"Come one, guys, hurry up!" Jade shouted far ahead of the two Pokémon behind her. "They're gaining on us!"
"Easy enough for you to say!" Joey yelled between breaths. "You got wings!"
The chase had been going on for a while, and Joey knew that he and Smokey were exhausted. After running for so long, his legs were burning and his heart was ready to explode. Despite his fatigue, Joey knew the Butterfree was right.
The howls were getting closer by the second, and he and Smokey weren't fast enough to outrun them forever. Many things were chasing after them, crashing through the forest behind Team Spartan. Joey had a feeling that he would rather take on the shadow creatures than whatever was following them.
Up ahead, Jade disappeared from view. She didn't go behind a tree or anything. One moment she was there and the next she vanished into thin air. It was like the forest swallowed her whole.
Smokey stopped in his tracks, Joey plowing into him from behind.
"Why'd you stop?" he exclaimed, eyes bulging with fear. "We have to get going, now!"
"But she just disappeared," Smokey mumbled, staring where Jade was. "What if we end up disappearing too?"
"What if let whatever's chasing us catch up?" Joey countered. The howls got even louder, as if they sensed that the friends stopped. "I'm sure whatever's on our tails is a hell of a lot worse than the chance of disappearing."
Joey tried to convince himself that Jade vanishing was just a trick the forest. They were tired, so they didn't see her pass through a bush or something. Regardless of the reason, nothing would be able to convince Joey to wait for the unseen force to catch up. He started to run again, forcing Smokey to follow or be left behind.
As he passed the spot where Jade disappeared, a strange tingle seemed to wash over his body. It was the exact same sensation he felt when they entered Tiny Woods. He barely had time to register the feeling. Once it passed, his eyesight became extremely blurry really fast. When it refocused, the scene in front of him changed, and he ran into the purple body of Jade. They fell to the ground in a heap, with Smokey soon joining the heap.
Joey pulled himself out of the pile and prepared to start running again, but stopped when he noticed something was off.
The forest was strangely quiet. No howling came from behind them. No branches or leaves were being trampled. Not even a slight breeze disturbed the trees. The only noise came from the three Pokémon's heavy breathing. He looked up and noticed that the sky had a few clouds drifting by, occasionally blocking out the form of the half moon.
"What in the world is going on?" Jade said. The tone of terror in her voice was subtle but noticeable. She was also gazing at the night sky.
"I honestly have no idea," Joey responded. "What do you make of this, Smokey?"
He looked over at his Charmander friend when he didn't respond. He noticed that the fire type wasn't looking up at the sky, rather into the palm of his hand.
"What's that?" Jade asked, peering over his shoulder.
Smokey shrugged and opened his palm so the others could get a better look. "I've never seen anything like it."
It was small, teardrop shaped seed. It had a deep red colour, like Manac's armour, and a symbol etched into it. A small flame had been engraved in the seed. Why it was there or who did it eluded Joey. He took the seed from Smokey's hand turned it over, finding the same flame symbol on the back too.
"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Smokey mumbled. As to emphasize his point, a huge caw came from the trees. The trio collectively flinched and got into a battle stance.
"Looks like we didn't actually escape them," Joey said. For a brief moment, the forest was silent.
With another caw, a Pidgey burst from one of the trees. It did a wide loop and dived at the group. Smokey blasted a fire ball at its face, but it rolled out of the way at the last second. He ducked to avoid the bird's sharp beak, only to have its talons rake across his back.
Jade turned, planning to knock the bird out with sleep powder. Instead, the Pidgey tore through her left wing. Blue blood spurted from the wound and Jade collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain.
Joey had never felt so useless in a battle. He could only watch as his friends went down. They were both conscious, but their wounds seemed really painful. Smokey struggled to his feet, wincing as the cuts on his back stretched. Jade wobbled dangerously on feet, staying out of the air. Only Joey was in a suitable condition to fight.
If the concussion wasn't blocking most of his electricity, maybe he could actually do something. No matter how hard he tried though, he couldn't muster enough of a charge for a proper lightning bolt. He clenched his fists in anger, the Pidgey circling around for another attack. After all they'd been through, Joey was not going to allow his team to be defeated by a stupid bird. He did the only thing he could think of at the moment.
He hurled the seed at the bird's face.
