A/N:
So I´m continuing from the last chapter, hoping to get done with the Eterna Forest in this chapter or at the latest the next one. That also means that it is a bit of time until the Eterna Gym battle, as there are some things happening between the Eterna Forest and the Eterna Gym.
Now then I don´t think I have anything more to say. So onward to the chapter!
A Showdown between Demi-Deities!
The battle kept raging around them, the smell of smoke permeating around Pokémon nest. Parts of the Honey Palace had started dripping from the heat, and some of it had started ripping from the wind that had picked up as a result of the battle. Rain fell heavily from the sky, slowly dousing the few remaining fires that yet burned. Ash cast a quick glance around, Dawn and Cheryl had both finished their battles to a satisfactory result. Brock still battled hard, though he had moved on from his first two opponents. As for Ash himself, the big man had proven to be a good opponent but had eventually gone down when his Shiftry had been double-teamed by Wartortle and Staravia.
The only one who was still battling the same opponent and had made little headway was Professor Monvich, though not because he lacked any power. To be fair he, like a lot of the other Professors, was actually quite proficient in battle, and his Pokémon were fairly powerful. The simple fact was that the 'Creep' matched him evenly and neither seemed to be able to get the upper hand. The 'Creep' had recalled his Venomoth and Pinsir, both of which had been knocked out, and Professor Monvich had recalled his Beedrill and one of the two Pokémon Ash hadn´t recognized. The Pokémon Professor Monvich now had on the field, battling the 'Creep´s' Ariados, seemed to be an ant with a steel shell. Ash absentmindedly recognized that it was a Durant, which seemed oddly fitting as they were both using their symbol Pokémon.
The defeated hunters and even a few of the hunters that had yet to be defeated started making hasty retreats, avoiding the many Bug-type Pokémon that called the Palace their home. Ash didn´t pay much attention to the hunters, or to the 'Creep' and the Professor. His attention had been firmly captured by the many Combee and Beedrill that had started rebuilding the Honey Palace by using String Shot to make the honey stick properly and somehow hardening the mixture to become like wax. A few Vespiquen were overseeing the building, but Ash could see none of them were truly in charge.
It took another ten minutes before the last of the accomplices had been routed, though the 'Creep' didn´t seem to care overly much. "Ariados use Electroweb and continue into a Sludge Bomb!" he ordered, ignoring everything but his opponent. "Durant dodge that Electroweb, and counter Sludge Bomb with Flash Cannon!" Professor Monvich yelled, a rather uncharacteristic angry snarl on his face. The two major attacks clashed together and exploded, bathing the battlefield in particles of slightly melted steel and poisonous mists.
"Durant use X-Scissor!" "Counter with Cross Poison!" The two battling trainers kept their offensives up, never noticing the giant Vespiquen that had emerged from the very top of the Honey Palace. The attacks again exploded against each other as the titanic Bug-type gazed down upon them, seemingly in thought. For the first time, the 'Creep' spoke directly to Professor Monvich, "Give up, you old has-been! I will have the Enchanted Honey and those Vespiquen. Do you have any idea what I can get for selling them? I would be rich!" The Professor snarled back, "I will never allow neither the Vespiquen nor their Honey to fall into your hands!"
As both the trainers were about to order another attack from their Pokémon, several white glowing spheres impacted Ariados. The Long Leg Pokémon had nothing left to defend itself with and was promptly knocked out by the super-effective Power Gem attack. "What?!" the 'Creep' exclaimed, looking up angrily only to gape at the utterly massive Vespiquen Queen. Taking a deep gulp, he returned Ariados, and fled as fast as he could, disappearing into the forest. Professor Monvich gazed up at the Vespiquen in shocked wonder, nearly in tears at what he counted the single most wondrous sight he had ever seen.
