Forever Fall was a unique location in Vale. It was a forest where the trees' leaves always had a red shade to them, as if they were changing to their Fall colors. The ground was completely covered by the fallen red leaves, making Forever Fall truly look like a location out of a fairy tale. Many nature-based Pokémon called Forever Fall their home, and Ruby was hoping to find a good one to add to her team. She was scrolling through her Pokédex to find out which Pokémon she wanted to focus on capturing.

"Looks like a majority of the Pokémon here are either Grass, Poison, or both," said Ruby.

"So which one are you thinking about training?" asked Jaune.

"Honestly, none of them really appeal to me, so I'll probably just capture them for my collection. On the bright side, my current team should have no problem getting stronger in an area like this. Ready for some intense training Eevee?"

"Eevee!" confirmed Eevee, ready to start fighting.

"I'll go gather berries to feed our Pokémon," said Jaune. "Meet you back here in a couple of hours."

Jaune went off to find berries while Ruby and Eevee went into the forest to find Pokémon to fight. As the three of them continued to walk around the forest, they looked up and were mesmerized by all the trees constantly staying the same color.

However, in another area of the forest was a man who hated the sight of the red leaves, as it reminded him of the trainer who was ruining everything he was trying to accomplish. After narrowly escaping the Underground Network, Torchwick was once again demoted to grunt work by having to go to Forever Fall by himself and capture Pokémon for her boss. He hated every second of having to be there.

"I swear the next time I see that little red trainer," growled Torchwick, "I'm going to wring out her neck! Nobody gets away with messing with Roman Torchwick!"

#

"Finish it with a Take Down!" commanded Ruby to Eevee. Eevee charged with all her might and knocked into the Spinarak, dealing the knockout blow. The attack also took a bit out of Eevee, who started to feel exhausted from all the training she was doing.

"Good job Eevee; time for a break." Ruby pulled out a Super Potion and sprayed it on Eevee, healing Eevee back to full health instantly. Ruby had been training her Pokémon for about an hour and a half, and so far everything was going smoothly. It felt somewhat weird to Ruby; after running into the White Fang several times, she almost expected them to come out and attack her by now, or have Jaune calling her for help.

"Too bad every day can't be like this, huh Eevee?"

"Eevee," chirped Eevee. She was just as glad to not have to worry about the White Fang or some trouble-causing Pokémon for now.

"I think we've got enough training in; let's get back to Jaune."

Ruby and Eevee walked down the path they came through, looking up at the trees filled with Pokémon they've been sparring against. As they were walking, Ruby noticed a Pokémon sitting by a pile of leaves. The Pokémon looked like a little yellow humanoid with black hair; the creature was sitting in front of the leaves and appeared to be crying.

"What's wrong with that Pokémon?" wondered Ruby. "You think something bad happened to it?"

Concerned for the crying Pokémon, Eevee ran up to it to find out what was wrong.

"Eevee?" asked Eevee.

"Mawile," said the sniffling Pokémon. As Eevee was asking Mawile why it was upset, Mawile pointed in the other direction. Eevee and Ruby turned around to see what Mawile was pointing at, but nothing appeared to be there. While they were distracted, the Mawile grimaced as it took out its giant mouth-like horns and was going to attack Eevee. Luckily, Ruby turned back to Mawile and realized it was a trap.

"Eevee, look out!" shouted Ruby. Eevee turned around to see a giant pair of jaws try to chomp her; Eevee jumped back just in time to avoid the attack. Mawile growled, angry that it failed to trick Eevee. Ruby took out her Pokédex to learn more about this deceptive Pokémon.

Mawile

Deceiver Pokémon

It uses its docile-looking face to lull foes into complacency, then bites with its huge, relentless jaws.

"Mawile is classified as a Steel and Fairy type Pokémon," said Penny.

"Steel and Fairy huh? That's a pretty powerful combination; one I can definitely use on my team! Let's go Eevee!"

"Eevee!" said Eevee. She was ready to teach this trickster a lesson. The Mawile stood up and turned its back to Eevee, getting into its fighting stance.

"Eevee, Sand Attack!" said Ruby. Eevee dug her paws through the leaves and kicked up the sand underneath to blind Mawile. Mawile ran towards Eevee and blocked the sand using its horns, then lifted its horns to nab Eevee in a Vice Grip. The Mawile's horns were so strong that Eevee couldn't wriggle out.

