"Kreeeyaaa! Drill peck!" Zapdos called, instantly
knocking out a Pinsir.
"Kaayuuu! Blizzard!" A row of ground pokémon
were annihilated by Articuno's whirlwind of ice.
"Treee-is! Wing blade!" Moltres's own move, he charged
forward and sliced through pokémon as if they weren't there, leaving
them burning and out of the fight.
"A commendable effort, my little birdies, but I
don't think you can keep that up forever."
Ash was watching from the shadows of the cave as
the three immortal pokémon fought off his seemingly endless hordes
of pokémon. They were holding their ground, but Ash's prediction
was right - they were tiring.
A beedrill got in a Twin Needle on Moltres, but
in the process set itself on fire. Moltres barely noticed, and proceeded
to rain fire down on the other, non-flying types.
"Brothers, now!" Articuno called. "Elemental Vortex!"
The three came together and started spinning in
a circle, faster and faster until they were little more than a blur of
yellow, red and blue. Suddenly the circle filled in, and started crackling
with the three elements of the birds, before forming a huge column of solid
elemental energy. Any pokémon that came near was sucked in and vaporized.
"Shit!" Ash cursed. "I guess I'll have to do this
myself... Matrix Stasis!"
Suddenly the air crackled with electricity, and
every pokémon in the huge cave found themselves unable to move.
Without the movement of the trio to assist it, the elemental vortex simply
dissipated. Ash floated on the tangible electric current in the air up
to where the birds hung motionless.
"See? You can't compare to me."
Zapdos struggled for a moment, then unleashed an
incredible thunder attack - draining the very current that held them in
place to charge the blast. The other two birds were damaged slightly, but
Ash got the full force and was knocked back against the wall of the cave.
All three birds, suddenly released from the matrix, fell to the ground
- along with all the other pokémon that had been flying.
Ash slid from the wall to the ground. He lay there
a moment before getting up, pausing dramatically before looking up with
pure fiery hatred in his eyes.
"That does it! Energy drain!" His hands flew out
and long, dark lightning bolts extended, hitting all three of the birds
and several unfortunate pokémon nearby. The pokémon were
reduced to empty husks and then nothing but dust within seconds as the
very energy and physical components that held them together were simply
leeched away; the birds suffered a less drastic but much more painful treatment,
eventually left unconscious on the floor of the cave. Ash, still enraged,
ordered a few of the remaining flying pokémon to return them to
his fortress before raging out of the cave.
His Pidgeot stood there, waiting for his return.
"You won, master?" It said, it's English perfect.
"Of course I won." Ash snorted, jumping on the huge
bird's back. "We lost too many pokémon, though."
"What are you going to do with them? They can't
be killed. Are you going to trap them in the energy-drain rooms like the
Houou?"
"No, they'd just cause trouble later." He said,
stroking the bird's long hair-like feathers. "I have a much better use
for them."
"Do you intend to break them?"
"You'll see."
"Yes, master. Shall we go?"
"Yes... those puny humans need some consideration.
Still, may as well have some fun with them first... after all, they're
the only decent challenge that's popped up since we started..."
"And the only one at all, most likely."
"Yes... what a shame..."
"Let us be gone..." Pidgeot spread it's wings wide,
flapping hard off into the distance, followed by a contingency of several
other flying pokémon carrying the three birds in a large net...
Yes, there's an amulet holder in the area. That's all I can tell.
"Well, all I can see is endless forest. And overgrown at that. Hasn't anyone been here for, what, the last five hundred years? How are you going, James?"
"No better than you, but I'm not complaining about it."
"Me-owth... at least there aren't any pokémon about..."
It had been three weeks since they had met, and since Jessie had died. James had calmed down a little (With more than a little help from Sati), but had become quite hard. He could think of little but revenge on Ash.
"Any idea who it is?" She asked.
Nup, sorry.
Both were hacking their way through the thick foliage but on separate paths, with fair-sized ethereal knives (courtesy of James) helping them slash through. But they both knew that if the guy they were searching for didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be.
Have we tried calling for him yet? Sati suggested to James. He shook his head, then let out a cry.