The Queen landed in front of him, looked him over a few times and then seemed to buzz happily. "You… You will allow me to study the colony?" Professor Monvich gasped the tears that had been gathered slowly making their way down his cheeks. A gentle buzz and an affirmative nod of the head later, the Queen turned to the other four humans she knew had come to their aid. She bowed slightly to them in gratitude, a cacophony of happy buzzing coming from all sides as the other Bug-types joined their Queen in thanking the group. The Queen seemed to ponder a little before she seemed to make a decision. She pointed first to Cheryl, buzzing in short bursts. "You want to reward us?" Cheryl asked puzzled, but also excited. As the Queen nodded Cheryl smiled widely, and brought a small, very ornately decorated honey jar made of glass from her backpack. At two of the sides were decoratively bronze wings, and the lid seemed to a replica of a Vespiquen´s gem. "Could I have just a little of your Enchanted Honey to add to my collection of natural treasures?" Cheryl asked, her smile a bit hesitant.
Vespiquen nodded slightly and brought out a hand calling for a few Combee to answer her. Two Combee swiftly came forward, took the jar between them and disappeared into the Honey Palace. They reappeared a few minutes later, the jar now filled with majestically glowing honey. Vespiquen then turned to Brock and stopped to wait for his request. Brock, however, had no clue what to ask for so he simply answered, "I don´t need anything, I was glad to be of aid. As a breeder and aspiring healer of Pokémon I find joy in simply being able to help." Vespiquen seemed to ponder the answer for a few moments before one of the Beedrill approached her. The Beedrill in question was somewhat larger than a normal Beedrill and had a few scars across its body, the most noteworthy being a long thin red line across one of its stingers.
It seemed to say something to its Queen, seemingly to her satisfaction for she buzzed happily and the Beedrill left swiftly. The Queen further turned to Dawn, stopped up for a moment and then called for two of the smaller Vespiquen. Buzzing animatedly together they seemed to come to an agreement, and the two Vespiquen left. The two Vespiquen and the Beedrill returned shortly after, the two Vespiquen carefully carrying a shimmering piece of fabric between them and the Beedrill an egg. The Vespiquen proceeded to carefully drape the scarf, for that was what the shimmering fabric had been revealed to be, around Dawn´s neck. "That is Vespiquen silk," Professor Monvich whispered in awe. "Vespiquen silk?" Dawn asked curiously, not having heard the name before.
Cheryl was the one who answered, "It´s one of the worlds most expensive fabrics due to how refined the Vespiquen´s power has to be to make it. It is a grand gift to receive." Dawn smiled widely and curtseyed to the Queen, who nodded slightly back. The Beedrill approached Brock and handed him the egg, which Professor Monvich quickly deduced was not a Bug-type egg. "I can tell what any egg is as long as it is a Bug-type, yet I don´t recognize that egg," he said calmly, as he looked the egg over. Finally, the Vespiquen Queen hovered in front of Ash, seemingly unable to think of anything she could reward him with. A fairly small Vespiquen actually floated over to the Queen, and after a quick buzzing conversation that the humans understood little of, she approached Ash.
The young Vespiquen floated in the air in front of him, before she pointed at one of his empty Pokéballs and buzzed. Ash´s eyebrows shot up and he asked breathlessly, "You want to come with me?" As the Vespiquen nodded, the Queen slowly started to drift to the top of the Honey Palace again. She waved her hand majestically and disappeared into her halls once again, leaving the group behind. Smiling at the enthusiastic Bug-type in front of him, Ash took an empty Pokéball from his belt and lightly tapped it against her.
"Well, that could have gone better," Ash started, "but it could also have gone much worse." Cheryl nodded absentmindedly, transfixed by the glimmering Enchanted Honey. "I think it´s time we continue on our way out of this forest, don´t you?" he asked, turning to Dawn and Brock. The two of them nodded happily, "How about the two of you, Cheryl, Professor Monvich?" Brock asked politely. "Well, the Queen herself gave me permission to study the Honey Palace and its colony so I will certainly be staying for a while," the Professor answered, a massive grin on his face. Cheryl smiled at them before she too answered, "I will be heading back home to add this to my family´s collection, and then I don´t quite know."
