AUTHOR'S NOTE: Greetings, readers! Here is chapter 11 of the continuing adventures of Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu as they continue their journey through the Johto region. Arielle from the anime makes an appearance in this chapter, and so do her Ledyba. This chapter has a lot of action in it. This chapter has music cues from Pikachu's Rescue Adventure that are composed and arranged by Ralph Schuckett. That Pikachu short inspired me to write this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
TEASER: Tristan and Hillary arrive in an apple orchard, hoping to have lunch. But a big storm threatens the orchard and everyone in it. Now they must work together to secure the apples, including Hillary's gutsy Ledyba.
Chapter 9: A LEDIAN A DAY KEEPS THE STORM AWAY
(Music Cue: Title Screen 1999-2001 (as heard in the end of "A Shadow of a Drought"))
Our heroes are still on the road, but today, they decide to stop in an apple orchard across the bridge. And just in time, too, for it's the middle of the day, and they hadn't eaten since breakfast!
Tristan and Hillary were walking on the road and heard their stomachs grumble.
"Man, I'm so hungry," groaned Tristan.
"Me, too," agreed Hillary. "Any chance of pulling a magic Grandma sandwich out of your bag?"
"Sorry, sis, I'm all out," replied Tristan.
Hillary sat down on the ground. "Now what do we do? The nearest Pokémon Center is so far away."
"I know, and I could really use a bite," added Tristan.
Pikachu moaned in agreement.
Just then, Togepi cried loudly.
"Uh-oh," said Hillary. "Togepi's getting really hungry."
Presently, Tristan and Hillary heard buzzing overhead and looked up.
Sure enough, there were six flying ladybug-like Pokémon with five black spots on their backs. Someone was seen being carried by those Pokémon on a makeshift sling.
"Those look like Ledyba!" said Tristan. "And it looks like they're headed to that forest of trees!"
"It isn't just any forest of trees, Tristan," said Hillary. "It looks like they're headed that way!"
"You're right, sis, they're flying across that river!"
"And there's a bridge!"
Sure enough, there was a bridge leading into an orchard.
"Come on, what are we waiting for?" said Tristan as he, Hillary, and Pikachu eagerly ran across the bridge and followed the six flying Ledyba.
A few moments later, they came to a stop inside the orchard.
"Whoa, check it out," said Tristan.
"Yeah, it's a grove of apple trees!" added Hillary.
"Let's ask somebody if it's okay to snack on those apples," suggested Tristan.
"Good idea," replied Hillary.
Just then, they saw a man with a mustache wearing a straw hat driving by on a tractor.
"Hi there," said the man. "I'm Mr. Douglas. I maintain this apple orchard. I assume you're looking for Arielle, right?"
"Arielle?" said Hillary.
"She must be the one with those Ledyba," said Tristan.
"That's right," smiled Mr. Douglas. "Those apple trees should be ripe for the picking. I was just letting her know that the apples are ready to be harvested. I'll let her know that you're visiting." And Mr. Douglas drove away as Tristan and Hillary continued to look at all the apples.
"I've never seen so many apples at one time," said Hillary.
"Yeah," agreed Tristan. "Maybe we could feast on some of them."
Presently, they heard friendly buzzing overhead. Then they looked up to see a flock of six ladybug-like Pokémon.
"Those must be Ledyba!" said Tristan excitedly.
"Like the one I have!" added Hillary. "They're so cute." She took out her Pokédex and scanned the Ledbya with it.
"Ledyba: The Five Star Pokémon," identified Dexter. "These naturally gentle Bug-types gather in groups during cold weather to keep warm."
Presently, a young woman with overalls came to Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu. She had short hair. "So you're the visitors Mr. Douglas told me about. Hi." She turned to the Ledyba. "Okay, Ledyba, let's get to work on the other apple trees over there."
At that instant, the Ledyba flew to the other side of the orchard and began their tasks.
"Hi, there," said Tristan. "My name's Tristan, and this is Pikachu.
Pikachu and Togepi greeted the woman warmly.
"Hello, I'm Hillary," added Hillary.
"My name's Arielle," said the woman. "It's nice to meet you."