"Hey, whoever you are with the amulet! Show yourself!" He cried, as loud as he could. Jess cringed.
"James, that's gonna call every pokémon within a hundred miles!" She cried. There was no response. "James?"
Hey, the knife! Suikun exclaimed. Jess looked down in her hand - the knife shimmered, flickered like a hologram with bad reception, then vanished. Before it had, however, she was off and running in the direction she knew he was in, ignoring the scratches and buffeting branches..
Nothing.
"James! Meowth!" She cried. "Where are y-errk!" She was cut off as a long vine wrapped around her mouth. Several more wrapped around her arms and legs, before she was suddenly yanked up into the treetops. Gently placed on a sturdy branch, she noticed James and Meowth sitting nearby, neatly trussed and gagged.
"You three have a lot to learn about stealth." Said a new voice. A short, young woman with long greenish-blonde hair and dressed in khaki camouflage clothing flipped into the middle of the three. "I've spent a lot of time trying to hide, make this place impenetrable to pokémon, and then you three waltz in and announce to the world that there are human targets here. Real good."
James and Meowth struggled slightly, but the vines just squeezed tighter. She turned to them. "So... What am I going to do with you?"
Jess began to answer, but then remembered she was gagged. She rolled her eyes... and then started struggling as hard as she could to get out.
"What are you doing?" Asked the new girl. Jess kept struggling, but realized she wasn't getting anywhere and calmed down... and the vines tying and gagging her suddenly froze and crumbled. She lifted an arm and unleashed an icebeam - right into the Fearow that had been about to dig it's talons into the girl's back.
"Oh great, they've found us." She said, not even giving the slightest gesture of thanks to Jess for saving her life. "Let's go. They won't make it through the forest once I'm done with it..."
She dropped down, and the vines wrapped around them lifted them gently down before letting them go.
"Look, just follow me." She said, without looking back. "Then we'll see what we can do..."
"Gee, really charismatic, ain't she?" Jess said sarcastically, but got running. James shrugged and followed on.
It turned out to be quite a lot easier that they had expected. The forest that had been so cluttered and thick last time they'd tried to run through seemed now to have a clear path running through it. Either they'd somehow missed it... or the girl was making it as she ran.
It wasn't that hard to work it out.
Suddenly, the girl stopped, Jess almost running straight into her back. She gestured them close, and waved for silence. In the distance, a loud Fearow cry could be heard.
"Why did we stop? They'll see us for sure if they have flying pokémon..."
She raised an eyebrow, and then held both her hands straight up. At first, nothing happened...
But then the rustling of branches became audible... vines and living trees seemed to suddenly maneuver all around them. They found themselves in a large dome of wood and vines, and none of them doubted that it would be quite difficult to break through...
"Ah."
"Well now, I'm Keira." Said the short girl, throwing her long hair back from where it had slipped from the run, and offering her hand. Jess took it.
"I'm Jess, and this is James."
"Sorry to have given you such a fright back there, but I'm not particularly interested in being caught by Ash's minions. And I think it's a wonder that you two haven't."
"Gee, thanks." James said, not too unkindly.
"Do both of you have amulets too? And why is that pokémon with you?"
"Meowth's more human than pokémon, or at least that's what James says. Yes, we both have amulets." She held up her sapphire crystal.
Keira dug into a hidden pocket and produced a sparkling emerald. "Hmm... yes, Florasaur said someone would come searching eventually. What are yours?"
"I've got Suikun, and James Sati."
Keira paused a moment, then shook her head suddenly. "Florasaur's never heard of them."
I seem to remember someone mentioning a Florasaur at some time or other... Suikun mused. Venusaur guardian, by the name...
"Well, now that we're here and apparently protected from pokémon... what do we do now?"
"Just waiting would be the best idea." Keira answered. "It'll take a little while for the search to blow over. Pokémon are out searching in force, y'know."
"So it would seem." Jess and James had fought off various pokémon attacks, but nothing serious yet.
"In the meantime... exchange of stories?" Keira suggested.