"Well, we wish you both the best of luck," Dawn spoke, her cheery voice bringing smiles to all their faces. "Oh, and I´ll clear it up with the G-Men and the Leagues for you, Professor," Ash spoke directly, alluding to the situation with the 'Creep'. He had managed to get a photo of the man and had actually already sent in another report with the photo attached. The group waved happily to each other as they parted ways, Ash and his friends heading toward Eterna, Cheryl toward Floaroma and Professor Monvich staying right where he was.
The Honey Palace had been fairly out of the way for Ash, Dawn, and Brock, and it quickly approached the third hour searching before they found the path out of the Eterna Forest again. The wind, even the slight breeze that had been present before any of the battling done that day, had stilled completely and the few rays of sunshine that trickled in through the few gaps in the branches above them warmed the forest to a pleasant temperature. Every now and then Ash would hear a bird chirp or the small noises of Bug-types crawling along the forest ground and in the trees. A feeling of calm and serenity had come over the three of them, no feeling of rush at all existed within them.
Of course, this being Ash, and his friends, tranquility would not last for long, as the trio were very nearly landed on by a familiar equine Pokémon. "Mudsdale! Are you alright?!" a familiar voice asked, a tone of slight panic lacing it. "Cera!" Dawn exclaimed, ecstatic upon seeing her friend again. "Hm?" Cera made an uncommitted noise of uncertainty, before lighting up at seeing Dawn´s face. "Dawn! You guys are in Eterna? It´s so good to see you," she gushed, a huge smile on her face as she continued to stroke Mudsdale´s neck in a soothing manner.
"Yeah, we went through Floaroma, and I won my first Ribbon!" Dawn answered her, a bit of pride shining through at being able to tell her friend that she had won a contest.
"That´s brilliant! I´m so happy for you!" Cera responded, a huge smile on her lips. By now Mudsdale had fully calmed down and was patiently waiting for his next command. Ash was smiling at his girlfriend and her good friend, knowing that was one of the few things Dawn missed. The forest had opened up a bit, allowing more sunlight to filter down through the leaves. The wind had picked up a bit, and a cool breeze floated calmly between the forest. The smell of smoke that had been prevalent earlier had all but disappeared, replaced by the sweet aroma of an amalgamation of different forest flowers. A few Bug- and Grass-types played in plain sight, both on the ground and in the tree branches.
Ash began wondering what had drawn Cera to the Eterna Forest, as he remembered well what her passion was. "What legend is it that brought you to the Eterna Forest?" he asked, figuring that he could find out instead of wondering. Cera and Dawn stopped talking for a bit, so Cera could answer him. "The Eterna Trifecta, a legend about the three tribes of the Eterna Forest. Each of the three worshipped a different god, and the three factions were always at war with each other for control of the forest. Now each tribe has either died out or gone into hiding, but there are rumors that the giant Pokémon they worshipped can still be found in this very forest. I want to be able to capture a picture of them, so I have some tangible proof toward the legend´s credibility," she explained, a grin on her face as she showed off a rather spectacularly professional camera.
Ash´s eyebrows rose, "You mean that there are three Pokémon in the Eterna Forest with the Monarch Mutation?" The 'Monarch Mutation' was one of the most mysterious phenomena in the world, with no true explanation and too few real theories. There were a few researchers that devoted their time to the study, but none had gotten very far. There were only two things truly known about the mutation, the mutated Pokémon grew exceptionally large and powerful and the Pokémon had a ruler´s disposition. Ash had grown curious about the Ariados Queen he had met during the foray he had undertaken with his father, Lance, and Brandon into the Ghost Cave of Mt. Silver. For weeks afterward, after the physical training of the day was done, he had read up on the explanations, and the only one that seemed to fit was the study of 'Monarch Mutations'. So naturally, Ash had read up on all the available information he could find and knew more than the average trainer about the phenomena.