"Those Ledyba look like they've been really well-trained," remarked Tristan. "Have you had them long?"
"Oh, yes," replied Arielle. "I've done a lot of training with them. I use this little whistle to call them and train them, particularly in emergencies. But right now, we're working on using the whistle less and less so that they can understand my verbal commands."
"That's really good, Arielle," said Hillary.
"We couldn't help noticing all the apples in this orchard," said Tristan.
"Oh, my Ledyba helped pollinate the trees so that they could produce the apples you see here," explained Arielle.
"They sure look good," said Hillary. "May we please have some?"
"Oh, sure," smiled Arielle. "We're entering our harvesting season, so we're planning to pick some apples off the trees, anyway."
"Thank you so much, Arielle," said Hillary. "Togepi was getting very hungry, anyway." She turned to Tristan. "Hey, Tristan, maybe we can stay for awhile and help Arielle pick the apples off the trees."
"Great idea, Hillary," replied Tristan. "And our Pokémon can help us with the higher places."
"Then it's decided," smiled Arielle.
(Music Cue: Windy)
Presently, Mr. Douglas came to Arielle in a big hurry. "Oh, this is terrible!"
"What's wrong, Mr. Douglas?" asked Arielle.
"I just checked the weather forecast, and there's a big storm approaching!" panted Mr. Douglas. "It's a whopper with wind and rain and everything! We'd better hurry and get all the apples off the trees!"
As he spoke, dark clouds were seen in the distance as they began covering the sky.
"We'd better get started right away!" advised Mr. Douglas. "There's no telling what the wind will do with the apples once it begins blowing everything around!" And he raced away.
"I wonder how big that storm's gonna be," said Hillary.
Just then, as the sky got even darker, a big gust of wind came, nearly knocking everyone off their feet.
"Okay, I think we know just how big it's gonna be," said Hillary.
"Okay, everybody, let's get picking," advised Tristan. "There's no time to lose."
"I'll get the Ledyba," said Arielle. And she blew hard into the whistle, which emitted a loud high-pitched noise.
Instantly, the Ledyba stopped pollinating the apple blossoms in the younger trees and flew right to her.
Tristan and Hillary were amazed at Ledyba's quick response.
"We have an emergency," said Arielle. "We need to pick all the ripened apples before the storm blows them away."
The Ledbya nodded and went right to work as Tristan, Pikachu, and Arielle followed.
Quickly, Hillary opened up her backpack. "Get inside where it's safe, Togepi," she advised. She knew that Togepi wouldn't stand a chance in a storm this strong, so she carefully put it inside, closed up her bag, and followed the others to the trees.
"Okay, Arielle, what's our plan of attack?" asked Tristan.
"We'll need all hands on deck for this one, and we'll need to work fast," replied Arielle as she took out some heavy-duty containers. "These should be strong enough to resist the strong winds that come. Get all the ripened apples in them as fast as you can."
"Don't worry, Arielle, we're on the job," said Tristan as she took out his Pokéballs and threw them. "Chikorita, Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, come on out!"
Instantly all four of Tristan's Pokémon emerged from the white lights that shot out of them.
"Squirtle, Cyndaquil, Eevee, Ledyba, we need your help, too!" shouted Hillary as he threw her four Pokéballs.
In no time, all four of Hillary's Pokémon emerged from the white lights that shot out of them.
"Okay, everybody, we need you guys to help the Ledyba pick all the apples in the trees and put them in those baskets so they don't get blown away by the storm," instructed Tristan.
All the Pokémon understood Tristan's instructions and got right to work.
"We'd better start picking ourselves," advised Arielle.
"Right," agreed Tristan and Hillary.
Working together, Venusaur and Chikorita used Vine Whip to pick the apples off the tree, and any tight places Venusaur's vines couldn't fit to pick the apples, Chikorita and its vines could.
Pikachu assisted Chikorita in picking the apples and tossed them to Venusaur, who easily caught them in its vines.
Charizard was easily able to fly up and pick apples from many of the trees while Blastoise helped make sure the apples were deposited safely in the heavy-duty containers.
