I hope everyone enjoyed my April Fools' chapter on Friday! :P As promised, here's the real Chapter 12.

Upload Date: 3rd April 2016


Chapter 12: Intruder in Berry Forest

Bond Bridge, Sevii Islands

6:34pm, 15th July 2005

"Well, here we are!" James said as he and Richard arrived at the entrance to Berry Forest.

"It looks much more menacing in the evening," Richard replied, frowning as he looked up at the golden brown and red leaved trees looming over them.

"I know what you mean." James nodded.

The sky had started darkening as the sun began to set, though the sun itself was concealed behind the thick grey clouds covering the sky. Regardless of how much sunlight they had now, they'd soon be wandering around in the dark.

"How about we make camp here tonight and then set off into the forest tomorrow?" Richard suggested.

"Sounds good to me," James agreed.

They began pitching the tent. It was more difficult for them to do when it was just two of them, though Livvi tended not to help with much of the manual work when she was around anyway. It had started to get noticeably darker by the time they'd finally managed to get it up.

"How far did we manage to get into the forest the last time we were here?" Richard asked as they sat down to eat dinner.

"It felt like a long way," James replied. He paused to think for a second. "But I get the feeling that it's even bigger than it first appears."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Richard sighed. He lent back and looked at the sky. "I hope we get some better weather tomorrow."

"Same." James nodded. "It's supposed to be summer! I want more sunshine!"

"It's been a little bit colder as well," said Richard. "It was the same yesterday."

"Hmmm," James responded. He let out a short laugh. "Not that it really matters what the weather's like though – we'll be in the forest the whole time anyway!"

"Being in the forest would make it even worse if it rains," Richard replied, a frown crossing his face. "The water will drop off the leaves and we'll get soaked! Not to mention that the paths are quite rocky, and all the rocks will get slippery if they're wet!"

"Alright, I get it!" James laughed. "You're starting to sound a little like Livvi!"

"I am?!" Richard seemed genuinely startled by the suggestion. "I'll try being a little more reckless from now on."

"I don't think being like Livvi is necessarily a bad thing!" James added quickly. "Just as long as you're not too uptight."

"It's a good thing Livvi isn't here now," Richard sighed. "She'd probably have hit both of us for this."

"That's why we have to take advantage of the fact that she's not here!" James grinned. "Anyway, remind me again: what kind of pokémon are we looking for exactly?"

"I don't know exactly," Richard replied. He put a spoonful of stew in his mouth and started swallowing it. James waited patiently for him to finish. "A tough one, I suppose."

"That's a pretty broad category," said James. "Sophia is an ice type gym leader, so you want a type that's going to be effective against that."

"Fire and fighting types are super effective against ice types, aren't they?" Richard asked.

James nodded.

"That's right," he said.

"Do you think we'd even be able to find any fire or fighting types in there?" Richard asked.

"Good point." James frowned. Forests tended to be inhabited by bug-, grass-, and sometimes flying-type pokémon. It wasn't the place to look for fire or fighting types.

"In any case, it'll have to be a fighting type," Richard continued. "I've already got Flare as my resident fire type."

"Don't take this the wrong way, Richard, but I'm starting to think that training in Icefall Cave will have more of an impact on your chances of winning the rematch against Sophia than catching a new pokémon here."

Richard pondered James' statement for a couple of seconds.

"Well…" he began. He paused for another second to think again. "Catching another pokémon here won't harm my chances, will it?" he concluded weakly.

Maybe he just wants to have a full team, James thought. He let out a sigh.

"Either way, we should probably get some sleep ready for tomorrow – it's going to be a tough day."

"Yeah, you're right." Richard nodded.


Berry Forest, Sevii Islands

10:54am, 16th July 2005

Strong sunlight burst through the gaps in the canopy of Berry Forest as James and Richard walked along one of the paths. The temperature had sharply increased since yesterday, so it was a relief that they were spending the day walking in the shade of the trees. At the same time, there was muggy atmosphere hanging over them and sweat was already starting to form on their foreheads.

