A/N: And now we are back at square one to who's announcing the chapters!
Chapter XXV: Exciting Forest be!
At the edge of the forest known as Sinister Woods stood the three members of Team Brawl, looking into the dark woods. It was no wonder why these woods were called "Sinister Woods". They had left Caterpie at their base so he could rest there and be safe.
"This forest looks worse than Tiny Woods," Flash stated, staring into the entrance of the dark woods. "It's a lot bigger too…"
"I would seize the chance to advise that we shall try not to get separated. Being lost in a forest like this would certainly not be a pleasant experience," Francis explained, studying the entrance. A path could be seen inside, but Francis suspected that the path would lead them nowhere through the supposedly treacherous forests.
Loopy also looked ahead of him, staring slightly more up at the trees with a half opened mouth of awe. "Much trees," he said quietly, but the Rattata caught his words.
"It is called a forest, in case you did not know."
"Me know!" Loopy shot back, "and me no wear pinky thingy want!" he argued, pointing at the pink scarf he had tied around the top of his head like a headband.
Francis sighed and looked calmly at the Machop. "I had to pull a few strings with my kin to acquire one of those Pecha Scarves. You should cherish it, Loopy, it does prevent you from being poisoned when wearing it. You do remember last time that happened?"
Loopy clenched his fists and growled. "Mean Tyke…"
"Francis has a point. You're wearing that whether you want it or not," she told him, frowning slightly at him.
The Machop fiddled a little with the scarf and shrugged. "Ja, ja…" he muttered quietly. "But wood no hard look, why no path follow?" he then asked, scratching his head where the scarf itched.
"Do not take anything for granted," advised Francis, "you have not been in these woods yet, and neither have Miss Flash and I." He tugged his whisker once, sporting a faint smug grin. "However, I do possess vital knowledge of any Pokémon I see, so please keep your ears open for any pieces of wisdom that will come from me."
Flash sighed, and decided to enter the forest in advance. The other two quickly followed so they wouldn't be separated in the dark woods.
At first the forest seemed rather nice, with some sunlight shining through the foliage. It had the pleasant fell of peaceful silence in it and Flash could even spot some Sunflora relaxing in the various sun spots. She was certain (after Francis had warned her) that the lounging grass types probably wanted to be left alone, and took a small detour along with her team mates in order not to bother them. They looked like they were having a good time in the sun spots anyway.
They were following the path, despite what Francis had told them it hadn't been recommended, and the forest wasn't thick yet. Loopy did a quick check and made sure the Toolbox was firmly strapped over his shoulder as he walked behind the two leading Pokémon. "How we find Mepod?" he asked.
Both Francis and Flash looked over their shoulders. "Caterpie told us that we had to shout a certain codeword and he'd come forth from his hiding place, you forgot already?" Flash reminded him. "How else would we find him? He's perfectly camouflaged in a place like this!"
"But keep in mind, that he cannot be hiding near where we are located. We need to venture further inside these woods in order to find him. If I remember correctly to his words, it would be the eastern most section of this forest where the Hoothoot dropped him," Francis went on, keeping the track of the path. "Furthermore, there is no knowing when this path will suddenly vanish."
"Alright, alright!" Flash agreed with frustration in her voice. She stepped towards where the woods where darker and thicker, and hesitated. "It's just that... I've never been here before... and I'd hate to get lost. And the deep eastern part is known to be dangerous," she whimpered a little.
Francis shot her a stern look into her eyes. "Miss Flash, have a look at the situation. You are a fire type for Mew's sake! About every being inside this forest have a fear against you, and me as well thanks to my amazing fire inheritance!"
Flash rolled her eyes at the Rattata's boasting and shrugged. He did have a point, and the forest was full of Pokémon that was weak to fire. She made her decision and stepped off the path and towards the darker parts of Sinister Woods.
"Stay close," she reminded as Francis and Loopy followed.