The Pidgey opened its beak to caw again and the seed soared into its open mouth. What happened next would stick in Joey's dreams for many weeks to come.
There was a deafening bang, and in an instant, the Pidgey's head was replaced by a cloud of blood and feathers. The carcass fell to the ground by their feet, the mess splattering them with entrails. All three just stared at the body in shock.
"Well, that was unexpected," Joey said, snapping everyone out of the daze.
"What did you do?" Smokey stared at him with revulsion.
"I... I threw the seed and its head just..." Joey put his hands on his head and moved them away, mimicking sounds of an explosion.
"You didn't have to kill it," Jade said in a small voice.
"I didn't mean to," Joey protested.
"You blew its head up! What did you think was going to happen?" Smokey demanded, smoke coming from his nose.
"I didn't know it was gonna explode when I threw the seed!" Joey exclaimed, starting to get angry too. He glanced at the headless corpse, shuddering when he realized he could see the thing's stomach. "Can we... can we just leave? I don't wanna be here any longer. This thing is creeping me out."
"Hold on," Jade said. She picked something out of Joey's scalp and flung it away. "Sorry. You had a piece of skull stuck to your bandage."
Joey may have thrown up at that information, had there been anything in his stomach. He quickly picked out any other chunks of brain or feathers from his fur in disgust.
They turned to leave, stopping when they realized Smokey wasn't following. He was staring at the body, breathing heavily like he might cry. Joey thought about saying something to cheer his friend up when Smokey suddenly unleashed an intense jet of flame at the corpse. The fire cleared and a smoldering pile of ash had replaced the body.
"I couldn't leave it to rot," Smokey mumbled, joining his confused friends. The three continued trudging through the woods in silence. They didn't have to run anymore since whatever was chasing them decided to stop. That calmness gave Joey time to think about fight. Something seemed wrong with the Pidgey, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
"Guys, did you notice anything weird about that fight?" he finally asked.
"You mean despite its unprovoked attack?" Smokey responded. Joey nodded. "Can't say I did."
"The bird seemed crazy," Jade mumbled. Her friends turned to her.
"We kinda realized that already," Joey said.
"No, I mean it acted strange during the fight," Jade said. "It just kept attacking so aggressively, like it wasn't thinking. And it had a wild look in its eyes. I don't really know how to describe it. It was, like, the Pidgey wasn't a thinking being like us. Does that make sense?"
"You mean like it was primal?" Smokey asked.
"Yeah, that sounds right."
Joey stared at the sky. The canopy wasn't thick in Tiny Woods, though where they were walking it was completely open. The lack of leaves and branches gave them a clear view of the night sky.
"You noticed that the sky changed, right?" he said, looking over at Jade.
She looked up too. "Yeah, it was right after that tingling sensation that I saw it. The moon went from being a sliver to half."
"And the clouds weren't there either."
"Guys, stop," Smokey said suddenly. Jade and Joey turned around, just realizing how far the Charmander was lagging behind. He was standing at the edge of the clearing, looking at them with a serious face.
"Why? Is our conversation bothering you?" Jade asked.
"No, you were just about to walk into a giant hole," Smokey answered. His response made both of them to spin around and look at the ground. Joey instantly became glad that Smokey warned them quickly. He was standing on the edge of a huge crack in the ground. Joey didn't like the thought of falling again, especially because he couldn't see the bottom of the pit.
"This shouldn't be here," Smokey said, walking further into the clearing.
"I know, cracks like this are serious problems," Jade said, staring into the crevice.
"No, I mean this particular crack shouldn't be here," Smokey corrected.
"Okay... you lost me," Joey said.
"Doesn't this place look a little familiar to you, Joey?"
The Pikachu examined their surroundings. It was a small clearing, and the fissure extended almost all the way across it. There was a lack of many defining features, but Joey got the feeling he'd been there before.
"Is this the same place where we rescued Parvo?" he asked, the answer clicking into place.
Smokey nodded. "That's why I'm confused. We ran really far, we should've passed this by now."
"We were running in a blind panic," Jade reminded him. "Maybe we weren't travelling in a straight line, so it took longer for us to get here."
"Maybe," Smokey muttered. Joey could tell that he wasn't entirely convinced yet.
"Look, how about we just get going again?" he suggested. "This isn't the first oddity today, and it's by far the least messed up thing we've come across. We should focus on getting out of this forest."