"Don´t fully know what the 'Monarch Mutation' is, but the legend states that there are three larger than normal Pokémon with immense power that lives here. So, if that points to this 'Monarch Mutation' thing, then yeah," Cera answered to the best of her ability, not having enough information about the subject to contribute anything steadfast. That sent Ash´s head for a whirl, a vortex of thoughts racing through his mind in a flash. He knew that the Vespiquen Queen was a 'Monarch', but he would never have guessed that there were two others living in this forest.
"What Pokémon were said to belong to this Trifecta?" Brock asked, curious but also a bit puzzled at the gobsmacked look on Ash´s face. Cera rummaged around in her bag for a few moments and pulled out a rather worn but definitely not old notebook. Flipping through its pages and scanning over them she finally stopped, holding a finger to a sentence in a book and obviously studying the written words there. "According to my uncle´s notes it´s supposed to be a Vespiquen living in a place referred to as the 'Glimmering Palace', a Tangrowth living in the 'Abyss of Vines', and a Slaking living in the 'Meadow atop the Forest'. That means the subjects are a Slaking, a Tangrowth and a Vespiquen," Cera answered after a few moments more. "I know the Pokémon but finding these locations in a forest like this might be difficult," she continued, oblivious to the facial expressions that had settled on Brock and Dawn.
Ash pulled up his X-Transceiver and hurriedly flicked through a few of his pictures, one of the lesser-known functions of the device. "Here, this is the Vespiquen and the 'Glimmering Palace'," he finally stated, showing Cera the picture of a huge Vespiquen with a palace made of honey behind her, along with a literal army of Beedrill and Combee.
Cera´s eyes widened and she reverently took in the picture, "That is amazing! When and where did you get this?" Ash shrugged and looked over to Brock and Dawn wondering if they should tell her, getting an immediate nod from Dawn and a little delayed one from Brock. "I snapped the photo myself earlier today. The Combee colony was attacked by Pokémon Hunters, so I advise leaving them be," he told Cera, aware that the Combee colony was probably rather skittish around new arrivals right now. Cera nodded thoughtfully, before she asked with just a slight tinge of hope in her voice, "Can you send me that picture? And maybe you´d like to see the Tangrowth and Slaking too?" Ash smiled widely, shaking his head amusedly. "You want some help finding them, is that it?" Brock asked, mirth in his voice as well. Cera nodded sheepishly but grinned when Ash and Brock both gave affirmative nods.
"Sure, we can take another day off before we get back on track again," Ash stated, a grin plastered on his face. "Yes, though I think we need to get an idea about where to start the search," Brock continued, a thoughtful expression resting on his face. "Well, we do have some clue in those notes Cera has," Dawn stated, making the other three gaze at her. "What? The notes give names for what is possibly the homes of these so-called gods, doesn´t that give us a clue for where those homes are?" Dawn asked, a tad uncertain. She was relieved however when Ash smiled brightly at her, his face caught in one of the stray rays of sunshine.
"You´re right, we do have some clues. Vespiquen´s 'Glimmering Palace' was obviously the hive made of honey glimmering in the sunlight, so if the other two are just as straightforward it´s easy," Ash answered looking over at Brock, who nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, if it´s that straightforward Slaking lives on a plateau of some kind higher up in the treetops, though Tangrowth´s 'Abyss of Vines' makes less sense. Unless…" he started before trailing off, his mind racing through a few possibilities. "Unless what Brock?" Cera asked curiously, a bit anxious to get going in the search of these demi-deities.
"Well, Vespiquen´s hive is level with the ground in the forest, and Slaking obviously is supposed to live at an elevated level. What if this 'Abyss of Vines' is located in a chasm or cave, and thus Tangrowth´s realm is beneath ground level?" Brock laid out his theory, careful not to sound as if it wasn´t just a theory. Cera nodded her head slowly, seeing the sense in the theory. "So, we need to see if there is a chasm somewhere, and an elevated plateau of branches?" she asked, trying to fully understand their thesis. "That is the closest we have to a plan at the moment, so yeah," Brock answered, shrugging his shoulders somewhat.