"Eevee, use you Swift to get free!" Eevee summoned the energy stars and used them to attack Mawile from inside the horns. Attacking from within put Mawile in severe pain, causing it to break free and back off from Eevee. As Eevee was getting ready to attack again, Mawile suddenly turned around and began crying again.

"Mawile!" said Mawile, sounding upset. Ruby scanned Mawile to find out what it was up to.

"Mawile is using Fake Tears," said Penny. "The attack deceives Pokémon into lowering their defenses, leaving them wide open for an attack."

"Nice try Mawile," said Ruby, "but we're not falling for that again! Eevee, Take Down attack!"

Eevee charged at Mawile with everything she had, knocking herself and Mawile into a nearby tree. The attack took a lot out of Mawile, giving Ruby the opportunity to capture it.

"Time to join the family Mawile!" said Ruby, reaching into her backpack and pulling out a Great Ball. She got closer to the Mawile and was about to throw when Mawile suddenly lifted its horns and sprayed a light pink gas at Eevee and Ruby. The gas smelled like someone was baking thousands of cakes at once; it would have been pleasant if it wasn't so overwhelming. Ruby started coughing as she inhaled a large amount of the gas Mawile sprayed and was having a hard time seeing; Eevee could barely see as well.

"You're not going to get away!" said Ruby, throwing the ball blindly. She tried waving her arms to get the gas to go away. By the time the gas went away, Ruby looked over to see the Great Ball laying still on the ground.

"Did I capture it?" asked Ruby. Eevee went up to the ball and poked it; based on how light it felt, the Mawile had definitely escaped being caught. "That's just great; I miss the Pokémon and now I smell too sweet. I hope this place has a river or something so I can wash this off." Ruby looked up Mawile on her Pokédex to find out what exactly she got sprayed with.

"Mawile used Sweet Scent," said Penny. "Sweet Scent is a technique that can be used to lure Pokémon into a battle."

"You don't say," said Ruby, looking around and noticing some low-level monsters coming out as if wanting to fight. Ruby grabbed her Pokémon and called them out to deal with the hordes quickly.

#

Jaune had arrived back to their meeting spot in time, but Ruby was running several minutes late. Jaune didn't think Ruby was in any serious trouble, as she's shown several times before to be able to handle things on her own; he figured she was getting more training in and lost track of the time.

"Jaune!" shouted Ruby from a distance, running out of the forest short of breath.

"You okay Ruby?" asked Jaune.

"Yeah," said Ruby between breaths. "Just sick of all the Pokémon relentlessly coming out to fight me. How'd the berry picking go?"

"The good news is that Steelix made getting the berries a lot easier," said Jaune, holding up a sack of berries. "The bad news is that Snorlax was feeling hungry and wound up eating most of them, so this is all that's left."

"Figures. We'll get more food when we reach the next town. Let's go."

As they were making their way out of Forever Fall, Jaune started to notice the sweet aroma emanating off Ruby.

"Ruby, you smell...different."

"Don't remind me. I got sprayed by some stupid Mawile. Hopefully we don't cross paths again."

Jaune took another deep breath to take in more of Ruby's scent. Whatever it was that Ruby was sprayed with, it was the most wonderful smell Jaune has ever sniffed. Breathing in this delicious smell caused Jaune to look at Ruby in an entirely different light. Looking at Ruby caused new feelings to dwell up inside him; his heart began to race, his head suddenly breaking out in a nervous sweat. He didn't know why he suddenly felt this way about Ruby, but he believed it to be truly genuine.

With the leaves covering up so much of the ground, Ruby didn't notice the small hole that was dug up and tripped over the hole.

"Ow!" said Ruby. "Stupid hole!"

Seeing his partner in danger, Jaune ran over to aid Ruby. "Are you okay Ruby?"

"I'm fine," said Ruby, brushing the leaves off her. "These leaves cover up so much-"

"Are you sure?" interrupted Jaune. "Can you walk?"

"Uh, yeah Jaune, I'm fine. Just watch out for any-"

"Get behind me! I'll look out for future holes!"

Jaune stood in front of Ruby and started to kick the leaves away as they were walking to avoid any more potential hazards. Ruby was baffled by Jaune's sudden change of behavior. Ruby was about to ask why Jaune was acting so strange when the duo was suddenly approached by a swarm of Oddish, no doubt because of the Sweet Scent.

