Voice of the Forest Part 1

Shout out to Krikanalo, who is my best reviewer! He rocks!

… But even though he's great, I would still appreciate it if anyone and everyone who reads this will review each chapter. Krikanalo is the only person who has reviewed more than once, and he has had a great boosting effect on my confidence. Getting reviews makes me feel like people really enjoy this story, and gives me an incentive to keep writing. So please review!

I'm sorry to be such an attention whore. Anyway, on with the show!

-LordMagikarp

When Sammy emerged from Diglett's Cave, it had been a number of hours since Sammy's confrontation with Scarface, and the latter's subsequent death. Sammy was still shell-shocked from what he had seen, and wasn't sure he would ever get over it. Growlithe padded alongside his master, rubbing his leg occasionally to remind him that he was not alone. Charmeleon stood to Sammy's right, watchful and raring to get into action after his humiliating defeat at the hands of Kadabra. Behind them, Exeggutor towered over them, the Coconut Pokémon taking long strides equivalent to four or five of Sammy's. Dratini was nestled in the leafy fronds on top of his head, snout poking out playfully and wriggling.

The group entered the forest, and Sammy looked over to Exeggutor.

"Remember, Exeggutor? You used to live out here!" Sammy said wistfully as he tried to push his horrible trauma into the past, remembering the adventure. Evidently, his Pokémon did too, by the look in all six of his eyes as he surveyed the familiar surroundings. They progressed, and eventually Sammy became more serious, remembering just why they had come here. They kept their eyes peeled as they progressed into the forest, quiet as Rattatas. (Other than one incident where Dratini needed to go to the bathroom, Growlithe stepped on branches all the time, and Charmeleon nearly set the forest on fire on numerous occasions. And there was-ok, look, it wasn't actually that quiet).

/Biiiii!/

Exeggutor turned around suddenly, confused. Sammy whipped his head around, and saw what Exeggutor had seen. A section of forest seemed… odd. Like it had been cut out from another forest. The branches didn't meet up with the ones outside the roughly square area, and the sunlight seemed to be brighter. Sammy stared for a moment. Growlithe cowered against his leg. Sammy patted his head.

"If LegEnd is in this forest… they would have at least sent people in here. We have to check it out," said Sammy. He walked into the square.

Inside… it looked different. The trees were certainly as tall, but not as thickly spread, allowing a clear view of the heavens. The air was light, and had a crisp breeze. He looked back, but he could no longer see his friends. He gasped and panicked for a second before he saw Dratini's snout poke out of… thin air?

The rest of Dratini slithered through, and Sammy gasped a sigh of relief as he saw the rest of his Pokémon enter through where he had been.

The… thing… must only be visible from one side…. A portal? But why? How?thought Sammy wonderingly.

/Biiiii!/

Sammy jerked in surprise. He looked around, frantically searching, because something made him feel like there was a… presencein this forest, and he wasn't sure that it was benign. He returned his Pokémon to their balls (Even going so far as to capture Dratini, which he regretted doing because of the look on her face.)

He progressed through the forest, thoughts of LegEnd forgotten as he surveyed the scenery, though the feeling of being watched remained.

Eventually, he reached an enormous rock wall with a tunnel leading through it. Sammy walked faster, gripping his backpack tightly as he proceeded. Suddenly, he heard a woman's voice carried on the wind. "If you're going in, be careful!"

He looked up, surprised, and saw a pretty young woman with green hair running down the rock wall, darting from side to side. She was wearing white and purple flowing robes which billowed around her. As Sammy watched, she descended from the wall with a jump. She ran towards him with a smile. "Don't forget, if you hear the Voice of the Forest, don't move a muscle!" She said warmly.

Sammy's mind raced. What's she doing out here in the middle of the woods! No-one lives in Viridian Forest! He thought wildly, until a disturbing thought occurred to him. Unless… I'm not in Viridian anymore…

The woman seemed to take his lack of an answer as lack of knowledge. "Don't tell me you haven't heard about it!" She said laughingly.

"No, I haven't!" Sammy responded honestly. "What's the Voice of the Forest?" he asked. The woman looked over to the rock wall, wide eyed. Something in her eyes made Sammy feel as though she had been hoping he didn't know, so she would have an excuse to tell the story.

"Well, it's only a legend, but everyone around here believes it. They say there's a sound you can hear when the spirit that protects the forest is time-travelling." Sammy gaped at the thought.

Time travelling? That has all sorts of implications! If someone could control time itself… That must be what LegEnd is after!He thought. He set his jaw. I can't let them have it!

"Time travelling?" He asked, curious despite himself.

The woman nodded. "That's one of its special powers. It can go back and forth through the past and the future," She said.

"Wow…"exclaimed Sammy, still thinking of the possibilities.

The woman continued. "So if you hear a weird sound, stop, and don't make a noise! If the spirit catches you, it could carry you off to a different time!"

A weird sound… Could the Voice of the Forest be what I heard? Is it what took me here?He wondered. In a second, he recovered. "Don't worry, I'll be careful." Sammy reassured the woman. He began walking away from her, towards the tunnel. "Thanks! Bye!"