Thankfully, his friends agreed. They bypassed the crevice and re-entered the woods. It wasn't long before another question popped into Joey's mind.
"Smokey, how big is Tiny Woods?" he asked.
"Not that big," Smokey responded. "They call is 'tiny' for a reason."
"That's what I thought," Joey said, "but when we ran to the plant, it didn't take too long. We got there in, like, fifteen minutes."
"You see why I'm confused by the fissure?" Smokey said, "We're still stuck in the middle of the forest since we just passed it."
"Hey, you smell that?" Jade suddenly asked.
Joey stopped and sniffed the air. He couldn't smell anything except the normal forest smells. "No, it still smells pretty bad."
"It smells really tasty," Jade said, almost wistfully. "Like a combination of all the flavours."
Joey glanced at Smokey, who shrugged his shoulders. Maybe Jade was just imagining the smell because she was hungry. It didn't matter what the reason was. The Butterfree suddenly sprinted into the woods, leaving the other two friends no choice but to follow her.
She was surprisingly fast on foot, despite one of her wings being torn. Joey was only able to chase her because of the noise she was making and the occasional spot of blue blood. A couple metres ahead of him, he saw her by a bush that was full of bright blue berries. She was gorging on them happily. Joey watched in morbid fascination as her torn wing, which had a huge chuck ripped out of it, slowly began to mend. New tissue came from nowhere, slowly reforming her wing.
Joey ran up to the bush, his hunger overpowering him. He stuffed three berries into his mouth, relishing the burst of flavour that followed. His mind started to clear and he felt a trickle of energy. The berries must have healed the concussion slightly, allowing him better use of his electrical attacks.
"No... no, this isn't right," he heard Smokey mumble from behind him. Joey turned, surprised by the look of horror on his friend's face. After all they'd been through today, you would think that a berry bush would be the least scary thing they had come across. The look on Smokey's face showed otherwise.
"Dude, it's just a bunch of fruit," Joey said, swallowing what was in his mouth. "There's nothing sinister about it."
"There's nothing wrong with the fruit," Smokey insisted. "The location of it's wrong. An Oran bush never existed in this part of the forest. I know the location of the only one in the entirety of Tiny Woods, and it's right next to my house."
Jade seemed put off by this slightly, but Joey was brightened. "That's great news! That means we're getting closer, right?"
Smokey shook his head. "This isn't where Daya planted it. She placed it in between two maple trees that were only a few metres from my house. You could still see my house from where the bush was."
"Maybe a new one grew that you didn't know about," Joey suggested.
"That's akmost to impossible," Jade said.
"What do you mean?"
The Butterfree fluttered her wings. "Oran bushes don't just grow in the ground. You need a seed to be able to grow one. Finding a bush like this in the wild is very rare."
"Of course you need a seed to grow a plant," Joey said, still not understanding what his friends were talking about. "I don't know much about plants, but that one's obvious."
"Open one of the berries and pull out a seed," Smokey told him.
Joey didn't have any idea what the fuss was about. He grabbed a berry and split it open. All he saw was blue flesh. He picked it apart until its juice stained his hands and the berry was no more than paste. There was no seed to be found. He grabbed another fruit and repeated the process, getting the same results.
"Oran seeds are extremely rare to come by, since most of the fruits are infertile," Smokey explained. Joey's head snapped up at this information, expecting that his friend was messing with him. "Once it first starts bearing fruit, it's almost a guarantee it'll provide fruit for years to come. That's why they aren't so rare in stores, because the fruit will never run out. It's also why Daya gave me the seed as repayment for saving her life. Those berries could save your life many times in the future."
Silence overcame the group. Joey stared at the remnants of the berry in his hand. A fruit he thought to be common was actually so much rarer than he thought. Smokey finally walked over, grabbing a berry and eating it. The cuts on his back slowly stitched together and closed. Joey ate another to clear his head some more, but the fogginess wouldn't go down any farther. Maybe the berries could only heal to a certain extent.
"Look, we should... we should probably find our way out of here," Joey finally said. None of the events that had happened in the past hour made any sense: the weather constantly changing, the odd tingling sensation and the sudden change to the layout of the forest. He just wanted to get to the shack and back to the sense of normal that had slowly become his life.