"Oh great, more hordes," said Ruby. "Fletchinder should be able to-"

"Stand back Ruby!" said Jaune. "I'll deal with these Oddish!"

Jaune called out his Raticate and began fighting the Oddish as if their lives depended on it. Ruby stood mouth agape at Jaune acting so dramatically over nothing. After knocking out a few Oddish, the rest began to scamper away. Jaune called back his Raticate and kneeled before Ruby.

"You're safe now Ruby," said Jaune. It's official thought Ruby; Jaune was going overboard.

"Jaune, what are you doing?" asked Ruby.

"Why, I'm helping you of course! That's what a gentleman is supposed to do!"

"Okay, but there's acting like a gentleman, and then there's overreacting."

"Overreacting? I was trying to protect you!"

"From what? A bunch of little Pokémon I could have beaten in like ten seconds? I can handle my own fights Jaune!"

"But I needed to protect you because..."

Jaune suddenly turned away, too embarrassed to admit his true feelings to Ruby, but he knew that he had to share them here and now.

"Ruby, I...I'm head over heels for you!" proclaimed Jaune.

"Wha...what?" said Ruby, her face turning red after hearing Jaune's confession. "Jaune, when have you felt this way about me?"

"I don't why I suddenly have these feelings for you, but I take just one whiff of you and...well...I can't help myself!"

"A whiff of me? What are you talking about?"

"This is embarrassing, but Ruby, you...you just smell so sweet!"

Ruby felt a chill run through her spine. Her problems with the Sweet Scent was worse than she realized.

"That Sweet Scent gas the Mawile sprayed on me is causing all this! It was bad enough it caused more Pokémon to attack me, but now it's gotten Jaune to fall in love with me!"

"Jaune, listen to me," said Ruby. "You're not in love with me! You're just being fooled by the Sweet Scent!"

"No Ruby," said Jaune. "This isn't some kind of trick. I...I love you!"

Jaune looked into Ruby's eyes with a puppy-dog look, holding his arms out for a hug. Ruby slowly started to step back from her love struck friend. "Snap out of it Jaune! We're not a couple! This isn't real romance!"

Ruby's words went in one ear and out the other. Jaune had breathed in so much of the Sweet Scent that nothing was stopping him in believing he and Ruby were meant to be. Ruby needed to get away and figure out how she was going to wash off this troublesome smell.

"Eevee, Sand Attack!" yelled Ruby. Eevee kicked up sand and blinded Jaune, giving Ruby time to run away as fast as she could. Even in a place full of leaves like Forever Fall, Ruby was still able to run super fast.

"This is all Mawile's fault! Maybe if I capture it, I can find a way to get it to reverse this stupid Sweet Scent!"

Ruby was so distracted by the thought of getting her revenge, she didn't watch where she was running and bumped into someone in the forest, causing them both to fall to the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" yelled the man she bumped into.

"I'm sorry!" said Ruby. She really had a bad habit of bumping into people at the speeds she ran. She got up and was going to help the man when she noticed who it was she bumped into: Her arch-nemesis in the White Fang.

"Little red!" said Torchwick, getting back on his feet. "It figures we'd meet again like this!"

"Torchwick!" said Ruby, backing away. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get my...revenge..."

Torchwick felt his heart starting to skip beats upon laying his eyes on Ruby. There was something different to her this time. For some reason, Torchwick felt his anger for Ruby rapidly disappear. No longer did Torchwick see the little girl in red as his arch-nemesis, but rather as this beautiful maiden who deserved to be pampered and protected.

"If you think you'll capture my Pokémon, think again!" said Ruby.

"Capture your Pokémon?" said Torchwick. "Why would I ever do that to such a beautiful young lady like yourself?"

"What? Did you just call me a...beautiful young lady?"

"I'm sorry! Beautiful is not enough to describe such a lovely woman as yourself!"

Torchwick suddenly grabbed Ruby's hands and looked into her eyes with the utmost sincerity. Ruby was getting creeped out by where this was going.

"Especially a woman who smells so...sweet!"

"Oh no!" thought Ruby. "The Sweet Scent got to him too!"

"Back off!" yelled Jaune, who despite not being in shape, was somehow able to catch up with Ruby. "You're not good enough for her, you wretched swine!"

"You're the one who is not good enough, you scrawny knave!" replied Torchwick.