"It wouldn't surprise me if all the wild pokémon were sheltering from the sun today," said James as they continued walking.

"I hope not," Richard replied. "Otherwise this whole trip would be pointless."

"I was only joking!" James grinned. He paused for a second as he looked ahead down the path. "Look! Here are some now!"

"Where?" Richard asked, catching up with him and following his gaze.

"There!" James pointed at a group of oddish and bellsprout approaching them.

"Don't they seem to be in a hurry?" Richard asked.

"Now that you mention it…" James began. There was a cloud of dust being kicked up as the pokémon ran. And now that they were closer, James and Richard noticed that there were other pokémon besides oddish and bellsprout: gloom, weepinbell, pidgeotto, venonat and drowzee were all running as well.

"Let's get out of the way before we're trampled!" Richard called to James.

"Got it!" James nodded.

The two of the quickly moved off the path and into a cluster of rocks held in place by tree roots. The startled pokémon rushed past them and continued on down the path, crying out in fright and alarm as they did.

As the dust cloud cleared, James and Richard came back out and stood on the path.

"I wonder what got them in such as state," Richard said thoughtfully.

"Running from something?" James suggested. "Maybe a particularly strong pokémon decided that it wanted to expand its territory?"

"That's possible," Richard replied. "But it could also be some kind of mass-migration."

"Mass-migration?"

"Occasionally, groups of pokémon will all up and move on to somewhere new at once. That might be what's going on here."

"Does it happen all of a sudden?" James asked. "Because I didn't see any wild pokémon rushing around like this when we were here before."

"Don't know," Richard replied. He paused for a second to think. "We might as well investigate this while we're here," he said. "If it turns out that they are running from something in particular, then we can help them out by getting rid of the problem."

"You're just hoping that the 'problem' will be a powerful pokémon, aren't you?" James grinned.

"You got me!" Richard laughed.

"It sounds like a good idea though," James continued. "Let's start by following the path back and seeing what we find."

"Got it! Let's go!" Richard nodded.


12:16pm, 16th July 2005

Over an hour passed. James and Richard continued to scour the forest for any sign of what could have caused the wild pokémon to be on the move. Their search took them deeper into the forest, where the sunlight was further blocked out by a thicker canopy. Despite the greater relief from the sun, it wasn't any cooler. In fact, it almost felt as though it had gotten hotter.

"I'm almost out of ideas," James gasped, wiping sweat from his forehead. "I say that we just go with your idea that they all decided to migrate somewhere."

"Yeah, I'm with you!" Richard replied, sweat dripping down his forehead as well. "We've wasted enough time on this – I still need to catch a new pokémon!"

"Let's go a little bit further into the forest until we find a wild pokémon then," said James. "Then we'll turn back and head to Atla Town."

Richard nodded.

"Sounds good."

They continued walking across the uneven terrain, carefully watching for any protruding tree roots or large rocks. As they passed through a clump of thick ferns, they were suddenly hit by a heatwave that temporarily caused them to stop in their tracks.

"Did you feel that?" James cried.

"Yeah!" Richard nodded. "It felt like that came from somewhere in the forest."

"You don't think it could be a forest fire, do you?" James asked, suddenly worried.

"I don't know," Richard replied. He paused for a second. "Let's keep going and find out."

"Are you an idiot?!" James exclaimed. "If there is a forest fire, then we won't be able to escape in time!"

"We've both got a water type pokémon each," Richard replied. "And Flare would be able to get us out of here in no time if needs be!"

"Flare can only carry one person at a time," James replied darkly.

At that moment, they both heard the distant cry of a pokémon. It was immediately followed by a roar.

James and Richard both looked at each other.

"Do you think a pokémon could have caused this?" they both asked at the same time.

"Let's go and check it out," said Richard. "We'll turn back if it's anything too dangerous."

"Alright," James sighed.


