Chapter 15

An Oasis of Hope

"Parfois la vie, c'est compliqué
Mais tu es là pour moi
Je pourrais partir au bout des océans
Et te retrouver là-bas

"J'ai tant cherché, voyagé, ici et là
Cherché, voyagé, pour te trouver
Nos vœux se sont rencontrés

"Moi je te choisis, toi
C'est juste comme ça
À deux, rien ne nous fait jamais peur
On partage tous les deux, les mêmes battements de cœur
Moi je te choisis, toi

"Moi je te choisis, toi
Et on repartira
Avec tous nos nouveaux compagnons
Tant qu'le monde tournera, nos cœurs se trouveront
Moi je te choisis, toi"

As I sang, Ash and Serena danced under the stars, their hands twined together. Thanks to the Coumarine City Festival, they regained the memories of their past lives as Jan and Aila, a loving couple separated by opposing families, warfare, and even death. It had been a trying few days for them, but it was worth it. For now, they could finally be together.

Shortly after the mock wedding ceremony came the reception to further celebrate their return, their remembering, and their reunion. Ramos and the citizens of Coumarine City pulled out all the stops for such an occasion, but I did not know what to expect for a celebration a thousand years in the making.

As we all sat back down at our table, I could see Brock patting Ash on the shoulder. "I've never felt so proud and so defeated at the same time…"

Bonnie spoke up out of curiosity. "So… are you gonna get married for real?"

The two lovers looked at each other and smiled. "We talked about it," he told us, "and we agreed to be patient about that. I've waited a thousand years for her… I can wait a little longer."

"Good call," Misty told him. "And now, because I still need to get it out of my system…" She grabbed him by the ear and began to drag him away, the Kanto Crusader yelping in pain. "Nothing against you! This is just something I've always wanted to do!" As she did that, everybody laughed.

Shortly afterward, Serena felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back to see her mother sitting down next to her. She looked a little upset. But we quickly found out why… "Serena, dear, I think I owe you an apology…"

"You do?" she asked in surprise.

"Remember when we moved to Kalos?" she asked. "I told you we were being relocated because of my career?"

"Yeah? So?"

Grace took a breath before continuing. "Well…while that was true, that wasn't the main reason," she began. "We moved because of you and Ash… I noticed the way you were hanging out with him… the way you looked at him… and I was scared… scared because I thought you were going too fast." She then gestured at the ceremony. "But seeing all of this… it seems even the gods want you to be together… and I tried to get in the way of that."

The bride stared for a moment… then she smiled. "I think we've both been guilty of trying to run away."

Grace smiled, and the two girls embraced one another. But I guess she still felt bad for her. "Tell you what… it won't happen right away, but I think we should move back to Kanto," she offered.

"Is that a promise?" Serena teased.

But her mother meant it all the same. "Actually, yes, it is. Just let me know here you're ready, and I'll begin the process. I'll start my own Rhyhorn racing foundation in Kanto, form a new league, and create a new legacy. And you can stay with your true love."

The lot of us were shocked, especially Serena. She knew her mother well enough to know when she was serious. "Wow… Mom, that's more than generous of you! How can I ever thank you?"

"Just promise you won't disappear on me in the middle of the night."

"Fair deal," she replied with a giggle. "So, who wants a piece of cake?" And we all continued with the celebration.

The next morning, we decided to return to our journey. Cocoa was finally cleared from the Pokémon Center. She still had a small limp, but not enough to keep her in the wheelchair. Additionally, the two mothers decided it was time to take their leave. Grace had to host in an upcoming Rhyhorn race, and apparently, Delia had to return to her restaurant, the Pallet House.

Funny… I never knew she had a job…

Anyway, we all thanked Ramos for all he did and went our separate ways. Our next stop was the Lumiose City Gym, where Ash and I would face off against Clemont for our next Gym Badge. And the fastest route home was through the Lumiose Badlands, a desertous location just southeast of the Coumarine.

A portion of the way through, we decided to stop for a moment's rest. As most of us were drinking some water we packed in advance, Bonnie scoped out the area. "That bare ground goes out forever…" the latter commented.

'How boring can you get?' Squishy asked.

Meanwhile, Serena sat at Solsol's side, lightly brushing her fur. "I'm a little jealous of how great of friends you already are," I commented.

"Well, we have known each other for over a thousand years..." she replied.

Suddenly, they heard what at first sounded like coughing. We turned to the source. 'Are you unwell, Goomy?' Diancie asked.

"I don't think he's sick," Clemont commented. "Looks to me like he's trying to learn a new move."

Ash stroked the little one's head. "You can't go far on your own. How about some special training?" Goomy smiled and nodded in agreement. In no time at all, their training began, with Goomy facing off against Pikachu. "Let's start with some moves you already know… use Rain Dance."