"Ruby, he's not the one meant for you! Come with me!"

"Little red, you know he's not good enough for you! Come to me!"

"I don't want EITHER of you!" yelled Ruby, but it was to no avail. The Sweet Scent had gotten a hold of Jaune and Torchwick, and the both of them were dying to show their affection.

#

Blake had been trying to track the movements of Roman Torchwick, and believed he was somewhere in Forever Fall. As she continued her search for Torchwick, she heard a scream nearby.

"Sounds like someone's in trouble," said Blake. "Torchwick has to be behind this!"

Blake quickly ran on top of the trees to where she heard the scream. Landing back on the ground, she could see Torchwick from a distance grabbing onto someone; he must be trying to rob the person or worse. Blake didn't waste any time grabbing a Poké Ball and jumping in.

"Hold it right there...Torchwick?"

Blake had expected to see Torchwick attacking an innocent bystander, but instead was witnessing Torchwick hugging one. Torchwick and Jaune had Ruby grasped tightly between them. Ruby looked mortified at these two men coddling her in their arms; Eevee was keeping her distance, wanting nothing to do with this.

"Ruby? Why are-"

"Stay away Blake," said Ruby. "I don't want you to start hugging me as well."

As Blake got closer to Ruby, she could smell something powerful coming off Ruby; Blake pinched her nose to block out the smell.

"You smell sickeningly sweet," said Blake. "What happened?"

"I was trying to capture a Mawile when it sprayed a heavy dose of Sweet Scent at me. Now I've got these two acting like lovebirds!"

"All right you two, break it up!" said Blake, forcing Jaune and Torchwick to separate from Ruby.

"Are you here to break up our love?" asked Jaune.

"Break up you and little red!" replied Torchwick.

"Ruby and I are going to have a chat about this situation," said Blake. "It's best Ruby consults a third party to determine who her heart belongs to."

"Of course," said Jaune. "That way we'll know she's meant for me!"

"Or rather meant for me!" replied Torchwick.

Blake grabbed Ruby and quickly got away while Jaune and Torchwick continued to argue with each other.

"How can I get rid of the Sweet Scent?" asked Ruby.

"The only way to get rid of a scent that strong is to use another scent that's the complete opposite of sweet," explained Blake.

"You mean I have to get sprayed with something disgusting?"

"Afraid so."

"Forget it! I'll just wait until we arrive at the city and shower myself for days."

"You sure you can wait that long?" asked Blake, pointing to Jaune and Torchwick making lovey-dovey faces from a distance.

"As I was saying, where can we find this disgusting cure?"

"We need to find a Pokémon called Gloom."

Ruby pulled out her Pokédex to look up Gloom. "Gloom is a Grass and Poison Pokémon that is known to emit horrible smells from its drool," explained Penny. "Glooms can usually be found in forests such as Forever Fall."

"All right then," said Ruby, "let's go find ourselves a Gloom!"

Jaune and Torchwick suddenly appeared beside Ruby, each of them getting down on one knee and holding out their right arm.

"Allow me to be your groom little red!" declared Torchwick.

"If anyone should be your groom, it should be me!" declared Jaune.

"I said GLOOM!" shouted Ruby. She couldn't wait to find this Pokémon and end this ridiculous love triangle.

#

Ruby and Blake went into the forest to find Gloom, with Jaune and Torchwick following behind. As they were traveling, Jaune was trying to come up with a love song to sing to Ruby.

"Ruby my love, I wrote a song for you!" said Jaune. "Would you like to hear it?"

"As if I have a choice," muttered Ruby. Jaune cleared his throat and began to sing, sounding nasally and terribly off-key.

"Ruby, your cape is as red as roses! Like your name, you smell like...roses!"

"That was terrible!" said Torchwick. "Watch how a true pro works!" Torchwick cleared his throat and sang in a low baritone voice.

"Little red, when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's-"

"Are you comparing Ruby to pizza?" interrupted Jaune. "That's not romantic at all!"

"What would you know about romance, you spoony bard?"

"Enough!" said Blake, getting sick of their cheesy attempts at romance. "If either one of you want to win Ruby's heart, I suggest you either find a Gloom or keep quiet!"

Seeing Blake get mad scared Jaune and Torchwick into keeping quiet. Ruby was starting to wish Blake was her traveling partner instead. Meanwhile, Eevee was sniffing around the area searching for a Gloom. A few yards from their right, she began to smell a faint noxious odor. She jumped up on Ruby's leg to let her know she found something.

