The echoes of the explosion soon died out, and eventually, the birds began to sing again. Louis, still chuckling, returned his gaze to the others and caught his breath.

"That's the third time that's happened," said Totodile.

"You mean second," corrected Louis.

"There's bound to be a third sometime soon," he continued, smiling.

The morning sun swept its light across the land, bathing the gargantuan trees in warmth, which in turn sent long, cool, fingers of shadow across the forest floor.

However, an acrid scent drifted through the trees and met the group, lodging firmly in Taki's nose.

"I think I can smell the wreckage," she said, grimacing.

"I'm guessing so," replied Louis as he began to point into the woods.

"The helicopter landed in that direction," he continued.

As they approached the source, the air grew thicker with smoke. Burnt fuel, and scorched oil replaced the clean air around them. Tracey lifted the collar of his shirt over the bridge of his nose, in an attempt to stifle the intake of smoke.

Soon, a broken tail rotor, barely connected to a shattered cabin, met their eyes as they travelled deeper. A crumpled, smashed frame of a helicopter poked out from the forest floor like a row of metallic saplings.

"Wow, they must be really bad pilots," snarked Totodile.

Louis chortled at the comment.

"No way they're fixing this," quipped Louis as he kicked a crumpled hunk of sheet metal.

A creaking of metal, and a pop, drew the group's attention. Suddenly, the craft's oil reservoir split further, releasing more black liquid into the flames, doubling the thick plume of awfulness into the air.

"Ugh, this smoke is killing me," choked Tracey under his shirt-mask.

Immediately, all four of them backed up from the wreckage and sprinted away, deeper into the forest as the air grew more toxic.

Everyone took an enormous breath, regaining the pure, fresh air into their lungs.

"Ahh, much better," voiced Tracey after a sputtering coughing fit.

A cool breeze punched through the forest, sweeping away the hazardous plume.

But then, a broken, disjointed sentence of muttered words crept along the breeze and found Totodile's ears.

"Can you...hear that?" questioned Totodile, looking up at Louis.

"Huh?" replied Louis.

"A voice," said the little Pokémon.

Louis turned to Tracey and Taki, and placed a finger on his lips in a hushing gesture. He then returned his focus to Totodile.

"Where from?" he asked.

Tracey screwed up his face in confusion, witnessing the exchange between human and Pokémon. Totodile then pointed in the presumed direction.

Taking a series of quiet steps, Louis motioned the group to follow in kind. Beyond five trees, the source of the words became clear. A tired, curled-up Venusaur napped in a soft bed of grass, muttering in its slumber.

"Oh…" whispered Louis.

"...it's a Venusaur," added Totodile.

Momentarily, it spoke again.

"Where...are you…?" slurred the sleepy monster.

The words played in Louis' mind, almost forming a thought.

"We better not wake it," said Louis. "Let's go around."

With caution, all four of them tiptoed past the sleeping Pokémon. They were almost out of ear-shot when the Venusaur muttered once more. This time, freezing Louis in place with a gasp.

"Where are you…

...Miguel?"

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