Goomy focused its energy to create a small storm cloud over his opponent. Pikachu did not seem to mind when it happened. In fact, it looked like he enjoyed it. "Pikachuuu!"

Pikachu, use Quick Attack," Ash stated. The Mouse Pokémon charged at his opponent, striking him on the cheek. The Dragon-type was knocked over a few feet, and lost a little of his confidence. "Don't give up so easily, buddy. Pokémon get stronger by taking damage." The seemed to build it back up again.

Before anything else could occur, a shape appeared from behind a cactus that stood nearby. It was a pig-like creature with a large orb on its head. It bounced over to us weakly before it suddenly collapsed at Ash's feet.

"Whoa! Are you okay?" He asked as he picked it up.

"Brock! Look!" Bonnie cried out and pointed to Ash.

He came over with his first aid kit. "I'm on it!"

It took a bit of time, but we were able to revitalize our surprise guest, which Dexter then analyzed.

Spoink
The Bounce Pokemon
A Psychic-type
Motion is achieved by bouncing on its tail. Its psychic powers are amplified by the pearl on its head.

Cocoa knelt down at the Spoink. "What happened to you, little fella? And where did you come from?" To answer her, it grabbed her paw and tried to pull her in one direction. "Hey, whoa, where're you taking me?"

Serena checked her guidebook. "If I'm reading this correctly, there should be an oasis in that direction."

"That must be where Spoink came from," Misty commented. The rest of us agreed to follow Spoink and help however we could.

Serena's directional expertise was correct. Spoink did indeed lead to the oasis Serena mentioned. The area was lush in vegetation, from simple grass, to towering trees filled with berries.

As we made our way further in, Bonnie eyed the body of water beside us. "Look at that! It's bubbling up!" she commented.

"It must be a hot spring then," Misty explained. "It's when water from rainfalls builds up and eventually emerges from underground heat. That's why this area's so rich in plant life."

Then, Spoink caught our attention. He quietly hid behind some vegetation, and the rest of us followed its lead. There, we saw something on the other side of the spring. There were several other Spoink delivering food to one creature who could easily tower over them. One of the Spoink tripped over a rock, spilling its food all over the big one. They tried to apologize, but the big one was furious, and attacked them with a Shadow Ball.

Dexter gave us an analysis.

Grumpig
The Manipulate Pokémon
Spoink's evolved form
Grumpig can control opponents by using its three black pearls to magnify its psychic powers.

Our Spoink pointed to the Grumpig and then pointed to its injury. "Spoink! Spoink Spoink Spoink!"

"Spoink says he's the one who gave him those injuries," Cocoa translated.

'Looks like that's the least of it,' Squishy commented. 'He's slaving them to exhaustion.'

Ash gently patted Spoink's head. "Leave this to us, buddy..." He then rose from the bushes and approached. "Hey, you!" As he spoke, the rest of us emerged. "Whatever you think you're doing, stop now, and spare yourself some trouble!"

Grumpig sat up and smiled. "Grumpig! Grum Grumpig Pig!"

"What do you mean, 'You've been waiting for us'?" Cocoa asked.

A form of aura pulsed from the Grumpig's head and spread all around us. The surrounding Spoink, save ours, dropped the fruit and turned to us mindlessly. They were now all under Grumpig's control. They all started to attack us, while we all evaded to our best abilities. Our Spoink tried to get through to them, to no avail.

Pikachu jumped down, Electric-attack at the ready. But Ash stopped him. "Don't! They don't know what they're doing!"

"Let's get out of here!" Brock called out. "We can figure out a plan later!" The rest of us agreed and took off into the greenery, the Spoinks' attacks flying everywhere around us. Before long, Serena spotted a cave, which we all ran into for safety. We were safe for the moment…

...or so we thought. As we reached the back of the cave, a wall of iron bars fell down behind us. The sound of its clang was enough to make Serena jump into Ash's hold. We were trapped. We heard Grumpig laughing from the mouth of the cave. "Why are you doing this to us?!" asked Bonnie.

"Because we told him to," another female voice answered. At that instant, two humans dropped down next to the Grumpig.

"We've done what any evildoer would do!"
"We've built up a wall between us and you!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To denounce the evils of free-will thinkers!"
"To extend our reach to jailing Twerpish stinkers!"
"Jessie!"
"And James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare for a Grumpig fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!"
"Wobbuffet!"

"Not again..." Misty growled, more out of annoyance than anything else. "Let us out, Team Rock-head!"

"Now why would we do that?" Jessie asked. Before we could answer, they noticed something in our cave. As they eyed Ash and Serena's position, Jessie smirked slyly. "Oh, boys… it looks like we caught a couple of lovebirds in our cage."