The woods had quickly turned much darker, quicker than Flash had expected. She was happy for her flame on the tip of her tail, which illuminated the place, but it also had its disadvantages such as being easier to spot by wild Pokémon who wouldn't take kindly to intruders. She also had to make sure not to start a forest fire as well, as even the ones living in Town Square wouldn't like if one of the biggest forests happened to burn down to crisps.
But when thought about it, there was the same damp feeling in the air that she had felt when she had been in the caves she had been to before. But thanks to that, the risks of starting a forest fire wouldn't be that big, not since it had been raining the other day.
She stayed alert in case there'd be any hostile Pokémon in the vicinity. She had to hand it to Francis, since he had probably been right of that the wild Pokémon were scared of her tailflame. She was also relieved that Loopy had taken the initiative of carrying the Toolbox this time. If he had taken on the task to be nice to her, or just to slip out an apple when no one was watching, she didn't know.
The Charmander looked up at the trees, feeling slightly intimidated by their looming and dominant appearance when they blocked almost all of the sunlight. With no other Pokémon in the vicinity she started to feel a little insecure. What if something was stalking them? She could swear she just heard something pass by them just to the west.
"Nervous, Miss Flash?" Francis inquired, "I admit I also have the slight feeling of insecurity while exploring through these seemingly treacherous woods." The Rattata quickly checked his surroundings as well, as if he had seen something.
"Don't you get that feeling too?" Flash asked him back, "someone's watching us!" she concluded, stopping dead in her tracks and looked worriedly around her. If someone was really stalking them, it could've been something that wasn't weak towards fire. She was about to edge closer to Loopy, but then she realized something horrible.
Loopy wasn't with them anymore!
"Loopy!" she yelled, but she got no response. She turned back to Francis with anxiety in her eyes. "Where did he go? Why didn't we notice he was gone? Why-"
"Miss Flash," Francis interrupted, frowning at her, "panicking is not bringing him back!"
The rustling was louder in a bush dangerously near the two. They both inched nervously towards each other, wondering what dangerous Pokémon would lurk in the bushes. Another set of bushes behind the two rustled right after, causing the two to jump with fright.
"L-Loopy! If you're in there, get out NOW!" she demanded, trying to pull herself together.
There was no response, followed by an eerie silence. Flash's angry demeanour slowly diminished into anxiety again, and Francis wasn't sure of what to do. Flash knew that even though Loopy was playful at times, not even he would pull a prank like this.
"Maybe it could be one of those Team Meanies simpletons?" the Rattata helpfully suggested.
A shadow quickly ran through the woods from afar. Flash could barely distinguish it as something big moving swiftly through the woods, but it disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Another eerie silence commenced, only Flash and Francis's nervous breathing was heard.
A sudden rustle in the bush scared the living daylights out of the two, causing them to jump in fright. This was too much for Flash, and she panicked and ran blindly away from the bush.
"Miss Flash! You might get lost!" Francis yelled back as he darted after her, not wanting to be left alone in this forest. He caught up with her and ran alongside her as they both ran through the forest in panic.
Back at where they had been before, the bushes rustled some more. A small, blue seed like Pokémon waddled out from the bushes. The Oddish looked strangely at the two fleeing rescue team members as they fled deeper into the forest.
"What an odd bunch..." it muttered before it waddled towards another bush where its friend was.
After having running through the dark forest for a while, Flash and Francis stopped to catch their breath in a small clearing. The clearing was almost as dark as the rest of the forest, a lot of branches looming threateningly over them, blocking the sun. The Charmander sat down on the mossy ground, breathing heavily.
She looked up and was somewhat relieved that Francis had managed to keep up with her so she wasn't alone. But she was worried about Loopy.
"My... even though we had to endure this little mishap, I still do have a vague idea of where we are located," he said, trying to cheer her up. She just sighed
"How did he get separated from us...?" she muttered quietly, "I'm worried of him." She lay down on her back and tried to look up at the sky through all of the foliage. She felt her stomach rumble and put a paw on it. She was hungry.
"Another problem has arisen," Francis then noted, "Loopy was the one taking on the task of carrying the Toolbox."
"Oh no..." Flash groaned in realization, "and there isn't any edible food near here?"