Once they'd eaten their fill from the bush, the newly healed team resumed their trek through the woods. Jade once tried to see if they were getting any closer by flying above the trees. According to her, it seemed like the forest stretched for dozens of kilometres, which Smokey quickly said was impossible.
Of all things, they noticed the howling had stopped. An occasional shriek from the depths of the woods was heard, but never close to them. Joey was grateful for this. It meant that they weren't being hunted.
Twenty minutes had passed since the found the Oran berries. They were plowing through a bush when the tingling and blurring sensation suddenly overcame them, only to leave just as quickly. It didn't scare the team as much that time. After experiencing it two times, the scariness of it faded away.
"You guys notice how the sky always changes whenever the tingling comes back?" Jade asked, staring into the sky. The stars weren't as clear as before, due to the fact that the moon had become full. An occasional cloud drifted through the dark sky.
"Yup, and it still confuses the hell out of me," Joey said. A high pitched cry pierced the silence of the woods, freezing the trio.
"What was that?" Smokey whispered. Joey shrugged, and it cried out again.
"You think it's another crazy?" Jade asked fearfully. She'd landed on the ground so she was closer to the others. Joey listened to it again, and noticed the same tone in the cries that was in Jade's voice. It was fear.
"They're calling for help," he muttered. His eyes grew wide and he raised his voice. "Someone needs our help!"
He ran off into the woods, following the voice. Smokey and Jade were in hot pursuit. The cries became louder and clearer, until there was no doubt that someone was yelling for help. Joey started to make out new voices as he got closer. One was sobbing and screaming and the other just a feral snarl.
"Hey! Over here!" it cried out. Joey stopped instantly, resulting in Smokey knocking him over. After muttering some curses, he picked himself up to get a better look at who called out for them. All he could see were trees, bushes and the layer of leaves on the ground. "Down a bit."
He looked down and a bush shifted, revealing the face of a Metapod hidden in the foliage. There was a long, brown scratch across its face. He wondered if that's how he looked like with his facial scar to other people. A memory from a previous mission came to mind.
"You're Kabi," he said, staring in disbelief at the bug Pokémon. "Aren't you Parvo's friend?"
"Yes, but how do you know my name?" she asked, fear edging into her voice. "I've never met you guys before."
"We were the ones who saved you- I mean, tried to save you from Sinister Woods," Joey explained.
"Does it really matter about our back stories?" Smokey cut in. "You were yelling for help just a second ago. Why?"
Kabi's eyes widened. "Me and Parvo were playing in the woods with his mom when the earthquake hit. His mom just started to go crazy and tried to kill us. He told me to hide, but he's been keeping her busy until help arrives. I think he's losing..."
Her voice started to falter at the end, trailing off once it became a whisper. The three team members looked at each other as the sounds of battle became more evident. They rushed towards it, finding the battle only a dozen metres from Kabi's hiding place.
Parvo was fighting the larger Butterfree. It wasn't much of a fight, rather the Caterpie firing silk into his mom's eyes and running away while she was distracted. They watched as he sobbed and yelled at his mother to snap out of it. The Butterfree didn't react to her son's pleas and charged him, snarling viciously. Parvo barely managed to evade the attack.
"Mom, please, snap out of it," he pleaded, blinding his mom once again. "I know you're in there. I'm your son, remember?"
Apparently not, because she charged him again, this time striking her child. Joey's brain was shocked into working again.
"C'mon, guys! Let's get in there!" he shouted, rushing into battle. His friends roared a battle cry, gaining the attention of the Butterfree. His plan was to tackle the bigger bug. He didn't realize how heavy it could be, and was sent flying backwards.
Jade used a tackle of her own, knocking the mother out of the sky and onto the ground. They wrestled in the grass as Smokey helped Joey to his feet.
"What's the plan?" he asked, watching the two Pokémon fight.
"We both have effective attacks against her," Joey said, his small knowledge of Pokémon coming to good use. "All we need to do is hit her a few times and knock her out."
"That's simple."
It was a simple plan. They started to charge up their attacks, Joey's fur crackling with electricity and Smokey building a fireball in his mouth. Jade noticed the activity and rolled onto her back, giving an open shot at the other Butterfree. Right as they were going to release their attacks, Smokey was knocked over and into Joey.
"No, don't hurt her!" Parvo cried, standing in between them and his mom.