James joined in the teasing. "Awww…. Do you loove her, Twerp? Do you looove her?"

But Ash was not phased. Instead... "You tell me..." Just then, he pulled her into what I later learned was called the Daring Dip kiss position. Serena was a little surprised, but soon returned the kiss. He stood her back upright and smiled.

Jessie and James were surprised. Ash really took the wind out of their sails. Meowth on the other hand looked rather pleased with them. I did not know why until later.

Jessie cleared her throat. "Anyway… we might as well spill our beans," she began. "After our most recent setback, we decided to beat you across the Lumiose Badlands. About halfway there, we found this oasis, complete with water and lush vegetation and Spoink galore."

"Outside the oasis," James interjected, "we found a famished Grumpig in search of a meal. So we made a deal - we showed Grumpig to the oasis for a feast, and in turn, he would deal with the Spoink for us. And that's how we got our hands on ample food and water. Genius, right?"

"Then, as if we weren't lucky enough," Jessie concluded, "we realized you Twerps would be coming our way soon enough. So we asked Grumpig to deal with you while we set up the trap. Now, hand over your Pikachu. Do the right thing."

"And how, pray tell, is that the right thing?" Ash asked.

"Here's how… Grumpig, Psywave!" James commanded. The Grumpig turned around and fired the attack, plowing away at the surrounding Spoink.

"What're you doing?!" I asked.

"It's obvious," Jessie answered. "Every time you refuse, the Spoink pay the price."

"That's low, you cowards!" Brock growled.

Jessie laughed. "Being called a coward is an honor in our book, so honor us all you like."

"Let's try that again, shall we?" Meowth asked.

"Grumping, Shadow Ball at the ready," James stated. Grumpig charged the attack, ready to strike.

Ash snarled. But seeing no alternative… "Fine…" Ash kneeled to his partner. "Sorry, buddy. For now, we have to do what they say, but I promise, I will get you out of this…" Pikachu nodded in understanding.

As Grumpig discharged the track, James came over and unlocked a small door by our feet. "Nice and quiet, Pika-chump!" He demanded. Jessie opened a smaller cage for their captive.

About halfway there, Chespin popped out of his Pokeball and started to follow. "Chespin! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?" Chespin looked back to his trainer and winked. Clemont was surprised, but he realized Chespin had an idea, so he decided to let it slide.

As the two Pokémon were locked away, Team Rocket turned their attention to the Grumpig. "Keep an eye on them for a little bit," Jessie instructed. "We're gonna prep the balloon for departure, and then this joint is all yours." And they departed to do just that.

*Goomy's POV*

Meanwhile, Grumpig decided to keep himself entertained. With his psychic powers, he commanded the surrounding Spoink to start collecting berries for him, while he laid down to take a nap. When he was fast asleep, we noticed Grumpig had left the key out in the open.

"Now's our chance…" Brianna commented quietly. Squishy, Dedenne and I gathered together. "You three are the only ones who can fit past these bars. We need you to retrieve the key. Got it?"

(Roger!) We quietly slipped out and over behind Grumpig. Dedenne jumped up and snagged the key…

…only for Grumpig to grab him by the tail. (Nice try, tiny!) He threw him back into the cave. Dedenne hit the floor but quickly got back up.

"Dedenne, use Nuzzle!" Bonnie called. Dedenne rubbed his cheeks and threw himself into Grumpig, electrocuting him.

While still in shock, Grumpig punched Dedenne into the floor. (You little-!) He fired a Shadow Ball at him, landing a direct hit.

As the two battled, I looked back at the others. I saw Ash summon his Frogadier and have him fire Water Pulses at the wall. It looked like they were trying to weaken the wall around the bars, so they would fall out.

"Thunder Shock, let's go!" Dedenne fired another attack at Grumpig. But he was still standing.

Grumpig fired Psywave and Hidden Power, in that order. In doing so, Dedenne was slammed into the wall. The little one fell limply to the floor.

(YOU ARE, ALL OF YOU ARE BENEATH ME!) Grumpig snarled. (I king of this place, you dull creature! I take what I want, and nobody can tell me otherwise!)

Those words sickened me. I was reminded of what happened that drove Diancie and I away from our home. Those mongrels they call Team Flare had the exact same personality. Something changed inside me at the oasis. Something snapped. (NO! NOT AGAIN! I WON'T LET SOME EGO-DRIVEN JERK HAVE HIS WAY!) I jumped at Grumpig and bit his ear, rifling him up in pain.

Grumpig shook me off and turned my way. (So, you defy me as well, do you?) Grumpig charged a Psywave for me.