Francis shook his head. "Afraid not, Miss Flash, I will make an attempt to find anything, but do not get your hopes up," he replied calmly as he walked off to scavenge for edible food. He made sure so he wouldn't stroll too far and stayed within the small clearing.
"Loopy..." Flash said quietly to herself, "I hope you're okay..."
At another part of the forest, Loopy stood right in front of a rather small, yet sturdy tree. The odd tree seemed just a little bit taller than him, and had a pair of weird branches with three green balls on each one. Loopy was smiling at the tree as he mimicked its dancing movements, wiggling his arms in synchronisation with the tree.
The Sudowoodo smiled widely back at the fighting type, flailing his arms in a steady rhythm as the Machop followed his movements almost perfectly. The rock type had waited for a playmate in this lonely forest and was exhilarated with his new playmate. He clapped his branchlike hands together, and Loopy followed exactly, clapping his hands as well.
The funny dance went on, and the Sudowoodo let Loopy take the lead. The Machop then started a dance that involved doing some weird kind of slap dance. He clapped his hands twice first, then both of his thighs twice. The Sudowoodo laughed and followed happily what the Machop was doing. Loopy then moved p his hands and slapped his butt twice with a childish smile, proceeding by lifting his fists to chest level and held his elbows out, flapping them like a chicken. He repeated the dance from the beginning a few more times.
Loopy had first spotted the Sudowoodo amongst the trees as he had been walking with Flash and Francis, but he had quickly distinguished it as an odd tree at the second he saw it. Without having told either Flash or Francis, he had approached the imitating Pokémon and examined it curiously. The imitating Pokémon had first taken precautions against the type he was weak against and had started flailing with his branch like arms. Loopy had just smiled and acted friendly towards the tree like Pokémon.
But now, Loopy was very fatigued after the constant dancing with the mimicking Pokémon. He sat down and wiped some sweat from his forehead. This whole dance had been just not fun, but also good for training his stamina.
"Tree be funny!" he exclaimed happily as he breathed heavily. The Sudowoodo smiled at him.
"A tree I am not. I am but a wonderful mimic without being aware of it sometimes," he responded, petting Loopy on his head with his green bally tips of his branch.
Loopy looked at Sudowoodo with confusion all over his eyes. "Tree talk odd, but dance fun! What Flash think?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to look at his Charmander friend. But she wasn't there.
"Who's this Flash?" Sudowoodo asked. "Did you have friends with you before you met me?" the rock type asked. Loopy nodded quickly, wiping some more sweat from his forehead. "They might've not noticed when you left."
Loopy's eyes widened when he noticed that he was all alone in the dark forest with his newfound friend. "This no good," he muttered as he scratched his head. "Forest big and dark."
Sudowoodo pulled up both of his short legs from the ground and grabbed Loopy by his shoulders. "Don't worry, friend, I know this forest quite well," he assured the fighting type. "But it's dangerous as well; you don't want to get too close to the Scyther territory," the rock type then warned with a concerned look on his face.
The Machop sprang to his feet and thumped his chest proudly with a determined look on his face. "Me no scared!"
Sudowoodo laughed shortly. "I like your style! I could help ya with finding your friends, but there's something I need in return, if possible."
"More dance?"
"No," replied the Sudowoodo firmly, quickly turning solemn. "I stand before a great problem... My friends, they're..." He paused, looking slightly away from the Machop. "I know I shouldn't take advantage over your current situation, but you're the right kind of Pokémon who could help me out with this problem I've got," he then continued.
Loopy opened his mouth slightly. "Uhm..." he uttered, "tree talk long... say again?"
Sudowoodo rolled his small eyes and simplified what he said before to the Machop.
"Me try!" Loopy burst out as he clenched his fist with a smile. He then held out the same hand in a friendly gesture, offering a handshake.
Sudowoodo smiled and held out his branchlike arm, shaking hands with Loopy. "Thanks, the name's Pseudo. Yours?"
"Loopy!"