12:36pm, 16th July 2005

What James and Richard found as they ventured towards the sound they'd heard wasn't quite what they'd expected. The periodical heatwaves became more intense as they got closer until they found themselves on the edge of a clearing – at least that's what they thought it was as they approached it.

Instead, they found themselves on the edge of a scorched and desolate patch of land. The charred skeletons of trees, stripped of their bark and leaves, indicated that this had once been as full of life as the rest of the forest. Smoke rose from the burnt ground and a couple of small fires continued to burn in places. At the centre of it all stood a pokémon - a magmar.

"What's a magmar doing here in the forest?" James wondered aloud. "Don't they normally live in the mountains?"

"I don't know," Richard replied. He gritted his teeth. "But it looks like we've found the reason why all those pokémon were on the run."

The magmar suddenly started advancing across the clearing away from them. James watched it go, trying to see what had caught its attention.

"There are some pokémon there!" he suddenly exclaimed.

"Where?" Richard asked, looking frantically around the edges of the wasteland.

"There!" James pointed. "A group of oddish and bellsprout!"

The magmar was walking slowly towards them, exhaling the occasional flame as he did.

"Do you think it came here from the mountains to extend its territory?" Richard asked.

"That would make sense," James replied. "It also explains why it's trying to drive out the other wild pokémon."

"We can't sit back and do nothing!" Richard pulled out a poké ball. "We need to protect them and drive off that magmar!"

"Agreed!" James nodded, reaching for one of his own poké balls.

As they started moving out across the wasteland, however, they noticed that another pokémon had appeared and jumped in front of the oddish and bellsprout to protect them.

"Are those… eggs?!" James asked in surprise. A group of six eggs, each of which had a determined face, stood opposite the magmar.

"I've never seen anything like that before," said Richard. He pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it at the eggs.

"Exeggcute, the egg pokémon. This pokémon consists of six eggs that form a closely knit cluster. The six eggs attract each other and spin around. Despite its egg-like appearance, it is actually a life form more like plant seeds."

"Plant seeds?!" Richard cried in surprise.

"That's bad," James said, a frown appearing on his face. "That means it's a grass type."

The magmar, angered by the exeggcute, fired a blast of flames that split out into five points as it approached the cluster of egg-like pokémon.

The exeggcute dodged to the side, with the cluster splitting up temporarily to avoid the attack. The oddish and bellsprout quickly fled into the safety of the trees while the magmar was distracted.

The magmar cried out in anger as the exeggcute fired a cluster of seeds at him, which latched on and sprouted, draining his strength.

"That was Leech Seed, wasn't it?" James asked.

"It looked like it," Richard replied.

The magmar cloaked his fist with flames and launched himself towards the exeggcute as the cluster reformed. The eyes of the six eggs suddenly started glowing a pale blue colour. The magmar was lifted into the air and throw back, crashing through a charred tree trunk and causing it to collapse.

"Shouldn't we be helping it?" James asked.

"Wait a minute!" Richard replied. "That exeggcute actually looks pretty tough. I want to see if it can beat the magmar!"

The magmar roared as he leapt up from the crumbling remains of the tree and turned to face the exeggcute.

The exeggcute fired a cloud of deep green spores towards the magmar.

"That's Sleep Powder!" Richard grinned. "If that hits…"

The magmar fired out another Fire Blast, immediately incinerating the spores. No sooner had the flames disappeared, he threw himself forwards again. The exeggcute cried in pain as he was hit by a Fire Punch and sent flying back.

The magmar shot out a cloud of smog to follow up his attack. The exeggcute cried out as he was engulfed by the cloud.

"Is it going to be alright?" James cried.

"Look! It's getting back up again!" Richard grinned.

Sure enough, the eggs pulled themselves together again and used Confusion on the magmar, sending him flying back again. He pulled himself back up and threw himself towards the exeggcute again, his fist cloaked in flames.

The exeggcute cried out as he was hit and blasted back in the trunk of a nearby tree. The magmar stepped up and took a deep breath to use Fire Blast as the exeggcute struggled to recover.

"We've got to do something!" James called to Richard.