Arielle's six Ledyba and Hillary's own Ledyba worked together to pick all the apples from one tree to the next while Cyndaquil, Squirtle, and Eevee worked together to get them safely in the heavy-duty containers.
Despite the strong winds, Tristan and Hillary were able to climb the trees themselves and pick the apples while Arielle helped secure them.
As the wind got stronger, heavy rain began to fall. Shortly thereafter, lightning flashed in the sky.
"Get down from the trees!" warned Arielle. "The lightning is getting closer!"
In no time at all, everyone managed to climb down from the high points of the trees and make it safely toward the ground.
Tristan, Hillary, and their Pokémon met up with Arielle after she issued the warning.
"Is everyone here?" asked Arielle.
Everyone nodded.
But then, Tristan noticed that six familiar Pokémon weren't with them. "The Ledyba seem to be missing!"
Everyone gasped in shock at the revelation.
"Ledyba! Ledyba!" called Arielle as she searched frantically for them. She tried blowing into her whistle in an attempt to get them back, but the wind was so strong that it absorbed the high-pitched noise.
Just then, lightning struck close by, and the frantic cries of Arielle's six Ledyba could be heard.
"Ledyba!" cried Arielle as she tried to run toward them.
"Arielle, wait! It's too dangerous!" cried Tristan as he, Hillary, and their Pokémon rushed after her.
Everyone ran to the tree and saw the six Ledyba huddled together high up, trembling with fright as the storm worsened.
"The Ledyba must be too scared to move because of the thunder and lightning," said Hillary, who was most concerned.
"The lightning and thunder have always scared them ever since they were tiny babies," replied Arielle.
Just then, the biggest lightning bolt came out of the sky and headed directly for the tree the six Ledyba were in.
"Ledyba, look out!" cried Arielle as she looked on in fear.
The six Ledyba braced themselves as the lightning bolt kept going right for them.
(Music Cue: Teamwork (as heard in "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure"))
Suddenly, Hillary's Ledyba flew higher in the sky and went straight toward the incoming lightning bolt.
"No, Ledyba, please stay back!" cried Hillary. "It's much too dangerous!"
But Ledyba kept going until the lightning bolt struck it directly, causing it to yell out in pain.
"Ledyba!" cried Hillary.
Tristan, Pikachu, and Arielle gasped with worry as they looked on.
Arielle's six Ledyba opened their eyes and saw Hillary's Ledyba taking the hit from the lightning blast.
"That's one gutsy Ledyba," remarked Tristan.
"I know it's trying to do this for my Ledyba, but I don't know how much longer it can take the hit," added Arielle, who was getting rather nervous.
Ledyba continued to take damage from the lightning blast with no regard for its own safety.
"Ledyba..." whispered Hillary under her breath as tears started to form in her eyes. Then seeing how courageous her Ledyba was, she yelled as loud as she could, "YOU CAN DO IT, LEDYBA!"
Then, suddenly, as if an answer to Hillary's cry of encouragement, Ledyba used all its strength to break free of the lightning bolt as it stopped dead in its tracks in the sky. Then, to everyone's surprise, it was bathed in a bright white light.
"Whoa, something's happening to Ledyba!" said Hillary.
"Ledyba's starting to evolve!" gasped Tristan.
Sure enough, Ledyba was evolving as it changed its appearance. When the light faded, it had two red feet, four white fists, a black neck, and a black spot in the middle of its forehead.
"Hillary, your Ledyba just evolved into a Ledian!" said Arielle excitedly.
"That's awesome!" said Hillary.
Ledian was about to agree when suddenly, the strongest gust of wind yet started blowing it higher and higher into the air.
"Ledian!" cried Hillary.
"Quick, Venusaur, use Vine Whip!" commanded Tristan.
Venusaur shot two long vines from the flower on its back and managed to grab Ledian with them just in time.
"Great, Venusaur!" said Hillary.
"Okay, everybody, grab on to the vines and let's pull Ledian back here!" instructed Tristan.
All of Tristan's and Hillary's Pokémon grabbed onto Venusaur's vines and started pulling against the strong winds.