It wasn't long before they were chatting like old friends. Keira was twenty-one had been a grass pokémon trainer. She loved plants, and plant-types, and was always most at home while in a forest. She was a traveler, not a trainer bent on badges and pokémon mastery but one who simply tested her own skills against herself. This wasn't unusual - many trainers didn't believe in proving themselves through battling league challenges. She'd been traveling her entire life since she first got a pokémon...
She'd been in this very forest when the pokémon had run off. She hadn't actually realized it at first - all of her pokémon had been running free, and she actually only found out they were missing when she had been calling for them for about an hour.
Then she'd found Florasaur...
"So... you have control over trees and plants?"
"Not full control, but the plants around here are pretty... receptive. This area was - previously - sometimes known as Bulbasaur's Garden. They've been manipulating the nature of this forest for centuries. And Florasaur's the... evolution, or whatever... of Venusaur."
As they swapped their life stories, the already dim light within the dome began to fade. Soon it was too dark to see, the moon and starlight filtered out by the wooden barrier. Taking off their bags, they quickly fell asleep...
Once again, they found themselves in the blank dreamscape
that appeared every night, but this time Keira was there too along with...
It was quite awe-inspiring. It was somewhat taller
than either Suikun or Sati, although that was probably because it was standing
on it's hind legs. It's skin was green, striped alternatively in the dark
green of the deepest leaves and the aquaish-green of a normal Venusaur.
It actually had some almost Charizard-ish qualities
to it, having a dragonlike shape - although with a much thicker face and
no wings. (Tyrannosaur-ish, for those who don't live in the pokémon
world...) It's front legs, although having hands quite stumpy and probably
not much use, a thick mat of vines grew around each one. The flower that
graced it's back was spectacular, curling around and over it's sides, in
all sorts of different colors.
If there was ever a form that mixed beauty and danger,
that was it.
"So... I don't believe I know you two." He said,
voice very deep.
"I'm Sati." Said the feline guardian, stretching
and yawning deeply. "This here's Suikun."
"I'm Florasaur, obviously..."
"Well, what should we do in this little dream session?"
"I'm happy to train, but not against her." Jess
pointed to Keira.
"What? Scared of me?"
"Of course. I'm water, you're plant."
"Good point. Oh well, how about we just both team
up on James here?"
"Hey, wait, you can't do that!" James said, backing
off as the two girls advanced on him. All three of the guardians laughed.
"I think if you want to get to James I'll have to
help him..." Sati insinuated herself between the two groups.
"Well, we'll just have to see about that..." Suikun
leapt to Jess's side.
"Yah, couldn't have that." Florasaur lumbered up
beside Keira.
"Hmm..." Sati grinned mischievously, looking from
human to guardian to James, before suddenly flicking forward her head and
maneuvering James onto her back, and running away.
"A chase!" Suikun cried happily, crouching to let
her human on. "Come on, Jess!"
"Alright!" Jess climbed onto the huge water wolf's
back, and they set off. Keira more carefully climbed onto Florasaur's back,
to avoid damaging the flower, and he stomped off after the other two.
Suikun was rapidly gaining on Sati, but the cat
had a few tricks up her sleeve. A tree suddenly shot up from the ground
some way ahead, and Sati clawed her way up it, barely slowing down. Suikun
screeched to a halt, unable to climb.
"Remember, it's our little world! We can do whatever
we want with it!" Sati cried down.
"Whoa..." Was all James had to say - he was still
a little dizzy from the wild ride.
"You're right, but you made one mistake!" Keira
called up from Florasaur's back.
"Wha- hey!" Sati was cut off as the branches of
the tree started shaking violently. She somehow managed to leap off the
flailing branches, and landed in what seemed to be midair. But there was
no air - or ground, or anything - aside from what you imagined.
"Let's go, Suikun!" Suikun raced off on an upwards
slant, and Sati bounded off to be chased.
"You'll have to do better than that, Suik!" She
called back to her chaser.
"Yah, you just watch where you're going!" Jess called
back.
"Whoa!" Sati almost stumbled as Florasaur suddenly
loomed in front of her. She dodged a heavy blow with amazing agility and
bounced off an invisible wall to run again.
