Chapter 24

So You're Having a Bad Day…


*Cocoa's POV*


A lot has gone down over the past few days, including the rescue of Magearna, the artificial Pokemon of Azoth. We unknowingly repaired her through the Quantum Technocompanion, and now, she is under the care of her adopted parents, Ash and Serena.

Because of her, we now knew that the leader of Team Flare was, and I am not making this up, Giratina. I do not know how, but the Pokémon of Shadows made his way to our world, and he has been working through the body of Lydos, my Trainer's uncle. The story behind her family just keeps getting more and more complicated…

Now, my friends and I have returned to the road - specifically, the Laverre Nature Trail heading north to Laverre City. One day, we were taking a break at a large field near a forest with large, tall trees. Everyone was fueling up on water to stay hydrated from the warm weather. Us humans, alongside Diancie, Magearna, and myself, were drinking out of our canteens, and the Pokemon were drinking water from their bowls.

Ash poured some water into a cup and then handed it to Magearna. "Make sure to drink plenty of water before we head out."

"Okay, Daddy!" She graciously accepted the cup and drank the cooling refreshment.

Meanwhile, her "mother" was looking at something in her guidebook, with her Braixen and Solsol watching over her shoulders. "Let's see...my horoscope for today is...huh? 'Troubles await you?' What does that mean?"

"Yeesh…" Meowth commented. "I'd hate to be you right now…"

I smiled. "It's okay, Serena. Fortune-telling is usually made up, just for fun. It's nothing to worry about."

"That's exactly what Manfredi and Johnson said back in the Fiore region," Meowth rebutted. "We buried what was left of them with a garden trowel."

"Right…" I sighed as I came over, "Would you mind checking my fortune as well?"

Serena was happy to oblige, and she quickly found it. "Here it is! Your fortune says… 'Today will be the worst day you had all year. You'll be sorry you ever got up this morning, Oh, and watch out for things made of gold?'"

I was surprised, but still smiled. "You know, I kinda like yours better…" I said, jokingly.

Shortly afterward, Jessie and James appeared. The latter was carrying a large sack over their shoulder. "Anyone hungry?" He threw down the sack to reveal a bushel of berries.

Brianna picked one up as it fell to me. "Where did you find all of these?"

"Freshly picked today off a large tree back there," Jessie replied and pointed behind her. "We should have enough here to last us a week… maybe two!"

"See?" I smiled. "Things are looking up already!" But I spoke too soon…

Without a hint of a warning, three large black-and-white Pokemon came barging out of the forest angrily. Everyone panicked as they roared furiously.

"Who're those Pokemon?!" Ash asked. They all started to attack us with Dark Pulse, Hyper Beam, and Hidden Power, as everyone tried to run and avoid getting hit. "Hey! What did we do to you?!" He asked. But his words fell on deaf ears. They just kept attacking.

"Everyone, run! Take cover!" Clemont shouted. And just like that, everyone separated and ran in different groups to try and get to safety.

In one little group, I had run into a patch of forest and stopped to catch my breath. I heard something, or rather someone, panting right next to me. It turned out to be Meowth, who looked out of breath. As I looked around I realized it was just me and him.

One of the attackers came up and roared at us, causing us both to get up and flee as fast as they could. Suddenly, it seemed like they were running on nothing. I looked down to see we had run off a cliff without realizing. We both screamed as we fell down the ravine.

We crashed into a web of vines that seemed to tangle around us as they broke. Before we knew it, Meowth and I were tied up to a log, suspended over the ravine.

"So, believe in your fortune yet, Longears?" Meowth said, dryly.

"No, no, no. It's-it's okay. This-this is all right. We can figure this out." I stated confidently.

Unfortunately, the log began to crack, making it bend downwards. "I hate you..."

The log then broke free from the cliff and we both screamed as we fell below into the river, landing in a huge splash. We were briefly underwater until resurfacing halfway, but we were washed down the dangerous currents of the river. Eventually, we were flown up after hitting a rock and landed in a more calmer river and gently floated. Meowth and I coughed up water that got into their mouths before sighing in relief.

"Well," I remarked, "it can't get any worse…"

"Uh-oh…" Meowth muttered from the other side of the log.

I was facing the opposite direction, so I could not see. "Don't tell me - we're about to go over a huge waterfall."

"Yep."

"Sharp rocks at the bottom?"

"Most likely."

"...Bring it on."


*Ash's POV*


I soon made it to a clearing after running far enough. I stopped to catch my breath, then I turned around. I was with Bonnie, Dedenne, Squishy, Pancham, and Dexter. "Is everyone here okay?" I asked.

"I think so," Bonnie replied. "Who were those Pokemon? And what did they want with us?"

"I can't answer your second question," Dexter told her, "but I can tell you those Pokemon were Pangoro." He then proceeded to show us the information in his database.

