"Who knew that adventuring would require this much climbing." Wally said between deep breaths of air.
"Hey Wally, do you need to take a break?" Brendan asked, circling back.
"No I can. Nope." Wally said, collapsing onto his back.
"Wally!" Flannery exclaimed.
"I'm fine, just need a few." Wally said from the ground.
"Might not be the best spot for us to take a break." Ash pointed out, noting the small ledge and high drop down.
"Wally needs a break." Brendan pointed out.
"I'm not saying we can't take a break. I'm saying that if something were to happen, we're sitting Psyducks." Ash retorted. "I'll scope out ahead, see if there's somewhere better nearby."
"We'll stay here with Wally, just to be safe." Brendan said.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll be back in no time." Ash said, heading around the curve and out of sight.
Further up the trail
"Seriously, nothing but winding trails." Ash sighed. "There's no place where we could stay and rest."
Pikachu was rapidly alerted to a sound quickly approaching, as he leapt off of Ash's shoulder, launching a Shock Wave off into the air.
"Blu Blu!" A Pokemon cried out, before going back into the air and charging at Ash.
"What is that thing?" Ash exclaimed, as the bird flew off and began to circle back around.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, hitting the Pokemon with an Iron Tail, giving his trainer a chance to see what they're up against.
'Swablu, The Cotton Bird Pokemon, a Normal and Flying Type. Swablu has light and fluffy wings that are like cottony clouds. This Pokemon is not frightened of people. It lands on the heads of people and sits there like a cotton-fluff hat.' Ash's Pokedex said.
"Yeah, that's exactly what we're dealing with here." Ash said, as he ducked again. "Pikachu use Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu launched an electrical bolt into the air, only for Swablu to spiral around the attack. Swablu then repositioned itself, launching a Thunderbolt back at Pikachu.
"Pikachu look out!" Ash called out, only for Pikachu to stumble backwards from the blast. "Use Quick Attack!"
Pikachu leapt back into the air, only to get brushed by one of Swablu's wings causing Pikachu to come crashing down again.
"Pikachu!" Ash called out.
"Pi." Pikachu said, standing back up slowly.
"Okay, take a break." Ash said, seeing Pikachu wasn't the only one who was struggling. Swablu had some small sparks coming off of their wings. "Grovyle come out!"
Grovyle landed out of his Pokeball on a stone in the middle of the river, putting his twig into his mouth.
"Grovyle use Leaf Blade while they're paralyzed!" Ash called out.
Grovyle readied his attack, as a soft chime was heard coming from Swablu, the sparks coming from their wings disappearing quickly as they moved out of the way of Grovyle's attack.
"First you copy my attack, and then you heal yourself." Ash said with a smirk. "Then let's see you avoid this. Pokeball go!"
Ash threw the Pokeball at the flying Pokemon, knowing fully well that they weren't weak enough to be caught so easily just yet.
"Now Grovyle use Leaf Blade!"
When Swablu dove out of the way of Ash's Pokeball, only for them to be slammed to the shore by Grovyle's attack.
"Now, while it's down. Pokeball go!" Ash called out.
With Swablu still recovering from the attack, they stood no chance as the Pokeball slammed into them.
'Ding ding ding!'
"Gro. Vyle." Grovyle said smugly, standing tall with his twig in his hand.
"Pi. Pikachu." Pikachu said in agreement.
"The others are probably worried about us." Ash realized. "I was only supposed to be gone for a little while."
"Yeah, you were." Brendan said, approaching from below.
"Brendan!" Ash said in embarrassed shock.
"Hey don't count us out." Flannery said, walking up, soon followed by Wally.
"Are you feeling better Wally?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, I'm doing better." Wally admitted. "A short break was all I needed."
"Anyways, I thought you were just looking ahead." Brendan said.
"I was, but then a wild Swablu attacked me, and they have some really weird moves, and I thought, Hey they'd be great for my next contest with moves like that." Ash explained.
"Why won't you two just lay off of him." Flannery said, walking over to Ash. "He may be the oldest of us, but he's still allowed to be excited about these kinds of things. He is the new one to Hoenn after all."
"Thanks Flannery." Ash said.
"There is some good news with all of this." Wally said. "I mean other than Ash catching a new Pokemon. Look up ahead, there's the Weather Institute. It's supposed to be the halfway mark to Fortree City."
"Yeah, but look at that." Ash said, seeing a trio of people walking into the building in matching blue uniforms.
"Team Aqua!" Wally said angrily.
"Which means your dad might be here." Ash said, lightly slapping Brendan on the back.
"Yeah, about that. I can't risk going in there." Brendan said.
"But your dad." Ash countered.
"His life was threatened if I mess with Team Aqua's plans at all." Brendan said.
"Then we'll have to be careful, and make sure they don't notice us." Ash said. "I promised you we'd rescue your dad, and I intend to keep that promise, and if that means we have to be careful, then so be it. But we can't just sit idly by while they attack those poor people."
"Then enough of standing around and chatting. Let's get in there and rescue Professor Birch already." Flannery cheered.
Ash's Current Team and their moves
Pikachu: Thunderbolt - Quick Attack - Shock Wave - Iron Tail
Surskit: Bubble - Quick Attack - Bubblebeam - Mist
Grovyle: Pound - Leaf Blade - Dig - Fury Cutter
Feebas: Splash - Tackle
Lunatone: Psychic - Ice Beam - Rock Throw
Swablu: Peck - Mirror Move - False Swipe - Heal Bell
Author's note
So like Ash said, this Swablu has some interesting moves for a generation 3 Pokemon. The first being False Swipe, which you can only get via Pokemon Box for the GameCube, and the second can only be obtained by purifying the Shadow Altaria in Pokemon XD also for the GameCube. So this is an actual move set of the evolution line, but it's a bit of a strange set of moves to get.