"Don't worry, I'm with you!" Richard called back.

They both threw out their poké balls.

Helix and Leytor burst out of their balls behind the magmar, who turned around in surprise.

"Use Water Pulse!" James called.

"And use Water Gun!" Richard ordered.

Helix and Leytor both fired their water attacks at the magmar, striking him before he had a chance to react. He was blasted back into a tree trunk and crashed to the ground. He unsteadily pulled himself to his feet and started to flee in the direction of the mountains in the north of Kinimo island.

"That was a close one!" Richard let out a sigh of relief. He patted Helix on the top of the shell, carefully avoiding the spikes.

"Do you think it'll come back?" James asked as Richard fished around in his backpack and pulled out a Super Potion to use on the exeggcute.

"I hope not," Richard replied. "It might be worth mentioning it to Liz when we get back to Atla Town, just in case." He bent down to spray the exeggcute with the Super Potion. "You put up a brilliant fight against that magmar!" He grinned at the egg pokémon.

The exeggcute flinched as he was hit by the spray.

"My name's Richard; I'm a pokémon trainer," Richard continued. "I'd be honoured if you'd join my team."

The exeggcute gave him a puzzled look.

Helix approached them and seemingly started explaining it to the exeggcute. Once the explanation was over, the egg pokémon pondered it for a while. The six eggs each nodded but jumped back from Richard and adopted a battle stance.

"Looks like it wants to battle you first!" James called to Richard.

"That's fine by me!" Richard grinned. "You feel up to this, Helix?"

Helix nodded.

The exeggcute didn't waste any time in starting the battle. He fired a Leech Seed attack straight towards Helix.

"Withdraw into your shell!" Richard gave the best order he could as he rushed to get out of the way.

Helix immediately pulled back into his shell, but the Leech Seeds sprouted anyway and started draining his energy.

"Use Spike Cannon!" Richard ordered.

Helix fired a volley of spikes from his shell towards the exeggcute, who nimbly avoided the attack by separating out. The five outlying eggs now fired themselves towards Helix, who dodged two of them but was hit by the other three. They weren't able to inflict much damage through his tough shell though.

"What attack was that?" Richard asked James.

"Umm…" James quickly flicked through his Pokédex. "Here it is! It's called Barrage!"

"Interesting! I've never seen it before!" Ricard grinned. "Helix, use Tickle!"

Helix charged towards the reforming cluster, but it simply spread out again. He was able to hit one of them, but it little overall effect on the pokémon itself. The exeggcute fired a cloud of green spores towards Helix, engulfing him and sending him into a deep slumber.

Helix's eyes, however, sprung open again almost immediately. He'd quickly eaten a chesto berry just as the attack started to hit.

"Use Ancient Power!" Richard ordered.

Helix fired a blast of rocks towards the exeggcute, who, caught off-guard by Helix's sudden revival, was unable to dodge.

"And now use Spike Cannon!" Richard yelled as the exeggcute was blasted back.

Helix nodded and fired five spikes towards the exeggcute. The first one missed completely, but the remaining four found their target.

"Great work, Helix!" Richard grinned as Exeggcute fell back.

The egg pokémon pulled itself back together. It still had energy left to fight. Six pairs of eyes lit up with a pale blue. Helix cried out as he was lifted into the air and hurled back, crashing to the burnt ground with a thud.

"Are you alright, Helix?" Richard called.

Helix pulled himself back up and nodded.

"Glad to hear it!" Richard grinned in relief. "Use Water Gun!"

Helix fired a jet of water towards the exeggcute, scoring a direct hit and blasting him back.

"Great work Helix! I'll take it from here!" Richard shouted as he pulled out an empty poké ball. He threw it with all his might towards the exeggcute, striking one of the outlying eggs and sucking it into the ball. The poké ball dropped to ground before rolling around a couple of times.

Cracks suddenly appeared and the poké ball burst open again with a loud snap.

The exeggcute rematerialized and fired his five outlying eggs towards Helix again.

