Chapter 10: Think we should be concerned about the fact that she apparently has a collection of weapons?
At the rescue team HQ, a certain Elgyem was quietly checking the items she had gathered, before heading inside the room where Kala the Abra was enjoying her nap. However, contrary to what the Abra may have had assumed, she wasn't finished with today's work. Elina lightly shook the Abra's shoulder, until Kala drowsily sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"What is it now…?" the Abra mumbled groggily, before noticing Elina. "Oh, hi there… Weren't you the Elgyem who came in here last night…?"
Elina just waved in response.
"So… What may I do for you…?" Kala asked.
Elina floated over to the large map painted on the wall, and pointed her hand to a certain forest on the map.
"Harmony Forest again…?" Kala asked, to which Elina nodded in response. "Okay, I guess… Seems to be a popular place to explore all of a sudden…"
Sera, Blitz and Chiaki were making their way through one of the five floor mini mystery dungeons within the Harmony Forest, which according to Haru the Simisage would lead towards the Pansear village. More of the vines could be seen inside the dungeon, some proving to be a bit of an obstacle due to blocking off some of the paths. It was a little hard to believe these were all connected to the same plant, which was definitely not something that belonged in the forest. And the rescue team still hadn't come any closer to finding the crystal which was supposed to be hidden somewhere within the forest.
"Okay, we're almost through this dungeon," Sera said, looking around. "And once we get out, we just have to keep walking straight ahead until we reach the Pansear village, right?"
"Yes, that is what Haru said," Blitz replied.
"What do you guys think the other two tribe leaders are like?" Chiaki asked.
"I'm sure they're as nice as Haru," Sera replied. "I just hope they don't talk as much as him…"
"I just hope these guys built their villages on the ground…" Blitz commented.
"Well, we're going to find out very soon," Sera said, pointing to the stairs.
The three of them walked up the stairs one by one, exiting the mini dungeon and entering another part of the forest. In the distance, they spotted what appeared to be several small stone huts built in a fairly open area.
"That must be the Pansear village," Chiaki said.
"Guess they must've built it over there to reduce the risk of accidentally burning the forest down," Blitz commented.
"Well, let's go see them." Sera said.
The three of them began walking towards the village, when Blitz suddenly heard the sounds of leaves rustling in the bushes nearby. He also caught a brief glimpse of something with red fur hiding within the bushes. He cautiously crept up the bushes to investigate, carefully pushing part of it aside with his paw, revealing a trio of red and yellow monkeys with a fire shaped tuft on their heads.
"We've been spotted!" one of them said, before it and the other two Pansear ducked down and covered their ears.
"Hey, relax," Blitz said. "We're not going to hurt you."
"You three must be from the Pansear tribe, right?" Sera asked. "The leader of the Pansage tribe sent us here."
"What?" one of the Pansear said and took his hands off his ears. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"
"The leader of the Pansage tribe sent us here," Sera explained. "He wants the leader of your tribe and the Panpour tribe to help with the plant problem this forest is having."
"Ah, Haru sent you!" the Pansear responded, excitedly clapping his hands.
"And he wants help with the plant problem?" one of the other two Pansear asked, scratching her head. "Does that mean they've found a way to get rid of it?"
"Ooh, we can take you to our leader!" the third one said, jumping up and down in excitement.
The trio of Pansear ran ahead of the rescue team, leading the way into the village. While walking through the village to where the tribe leader was, the group saw several Pansear doing their jobs within the village. Some Pansear were busy forging weapons, others were using berries they had received from the Pansage tribe to make medicines.
The Pansear trio explained more about how each of the three tribes worked together, each providing something different. The Pansage were in charge of berries, the Pansear tribe made weapons and medicines, and the Panpour tribe was in charge of providing the tribes with fresh water.
"Our tribes work pretty well together," one of the Pansear commented. "So, it is very frustrating for us to not be able to reach each other easily because our fastest, safest travel routes are blocked off!"
"Yeah, we understand," Blitz responded.
"So, what can you tell us about your tribe leader?" Sera asked.
"Ooh, he's a good leader," one of the Pansear responded. "He's very nice."
"He tends to have us make weapons just so he can give those to Mizu, the leader of the Panpour tribe," one of the other two Pansear commented, snickering a little. "We think he has a crush on her."
"Luckily he isn't the kind of guy who often gets distracted from his job while thinking about his crush," the third one added.