Chikorita saw Venusaur, the other Pokémon, and its human friends work so hard to get Ledian back down to the ground safely, so it quickly jumped on top of one of Venusaur's vines and used its Vine Whip to assist Venusaur.
"Looks like Chikorita wants to help, too," said Hillary.
"That's the attitude, Chikorita!" commended Tristan. "Keep it up!"
Arielle's six Ledyba saw how hard Arielle and her friends were working to pull against the force of the strong winds, but soon, they noticed that Tristan, Hillary, Arielle, and their small Pokémon were starting to tire out.
"We can't give up, guys!" grunted Hillary. "Just a little bit more!"
Everyone continued pulling as hard as they could as the six Ledyba watched.
Then, one of the Ledyba turned to the others and motioned them to follow it.
The six Ledyba used their arms to grab on to Venusaur's vines.
"All right!" said Tristan excitedly. "The Ledyba came down to help us out!"
"And they did it on their own, too!" added Hillary. "They must've known that we needed their help!"
"Way to go, Ledyba!" commended Arielle.
"All right, guys, it's now or never!" said Tristan. "Let's give it all we've got!"
The strong winds continued to blow as the rain continued to fall from the sky, but the combined unwavering determination of Tristan, Hillary, Arielle, and their Pokémon was all it took to beat the strong wind gusts.
Presently, the winds and rain started to lighten up, causing things to get easier and easier.
Slowly, but surely, everyone managed to pull Ledian lower and lower toward the ground until finally, Hillary caught Ledian safely in her arms.
"Oh, Ledian, are you okay?" asked Hillary.
Ledian nodded.
"Oh, thank goodness," sighed Hillary as she hugged Ledian tightly in her arms. "You had us all worried. I thought we might lose you."
"But it never lost its guts," replied Arielle. "Ledyba may be timid in nature, but this one proved beyond a doubt that bravery wins in the end."
Tristan and Hillary turned to their Pokémon and congratulated them for a job well done.
"You were all just great," said Tristan. "Thanks for your help."
"We couldn't have done it without you," added Hillary.
All the Pokémon nodded and replied in complete agreement when the rain and winds finally stopped and the dark clouds started to disappear.
"Hey, look!" said Tristan. "The sky's clearing up!"
Sure enough, the clouds cleared up and the sun came out.
"Ah," sighed Hillary. "Now that's what I call a beautiful ending to a scary situation."
Togepi popped its head out of Hillary's bag and chirped in agreement.
A short time later, everyone saw that the container of apples was secure after the storm, just like Arielle said.
"At least the majority of the apples didn't blow away," said Arielle. She then noticed some still stuck in the trees. "Looks like we still have a few more apples to pick. But I don't know how we're going to get them out of the trees."
"Don't worry, Arielle, we're not gonna quit until the job is done," said Tristan. He turned to Hillary. "Hey, Hillary, do you think your Ledian can help us out?"
"After all that it's been through today, I'm sure that it can help out with anything," replied Hillary.
Sure enough, Ledian was willing to help, so it flew to the tree and used its white fists to punch the tree, causing the apples to fall.
Soon, the Ledyba, as if watching their teacher, followed Ledian's lead and punched the tree using their fists, causing the apples to fall toward the ground.
"Wow, did you see that?" said Hillary. She was most impressed.
"They all just used Comet Punch!" said Arielle excitedly.
"Now that's what I call first-class learning," smiled Tristan.
Everyone laughed at the joke.
But suddenly, all six of Arielle's Ledyba were bathed in bright white light at once.
"Guys, check it out!" gasped Tristan in awe.
"They're all starting to evolve!" added Arielle.
The Ledyba were changing shape as they evolved, and when they had finished, they looked exactly like Hillary's Ledian.
"I've never seen anything like this!" said Hillary as she scanned Ledian with her Pokédex named Dexter.
"Ledian: The Five Star Pokémon: The evolved form of Ledyba," identified Dexter. "The spots on the Ledian's back are said to react to the stars in the night sky."
"This is so awesome!" said Hillary.
"Hey, do you know what this calls for?" said Tristan. "An apple party!"