"Find something Eevee?" asked Ruby.

"Eevee!" confirmed Eevee, leading them through the bushes. Ruby and Blake went through the bushes and found a field full of plant Pokémon. Amongst the plants was a Gloom, standing around and drooling from its mouth.

"That drool is the source of Gloom's stench," said Blake. "The more danger or frightened the Gloom is, the more powerful the stench becomes. If we battle it and then capture it, it should give us plenty of time to harvest the drool at its worst."

"No problem," said Ruby. "I'll focus on the Gloom while-"

"Don't worry Ruby!" said Jaune, suddenly jumping out of the bush. "I'll capture that Gloom for you!"

"Jaune, I don't need-"

"Nay!" interrupted Torchwick. "I will capture that Gloom for Ruby!"

"But I was going to-"

Jaune and Torchwick ignored Ruby, heading into the field and calling out their Pokémon to attack Gloom. The rest of the Pokémon began to scatter away as Gloom turned to face the two hopeless romantics.

"Raticate, Super Fang attack!" said Jaune.

"Krookodile, Crunch attack!" said Torchwick.

Raticate and Krookodile lunged at Gloom at the same time. The Gloom jumped back as the Raticate and Krookodile wound up biting into each other's mouths. Raticate and Krookodile quickly let go as they and their trainers began arguing with each other.

"You fool!" shouted Torchwick. "You got in the way of my attack!"

"No, YOU got in the way of MY attack!" replied Jaune.

Ruby buried her face in her hands. "Why does being in love suddenly turn them into idiots?" she asked.

"I said I was going to fight Gloom first!" said Jaune. "So it's my right to fight it, not you!"

"Fine!" said Torchwick. "I'll just fight it once you get your scrawny butt kicked!"

Torchwick and Krookodile backed away from the battle, leaving Jaune and Raticate to fight alone.

"All right Raticate, Bite attack!" commanded Jaune. Raticate jumped up and bit down on one of the bulbous petals on top of Gloom. The bite caused Gloom to spray Acid from the top of its head. The Acid got into Raticate's eyes and caused him to let go and roll around the ground in pain. Gloom then bent down and sprayed Sleep Powder on Raticate; Raticate stopped rolling and fell asleep right away.

"Wake up Raticate!" yelled Jaune, but Raticate was sleeping too deeply to do so.

"Watch a true suitor in action!" said Torchwick. "Krookodile, Iron Tail attack!"

Krookodile powered up its tail and swung at Gloom, knocking it back several feet. Torchwick cheered as if he already won.

"Did you see that little red? I hit that Gloom just for you!" While Torchwick was too busy waving at Ruby, Gloom got up and sprayed Stun Spore at Krookodile. The Krookodile was paralyzed from the powder, giving Gloom the opening needed to use Mega Drain. The attack drained nearly all of Krookodile's health and transferred it to Gloom, allowing Gloom to fully recover. With both Pokémon temporarily stopped by status ailments, Gloom ran away from the field.

"All right Krookodile, now we'll...huh? What happened to Gloom?"

"You let it get away!" said Jaune. "If you truly loved Ruby, you wouldn't have let it escape so easily!"

"At least I was able to land an attack! What good are you to little red if you can't protect her?"

"We're never going to catch a Gloom if these two keep trying to interfere," said Blake. "We need to keep them busy somehow."

As Blake was coming up with an idea to keep them busy, Ruby suddenly held her stomach and fell to her knees, moaning like she was in serious pain.

"Oooow!" wailed Ruby. Hearing Ruby's cries, Jaune and Torchwick quickly ran over to help.

"Ruby, what's wrong?" asked Jaune.

"My stomach is in terrible pain!" cried Ruby. "I'm also suffering from headaches, drowsiness, and...uh...dry mouth! Guys, I think I have the Pokérus virus!"

Jaune and Torchwick were aghast at Ruby's sudden illness. Blake just looked on in confusion as to how Ruby was suddenly suffering.

"But Ruby, the Pokérus virus doesn't..." Blake suddenly realized what Ruby was actually up to. "I mean, not the Pokérus virus! Are you sure Ruby?"

"I'm sure!" moaned Ruby, throwing in a few wheezing coughs for emphasis.