"Argh! We were so close!" Richard groaned as the five eggs bounced off Helix, having done little damage. "Alright, use Spike Cannon!"

Helix fired a volley of five spikes towards the reassembling exeggcute, scoring three hits. The exeggcute cried out as he was blasted back by the force of the impact.

"Let's try this again!" Richard threw a second poké ball towards the exeggcute as he crashed into a tree trunk at the edge of the forest. This time, he struck the centre egg directly. The exeggcute was sucked into the ball, which dropped to the ground and started rolling.

Richard, Helix and James watched the ball rolling for what seemed like an eternity. At last, the ball stopped rolling, clicked and emitted a small burst of sparks from the opening mechanism.

The exeggcute had been caught!

"We did it! Great work, Helix!" Richard grinned as he rushed over to scoop up the poké ball.

"Congrats, Richard!" James grinned.

"Thanks, James!" Richard replied. He released the exeggcute from his poké ball. "Welcome to the team! Like I said before; my name's Richard and I'm a pokémon trainer. Let's win the Sevii League together!"

The exeggcute's six eggs all nodded.

"Hmmm." Richard paused for a second to think. "You'll need a nickname…"

"You can think of one on the way back to Atla Town," said James. "Come on. We need to let Liz know about that magmar."

"Got it!" Richard nodded. He recalled Helix and the exeggcute to their poké balls. "Let's go!"


Atla Town, Sevii Islands

5:47pm, 16th July 2005

Though it was still bright, the sky had started darkening as James and Richard walked through Atla Town towards Lostelle's house. They'd just been to the gym to let Liz know about the magmar and she'd promised to investigate it.

"All's well that ends well!" James grinned.

"Yeah!" Richard nodded. "We did a good deed and I was able to catch a new team member!"

"Did you decide on a nickname in the end?" James asked. The two of them had been discussing possible nicknames for the exeggcute for most of the way back.

"Hmmm." Richard pondered the question for a couple of seconds, curling his left index finger round the bottom of his chin as he thought. "I think I have," he finally replied. "But I'll tell you at the same time as Livvi."

"Come on! I helped you catch him!" James protested jokingly.

"You can wait a little longer," Richard replied. "We're almost there anyway."

They approached Lostelle's house and knocked on the front door.

"You're back!" Was the first thing Lostelle said as she opened the door. "How did it go? Did you catch a pokémon?"

"Yeah, I caught one!" Richard grinned.

"You're back!" Livvi appeared as James and Richard stepped through the door. "So you managed to catch something?"

"That's right!" Richard replied triumphantly. He pulled out the exeggcute's poké ball and let him out.

He cried out as he materialised.

"You caught some eggs?" Livvi and Lostelle both looked a little underwhelmed.

"They're technically plant seeds rather than eggs," Richard corrected them. "We saw this guy holding his own in a battle with a magmar, so I decided that I wanted him to join the team."

"Is it a grass type then?" Livvi asked curiously, bending down to look more closely at the exeggcute.

"That's right!" Richard nodded.

"What's it called?" Livvi asked.

"He's an exeggcute," Richard replied. "His nickname is Tory."

"Yeah, figures you wouldn't go with any of the ones I suggested," James sighed.

"Well I'm glad it was a successful trip." Livvi straightened up. "Are we heading back to Floe Island tomorrow?"

"That's right." Richard nodded. "Do you mind if we stay the night here, Lostelle?"

"I'll ask my dad, but I'm sure it'll be fine!" Lostelle replied.

There was a loud rumble from James and Richard's stomachs.

"Looks like we're pretty hungry as well!" James laughed, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"It's still an hour until dinner," Livvi replied. "Think you can hold on for that long?"

"Is there anything we can snack on while we wait?" James asked with a cheeky grin.

"Lostelle and I ate all the biscuits and sweets earlier," Livvi replied, a grin of her own forming on her face. "Looks like you'll have to hold on."

"I guess that was bound to happen," James sighed.