"Alright," Cera said nodding her head, and starting to rummage through her bag again. After a few moments, and a few whispered swears coming from Cera, she pulled a rather old and worn map out of her bag. The map was encased in a thick glass casing, obviously to preserve it as well as possible. Pulling it out carefully, Cera laid it out over a nearby rock and started scanning it. "Alright so we´re about here," she pointed at a specific location on the map. Looking it over and analyzing the few points of interest the old map had, and comparing them to landmarks around them Brock found that Cera seemed to have found the exact spot they were currently standing on. "That means there is a chasm or ravine of some kind about three kilometers that way," she waved her hand toward the forest on their right, "and a close concentration of trees that could possibly support a plateau that way," this time the hand was waving just a little more right than previously.
"Which means that is the way to go, right?" Ash commented, standing up and stretching his legs somewhat. Cera and Brock, the only two who had a somewhat idea how to read a map, both nodded. "Yeah, we´re going in that approximate direction. And no, you are not taking the lead Ash, we don´t want to get lost," Brock told them easily, smiling at Ash who had started to pout just a little from the joke. "Like I´m the only one who managed to get us lost," Ash whispered out under his breath, though Brock still heard it. "You´re right, Misty did get us lost a bit as well. You managed to get us lost while we were still on the path though," he joked right back before both of the boys broke out in laughter.
The four of them started to slowly make their trek toward the presumed location they needed to go, though the dense vegetation made it a difficult task. When they had moved a bit further, they came across a large meadow in the middle of the forest and yet there were a few things that made the meadow incredibly impressive. The first was that the meadow had not been a part of the map Cera had gotten from her uncle, the second was the provisory arena built from large rocks in the center of it and the third was the massive amount of Pokémon lounging about there. Curiously the Pokémon seemed to have split the meadow in two, and all of them were paying rapt attention to the arena. One side was full of Normal-types, as the group saw Buneary, Lopunny, Slakoth, Vigoroth, Bidoof, and Bibarel there. The other side was full of Grass-types, Oddish, Gloom, Vileplume, Bellosom, Tangela, Seedot and Nuzleaf were the most prominent.
Both sides had one major eyecatcher though, and the sight of them made the group´s jaws drop. On the side of the Grass-types, a few Bellosom were attending a truly massive Tangrowth, who was simply laying back observing the battle in the arena and eating berries provided to him. While amidst the Normal-types sat a hulking Slaking easily as large as the Tangrowth, being tended by a couple of Lopunny. The two really embodied the visage of kings among their own kind, and even Ash and Brock could not say they had ever seen anything like it.
In the arena itself, the group could see a Vigoroth going up against a Nuzleaf in battle, obviously some sort of duel between the two kingdoms. The Nuzleaf was covered in scratches and old battle scars, even having lost a few pieces of its leaf. The Vigoroth was much the same a few old scars covering it, the most prominent of which was the scar that went over its left eye though it didn´t seem to have damage the eye itself. "What are they doing?" Dawn asked, a bit confused by what she was seeing. "I think calling these two 'Monarchs' is a better fit than most would think," Brock answered, an awestruck expression still on his face. A few noises carried over from the arena, though it wasn´t as loud as they thought it would be. The sun glinted in the open sky above the meadow, and the wind seemed to be stopped by a few rocks strategically placed to keep it out.
"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, none the wiser from Brock´s rather cryptic answer. Ash, having read up on human history as well as Pokémon, knew exactly what Brock meant, but still had a tough time believing it to be true. "In the old days two kingdoms could come together and settle disputes or simply interact through a duel between two warriors," Brock answered Dawn´s question after a short intermission, "I think that is what is happening here. Though by the relaxed nature of both sides, this is simply entertainment and fun, not a conflict of any kind."
