With Sapphy and Rosie in tow, we marched towards the Cryptic Woods. We defended Resed from a prestidigitator and its two chimaera minions. I glanced at her, and she caught my gaze. She responded by smiling back at me.
"Level with me, Sapphy," I said. "Is this your first time outta Resed?"
"Not really," Sapphy replied. "I usually go to Legitopia Plains to play with Rosie. But I do remember that one time when I went the wrong way and accidentally entering the Cryptic Woods. That's also where I met her!"
"Oh, really? That's kinda... interesting..." I suddenly felt totally drained. Why was that? I only woke up from a long slumber at the inn a few hours ago. So why was all my energy gone? I didn't have the strength to continue on, and I collapsed.
"W-Woah! David, are you alright?!" Sapphy yelped. "David, get up! David! David...!"
I couldn't hear her voice anymore, and I plunged into darkness. But the strangest thing was, as soon I closed my eyes, I felt like my eyelids forcefully opened on their own again. When my eyes were fully opened, I was no longer in Resed Sands, but rather, the Pokemon Center. Was I back in the Pokemon world? I get out of bed, which definitely meant I was in the Pokemon world. I wasn't on a bed when I collapsed in the memory world.
"David!" A voice calls. When I turn to look, I see Liana running at me and happily jumping into my arms. "You're awake!"
"H-Hey, kid," I said, still surprised. "Were you and the guys checking on me?"
"Yup. But now that you're awake, we can finally get going! Why don't you go see them? I'll be with you."
My friends were glad to see that I was up and about. They urged me to sit down at a table, as they wanted to discuss something, no doubt about my sudden collapse.
"So why were you acting out all of a sudden?" Robert asked. "You were just going wild."
"I dunno. It was like it happened on its own."
"And... what happened while you were conked out?" Ash adds. "Did you have any vision or something?"
"Well... Yeah. I remember hearing some voice, and it sent me to this... memory world..."
I stopped in my tracks. My memories from being in the memory world were still in my mind! That meant it truly served its purpose- some of my memories were finally restored, but not all of them. But it's a good start.
"Memory world?" Rotom repeated. "Are you implying the theory of worlds within people's mind are real?"
"Not particularly. I'm not entirely sure yet. But the voice I heard earlier told me that the memory world was designed to help me recover my memories. And yes, I did recover a few memories."
I share with them my experiences within the memory world, including how I emerged victorious in the Knight's Exam in Legitopia and how I was able to defend Resed from a group of monsters. And I tell them about Cory, Sapphy, and Rosie.
"But I don't remember hearing about places like those," Allison says. "And I don't think a Pokemon like Rosie exists. Are you really sure?"
"I do remember being in those places, but I can't remember where in the world they are." I reply. "For all I know, I could be from a whole new region... And maybe Rosie's some kinda rare Pokemon." I had to say, I was getting kind of good at hiding things except for that one slip-up. "But even if that's true, aren't we gonna go to Floji for our Gym battle?"
"Oh yeah!" Ash exclaims. "I'm gonna go there and win my Gym Badge right away!"
"And aren't we all gonna do that?" Lynn adds.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go, everyone!"
"Alright!" The rest of us cheer. We leave the Pokemon Center, and wave goodbye to Kogeta Town. It was good to hit the trail again- I thought we'd start living there! But I felt relieved knowing we wouldn't.
Looking at my brochure, our next destination was Rifia Town, which was close to Floji. Plus, the forest we were about to enter was the last one, meaning we would soon see Floji. This would be a breeze! But of course, it's not like I wasn't expecting surprises... A little later after entering the forest, I heard rustling coming from a nearby bush.
"H-Hey! David!" Someone calls out to me. I turn my head towards the source, which turns out to be the very same bush I heard rustling from. Eventually, something emerges- a Chespin? That's the same one with Scorbunny, Oshawott, and Pichu! But why's it all alone?
"Something wrong?" Chloe asks. "You look pretty worried."
"Yeah... because we've got a problem! Pichu's in trouble!"
"Pichu?!" Ash repeats. "Where's Pichu? Show us!"
"C'mon! This way!"
Chespin takes through the bushes, and after running for a while, I see something horrible. No, not Team Rocket or Team Noir. There were two guys beating up on Pichu with the help of their Pokemon. Scorbunny and Oshawott couldn't do anything, due to them being gravely wounded.
"Chespin! You're back!" Scorbunny exclaims.
"But wait... Isn't that David?!" Oshawott gasps.
"Let's worry about that later," I interrupt them. "We've got a Pokemon to save. HEY, YOU! YEAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU THUGS!"
As soon as those words come out of my mouth, the corrupt duo turns around to face us. Both of them snicker cockily, just like those Team Noir jerks.
"Thugs?" One of the villains repeat. "I wouldn't describe us like that, y'know."
"Uh-huh," The other agrees. "More like... master Pokemon hunters!"
"Pokemon hunters?" I repeat.
"They're bad guys who catch Pokemon against their will," Ash explains. "Then they sell 'em off for money!" What?! That's probably... no, definitely even worse than those crimes Team Rocket and Team Noir commit!
"That's essentially slave-trading!" I scream. "I won't forgive you for this!"
"So you want a fight, huh? Well, we'd prefer not to fight... But we won't say no!"
Both of the villains position their Pokemon into a battle formation, while the Pokemon hunters form a wall around Pichu to stop us from being able to nab it from behind them. Rotom analyzes our enemies.