Pseudo let go of Loopy's hand and put his hands on his trunk like hips. "Well, since you're a nice guy and all, could we start with my problem first? We might find your friends on the way," he then requested. Loopy just shrugged and then nodded in agreement. Pseudo's mouth curled into a smile as he walked off, leading Loopy the way to where his troubled friends were.
"Just remember, Loopy, it's useless to shout and yell for others. This forest absorbs most noises, yet it attracts predators. So it's better to find your friends rather than calling for them," Pseudo advised. Loopy nodded.
"Francis, this sucks!" Flash cried as she was sitting down against a tree. She was nibbling on a half on an Oran berry Francis had found during his scavenge for edible food. The Rattata was nibbling on his own half of the Oran berry. "Loopy won't find us here! And this mere berry won't do much to my hunger!" she ranted on.
Francis snorted. "It is better than nothing, Miss Flash," he muttered back to her, finishing his share of the only food he could find. He picked up a sole leaf from the ground and used it as a napkin with distinction. He quickly snapped his head to one direction, as if he had spotted something.
Flash reacted to this as well, and looked at the same direction. "You saw something?" she blurted.
Francis kept his eyes peeled at what he was looking at, but then looked at Flash. "Nothing, I would guess. My eyes may have played a trick with me. But I am certain that there are more trees over there than it was before. Peculiar indeed," he mused, rubbing his lower jaw.
"Really, huh?" Flash remarked. She got up and approached the odd looking trees. They seemed rather short to her, but there was something weird about them. She shrugged and turned around to face Francis. "I guess... But how will we ever find Loopy?" she then asked.
"Think positive, Miss Flash," Francis advised, "he will probably walk around and try to find us, and the best thing would be to stay at the spot so he can find us."
Flash forced a smile, and scratched the back of her neck. "I suppose so," she agreed."At least I have the rescue team badge to take us back if things would get dire."
Things will get dire for you, little Charmander, a telepathic voice said inside Flash's head. She did a double take and thought she just had heard something.
"Wha...?" she just replied, backing up against the closest tree nervously.
"Something in the matter?" asked the Rattata.
We never thought we'd ever see you again, the voice continued in Flash's head. We thought our number with that Machop had been enough for him to kill you... but unfortunately, he didn't.
"Wait, what?" Flash blurted, confused by the voice in her head. She had a feeling she had heard the voice earlier, but she couldn't put her paw on it.
A pair of tree branches quickly embraced themselves around Flash's chest from behind, keeping her in a tight hug. She yelped and tried to break free, but the branches just squeezed even tighter in response.
"Miss Flash!" Francis cried as he bolted towards her to help her out from the living tree's grasp. But he only ended up being caught by another treelike Pokémon. "Oh dear..."
"Don't worry," Flash wheezed as she calmed down slightly so the tree would lighten its hold on her, "Those are trees, so a burn will teach them a lesson," she then said, spitting out a small fireball at the tree holding Francis. The fireball just bounced off, doing almost no damage at all to the tree. The Rattata just sighed.
Ha ha ha, the voice laughed, my servants are resistant to your fire attacks. Speaking of which, it is after all thanks to us that you are able to use them, isn't it? The voice then continued smugly.
Flash struggled more against the grip of the Sudowoodo who held her in place, but only caused the rock type to squeeze harder. "Servants? Fire attacks? No... No, it can't be!" she realized who her enemy was. She heard another chuckle from the voice in her head, followed up by a rustle not far from her location.
Out came a distinguishingly odd, plant like Pokémon. It wasn't a good mimic as the Sudowoodo, its three yellowish heads confirmed that, and it didn't have arms as well on its light brownish body. Leaf green hair grew on top of it. It waddled towards Flash, all three heads grinned mischievously at her, having unhealthy intentions towards the fire type.
The Exeggutor finished its approached towards Flash and stood in front of her, all three heads eyeing her. "It has been a while, hasn't it?" it asked. "You remember us, don't you? We've longed for this very day to exact my revenge on you."
"Y...you... you're that Exeggcute from Tiny Woods!" Flash cried, only to get squeezed harder by the possessed Sudowoodo.