"What do we do, what do we do?" asked Jaune.

"Calm down!" said Blake. "In order to cure Pokérus, we need to harvest the sap of the Forever Tree!"

"Not a problem!" said Torchwick. "We just need sap! Easy peasy!"

"But we don't know where the Forever Tree is!" said Jaune.

"Oh no, you're right! We have no idea where the Forever Tree is!"

"I know where the Forever Tree is," said Blake. "It's the biggest tree in this forest, located about a mile north from here! You need to hurry!"

"Don't worry Ruby!" said Jaune. "I swear on my honor I will save you!"

"I swear on my honor and my own soul I will save you!" said Torchwick.

Jaune and Torchwick ran up north like Ruby's life depended on it. As soon as they were out of sight, Ruby got back to her feet.

"That should keep them busy long enough," said Ruby. "Let's go find that Gloom."

#

Jaune and Torchwick had run approximately a mile into the forest and were searching for the so-called Forever Tree. They kept looking up to determine which of the trees was the tallest.

"I say this tree is the tallest!" said Jaune, pointing to the tree he was standing next to.

"Are you blind?" replied Torchwick. "That tree is clearly not the tallest! The tree next to me is much bigger!"

"Only one way to find out!"

Jaune jumped and started climbing his tree, causing Torchwick to do the same. The two of them reached the top of their trees and realized they were about the same height.

"Neither of them are the Forever Tree," said Torchwick. "Good job wasting our precious time!"

"You're the one wasting time!" said Jaune. "We would have gotten here faster if you hadn't drop your stupid hat!"

"But you were the one who took a detour because you didn't know which way was north! Little red can never love someone with no sense of direction!"

"And she can never love someone who looks as ridiculous as you!"

"All right, there's truly only one way to settle this! We must have a gentleman's battle!"

Both of them jumped back to the ground and grabbed a Poké Ball.

"We will call out our best Pokémon and fight to the very end!" declared Torchwick. "Whomever's Pokémon remains standing will be the one to win little red's heart!"

"I accept!" said Jaune. "May the best man, which is obviously me, win!"

Just as the two were going to have the battle for Ruby's love, a familiar deceptive Pokémon suddenly walked by and started crying.

"Mawile!" cried Mawile, sitting down and pretending to be upset. Jaune and Torchwick stopped what they were doing and turned to the Mawile. Seeing the depressed Pokémon caused them to go up to Mawile and find out what was wrong.

"Are you okay Mawile?" asked Jaune. "Don't worry, Jaune Arc is here to help!"

"Ignore him Mawile," said Torchwick. "Roman Torchwick will help you with anything you need!"

"Help it do what? Get kidnapped by you?"

"As opposed to what, get lost in the forest?"

"I saw this Pokémon first, I'm going to help it!"

"I saw it first, you scrawny blonde!"

"Ugly ginger!"

"Scaredy cat!"

"Evil jerk!"

The two went back and forth calling each other names to the point where they completely ignored Mawile. Mawile stopped crying when it realized the two weren't paying attention.

"Mawile!" shouted Mawile, trying to grab their attention.

"Old man!" yelled Jaune.

"Crybaby!" yelled Torchwick.

"Mawile! Mawile!"

The two were more interested in arguing with each other than helping Mawile. Mawile started to get annoyed at constantly being ignored.

"MAWILE!" screamed Mawile.

"Will you be quiet?" responded Torchwick.

"Yeah, we're trying to determine who gets to help you!"

Its deception plan backfiring, Mawile lifted its horns and sprayed both of them with a strong amount of Sweet Scent. Jaune and Torchwick were coughing from the overdose of the gas as the Mawile ran off.

"I hope you're happy!" said Jaune. "You made that Mawile upset!"

"You made it more upset than I did!" said Torchwick.

Once the gas had evaporated, Jaune and Torchwick turned to each other and were ready to start throwing blows of their own. As soon as they made eye contact however, they both felt their hearts sink into their stomach. Looking into the eyes of their foe caused the two of them to become wrought with guilt over everything they argued about.

"What have I done?" said Jaune. "Torchwick, I'm sorry I-"

"No," said Torchwick. "I should be saying sorry. It's all my fault we've let down little red."

"You know Torchwick, I have to be honest; I think you deserve Ruby more than me. You're clearly better looking and tougher than I'll ever be!"

