excitement at this. "I think that's really cool!" May happily commented. Ash couldn't help himself turning his glance to May with a smile on his face before he and the others turned their attention back to watch Treecko, with Torchic paying attention to this the most.
As the group watched, Treecko climbed up to the top of the waterfall before leaping off and slamming his tail against the rock before bouncing off and landing into the water several times, a few of which he ended up slamming against the rock with his body, leaving bruises as a result. After what seemed to be numerous attempt, Treecko stood at the top of the waterfall trying to catch his breath and then he leapt off the rock before starting to spin rapidly through the air. As soon as he got close to the rock at the bottom, Treecko turned and slammed his tail against the rock, smashing it into little rocks while the group watched with smiles of awe. "I see what Treecko's been trying to do. It managed to triple its attacking power by spinning before hitting its target!" Brock commented. The others all showed bright smiles at this and started to head out of the bush to meet up with Treecko. "Good job, Treecko!" Ash cheered as he was the first to rush out, with Pikachu following beside him.
Meanwhile, not too far from where Ash and the others were, the Rocket Trio were continuing their way through Petalburg Woods with Jessie happily holding the Pokeball Seviper was in. "Ah, finally! After a long struggle of trying to catch it, Seviper is on my team. Now we can get back to looking for the twerps." Jessie commented. James and Meowth both nodded in agreement, though they were wondering how they were supposed to do that when they could be anywhere in these woods. Just then, hearing what sounded like a Pokemon cry from up ahead, the Rocket Trio turned their heads in surprise. "What was that?" Jessie asked.
"That sounded like it was coming from this way." Meowth replied, pointing straight ahead. Without any hesitance, the Rocket Trio started to rush over in that direction and they poked their heads up from behind a bush to notice that Ash and the others were there, just in front of a small waterfall. "Hey, check it out! It's them!" Meowth commented, as he, Jessie and James all showed smiles of delight that they were able to find Ash and the others.
"Oh, finally! We'll get a chance to ask them for their help at last." James said. Just then, the Pokeball Jessie was holding opened up on its own to release Seviper, who spotted Treecko from behind the bush and she let out a hiss upon seeing him; she still had some unfinished business with him to take care of.
"Seviper, what are you doing?" Jessie asked. She then watched in shock as Seviper lunged forward out of the bush and headed right towards Treecko. "Seviper, come back here!" Jessie called as she and the others watched in alarm. However, Jessie's yell fell on deaf ears as Seviper charged towards Treecko, to which Ash and the others turned their heads to notice.
"It's that same Seviper!" Brock said. "How did it find us?" May asked, showing an expression of surprise. Seviper let out a hiss before glaring at Treecko, to which Treecko started to step forward, as he was ready for a rematch against the Fang Snake Pokemon. Ash seemed to take notice as well, because he turned his glance down to Treecko.
"Treecko, hold on." Ash said. Treecko turned his head to Ash, wondering what it was Ash wanted to say. "Before you start battling, don't forget you're not alone. We're your friends, Treecko, and we're on your side, okay? We'll battle with you." Ash explained, showing a bright smile. Treecko stared in silence for a few moments hearing this and then he turned his head to May holding Torchic in her arms, Brock and Misty standing behind Ash; they were all nodding in agreement to show that they were here by his side, and they would help no matter what. Seeing that he had all of these friends with him, Treecko showed a bright smile before turning his attention back to Seviper as the two Pokemon glared at each other ready to battle. Seviper made the first move with her tail starting to glow bright purple; it was the same move she had used to dispatch Treecko effortlessly.
"Treecko, use your Quick Attack!" Ash quickly called. Without much hesitance, Treecko started to rush back and forth jumping out of Seviper's Poison Tail attack as she was struggling to hit him while he was jumping back and forth rapidly. "Now, use Pound!" Ash said. With this, Treecko lunged forward and slapped Seviper hard across the face, sending her flying backwards. However, Seviper wasn't willing to stand for Treecko knocking her around so easily and started to charge towards him with her tail glowing purple again. Luckily, Ash had an idea to counter this.
"Treecko, use the move you've been practicing!" Ash called. As Seviper's Poison Tail got close to where Treecko was, he jumped out of the way as Seviper slammed her tail onto the ground. Once Treecko was up in the air, he started to spin rapidly as he dropped towards the ground, while Seviper watched in shock, and then slammed his tail down directly on Seviper's head, sending her flying backwards towards the bush where the Rocket Trio were watching, and they all watched in shock as Seviper was sent flying towards them, before she slammed right into them and sent them flying backwards out in the woods. "We don't need another setback!" The Rocket Trio blurted in unison as they were sent flying and disappeared into the bushes.
Once Seviper was gone, Treecko walked over and grabbed the little twig out from the ground before placing it back in his mouth, and then he looked up to see Ash and the others walking over to him. "Great job, Treecko. Thanks to you, hopefully that Seviper will finally leave us alone." Ash commented, while Pikachu happily nodded in agreement. Treecko stared up at Ash for a few moments before turning his head away, much to Ash and Pikachu's surprise, and then he lifted his tail up to them with a bright smile. "Oh, I see!" Ash happily commented, and then he and Pikachu placed their heads on Treecko's tail before Treecko slowly started to move it up and down; it was his version of a handshake.
"So that's how Treecko shake hands. Treecko really is full of surprises!" May happily commented, showing a bright smile. "Yeah; I'm just glad Treecko's on our side." Brock replied. "Me too." Misty agreed. Just then, they were met with a surprise when Torchic jumped out of May's arms and ran over to Treecko, who turned around to see her showing him a big smile.
"(Treecko, I'm so happy to see you're feeling better. I didn't get a chance to tell you this before Seviper attacked you, but...)" Torchic was silent for a few moments before she ran over and started to nuzzle up against Treecko, much to his surprise. "(Thank you so much for saving me and protecting me against Seviper.)" Torchic happily said. Treecko was left staring in stunned silence for a few moments before a smile slowly crossed his face and he placed his paws on Torchic's feathers to hold her close.
"(You're welcome, Torchic. I was glad to see that you're safe.)" Treecko replied. Torchic showed a bright smile at this before she resumed nuzzling up against him, while Ash and the others watched with bright smiles.
"Aw, look at that! I think Torchic likes Treecko." Misty happily said. May looked up to think for a few moments; she remembered that when she was at Trainer's School, she learnt that when two Pokemon shared feelings for each other, there was a likely chance that their Trainers would as well.
'First Riolu and Ralts, and now Torchic and Treecko. There's no way it could be possible, right? Could this mean that...?' May thought to herself, before turning her glance to Ash who was still busy shaking Treecko's tail along with Pikachu, and then she showed an expression of shock and she felt her cheeks start to glow red. 'Could that mean that... Ash likes me without even knowing it?' May thought to herself. But then, she shook her head rapidly, figuring that maybe she was over thinking this a bit too much.
Sufficied to say, it had been quite an eventful day for Ash and the others, and they could all agree on one thing: they were looking forward to finally arriving in Rustboro City, no matter how long that took.