"What the hell are you doing?" Joey growled, standing up.
The Caterpie was shaking all over, but he stood his ground. "I'm not letting you hurt my mom."
"She's trying to kill us!" Smokey exclaimed. "She tried to kill you."
"I don't care!" the bug type screamed, tears streaming down his face. "She's still my mom. I'll- I'll fight you if I have to."
Joey gave Smokey an exasperated look. Neither of them wanted to hurt a little kid. Jade was sent flying from a kick by the other Butterfree. She recovered before hitting the ground and returned to her previous position.
"What now?" she asked, her eyes not moving from the crazy Pokémon.
"We have to disable her without hurting her," Joey answered. The mother was switching her gaze from Jade to Parvo, as if trying to decide who to attack first. Joey noticed something in her eyes, or rather, the lack of something in her eyes. They were devoid of any emotion except for rage. She didn't even know who her son was.
"Parvo, go get Kabi," Smokey told the young Caterpie. "We'll take care of your mom."
"You won't hurt her, will you?" he pleaded, staring up at them with big black eyes.
"We'll try not to," Joey said. "Now get out of here."
Parvo did as he was told and ran into the brush. Joey and Smokey split up and took different positions, centering the mother in the middle of a triangle. She was confused, spinning around, trying to keep all the attackers in her eyesight at once.
"Jade, you think you can put her to sleep?" Smokey suggested.
She fluttered her wings nervously. Joey found it odd that she could do that while flying. "I'll try, but I'm not sure I can do it again."
The pattern in her wings changed. The mother saw this and instantly rushed Jade. She couldn't move on time and was hit out of the air. Her body hit the ground hard, and she didn't get back up.
"Smokescreen!" Joey ordered. Smokey heard and unleashed a thick, black smoke that covered the entire battle. No one could see a thing. Joey didn't need his sight as long as he had his mind. He realized he could paralyze her. He just needed an opportunity.
Suddenly, the smoke cleared, revealing everyone. The mother was beating her wings fast, creating a strong wind that removed their cover. While they were distracted, she charged Smokey, sending him sprawling into the grass. She would have continued to attack if a purple aura hadn't encased her.
Jade was hunched over, encased in a stronger aura similar to the one surrounding the mother. Whatever she was using must have drained her energy really fast. The glow wavered after a few seconds and the Butterfree broke free, rushing at her attacker. Jade narrowly avoided the tackle, taking to the sky with some difficulty.
Joey was impressed by his teammate's fighting skills. They weren't the best, but until a few days ago she had never been in many fights. Now she was able to hold her own against a more experienced opponent. Still, they needed to end the fight.
"Jade, you think you can do that weird purple thing again?" Joey called from across the clearing.
She shook her head. "I don't know how I did that," she responded breathlessly.
"How are we supposed to beat her if we can't hurt her?" Smokey grumbled. A nasty bruise was forming on his side from where he was hit.
"Easy. We paralyze her," Joey said.
"You know how to do that?"
"'Course I do. It isn't that hard to – OH SHIT!"
Joey forgot that the mother could still hear him. As soon as he announced his plan, the Butterfree rushed him. He rolled out of the way, losing his concentration. He tried again, only for the mother to rush him again. She wasn't going to let him power up. He needed a distraction.
Luckily, Smokey saw this too. He unleashed a giant jet of flame, nearly searing both Joey and the Butterfree. She quickly retreated into the air, keeping her flammable body away from the fire. Joey summoned the right amount of electricity and let it loose in a weak bolt of lightning. The attack never hit, falling short by just a few feet. He realized with a twinge of fear that he needed to be a lot closer for the attack to work. He could try to boost the amount of power, but he didn't want to accidently fry the bug.
He kept a pocket of energy stored, the same amount he used on Stiletta, at the back of his mind. It would be useful for a quick release, as long as he didn't lose his concentration.
The Butterfree used the psychic attack on Smokey, halting his flamethrower. Jade rushed in and started to flap her wings hard, trying to blow the bug away. It failed, and the mother punched her, sending Jade to the ground where she didn't get up. Smokey collapsed in the purple aura, leaving just Joey and the bug.