"Grubbin," Rotom says. "The larva Pokemon. A Bug-type. Grubbin scrapes trees with its large jaws and drinks their sap. It makes its home underground. Then there's Yungoos. The loitering Pokemon. A Normal-type. Yungoos have sturdy fangs and jaws, and they gain a certain tenacity and patience when they evolve into Gumshoos."
It looked like casting Sizz and Woosh were my best bets for this fight, considering their affinities. Chespin stands beside me, ready to fight. I couldn't turn it down- After all, I had to help it save its friend. Ash sends out his Milcery, and Chloe sends out... Ponyta? Turns out she caught it the other day. We were ready for combat!
I run at Yungoos and land an attack. Yungoos flinches, but it retaliates by attacking me with Tackle. Milcery and Ponyta attack both of the enemies with a coordinated Fairy Wind.
"Chespin!" I yell. "Use Rollout on Grubbin!"
Chespin builds up speed, then it starts rolling at Grubbin to land multiple hits. But even with that combo attack, Grubbin and Yungoos barely looked fazed.
"Yungoos!" One of the hunters cackle. "Use Leer!"
Yungoos glares at us, creeping us out to to drop our guard a little. Grubbin takes this chance to use String Shot on Chespin to hinder its movements. Yungoos then follows up by using Bug Bite, which does a super-effective hit!
"Woah!" I yelp. "You alright, Chespin?!"
"I'm fine. What next?" Chespin says.
"Stay back for now. This'll do some major damage! Sizz!"
A wall of fire shoots out of my palm, dealing normal damage to Yungoos but critical damage to Grubbin. Milcery deals extra hurt by Tackling Grubbin, and Ponyta uses Confusion on Yungoos. But I remembered our main goal- to rescue Pichu. I had to come up with a plan...
"Hey," I whisper to Liana. "I've got a plan. Jump into the bushes, and walk around them without being seen. I'm pretty sure you can grab Pichu from behind them. Got it?"
"Sounds easy enough," Liana says. She manages to go into the bushes without being seen by the villains. Now we just had to hold out until Liana could save Pichu.
"You're not half bad, kid," One of the villains says. "But I'm afraid it's time to put an end to our little game. Grubbin, use String Shot! And wrap 'em all at once!"
Grubbin focuses, then fires a gigantic mass of string. There's no time to react as it manages to coil all four of us. How does a larva Pokemon muster so much strength?! It manages to lift us in the air and slam us down to the ground for major damage. Chespin and Ponyta are almost knocked out from that hit alone. It's all I can do to hang on...
"Well, would ya look at that! They survived our trump card!"
"Yeah," I shoot back. "But you won't survive THIS!"
I fire another Sizz at them. But to my disbelief, they survived. Barely. What the heck?! I'm pretty sure I would make at least Grubbin faint, due to its affinity for Fire-type moves! Tch, whatever... We can work around that.
"This doesn't look so good," One of the villains groans. "They're beating the stuffing out of our Pokemon."
"Then maybe we should just..." The other smiles. "Nab Pichu and make a break for it!" I gasp. Was Liana too late?! But when they turned around to grab Pichu, all they ended up grabbing was air...?
"Hey there!" Liana says from behind us. "Need something from lil' ol' me?" Liana proudly showed Pichu on her shoulder.
"No way!" The hunter gasps. "Since when did you get Pichu before we could?!"
"Why don't I leave that to your imagination?"
"Great job, Liana!" I cheer. "You were just in time!"
"Now it's payback time," Pichu says. "Why don't you and Pikachu help me send these buffoons blasting off?"
"Okay," Ash says. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"Liana, use Inky Jolt!" I yell. "And Pichu, use Thunder Shock!"
The trio jump into the air and fire every last bit of electricity they can muster into their electric combo. It hits the enemies and sends them flying, much like how we send Team Rocket blasting off after a fight.
"And don't come back!" I mock them. "You alright, Pichu?"
"I'm fine! All thanks to you guys!" Pichu cheers.
"Yeah. She would have been captured by those Pokemon hunters if you didn't show up," Oshawott says.
"Aren't you going to Floji?" Chespin asks us.
"Yeah," I say. "Heading there for our second Gym Badge."
"Then mind if we come with you, David?"
"Wh-What?! All four of you? Really?!"
"Of course! You've always been a good help to us, like when you saved us from that mech, and now those Pokemon hunters. I think it's time we repay the favor again. What do you say, guys? You guys on board with this?"
Scorbunny, Oshawott, and Pichu agree. I smirk as I pull four Poke Balls from my pocket.
"Alright, then! Go, Poke Balls!" I hurl them in the air as high as I could, and the four Pokemon jump after them to hit the Poke Ball's button in order to get inside. The Poke Balls hit the floor, and shake once... twice... three times... And they flash green! I'm ecstatic from the result.
"Heck yeah! I just caught four Pokemon at once!"
"Unbelievable!" Rotom bleeps. "I think that's the first time someone has caught more than two Pokemon at the same time!"
"Awesome job, David!" Lynn slaps me on the back. "I'm sure they'd be awesome!"
"I'm kinda jealous," Allison sneers. "Now you'll have a super-easy time getting your Gym Badge compared to the rest of us."
"But that's not really a bad thing," Ash shoots back. "After all, the challenge makes it super fun!"
"Yeah, I'm with Ash," Robert says. "Gym Badges aren't given to you, you earn 'em!"
"Then why don't we get closer to earning them right now? Let's keep going to Floji!"
The one in which David returns to the Pokemon world, and catches four Pokemon at once!
Man, this one was so much fun to write. I had this scene written down in my mind for a long time.