The six Pokémon walked up to where a Pokémon looking like a bigger Pansear with a fire-shaped tail and a few fire shaped tufts of hair on his head was standing, looking a bit concerned.
"I sure hope we find a way to get rid of all those vines before they spread any further," the Simisear said, holding a hand to his chin in a thoughtful way. "This can't be good for any of the Pokémon living in the forest."
"Kojin!" one of the Pansear called out. "Haru sent this rescue team to find you!"
"Oh, is that so?" the Simisear responded, walking over and giving the rescue team a friendly smile. "Welcome, rescue team."
"Hi," Sera replied, waving her paw.
"So, what brings you to our village?" Kojin asked. "Haru had a favor to ask of me?"
"Pretty much," Sera responded. "He's working on a way to get rid of the plant problem, and he wants the help of you, the Panpour tribe leader and a few members of your tribes to help him with it."
"Ah, he's working on a solution?" Kojin asked. "Excellent! Of course I will do all I can to help!"
"All right," Blitz said. "You just have to head over to the center of the forest with some of the Pansear, as well as tell us how we can get to the Panpour tribe."
"Of course," Kojin responded, pointing out a direction to them. "There may be some vines blocking off some paths, but if you can get past those, there's a mini dungeon over in that direction."
"And that leads to the Panpour tribe's village?" Chiaki asked.
"Yes," Kojin responded. "The Panpour village is built close to a big lake, a few of the buildings floating on the lake itself."
"Okay, got it," Sera replied. "Is there anything else?"
"Well, perhaps you could do me a favor?" Kojin asked, picking up a spear. "Could you deliver this to the leader of the Panpour tribe?"
Sera and her teammates just stared at Kojin for a moment.
"Actually, I think I'll just deliver it to her in person!" Kojin said, and happily headed off with a few Pansear, taking the spear with him. "See you guys later!"
Kojin and the Pansear headed off towards the center of the forest, hoping the vines wouldn't be too big an obstacle for them. The rescue team had to head off as well, and find the Panpour village. First they would have to find that mini-dungeon Kojin brought up.
"So, what do you think the Panpour tribe leader is like?" Chiaki asked.
"I don't know…" Blitz replied. "Think we should be concerned about the fact that she apparently has a collection of weapons?"
"Nah, I'm sure there's nothing to be afraid of," Sera responded, keeping an eye out for the entrance to the mini-dungeon as they walked.
The rescue team wandered around for a while, still looking for the entrance to the mini-dungeon. Sera was starting to feel hungry, though, and was getting a bit tired from all the walking. She looked over her shoulder at her two teammates, but wasn't sure whether or not they were getting tired as well. Chiaki was still as cheerful as normal; while Blitz had a thoughtful looked on his face, occasionally glancing around at vines clinging to trees and such. Eventually, she just had to stop and sit down on the grass.
"Whew, does anyone else need a short break?" Sera asked.
"Sure," Blitz responded, sitting down. "I'm guessing the dungeon entrance shouldn't be too far away from here."
"The Harmony Forest sure is big," Chiaki said. "If it has been able to spread to cover as much of the forest in vines after just a few days, I wonder what would happen if it was just allowed to keep spreading…"
"Hey, let's not think about that, okay?" Sera responded, getting two apples out of the treasure bag and giving them to her teammates before taking out a third apple for herself. "We're going to help those monkeys solve this mess, and then they'll help us find the crystal!"
"Of course," Chiaki said, taking a bite out of his apple. "I have no doubt we'll succeed!"
"I don't know…" Blitz responded, glancing around nervously at some vines. "Chiaki has a point about the plant having covered a lot of the forest in just a few days… What if that's not the only thing that plant is capable of?"
"Blitz, it's a plant we're talking about here," Sera replied, taking a few bites out of her apple. "It's not like it can actually fight back, or anything."
"Hey, is that the entrance to the dungeon we were looking for?" Chiaki asked, pointing to a mystery dungeon entrance with several vines blocking it.
"Huh, how'd I not notice that?" Sera said, before looking over at Blitz. "Well, you know what to do."
"I'm on it," Blitz replied, finishing eating his apple before walking up to deal with the vines blocking the entrance.