She glared at him, deciding how to finish her last target. She went with the 'beating it until it stops moving' method and dived at the Pikachu. Joey didn't move, waiting for the perfect time to strike. When it was within a metre of him, he let a weak bolt loose, striking the mother in the face. She gave a weak howl and collapsed to the ground with a horrible crunch. Her body twitched in the grass, but she didn't have any control of her limbs.
"What did you do? I thought you said you wouldn't hurt her!"
Joey spun around as Parvo came rushing to his mother's side. He quickly dragged him back, fearing that she would suddenly lash out at her son.
"Calm down," Joey told him sternly. "I just paralyzed her. She'll be fine."
The Caterpie's eyes grew wide. "That doesn't sound good at all! Now she won't be able to move."
"Paralysis is only temporary," Smokey said, limping over to them. Jade was following close behind, flying slowly through the air. "It'll wear off eventually."
"How long will that be?"
Joey stared at the Butterfree. Her movements were getting stronger. "Looks like it's already fading. We should get out of here."
"You guys can stay with us if you like," Smokey suggested. "You know, until your mom returns to normal."
Parvo glanced at his mother and sniffed. He gave a quick nod to show he agreed.
"Cool. Jade, can you get Kabi?" Joey asked, motioning to where the bug was. "You're the only one strong enough to lift her."
"Are you calling me fat?" Kabi accused angrily.
"No, they're just too weak to carry you," Jade laughed, flying over to the Metapod. Nobody else laughed, or even smiled. The events of the hour were so confusing and scary that it drained pretty much everything out of the group.
"Alright, Smokey, you're the navigator," Joey said once they were all together. "Lead the way."
"I don't know where I'm going," Smokey said quietly.
"What do you mean? I thought you knew these woods like the back of your hand."
The Charmander turned to his friend. He looked absolutely miserable. "I thought I did too. But we've just been wandering around lost since we entered the woods. All the landmarks are in the wrong places. I have no idea where to go."
"C'mon, man. You got us this far at least..."
"I got us to where?" Smokey demanded. "No matter which way we go, we're still going to end up lost."
Joey opened his mouth to respond when a high pitched shriek broke the silence. They all turned in different directions, trying to find the source of the sound.
"What was that?" Kabi whispered, afraid that speaking loud would put them in more danger.
"I want to know where that was," Jade said. Another shriek came from the trees. This time, its source was clear. Everyone looked in the same direction.
"Is anyone else getting a seriously bad feeling?" Smokey said. Joey wanted to reassure his friend, but couldn't find the words to do so. He had a feeling that he knew exactly what those roars were and who they were coming for. It wasn't necessarily a good feeling either.
The shrieks became louder and more frequent, and the rescue team got even more nervous. There was a loud boom and the earth shook beneath them like a miniature earthquake.
"Smokey, what lives in this forest?" Joey asked, hoping to find a reason for the sudden tremor.
"Only Pidgey, Sunkurn, Wurmple and the occasional Exeggcute," he answered. "Nothing too big though. Not many have been able to evolve for the past few years."
That calmed Joey down a bit. That is, until Jade spoke.
"Um, Smokey," she said, quietly. "I evolved a few days ago."
Smokey paled when he realized what Jade was telling him. For once, even Joey knew what they were worried about.
"Wait, that means that there are bigger versions of those Pokémon, right?" he said. The thought of having to fight a giant Pidgey wasn't too appealing to him. He had a feeling that it would take a lot more than a few lightning bolts to take one down.
"That's exactly what it means," Smokey said, the earth rumbling again. The screeches were getting louder and more constant. The deep booms were becoming more frequent. The younger bug Pokémon were really scared.
"What if it's a crazy Pidgeot?" Parvo cried. "Those things are huge, they'll kill us all!"
"Why did you have to mention Pidgeot?" Kabi pleaded. She sounded close to crying.
That gave Joey a bit of resolve. The kids needed someone to be strong for them, someone to look up to in times like these. Since no one was around, the job fell to him.
"No, no one's going to die," Joey said, trying to put as much confidence into those words as possible. It wasn't easy to keep his voice from shaking with a horrible racket filling the air and the earth shaking every second. "I don't care what's coming after us. We're all making it out of these woods alive. We'll fight whatever it is and we'll defeat it, just like we've always done. We're going to survive!"
Right as he said that a massive tremor knocked him to the ground. "Seriously, what the hell?" he yelled over the shrieks. "What is causing that damn shaking?"