"Excellent deduction, little Charmander," commended Exeggutor, chuckling afterwards. "But enough talk now, these Sudowoodo are always more than happy to obey our commands, and since we don't have a pair of arms like you..." Exeggutor three faces grinned. "We'd sure give an arm or two for being able to have that."
Francis harrumphed. "Witty, dear Exeggutor, how many days did it take you to come up with that one? The equivalent of a Shuckle's both normal and special defence ratings?" he quipped. The larger dual type looked at him, and waddled over to him.
"We think you are funny, little Rattata, maybe we should make your demise funny in return," it replied smugly. "But first..." The coconut Pokémon turned to face Flash with anticipation. "knock her out first, my loyal servant!"
The Sudowoodo holding Flash moved its branches up to her neck and squeezed hard, strangling her. Flash desperately tried to spit another fireball at it, but it didn't do anything. She struggled to push the green, bally tips of the branches off her neck, but the Sudowoodo was too strong. She couldn't scream or utter anything at all.
Exeggutor neared the suffocating Charmander, all three yellow faces grinning with malicious glee. "Now that's a good beginning. We think this'll be fun!" It looked at the Sudowoodo that strangled Flash, eyes glowing a slight tint of red. The imitating Pokémon dropped Flash and let her fall to the ground. The dual type then took a few more steps and loomed over her, grinning at her as she gasped desperately for air.
"You fiend!" Francis cried as the Sudowoodo employed a strangling hold on the Rattata, silencing him immediately.
"We reconsidered our little game, and decided to knock you out permanently ourselves!" Exeggutor said, lifting one of its massive feet to execute a Stomp attack hard enough to crush Flash's face. "Goodbye, you little runt!"
Flash breathing stopped in panic, and she closed her eyes to await the incoming blow. She hated that she'd have to die alone without Loopy. She could slightly hear Francis wheezing gasps for air as the Sudowoodo tried strangling him to death.
But the blow never came. Instead, Flash heard a cry from one of Exeggutor's heads. She looked between the tiny claws of her paws to see that Exeggutor was reeling away from her, and one of its heads was bleeding. Her breathing came back to her as she breathed rapidly, looking at the Sudowoodo who seemed confused by the current situation.
"Show yourself!" the dual type commanded. There was no response, instead there was a swishing sound and Exeggutor reeled again, now bleeding from his second head. "AAAAAaaaaaaaahhh!" it cried in pain and frustration, trying to spot the attacker.
The attacker chose not to answer, and watched from its hiding place how the Exeggutor vainly tried to spot him.
Flash tried to crawl away from the Sudowoodo, and felt a rush of accomplishment as the imitating Pokémon didn't notice her escape. The one holding Francis had lost interest of him as well, having dropped the purple rat onto the ground. Flash let out a sigh in relief when she saw that he was still breathing.
Another swishing sound. This time Flash could almost feel that the attacker had dashed just past her, and when she looked at Exeggutor, a wide gash had opened up across its trunk.
"Nuts to that stupid girl!" it cried as it almost sank down to one knee of its injuries. "Get whoever attacks us! Now! NOW!" it cried at its Sudowoodo, who quickly agreed and ran off with the Exeggutor
There was a painful silence again. Flash seized the chance and crawled over to Francis, who was regaining his consciousness. When she was close enough, she prodded him lightly to see if he was awake. He was, but he couldn't get onto his feet, so Flash rose up and carefully picked him up.
"Where are you, you sneaky piece of filth?" growled Exeggutor, having lost interest of Flash and Francis. The coconut Pokémon spotted a movement ahead of it and rushed furiously towards that location, disappearing into the woods along with its Sudowoodo cohorts.
"Even with three heads... you weren't able to spot me... pathetic," the unknown attacker spat out with contempt as he looked at the dual type who had finally spotted him. The Exeggutor who was petrified with fear of what it saw.
"No... NONONONOOOO-UYAAaaaaa..." were the last dying words of the dual type.
Hearing the death screams of the Exeggutor, Flash decided that she had to get Francis and herself away from that attacker. And fast.