However, as soon as he had taken a few steps, the woman called out "Wait!" Sammy turned back around to face her. She rummaged around in the basket she had been carrying for a number of seconds, until finally pulling out a loaf of warm bread, complete with nuts and berries. "Take this! It's a loaf of bread I made. It's full of berries from the forest! It might come in handy if you get hungry," She said.

Sammy smiled at her, taking it. "Thanks miss! I appreciate it. Bye!" he said happily, turning away once more. He walked through the tunnel, and out the other side, to whatever it might bring.

Around half an hour later, Sammy was beginning to forget about LegEnd. He had sat down for a rest for a moment, and distracted himself with doodling on his sketchpad, making rudimentary sketches of the dancing Bellossom in the flowers in front of him.

/Biiiii!/

Sammy looked up once more, his pen accidentally slipping on the paper, making a long, dark line across his sketch. Is this the Voice of the Forest?He thought, confused.

"Bella, Bella!" cried the Bellosom, who looked around in fear before running away. There was a rustling in the bushes, and out came several wild Pokémon, who looked like they were fleeing for their lives. Sammy jumped up, reaching for Growlithe's Pokéball, as the seething mass of Pokémon rushed past. He was about to release his faithful canine partner before he saw an unfamiliar green Pokémon fly over the hedge after the others. It was around a foot tall, with small limbs. It had a rounded torso, and a head shaped like a plant bulb. Its eyes were blue, with large black rings around them. Fairy wings sprouted from its back, and antennae grew from its forehead.

Sammy barely had time to process this turn of events before the Pokémon flew towards his head, forcing him to dodge out of the way. It flew past him, not even looking back, the reason for which was clear when he saw a massive Houndoom spring over the hedge in hot pursuit, (Ha! Get it? He's a fire type!…Yeah, that was bad. Sorry.) followed by a Scyther.

Sammy scrambled up, grabbing his backpack from the ground, before sprinting after the procession of Pokémon. By the time he caught up, the Scyther was holding the unfamiliar Pokémon down with its blades, causing the smaller Pokémon to cry out in pain as they dug into its flesh. Houndoom was staring it right in the face, hackles raised as it menaced it. The small Pokémon cried out.

/Biii…Biii…/

Sammy realized with a start that that was the same sound that he had been hearing all day. Is this the spirit of the forest? It's in trouble! I have to help it!

Gripped by an insane fervor, Sammy called out to the intimidating Pokémon. "Let it go! Two against one isn't fair!" He called, causing Scyther and Houndoom to turn their heads towards him and growl. With a howl much like laughter, Houndoom spewed a gout of fire towards Sammy, which he only narrowly dodged. As he shielded his eyes, those of the unfamiliar Pokémon glowed with a harsh yellow light, causing thorny roots to erupt from the ground and wrap around Scyther's blades and Houndoom's paws. The large Pokémon panicked, flailing around in distress, trying to free themselves, and in their struggle, allowed the fairy-like Pokémon to escape, flying into the air towards Sammy. However, it was exhausted, only barely able to conjure up enough strength to land in the Trainer's arms. It squeezed its eyes shut, and wailed in distress.

/Bii…../

Suddenly, Sammy heard the revving of an engine behind him. He looked around and saw a grown man behind him on a motorcycle. He was wearing long, tan trousers and a leather jacket over a blue top. His hair was spiky and black, and one of his eyes was missing, replaced with a black, technological looking eyepatch.

"Alright, hand over that Celebi!" He called to Sammy. Instinctively, Sammy knew he was not to be trusted.

"Celebi…" Sammy said, deducing that that this was the name of the creature held in his arms. He suddenly gripped it tighter, standing up to face him.

"Why should I hand it over? What do you want with it?!" Sammy shouted protectively.

The man smirked. "I'm a Pokémon hunter, kid. I make good money off rare Pokémon. First I catch them, then I sell them to my client!" he said, reaching into his belt and pulling out a netlike contraption of red spheres.

He must be after it for LegEnd!Sammy deduced. He set his jaw.

"Well, you're not going to get your hands on this Pokémon!" He cried angrily.

The Pokémon Hunter gritted his teeth. "GIVE IT TO ME!" He shouted.

Sammy scrambled away. "Never!" he yelled, running away, Celebi in his arms. As he ran, Celebi struggled in his arms, and called out to the heavens.

/BIIIIIIII!/

Suddenly, it was like a wave passed over the world, leaving in its wake blue energy which washed over everything. Sammy collapsed to the ground under the force of it.

/BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!/Cried Celebi, mouth gaping, as the world began to spin. A vortex in the sky seemed to open up, and Celebi glowed green, blinding Sammy. An aura of white energy spread out from Celebi, encompassing Sammy in its power. He squeezed his eyes shut, and in a few moments, felt no more.

And that's a wrap for the first of this series of multipart chapters. What happened to Sammy? Where will he end up? Did he travel through time? All these answers… you already know if you watched the movie, but read anyway.

P.S.: Sorry about the wait. I promise, the next part won't take this long.

-LordMagikarp