"Pidgey fly, not walk, so it can't be them," Smokey thought out loud. He went even paler. "What if it's an Exeggutor?"
Jade turned to him in shock. "It can't be an Exeggutor. They're not that big"
"Nothing else can cause this shaking."
"But they need a Leaf Stone to evolve!"
"What if it found one?"
"We're in the middle of Tiny Woods. Where would you find a Leaf Stone?"
"We found my Oran berry bush in the middle of the woods. Why can't it find an evolution stone?"
"I'm sorry, but what the hell is an Exeggutor?" Joey cut in. He got lost in their conversation at the first sentence.
"A really big Pokémon with really powerful psychic attacks," Smokey summarized. He was staring above the trees. In the dim moonlight, he could make out the silhouettes of three creatures, all of them flying towards them.
"It's a psychic type?" Joey said. "We've fought one before and won."
"Yeah, that was a Meditite, an unevolved Pokémon," Smokey pointed out. "It took over my mind and tried to make me murder you. It almost succeeded too. This is a much more powerful psychic."
"So what are you saying?"
A deep, booming roar blasted from the woods and the tremors increased. Whatever was causing them was picking up the pace.
"I'm saying we should run!" Smokey shouted and booked into the trees. Parvo and Jade were close behind him, with the latter carrying Kabi.
Joey glanced in the direction of the roar. He could see the trees and bushes shuddering. His confidence disappeared and he followed his friends into the forest.
Smokey landed on the ground hard. His vision quickly cleared like it had the other three times and he took in his surroundings. Once again, they were different from before he passed through the tingling and blurring sensation. Only this time he was relieved by the sight.
He was staring at his shack, his home. It looked the same as ever; run down, covered in overgrowth and leaning to the left. The door was busted, just like Jade said. The sky above was blocked by a thick layer of clouds, just like it had when they had entered the forest. They had finally escaped the horrors of Tiny Woods.
He frowned at the thought. It was really silent all of a sudden. Before his vision went blurry, the woods behind him were a racket of screams from his friends and unknown enemies. Now the sounds were gone, and his friends were missing too. That wasn't right. They were right behind him...
"Whoa, watch out!" Joey yelled as he barreled out of the bushes and into Smokey's gut. Soon, the five Pokémon from Tiny Woods were in a tangled pile on the grass. Smokey immediately pulled himself up and got ready to fight whatever was sure to come bursting from the woods behind them.
Nothing came. Everything was silent and calm. No shrieks, no shaking, no disturbance at all from the forest where they were just chased by an unseen horde. The thought that their pursuers disappeared should have calmed the Charmander down, but it made him more anxious. He felt like at any second they would be swarmed by rabid Pokémon.
"The suspense is killing me," Joey said from behind. He was in his classic fighting stance too; standing on two legs, his fists held in front of his face like he was a fighting type and not an electric rat. Smokey always found the sight of that funny and he relaxed.
"I don't think they're coming," Smokey said, leaving his fighting stance.
"What makes you say that?" Joey asked, still wary.
"It's like the first time we were chased. When we passed through that barrier thing-"
"Barrier thing?"
"You know, that part where your body tingles and your vision blurs. When we passed that part we were suddenly alone. Like they couldn't pass through to continue the chase. I think this is the same thing."
"Yeah, maybe..."
Joey found it found it difficult to relax. For all he knew, there was a bunch of hostile Pokémon waiting in the trees. He heard sobbing, and turned towards it.
Parvo and Kabi had finally broken. The stress from the past few hours finally got the better of them. Parvo was crying for his mom and tears just slipped down Kabi's shell. Jade was trying to comfort them, but wasn't able to do much. She gave him a pleading look, so he came over and tried to do what he could.
"Where do we go now?" Parvo wailed. "My-my mom is c-crazy and my h-home is gone! What do I d-do?"
"Hey, look, it'll be alright," Jade said softly, wrapping a wing around the frightened Caterpie. "This will all blow over in few days. Your mom and the whole forest will be back to normal soon."
The look in her eyes clearly told Joey that she didn't believe what she was saying, but the two kids bought it.
Kabi looked at the Butterfree with watery eyes. "You really think so?"
"Of course we do," Joey jumped in. "You two can stay with us 'til your mom gets better."