A few minutes later, after freezing the vines with Ice Fang and shattering them, the rescue team began exploring the mini dungeon. Sera confidently led the team, imagining how proud her family and the Pokémon of Fenix Town would be once she returned with one of the missing crystals. She would earn the respect of all the other rescue teams in town, and no one would treat her like a little kid anymore.
Blitz on the other hand, felt nervous for several reasons. Even if Sera said there was no reason to worry, he still couldn't help but worry that one of those vines was going to suddenly grab him and carry him away. He also worried about what would happen once they returned to Fenix Town with the crystal.
They had told Stella they would tell the other rescue teams about the location of the crystal, but they hadn't. Would Stella be mad at them for not having done something they had said they would do for her? Not to mention that the possibility of the other rescue teams getting mad for withholding such important information was still a major concern of his.
And Chiaki was just happy to be on an adventure and to have made some new friends from the Pansage and Pansear tribe, and felt excited about getting to the Panpour tribe so they could make even more new friends. He then thought about Elina, hoping she wasn't feeling too bad about not getting to come along to Harmony Forest with them.
Unbeknownst to Chiaki and his teammates, Elina was currently making her way through the dungeon leading into Harmony Forest. After Chiaki had talked to her last night and told her about the location of the crystal, she had secretly gone off to Harmony Forest after Chiaki went home to sleep. However, because of the vines and because it was dark at the time, she hadn't gotten very far. Things seemed to be going better this time, and hopefully she would catch up to Chiaki and the others soon. She had to be careful since there were wild Pokémon around, though. Especially the bug types, that had a type advantage against her.
She wasn't the bravest or strongest of Pokémon, but there was something she had to do...
The rescue team managed to get through the last floor of the mini dungeon, and began looking around for the lake where the Panpour village was supposed to be. They hadn't gotten very far, when they suddenly heard a cry for help!
"What was that!?" Sera exclaimed, looking around for the source of the scream.
"It came from over there!" Blitz said, and started running in the direction the scream came from. "We have to hurry!"
Chiaki and Sera quickly went after Blitz, and soon saw a blue and yellow monkey with a blue tuft on its head that had been tied to a tree by some of the vines. Two other Panpour were pulling on the vine, trying to free their friend. However, the two of them weren't strong enough to pull the vines off.
"Stupid plant!" one of the two Panpour said. "Release our friend!"
"Should one of us head back to the village and find Mizu?" the other one asked, before noticing the three Pokémon moving in their direction. "Is that a rescue team?"
Blitz didn't even hesitate to run up to, and use his Ice Fang to freeze part of the vine. As it froze, the part of the vine which had been holding the Panpour trapped began to loosen its grip.
"Ooh, I can move!" the trapped Panpour exclaimed, and tried to free herself now that the vines holding her had loosened up a bit.
"Grab our hands!" one of the other two Panpour said, holding out her hand for the one held by the vines to grab.
"We can probably pull you out now!" the other one said, also holding his hands out.
The Panpour managed to get her arms loose from the plant's grip, and grabbed onto the hands of her comrades. It didn't take long before the two Panpour successfully helped their friend free herself.
"I'm free!" the Panpour exclaimed, before running over and hugging Blitz. "You're my hero!"
Blitz was clearly surprised at the sudden hug, and didn't even have the time to figure out how to respond before the other two Panpour suddenly ran up and hugged him as well.
"Thanks for loosening those vines for us!" one of the Panpour said.
"Yeah, that really helped a lot," the other one replied.
"Y-You're welcome…" Blitz responded, somewhat flustered at this.
"Is there anything we can do repay you?" asked the Panpour that had been rescued.
"Oh, um… My friends and I kind of need to get to your village and see the leader of your tribe…" Blitz responded, rubbing his forelegs together.
"No problem! We can guide you there!" the Panpour replied. "It's not far from here! So, let's go!"
The Panpour village had wooden huts similar to the Pansage village in it, with some of them even being placed upon floating platforms on the lake itself. One on the floating platforms on the lake, the tribe leader, resembling a bigger Panpour with dreadlocks, was currently polishing a blade. The Simipour was hoping to find a way to use it to get rid of those vines that was bothering the Pokémon living in the forest.
She soon heard the sounds of a trio of Panpour, as well as three other Pokémon making their way across a bridge leading to the platform she was on.
"Mizu!" one of the Panpour called out. "This rescue team here wishes to speak to you!"
"A rescue team, huh?" Mizu inquired, taking a look at the three Pokémon the Panpour had brought. "Hmm… I see from your badge that you're a bronze rank team?"