"You're wrong Jaune! You have a heart of gold and the bravery to match! You're the one that truly belongs to little red!"

"Liar! Nobody deserves a scrawny wimp like myself!"

"Like a criminal such as I would be any better?"

The both of them began forming tears in their eyes, then suddenly got together and hugged.

#

Ruby and Blake were going all out in finding Gloom. Ruby had Fletchinder fly in the air looking for a Gloom while Eevee continued sniffing on the ground. Blake and Greninja were jumping from tree to tree, scouting any nearby area.

"Find anything yet Blake?" asked Ruby.

"Not yet," said Blake.

"Hey Blake, hypothetically, if we can't find this Gloom, how long does it take for the smell to go away naturally?"

"With the amount Mawile sprayed on you, I'd say at least a week."

"Great," said Ruby sarcastically. "I wonder if Weiss ever has to put up with this?"

Just then, Fletchinder started chirping and flapping its wings rapidly.

"I hope that means you found one Fletchy!" exclaimed Ruby. Ruby and Blake ran over to where Fletchinder was flying above, and sure enough, they had found the Gloom. "Finally! Okay Fletchinder, do your thing!"

Fletchinder shot an Ember at Gloom; the Ember made severe burns to one of Gloom's petals. Gloom aimed at Fletchinder and fired Stun Spore; Fletchinder dodged the spray and dove at Gloom with a Quick Attack. Gloom tried to fire Sleep Powder at Fletchinder but was too slow to nail Fletchinder in time as it went back in the air. Gloom was starting to get anxious from the damage it was taking; this anxiety caused Gloom to start drooling heavily from its mouth. Ruby and Blake can smell the stench from far away.

"That smells really bad!" said Ruby, clenching her nose. "Tell me that'll be enough!"

"A couple more hits should do the trick," said Blake.

"Okay Fletchinder, use your Acrobatics!"

Fletchinder dove straight down and pecked at Gloom several times; Gloom couldn't counter due to Fletchinder's amazing speed. The more damage Fletchinder caused, the worse the smell of the drool got. After the attack, Gloom was nearly knocked out, causing the drool to smell its worst.

"Capture it now Ruby!" said Blake.

"I'm trying!" said Ruby. Ruby was trying to take off her backpack with one arm, as she used her other arm to cover her mouth and nose. She didn't even want the slightest whiff of Gloom's drool. Blake jumped down and helped Ruby take off her backpack, then went in her bag and pulled out a Great Ball for her.

"Thanks Blake," said a muffled Ruby. Ruby threw the ball at Gloom and captured it with no problem.

"All right, do you have an empty bottle of any kind?" asked Blake. Ruby reached into her bag and pulled out an empty spray bottle. "Perfect; release the Gloom and I'll harvest the drool for you."

Ruby released her Gloom and immediately backed away; not even the Sweet Scent infested in Ruby's clothes can mask that drool. Even Eevee jumped into Ruby's bag to avoid the smell. Blake on the other hand had no problem dealing with Gloom's stench; she collected the drool into the bottle and mixed it around to thin out the liquid.

"All done," said Blake.

"Thank Arceus!" said Ruby, calling back her Gloom and exhaling a deep breath. "So now what?"

"Spray this a couple times on your neck and on your clothes. The stench will mask the effects of the Sweet Scent long enough to stop Jaune and Torchwick from fawning over you."

Ruby took a deep breath and sprayed the Gloom drool on herself. She can smell the Sweet Scent slowly start to fade away and get replaced by a tolerable stink of the Gloom drool.

"The first thing I'm going to do when I get out of here is take a nice, long shower," said Ruby.

"I'll spray some on myself just in case," said Blake. Blake sprayed herself several times on her neck, then sprayed her arms and legs. Ruby was surprised to see Blake spray so much of the drool on herself.

"Don't you think that's too much Blake?" said Ruby, covering her nose. "You're starting to smell worse than Gloom!"

"Actually, I don't mind the smell of Gloom drool. That Sweet Scent on the other hand almost makes me want to throw up."

"THAT makes you want to throw up? You have weird tastes, Blake."

#

Meanwhile, Jaune and Torchwick were sitting side by side, crying as they let out their true feelings.

"Sometimes I don't think the boss appreciates anything I do!" said Torchwick. "I work so hard and do everything I'm told, but do I ever get any recognition for it? No! I just keep getting yelled at!"