"That's a great idea, Tristan!" said Arielle. "And after everything that went on today, I think we all earned it."
Everyone agreed.
Late that afternoon, everyone had set up a picnic with ripe juicy apples to share.
Even Mr. Douglas came to the picnic to partake in the feast. "I must say, Arielle," he said, "you and your friends did a great job of keeping the apple crop safe, especially during that storm."
"Oh, it was no big deal, sir," replied Tristan. "We were just happy to help out."
"And we're all glad that it all worked out, too, right, Ledian?" added Hillary
Hillary's Ledian agreed.
"And the best part is we get to share all these delicious apples," smiled Arielle.
Mr. Douglas nodded in agreement.
All the Pokémon were especially happy with the sweet juicy taste of the apples as they ate alongside their Trainers.
Tristan turned to Hillary and said, "You should be proud, too, Hillary. You've raised a very brave and strong Pokémon."
"Well, I didn't do it all," chuckled Hillary. "We all did it together."
"Well, I guess the best thing to say is we owe it all to teamwork," smiled Arielle.
"You said it, Arielle," replied Mr. Douglas.
Everyone happily continued to feast on the apples for the rest of the afternoon.
That evening, Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu were getting ready to leave the orchard.
"I don't know how to thank you, guys," said Arielle. "If you hadn't come along, we wouldn't have saved all the apples from that big storm."
"We're the ones who should be thanking you," replied Tristan. "And Mr. Douglas, of course."
"That apple feast was really good," added Hillary. "But what really excited me today was seeing my Ledyba and your Ledyba evolve into Ledian."
"That was pretty good, wasn't it?" smiled Arielle.
"Well, we'd better get going, Arielle," said Hillary.
But just then, Ledian came to Hillary and told her something.
"What is it, Ledian?" asked Hillary.
Ledian pointed to the other six Ledian flying right next to Arielle.
"It looks like your Ledian wants to stay with my Ledian and help them out in the orchard," said Arielle.
(Music Cue: Such Sweet Sorrow)
This came as a bit of a shock to Hillary. "Oh, Ledian..."
Ledian sadly flew and put its white fists in Hillary's hands.
"I know," said Hillary. "I know we've been together for awhile. But I know that even though our time together was short, we're lucky we knew you at all."
Hillary closed her eyes and thought back to when she first saw the flock of Ledyba on Tangelo Island. She remembered seeing one fly out of the bushes and used Squirtle to weaken it and capture it in a PokéBall. Next she thought back to when she and Ledyba ate lunch together along with the rest of hers and Tristan's Pokémon as well as Braden, Evan, and their Pokémon in Kanto. Finally, she thought back to the events of earlier today when her Ledyba evolved into Ledian after getting struck by the pulverizing bolt of lightning.
Hillary took Ledian and embraced it in her arms as tears began to fall from her eyes. "I'll miss you, Ledian," she said. "But I know these Ledian need you to help them right now. You'll do very well."
There was a long tearful moment of silence between Hillary and Ledian as they continued to hug each other one last time.
Tristan, Pikachu, and Togepi watched, as they all felt happy and sad for Hillary all at the same time.
Then slowly, Hillary let Ledian go, and it flew into the sky to join Arielle's six Ledian.
Hillary took out Ledian's Pokéball and gave it to Arielle. "Please take good care of Ledian, won't you?"
"Of course," smiled Arielle. "Mr. Douglas will be sure to take good care of it, too. And thanks to your Ledian, we'll be able to produce even more delicious apples for years to come."
"We're looking forward to it, Arielle," replied Tristan. "See you later."
Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu started leaving the orchard.
"Goodbye, guys! And take care!" called Arielle.
"Bye, Arielle!" called Tristan as he and Pikachu waved to her.
"Bye, Ledian!" added Hillary. "Take care! I'll miss you!"
Arielle's six Ledian and Hillary's Ledian flew in the sky and waved goodbye to Hillary as she and her friends continued walking until they were out of sight.
And so, thanks to teamwork, a whole apple orchard is safe after a big storm. And even though Hillary and Ledian go their seperate ways, they know that in their hearts, they will always be together.
► TO BE CONTINUED