"Is that a problem?" Sera asked, sounding a bit annoyed. "I'll have you know we can handle stuff just as well as any other rescue team!"
"Hey, relax," Mizu replied, chuckling. "I'm not saying we don't want your help."
"You know why we're here?" Blitz asked.
"I assume it has something to do with getting rid of that huge plant that has been getting in everyone's way?" Mizu responded.
"That's right!" Chiaki said. "Haru and Kojin sent us to find you!"
"Ah, you've already spoken to the other two tribe leaders?" Mizu asked. "This is sounding promising."
"The main part of the plant is located in the center of the forest," Blitz explained. "Haru thinks we can get rid of it if we can destroy the roots."
"Ooh, sounds good!" Mizu said, holding up the blade she had been polishing. "Sounds like the perfect job for this here!"
Blitz and Sera backed away a little as the Simipour picked up the weapon, while the Panpour just shyly covered their eyes and giggled.
"Is that a sword?" Chiaki asked, curious about the weapon.
"Oh, do you like it?" Mizu responded. "The blade is a Skarmory feather. I got it one day when I was out exploring, and came across a Skarmory who had one its wings stuck under a rock. I felt bad for the metal bird, so I helped him out."
"Ooh, really?" Chiaki asked.
"Yes," Mizu replied, nodding. "One of his feathers came off in the process, though, so he let me keep it as a reward for saving him."
"That's awesome!" Chiaki responded.
"Oh, it was no big deal," Mizu replied. "Anyways, you were saying something about destroying the roots?"
"Yeah," Blitz responded, nodding his head. "On our way into the forest, we discovered that the plants' weakness seems to be ice."
"Is that it?" Mizu asked. "How come I didn't think of that? I even know an ice type attack I could've used against it!"
"Well, you can use your ice attack all you want when we destroy that plant!" Sera responded.
"Right," Mizu replied, picking up her Skarmory feather blade. "Let's go!"
Several minutes later, the rescue team, Mizu and a few of the Panpour finally made it to the center of the forest where Haru, Kojin and a few Pansage and Pansear had already gathered.
"All right, you made it!" Haru said, grinning at the rescue team.
"Hi Mizu!" Kojin said, holding up the spear. "I brought you a new spear!"
"Ooh, that nice spear is for me?" Mizu asked, smiling at the Simisear. "Thank you, Kojin! You always give me the best gifts!"
Kojin smiled and blushed at the Simipour, although the blushing wasn't visible through his fur.
"So, now that everyone is here, it is time to deal with this plant!" Haru said. "We need to destroy the roots, but to do that; we first need to be able to reach the roots, right?"
"Right," Mizu responded. "Better start digging."
And so, the rescue team, the tribe leaders and the Pansage, Pansear and Panpour all began digging near the plant in hopes of reaching down to the roots. However, this task wasn't going to be as simple as they had hoped. While helping the others dig, Blitz suddenly heard a strange sound from somewhere above them. Looking up, he saw that the vines growing out of the top of the strange plant had started moving around, and one of them was about to attack Sera.
"Sera! Watch out!" Blitz shouted, before pushing his teammate out of the way before the vine could strike her.
"Whoa, what was that!?" Sera asked, seeing the vine that nearly hit her.
The rest of the Pokémon present had also noticed the moving vines now, and quickly moved out of the way as more of them attempted to strike them.
"Well, this is new," Mizu commented, while slicing off one of the vines with her blade. "Must have realized what we were doing, and is trying to defend itself."
"It can do that!?" Haru exclaimed.
"Apparently," Mizu replied casually, while slicing up more vines, only for more vines to grow back out. "… A little help here would be nice."
"Don't worry, Mizu!" Kojin said, trying to use the spear he had brought for her to cut up some of the vines. "I'll help you!"
"I should help too," Haru commented, looking up at the plant thoughtfully. "But how should I go about it?"
"You said you know a lot of attacks, right?" Chiaki asked. "Surely there must be at least one of those attacks you can use for this?"
"Oh, of course!" Haru responded, clenching his fist. "My Shadow Claw attack will surely be able to tear these vines apart!"
A shadowy aura surrounded the Simisage's clenched fist, and Haru then started slashing at the vines with the dark energies surroundings his hands. Working together, the three tribe leaders and the other members of their tribes cut their way through several vines. However, not long after being cut, the vines would grow back out.