They got up and went over to the house, where Smokey was trying to fix the door. It was in really bad shape. Something, or someone, had split the wood nearly in two, and the top half was hanging off the hinge.
"Hey, Smokey, the kids are gonna stay with us," Joey told him.
"We aren't sleeping here tonight," Smokey said, giving up on the door.
"C'mon man. Why not?"
Smokey gave his friend a look as if to ask, are you stupid. Instead, he said, "It isn't safe here. The door won't close and I don't trust sleeping next the woods. I can't shake the feeling that something will attack us in the night."
"Where will go?" Kabi asked, her voice quivering.
"Look, I got it figured out already," Smokey said in a calming voice. "We stay in town for the night. Leaky will probably help us out. In the morning we'll ask someone to fix the door and we'll get the kids' problems sorted out. Sound good?"
Everyone nodded in agreement. The kids seemed to be at ease when there was a plan in place. Joey only hoped that they would find Leaky, and that he could let them stay with him. Maybe Tiny Woods was an isolated incident. The town might be unaffected by the earthquake. He wouldn't know until they got there, and the five started on the familiar path to town.
"Uh oh..."
The words escaped Joey's mouth before he even knew he said them.
The town was chaos. Pokémon were running in every direction, many of them wounded. Beams of light signalled the returns of rescue teams, all of which looked beaten and disoriented. Screams and shouts echoed throughout the town. In the dim light, he could make out a plume of smoke rising from a house out of eyeshot.
At first, Joey thought that the town and its inhabitants had been struck by the same thing that affected the Tiny Woods Pokémon. He quickly realized that everyone was just confused and panicked, not feral.
"I'm starting to think it wasn't just Tiny Woods that was affected by the quake," Smokey said, staring at the scene in amazement. They were still by the outskirts of town, stopped on the bridge.
"Is the entire island like this?" Jade said to no one particular. Joey was about to say he had no idea when a green head bobbed into view.
"Hey, Leaky!" he called out to the Lombre.
Leaky's head whipped towards them. For a moment, his face was a mix of worry and fear, but it turned to relief when he saw them.
"Oh, thank Mew that you guys are alright," he said and ran to join them. "When Team Renegade came back half dead, I thought the worse. They were saying that all the Pokémon in the Oddity Cave suddenly went berserk after the earthquake. I thought most of what they were saying was nonsense, until other teams showed up in the same state and were saying the same thing. The town's been in a panic mode for the past hour. No one knows what's going on."
"Leaky, we got some bad news for you," Smokey said, sharing uneasy looks with Joey and Jade. "The same thing happened in Tiny Woods, right after the earthquake."
Smokey told him about what had happened in the forest. He didn't leave out a single detail, not even the part with the moving Oran berry bush and Joey exploding the Pidgey's head. Leaky was really worried by the end of the story.
"This isn't good," Leaky said, summing up their ordeal in one sentence. "That machine you described? It's got to be what's causing all these things."
"Those stupid humans," Smokey grumbled, snorting out black smoke. "They always screw up everything. Why do they have to exist? Why must they always screw with us? Now we're all done for."
Anger flared in Joey. He'd like to say it was Smokey's pessimism that set it off, but he knew what it really was. Smokey was saying that all humans were monsters, completely oblivious to the fact that his best friend was one. He wasn't angry that Smokey believed that; he was angry because he almost believed that.
In his old life, how many people did Joey know that were awful human beings? There were too many to count. So many people constantly did bad things without regret, without the slightest regard to others, and lived on like nothing happened. Maybe all humans were evil.
He squashed that thought as soon as it crossed his mind. He knew for a fact that not every human was bad. That's why he had to say something.
"No, we're not done for," he said quietly. His friends turned to him. He raised his voice. "We are not done for. We're still alive. We didn't go crazy like the others all over the island. There's still hope for us. As long as we got our minds, we can, and will, survive."
His friends didn't respond. They looked at the town and its inhabitants, trying to make some sense of what was going on. As he watched the confusion and listened to the shouts, Joey couldn't help but think that their lives were about to get a whole lot more difficult.
A/N: It took way too long to write this, but Season 1 has finally come to a close. Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed the story enough for it to hit 5000 views. I don't know how good that is but I'm pretty damn grateful to have hit that number, so thanks once again.
The story isn't over yet! Season 2 will begin on the next update, and will be even longer and more awesome than the first.