But didn't count on Florasaur's vine tripping her
up.
Sati sprawled, and James was thrown off and sent
to roll across the 'ground'. Suikun pounced on the flattened Sati, and
for a while all of them just rolled around and wrestled playfully.
"You'll pay for that, cat!" Suikun laughed when
Sati layed a flat paw across her muzzle.
"Oh really? Too fast for you, water doggy!" Sati
dodged a playful swipe.
"Don't call me 'doggy'!"
"And what are you gonna do about it?" The two of
them rolled around laughing in a tangle of limbs while the others watched
on.
Suikun grinned and unleashed a low-power water gun,
pushing Sati's head back and soaking her, but doing no real damage. Sati
shook herself off.
"You got me wet!" She snarled, and fought
back vigo- A Diglett popped up from underground and looked around, seeing
three sleeping humans and a Meowth, incased within a barrier of wood...
-rously before stopping suddenly from the mental image just recieved.
"What was- The same Diglett popped up again in
a spot just outside the forest and called up to another pokemon, an Electabuzz.
Although no sound could be heard, it was obvious that it was telling of
what it had seen... -that?"
"Alright, this is just weird..."
The Electabuzz's long arm could be seen pointing
at the forest. It yelled a command, although nothing was heard, an assorted
group of fire pokemon directed their attacks at the forest's edge...
Suddenly the three shot up, fully awake.
The forest was peaceful, it was still quite late at night. There was no
sound from outside the wooden wall. All three sat for a moment, before
James broke the silence.
"Do you think that meant..." He trailed off the
sentence.
Keira held an arm up to the top of the dome. A small
hole formed, although it was hard to tell, and a couple of vines reached
down and pulled her up. James followed using a spectral grappling hook,
and Jess after him.
There was no sign of any fire as far as the eye
could see. The three sighed in relief...
Too soon.
A huge flare of light shot up from the forests behind
them, the incredible sheet reaching a couple of times higher than the trees
themselves. It soon lowered and stablised, and steadily but quickly advanced
across the forest.
"And now, we run." Stated Keira.
"Agreed." Said James.
"Lower me down, I'll get Meowth..."
"Right."
Jess dropped quickly to the earthen floor, and scooped
up the little cat pokemon, still asleep. The vines and wood that made up
the wall parted, and she raced through.
"Hmm, wish I had you carrying me here, Suikun."
She muttered as she ran half-blindly through the trees with the Meowth
in hand.
Don't worry, you're fast enough on your own.
Suikun advised. Now, the two of them are up there in the treetops, just
follow them!
Jess followed, not saying a word. She only
ever saw a flash or two of them, mostly followed by ear or Suikun's directions.
Mostly the latter, as the fire grew nearer, the smell and sound of it adding
to her panic.
It's advancing too fast... they've probably got
some flyers blowing it towards us...
Jess didn't answer. Every scrap of her being
was concentrated on running as fast as she could.
And if it wasn't for Suikun's urgent cry of STOP!
she would have run straight into the wall of flame that suddenly flared
up in front of her.
She saw Keira and James, standing and blocking their
faces from the heat of the flames. Jess, being resistant, was the only
one who saw the flames part slightly to show several pokemon walk through
- Charmeleons and Flareons mostly, with the occasional Charizard and Ponyta
here and there, one or two Magmar as well.
"Sah ma-ch fa ya la-ttle ra-sa-sta-nc, ah?" Barked
a Flareon.
So much for your little resistance. The amulets
translated.
"Guys, get ready to run!" Jess cried over the roar
of the flames. She powered up for a moment and unleashed a wave of Icebeams,
setting a layer of ice over the pokemon. But it was thin, and melting rapidly.
"Go! Now!"
The three of them shot off, hearing the annoyed
cries of the pokemon as they shook off the ice. They redoubled their efforts,
and finally made it out of the forest.
They had just enough time to take in the thirty
or so pokemon waiting to get them when they escaped before the earth collapsed
under them and they fell into a deep, deep pit...