"Everybody thinks I'm a loser!" said Jaune. "Just because I'm not a good trainer or too scared to go into caves. I'm not allowed to be scared of going into caves? Nobody respects me!"

"Nobody respects me either!"

Jaune put a hand on Torchwick's shoulder. "I respect you Torchwick! It's not easy being a criminal mastermind!"

Torchwick smiled and put a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "I respect you too, Jaune. A lot of people are scared of caves!"

"You're a true friend Torchwick!" said Jaune, turning around and hugging Torchwick.

"So are you Jaune!" said Torchwick, hugging Jaune back.

Ruby and Blake arrived to witness the hug fest going on between Jaune and Torchwick. Blake was weirded out by how emotional they were to each other while Ruby couldn't stop laughing.

"Hurry up and spray them already," said Blake.

"Do I have to?" said Ruby. "I want to see where this goes!"

"Ruby!"

"Oh fine!" pouted Ruby. She sprayed the bottle of Gloom's stench at Jaune and Torchwick. The smell of the foul odor quickly reversed the effects of the Sweet Scent. The moment they no longer smelled the Sweet Scent, Jaune and Torchwick realized what they were doing and quickly backed away from each other.

"What were you doing hugging me?" yelled Jaune.

"You were hugging me!" yelled Torchwick.

"Who in their right mind would ever hug you?"

"A lot more than you, scrawny blonde!"

"If you two are done arguing," said Ruby, "I'd like to get out of this forest now."

"I'll be on my way once I nab your Pokémon!" exclaimed Torchwick.

"Ahem," coughed Blake. That's when Torchwick realized now was not the best time to get revenge on little red.

"On second thought, how'd you like to see a magic trick?"

"Magic trick?" asked Ruby.

"Observe!" said Torchwick, pulling out a Dust crystal from his pocket. "If I shoot this Dust crystal with my cane, this happens!"

Torchwick threw the crystal up and shot it, causing a bright explosion that blinded the other trainers. Torchwick quickly turned the other way and made his escape. Blake quickly gave chase without saying goodbye; Ruby and Jaune took it as their cue to start heading out of Forever Fall.

"Well that cares of that," said Ruby.

"That stuff you sprayed is nasty, Ruby," said Jaune. "What is that?"

"Gloom drool; it was the only thing disgusting enough to get you to stop acting so lovey-dovey."

"Can I see that bottle for a moment?"

Ruby handed the bottle to Jaune; Jaune twisted off the cap and smelled the drool directly. One whiff and he quickly regretted wanting to do so.

"WHOA!" said Jaune, almost going into a coughing fit. "That stuff is the worst!"

"I know!" said Ruby, back to holding her nose. "Can you put the cap back on now?"

"Oh right; sorry."

Unbeknownst to Jaune and Ruby, the Mawile they had encountered was following them. Rather than attempt the crying act, the Mawile was just going to leap out and attack them head on. The moment Jaune and Ruby stopped in their tracks, the Mawile jumped out of the bush with its horns wide open to attack.

"Mawile!" yelled Mawile as it went in for the attack.

"Aaah!" yelled Jaune, taken by surprise from the Mawile. The sudden attack scared Jaune into accidentally dropping the bottle; whether by instinct or sheer luck, the contents just happen to have spilled on the horns of Mawile. Mawile not only could smell the horrid stench it was infected with, it could feel the saliva oozing all over.

"Mawile!" screamed Mawile, freaking out over being covered by the Gloom drool.

"Oh man!" said Jaune, covering his mouth with both hands. "Not even Mawile deserves that!"

"Say," said Ruby, also covering her mouth. "With that Mawile distracted... quick Eevee, use your Take Down attack!"

Eevee took a deep breath and used Take Down on Mawile, knocking Mawile to the ground. Ruby then took a deep breath and quickly went into her bag to pull out another Great Ball and throw it at Mawile. Mawile was too busy having a meltdown to notice the oncoming ball, and soon found itself inside with little chance of escape. After a few seconds, the ball signaled an official capture for Ruby.

"Good job Eevee!" said Ruby. "We just got ourselves a Mawile!"

"Eevee!" cheered Eevee. Ruby went over to where the ball laid and picked it up. She held the ball close to her nose and took a long sniff.

"What are you doing Ruby?" asked Jaune.

"Oh nothing," said Ruby. "Sometimes I just enjoy that new Pokémon smell."