"It's not a big deal!" Richard grinned. "Come on! Let's go and do some training to take our minds off our hunger!"

"I'm right behind you!" James replied.

The two of them went back outside and started a practice battle on the front lawn.

"I guess they'll never change!" Livvi smiled. She watched them for a few seconds. "I guess I'd better go and help with the dinner!"


So, Richard finally has a full team of pokémon. Now he just needs to prepare for his rematch with Sophia, which will no doubt involve a trip to Icefall Cave along the way. Like I said last 'chapter', Chapter 13 will be unloaded a week from now, on 10th April.

As always, feel free to leave a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter.

Until next time!


Team Listings:

James' Team:

Active:

Charka (Charmeleon): male, naïve, often scatters things, likes sweet food, fire type, Blaze ability, known moves are Fire Spin, Smokescreen, Flamethrower and Metal Claw.

Kacha (Pikachu): male, modest, sturdy body, likes dry food, electric type, Static ability, known moves are Thunderbolt, Agility, Slam and Thunder Wave.

Raenok (Mankey): male, impish, loves to eat, likes sour food, fighting type, Anger Point ability, known moves are Rock Slide, Screech, Cross Chop and Brick Break.

Ayra (Paras): male, lax, loves to relax, likes sour food, bug-grass type, Dry Skin ability, known moves are Aerial Ace, Leech Life, Giga Drain and Spore.

Saeloc (Persian): female, rash, likes to thrash about, likes dry food, normal type, Technician ability, known moves are Slash, Screech, Bite and Icy Wind.

Leytor (Seel): male, careful, good perseverance, likes bitter food, water type, Thick Fat ability, known moves are Water Pulse, Take Down, Safeguard and Ice Beam.

In Pallet Town:

Cuba (Cubone): male, serious, quick to flee, eats anything, ground type, Rock Head ability, known moves are Bone Club, Double-Edge, Bonemerang and Bone Rush.

Livvi's Team:

Active:

Barru (Bulbasaur): male, timid, highly persistent, likes sweet food, grass-poison type, Overgrow ability, known moves are Tackle, Razor Leaf, Solar Beam (not mastered) and Leech Seed.

Dorru (Nidoran): female, quiet, mischievous, likes dry food, poison type, Rivalry ability, known moves are Fury Swipes, Double Kick, Poison Sting and Crunch.

Cylune (Venomoth): male, modest, proud of its power, likes dry food, poison-bug type, Shield Dust ability, known moves are Stun Spore, Psychic, Poison Powder and Silver Wind.

Evoro (Eevee): male, jolly, alert to sounds, likes sweet food, normal type, Adaptability ability, known moves are Bite, Double Team, Take Down and Quick Attack.

Salea (Blissey): female, gentle, somewhat vain, likes bitter food, normal type, Natural Cure ability, known moves are Softboiled, Refresh, Double Slap and Egg Bomb.

Richard's Team:

Active:

Naro (Nidoking): male, mild, sturdy body, likes dry food, poison-ground type, Poison Point ability, known moves are Horn Attack, Megahorn, Poison Sting and Double Kick.

Sting (Beedrill): male, hardy, often dozes off, eats anything, bug-poison type, Swarm ability, known moves are Focus Energy, Poison Sting, Twineedle and String Shot.

Spear (Fearow): male, mild, likes to thrash about, likes dry food, normal-flying type, Keen Eye ability, known moves are Drill Peck, Double Team, Aerial Ace and Agility.

Helix (Omastar): male, naïve, somewhat stubborn, likes sweet food, rock-water type, Shell Armour ability, known moves are Spike Cannon, Water Gun, Ancient Power and Tickle.

Flare (Ponyta): male, rash, likes to thrash about, likes dry food, fire type, Flash Fire ability, known moves are Take Down, Agility, Bounce and Ember.

Tory (Exeggcute): male, brave, strong willed, likes spicy food, grass-psychic type, Chlorophyll ability, known moves are Leech Seed, Confusion, Sleep Powder and Barrage.