"We should help them!" Chiaki said, watching the monkeys try to cut through the vines.
"How are we supposed to do that?" Sera asked. "Those vines just keep growing back out, and Blitz is the only one of us three who actually knows some attacks that would be effective against that thing!"
"If only we could reach the roots…" Blitz said, while rubbing the yellow rings on his forelegs together. "But to get to the roots, we must defeat the plant, and we can't do that unless we get to the roots..."
"So, we need another way to reach the roots…" Chiaki muttered, trying to think of a possible way to get down to the roots. His train of thought didn't get very far before he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see a certain Elgyem having arrived. "Elina?"
"Elina is here?" Sera asked, tilting her head. "When did she get here?"
Elina looked up at the plant, and the elemental monkeys currently fighting it.
"Did you come all the way out here to help us?" Chiaki asked, putting a paw on Elina's shoulder. "While that's really nice of you, I already told you that you didn't have to go through all this trouble."
"But since you're here, maybe you could help us figure out what to do with that giant plant thing-y?" Sera asked. "We could really use some ideas, here."
Elina touched a hand to her chin in a thoughtful way, while looking up at the plant and trying to think of a way to help the rescue team destroy it. It only took a few seconds before an idea popped into her head. She reached into the bag she had brought along, and pulled out an orb.
"Ooh, what's that?" Chiaki asked, staring curiously at the blue sphere.
"I think it's a Mobile Orb," Blitz said, examining the orb closely. "It allows the user to walk right through walls, like certain ghost type Pokémon are capable of."
"Cool!" Chiaki responded.
"What exactly are we supposed to do with it, though?" Sera asked.
The rescue team glanced over at the battle between the plant and the monkeys, both sides still seeming evenly matched the elemental monkeys tearing the vines of and the plant growing the vines back out.
"Oh, for the love of Virizion!" Haru exclaimed. "What does it take to beat this thing?"
"I don't know," Mizu replied, slicing off another vine and quickly using Ice Beam to freeze the part of the plant before it could grow back to slow it down a bit. "But I hope we think of something before I run out of energy for my Ice Beam attack!"
Elina placed the orb on the ground, pointing to the plant. The rescue team exchanged glances, before Chiaki realized what it was Elina suggesting.
"Oh, you think we can use this orb to get to the roots?" Chiaki asked, to which Elina nodded in response.
"Hey, that's a pretty good idea!" Sera responded, wagging her tail. "Blitz, you ready to destroy those roots?"
"Huh?" Blitz asked. "You want me to use the orb?"
"Didn't you hear me earlier when I said you were the only one who knew an attack that would be effective against this plant?" Sera responded.
"She's right, you know," Chiaki said. "You have to be the one to destroy those roots!"
"I-I don't know if I can…" Blitz responded, rubbing his forelegs together. "And besides, how am I even supposed to get close enough without being attacked by that thing?"
"Leave that to us," Sera said, winking at her teammate. "We'll keep it busy."
Blitz glanced down at the blue orb on the ground in front of him, and then looked up at his two teammates and Elina, as well as the elemental monkeys that were still trying to fight the plant. It looked like the three tribe leaders were starting to get tired, but they weren't going to give up. And if they weren't going to give up, Blitz knew he also had to do what had to be done to destroy the giant plant.
Blitz took a deep breath, before confidently pressing his paw onto the orb, activating it. The orb emitted a light which enveloped Blitz's body, the glow briefly making him look transparent before the light faded.
"Okay, I'm ready," Blitz said, looking up at the plant. "You guys just need to keep it distracted so I can get to it."
"We're on it!" Sera responded, running up the plant along with Chiaki and Elina. "Hey, Haru!"
"What is it?" Haru asked, while still slashing his way through the vines.
"We have a plan for how to get to the roots, but we need to keep the plant distracted," Sera replied. "Can you and the other tribe leaders keep it busy for a little longer?"
"Well, it's certainly not a problem for me!" Haru responded, grinning.
"I can keep fighting too," Mizu said, using her Ice Beam to freeze over parts of the plant. "I'm not sure how many Ice Beam attacks I have the energy left for, though."
"I should still have enough energy left to handle this," Kojin said, trying his best to keep up with Haru and Mizu.
"All right, let's do this!" Sera said, as she, Chiaki and Elina joined the monkeys in keeping the plant busy.