"Goomy! Use Bide!" Ash called out to me. I toughened myself up and took the oncoming attack, as well as a Hidden Power he fired next. With that, my body glowed red and I fired a white beam at the Grumpig from my body. I was especially pleased, since Bide returns double the damage he gave me.

He was still standing, though a little shaken. (Oh, yeah?! I'll flick you away like a fat booger!) I used Bide once again, taking more damage. I fired my attack once again, but he was able to dodge.

(One more attack should do you in!) Grumpig fired another one…

…but something else jumped in my way. I saw that Squishy had transformed into his larger quadruped form. 'Stay behind me, Goomy!' He told me. 'I'll protect you!'

(No!) I argued. (I'm done being protected! This time, I can fight! And I WILL!) As I was speaking, my body began to glow. I felt myself changing in front of everyone. I suddenly felt taller, and my arms felt weird.

Wait… Arms? I had arms?!

"Goomy evolved!" Bonnie cheered. Dexter scanned me.

Sliggoo
Goomy's evolved form
Its four horns function as a highly sensitive radar system, picking up many different scents and noises.

"That's awesome, Goomy-!" Ash shouted proudly, but he quickly corrected himself. "I mean… Sliggo."

(You may have evolved, but I'm still gonna win!) Grumpig growled. He fired a Hidden Power attack at me, but I dodged it by jumping and sticking to the cave ceiling.

This time, I was ready to retaliate. Light blue waves of energy start swirling around me. I then fired a light blue beam of energy from my mouth at the Grumpig. The force of the attack sent the tyrant flying out of the cave and across the oasis. In the process, the surrounding Spoink were released from their trance.

"That was Dragon Breath!" Clemont stated. "Looks like Sliggoo learned a new move when it evolved."

Better was to follow. The whole time we were dealing with Grumpig, Chespin was picking at the lock with his vines. Chespin had finished unlocking his cage, and setting himself and Pikachu free. At the same time, Frogadier smashed the weak spot on the cave and knocked the iron bars down. As everyone reunited with their partners, mine made the executive decision to take Team Rocket off, and the rest of us agreed.

*Brianna's POV*

It was not hard to find Team Rocket. We could hear their voices from across the lake. It seemed that Grumpig landed in their presence. I could hear some parts of the conversation.

"Grumpig! Grum Grumpug!" he wailed.

"Hold on! You want us to help you out?" Meowth translated.

"No thanks," Jessie replied. "Our business of using you is done. You're on your own with whatever scraps we left you with."

"There you are!" Ash called out, catching their attention. "You're gonna pay for abusing this oasis!"

They were surprised. "How did they escape?!" James asked. "And is that the Twerp's Goomy over there?"

"No matter!" Jessie said as she released her partner. "Pumpkaboo! Send them running with Dark Pulse!"

"You too, Inkay! Use Psybeam!" James did the same. The two Pokemon fired their attacks, but Sliggoo jumped out of the way.

"Use Dragon Breath!" Ash told his partner. Sliggoo charged the attack.

"One more time!/Deflect it back!" Team Rocket ordered. The three attacks clashed, countering one another.

"Cocoa/Pikachu, Double Thunderbolt!" Ash and I called. Our partners fired off a storm, and when it landed, Team Rocket was launched through their balloon and out of the oasis.

"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN…!"

The surrounding Spoink cheered as the balloon deflated. The oasis was saved.

Grumpig groggily got up and noticed he was completely surrounded. Everybody glared at him angrily. Seeing no way out, Grumpig began to show remorse, and quickly passed out the fruit to the group.

"Looks like Grumpig's sorry…" Brock commented.

"Forgive and forget," Cocoa added in Grumpig's favor.

"Stop stealing, promise?" Bonnie asked.

Grumpig nodded compliantly. As he did, the Spoink who led us here came to him, offering some fruit as a token of his forgiveness. He took the gift rather well.

As the other Spoink came to comfort the Grumpig, Ash knelt down to his newly evolved friend. "Sliggoo, I'm so proud of what you accomplished today," he told him. "Let's keep getting stronger together…" and Sliggoo nodded with pleasure.

An oasis is often described as a place of comfort amidst difficulties… something that provides refuge, relief, or pleasant contrast to everyone who passes, not just to one alone. I suppose Grumpig learned that the hard way. But such a lesson allowed our friend Sliggoo to evolve, proving that people and Pokémon grow stronger, faster, together. After a brief rest and replenishment of our personal reservoirs, our journey to Lumiose City would continue…

Author's Note: For anyone wondering about the lyrics in the opening, they are from the song, "Je Te Choisis," literally meaning, "I Choose You." A friendly recommendation would be to look up the term 'je te choisis pokemon,' so you can follow along in the opening.