Just as Brock finished his sentence, the Vigoroth in the arena sent the Nuzleaf into the ground. It was about to pounce on its downed foe when the Slaking rose from its seat and roared. The sudden roar of its chief stopped the Vigoroth cold, a few trembles visible in its raised arm. The Tangrowth on the other side slowly got up as well and allowed a few of its vines to fetch the Nuzleaf and give to his Bellosom attendants. The Bellosom immediately started to use a myriad of different healing techniques on the damaged Nuzleaf, while the Tangrowth slowly made its way to the middle of the arena. The Vigoroth strode over to a single Lopunny standing off to the side, passing by the Slaking who was making its way down to the arena to meet with the Tangrowth.
Suddenly the two titans blurred into action, a Mega Punch meeting a Power Whip eliciting a concussive force of wind from the point of impact. The two sides started cheering wildly as their chiefs started an epic duel in the middle of the arena, the Vigoroth and Nuzleaf match had obviously just been a warm-up match before the main event. The two 'Monarchs' clashed mightily against each other several times, each time sending a concussive blast of wind through the meadow. The group stared at the battle with wide eyes, fully realizing why the two Pokémon had been thought to be demi-gods. "Cera? If you want a picture of them, I can´t think of a better time," Ash whispered over to the history buff, who had been staring at the two absolutely transfixed.
Cera shook her head wildly, shaking off the hesitation and started snapping a few pictures. The camera made absolutely no sound, and the blitz had been turned off so the many pictures being taken didn´t alert the horde of Pokémon. The powerful duel kept on going, almost making the constant blasts of air painful as they kept slamming into the group. Both Tangrowth and Slaking seemed to have taken some damage, though neither seemed to deem them anything more than a nuisance. The cheering of the subjects had nearly been drowned out by the immense cacophony that accompanied the two titans´ brawl. It wasn´t until the dusk began to slowly creep in, and the sky began to darken into night, that the group finally realized just how much time had passed. The weather had gotten significantly chillier, almost freezing as the wind howled past them.
"We need to find a place to make camp," Ash whispered, careful not to draw the attention of any of the Pokémon in the clearing. When the others nodded and slowly started to filter out of the clearing and into the forest among the trees, Ash cast one last look at the behemoths brawling. Gazing at them for a mere moment longer, before he hurried after his friends. The blasts of air following the group even into the forest, and a bit further. It wasn´t until Ash fully passed by the giant rocks that he realized they weren´t meant to stop the wind from getting into the meadow, they were meant to keep the blasts of air away from the trees.
The group found a pretty good spot after about another twenty minutes' walk, where they sat up their tents. Cera had opted to stay with them for the night, though they would be splitting up come morning. -Let´s see what tomorrow brings, Ash thought to himself as he pondered about the events that had already gone by that day.
A/N:
Yes, I did give Ash a Vespiquen. Why? Because I felt he needed another Bug-type, as he only has Heracross. And though I´ve never gotten to use a Vespiquen, I actually quite like their design.
What I call the 'Monarch Mutation' is the reason why I can create such powerful Pokémon, basically, the Pokémon who has the mutation leads a tribe. They grow to be exceptionally large and immensely powerful, and as such were often thought of as demi-deities. That is what I use to explain that phenomena. Besides the ones introduced in this chapter we have already met the Ariados Queen of Mt. Silver, and it has been implied that a Houndoom King/Queen also lives at Mt. Silver. Pokémon can grow to be as powerful as a Monarch, it´s simply that a Monarch is genetically disposed to be larger and more naturally powerful.
I´d like to say that the phenomenon isn´t actually directly mine, I think I changed it a bit from where I read it but I actually got the idea from another fanfiction I read. I can´t remember which of them though. I´m curious to hear what you guys think about my original ideas, that being Cera and her quest for the legends of the world. Of course, I´d also like to know what you think about the 'Monarch Mutation' idea, so please don´t be shy and just tell me either in a PM or a review.
I don´t think there is much more for me to say at the moment, so…
Till next time!