The Pokémon dealing with the plant worked together to keep the plant busy fighting them, while trying to make a big enough opening for Blitz to reach the plant. Blitz stayed close to the ground, slowly creeping up on the plant. With the path cleared of vines for him, he pounced at the plant. Thanks to the effects of the Mobile Orb, the young Shinx soon disappeared into the plant.
Blitz blinked a few times, realizing he was now inside of the plant. Making his body glow so he could see more clearly, he was surprised to see that the plant looked even stranger on the inside than it did on the outside. It vaguely resembled a green tunnel, with an unusual dark energy travelling through plant-like veins.
"What… is this thing?" Blitz said, staring at the strange sight around him. "I better hurry up and get to the roots…"
Blitz looked down at the ground, wondering if he could really get to the roots from there. He had to at least give it a try, and pressed his paw against the ground until it phased right through it. He pulled his paw back, before pressing it against the ground and letting it phase through again. At least now he knew he could indeed go through the floor, but how was he supposed to get his whole body through?
He thought about it for a moment, before an idea popped into his head. He took a few steps back, before jumping and diving right through the ground. Blitz now found himself floating underground, with the plant right above him.
"Whoa…" Blitz said, surprised at finding himself remaining still rather than falling or sinking further down.
Blitz wondered how he was supposed to move further down, and decided to experiment a little by flailing his paws around. Managing accidentally to turn himself upside-down, Blitz slowly started getting an idea about how to move around in his current position. He began moving further down toward the roots, as if swimming. As he made his way down, he briefly spotted something shiny out the corner of his eye. He made his way down to one of the roots, and made his fangs glow with an icy glow before biting down on it…
Meanwhile, in the forest above, the other Pokémon were still fighting against the plant. Elina was proving to be a good distraction as she was able to float around and hit the vines from a distance with multicolored beams from her eyes. The Psybeam attacks didn't do much to the plant itself, but did keep it distracted so that one of the tribe leaders could jump in and slice the vine off.
"You think Blitz is doing okay?" Chiaki asked, jumping across the vines.
"I hope so…" Sera replied, seeming a bit concerned. "I thought we would've seen some results by now…"
They continued fighting the plant, until the vines on the plant abruptly started breaking off and falling to the ground. It didn't take long for the main part of the plant to begin breaking down as well. The Pokémon that had been climbing or jumping on the vines quickly made their way back to the ground, except Chiaki who lost his balance, but was caught by Elina before he hit the ground.
"It's falling apart!" one of the Pansage shouted.
"The Shinx must've successfully destroyed the roots!" one of the Pansear said, grinning as the main part of the plant collapsed and started dissolving.
"I knew he could do it!" one of the Panpour said, clapping her hands.
A few moments later a blue paw emerged from the ground, reaching for something to grab onto so he could pull himself up. Chiaki and Sera quickly ran over to help their teammate up.
"Blitz, you did it!" Sera said, hugging the Shinx.
"You're so awesome!" Chiaki shouted, joining the hug between his teammates. "What was it like down there, and inside that plant thing?"
"Guys, calm down!" Blitz exclaimed. "I-I only just got back up!"
In the meantime, Elina was hovering above the remains of the plant, and seemed fascinated by something green and sparkly that was sticking out of the ground where the plant had been. The tribe leaders noticed Elina examining the mysterious object, and decided to go investigate.
"What's that?" Kojin asked, tilting his head slightly.
"I don't have a clue," Mizu responded.
"Well, don't just stand there, then!" Haru said. "Let's dig it up!"
The tribe leaders called over the Pansage, Pansear and Panpour, who immediately started digging up the mysterious shiny object. Once they had dug it up, Kojin and Mizu were surprised to see what it was, while Elina seemed delighted.
"Hey, rescue team!" Haru said, motioning for the rescue team to come see what they had found. "I think we just found what you came here for!"
Sera, Blitz and Chiaki walked up, and saw that the elemental monkeys had indeed just dug up the crystal they had come to Harmony Forest to find. Chiaki stared in awe at the green crystal that had lain hidden under the giant plant.
"So, this is… an Axis Tower crystal?" Chiaki asked, reaching out to touch the crystal. As he touched it, he briefly felt an odd sensation of energy flowing through his body, while Elina watched him out of the corner of her eye.
"We did it… We really did it!" Sera exclaimed, ears perking up in excitement. "We really, really did it!"
"Yeah… I guess we did!" Blitz responded, a smile crossing his face.
"Well, on behalf of the Pokémon of Harmony Forest, we would like to thank the four of you for helping us get rid of that plant," Haru said, grinning. "And as promised, we helped you get that crystal you were looking for."
"No problem, Haru," Sera responded, walking up and letting the Simisage shake her paw. "And thanks for all your help, as well, all of you."
"Hey, it was the least we could do," Mizu responded.
"Thanks to you guys, we'll be able to easily get to and from our tribes again," Kojin said, putting his arm around Mizu's shoulders. "And we no longer have to worry about that plant consuming our forest."
"Well, I guess you guys should head back home with that crystal now, and find somewhere safe to put it so it doesn't go missing again before it can be returned to the tower," Haru said.
"Put it somewhere safe, huh?" Sera responded, looking over at her teammates. "You guys got any ideas?"
All three members of the rescue team thought about for a few moments, before Blitz spoke up:
"I think I know of a good place…"
Sera, Blitz, Chiaki and Elina returned to Fenix Town, Elina deciding to separate from the group before they reached Stella's house. As Elina prepared to leave, Chiaki ran up to her and gave her a hug.
"Thanks for helping us out today," Chiaki said, smiling at the Elgyem. "If you hadn't had a Mobile Orb with you, I'm not sure how we would've destroyed those roots!"
Elina returned the hug, before floating away, waving good-bye at the rescue team as she left. The rescue team then continued on their way to Stella's house.
Once at Stella's house, the rescue team presented the Gothitelle with the green crystal, and told her the whole story about what had happened at Harmony Forest. Stella just listened to what the three of them had to say with an unreadable look on her face, occasionally asking a few questions.
"We thought you might be the best Pokémon to look after the crystal for us," Sera explained, before giggling a little and wagging her tail. "You should've seen the looks on some of the rescue teams we passed by on the way back to town when they saw us with it!"
"So, that's one of the eight crystals?" Bow asked, staring in awe at the crystal. "It's so pretty…"
"Well, I will certainly make sure the crystal you brought back is kept safe," Stella said, seeming to have something on her mind. "That plant… Is there anything else you can tell me about it?"
"Huh?" Sera responded. "I can't think of anything we haven't already told you… but Blitz did bring back a sample of what was left of it."
"Do you want to take a look at it?" Blitz asked.
"Yes, I would very much like to see it," Stella replied.
Sera found the plant sample in the treasure bag, and gave it to Stella.
"You can keep it if you want…" Blitz said, rubbing his forelegs together. "We probably don't have much use for it, anyways…"
"Thank you," Stella responded absent-mindedly, examining the sample.
"Is something wrong?" Chiaki asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Oh, nothing you need to be concerned about," Stella responded. "You three should probably head home now, I have work to do."
"… If you say so," Sera replied. "Well, bye for now."
"Bye Stella! Bye Bow!" Chiaki said, waving to the two as he walked out the door.
"See you later," Blitz said, before following his teammates out the door.
Bow felt a bit concerned by the way her mother was acting, and could tell that something was clearly worrying the Gothitelle.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Bow asked.
"I'm sensing residue of a strange dark power from this sample…" Stella said, using her psychic powers to get a deeper look into the plant sample. "It would take some powerful dark magic to create such a plant with properties like that…"
"What do you mean?" Bow asked, unsure of what her mother was talking about.
"It's almost like… but… that can't be possible…" Stella muttered. "Or…? Could it really be...?"
"What's not possible?" Bow asked. "What do you think it is?"
"… Bow, can you go look for Santos?" Stella said.
"You mean that Delibird that delivers our mail?" Bow asked.
"Yes, I need to have a letter sent to a friend of mine," Stella responded. "And I need to have it done as soon as possible."
"Oh, okay," Bow said, heading outside. "I'll be back as soon as I find him!"
"Thanks, sweetie," Stella responded, smiling at her daughter.
However, the smile faded fast, and Stella quickly used her telekinesis to move the materials she needed to write a letter to her desk. She took a quill in her hand, dipped it in the vial of Octillery ink and started writing out the message to her friend on the paper. She also telekinetically placed the plant sample inside the envelope while still composing the message. She knew her friend was the only one who could confirm her suspicions…
End of Chapter 10