Pangoro
The Daunting Pokémon
A Fighting and Dark-type
Pancham's evolved form
Pangoro has an ornery personality. The bamboo sprig in its mouth allows Pangoro to detect surrounding movements.

"Well, I think we lost them… for now. Let's focus on finding the others."

Bonnie nodded. Then she pulled her little green friend out of her bag. "Squishy, can you help me find our friends?"

'Absolutely!' He hopped onto Bonnie's head and started to glow.

I was a little amazed when Bonnie's eyes turned green. "Whoa! What's going on?"

"A little trick we learned back in the city," Bonnie and Squishy said together, their voices perfectly in sync. "I can see what Squishy sees, which is why I can see Clemont and Pikachu over this way… follow me!" She began to run in one direction.

I was impressed… and admittedly, a little confused. I followed behind her. "Just keep your eyes straight ahead, will you?"


*Cocoa's POV*


Oddly, if not for that waterfall, we might not have broken free of that log. Meowth and I crawled to shore from the debris. "That was not fun…" I coughed.

As I got up, I started to move in one direction, but Ifelt a weight holding me back. "Stop pulling me!" I looked back to find Meowth and I were still tied together by a set of vines.

I tried to pull the vines apart, but to no avail. I even used my Strength attack on it, but that achieved nothing. "Geez, what's this thing made of, carbon fiber?"

Meowth tried to be the voice of reason, saying, "Chill out. It's nothing but a teensy vine, see?" He then tried to use Fury Swipes to slice through the vines, but it didn't even make a single scratch. "Or not…"

I was a little concerned. I began to think of Brianna and the others, and how I could find them. However, something about Meowth caught my attention… "That thing on your forehead… is that gold?"

Meowth stepped back, placing a protective hand above his eyes. "Hey! This charm is part of my charm! So, keep your paws off of it."

"But, why do you have that thing anyway?"

That made Meowth freeze in confusion. "Why? That's a good question…"

Before he could think of an answer, he was interrupted by the approaching of one of the Pangoro from before. We both tried to run in opposite directions, but the vine snapped us back, bashing our skulls together. The Pangoro could not help but laugh at our expense, but we got away while he was distracted.


*Brianna's POV*


Meanwhile, I was searching for my friends, with Magearna, Solsol, Ash's Frogadier, and Clemont's Chespin. I called out into the forest, but no one answered. "This is gonna be tricky…" I muttered.

But then, Magearna smiled. "I can feel Mommy nearby! She's with Lucky, Hawlucha and Misty!"

"That's wonderful! Lead the way!"

"With gusto!"

She was about to move in one direction, when Frogadier held out an arm in front of us. He jumped behind a tree and peeked around at the opening. Then he signaled the all-clear, and we proceeded as planned.

"That's so sweet of you acting as our bodyguard, Frogadier. Thank you so much!"

That seemed to make Chespin a little jealous. He jumped out in front of Magearna and started to imitate Frogadier as best as he could. Not long afterward, we heard rustling from the bushes. Chespin marched forward to investigate… only to find himself face to knee with one of the Pangoro from before. The little guy then scurried back and hid behind me, shaking violently.

"My knight in shining armor…" I muttered sarcastically.

"More like your jester in double-knit…" Magearna agreed.

Frogadier, on the other hand, showed more courage. In a heartbeat, he threw some of his Frubbles at Pangoro's face, blinding it. As it tried to rip them off its face, we managed to get away.


*Cocoa's POV*


Back with Meowth and I, we were going down a forest path whenI heard this low gurgling noise… "Man, I'm starving…" Meowth commented.

"You and me both," I replied.

Fortunately, we both noticed a tree nearby, loaded with Nanab Berries. I had an idea, which Meowth agreed to. Carrying him on my back, I bounced up to one of the lower limbs of the tree. Then, he crawled on all fours to the branches. He plucked some of the Berries he could reach and tossed a number of them my way. Whenever he fell off the branch, I would reel him back in.

After we had our fill, we carefully lowered ourselves down the trunk. "We make a pretty good team. Don't we, Longears?" Meowth commented.

I agreed with him, but… "Would you please not call me that? I'd prefer Cocoa."

"Oh… sorry," He replied.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you, how'd you learn to talk like a human, anyway?"

"I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours…"


*Jessie's POV*


James and I were struggling a little with our search. All of our Pokemon were present and accounted for save one - Meowth. We sent Pumpkaboo and Inkay out to find them, but their efforts were rather fruitless.

"How is it that when we're on their side, we have no luck finding them?" I asked humorously. My Wobbuffet chirped in agreement.

James looked up. Above us was a huge cliff. "Maybe we'll find a better vantage point up there?" I agreed with him, and after we retrieved our Pokemon, we began to scale the cliffside.

He was right. When we reached the top, we looked over the drop and examined the view. It was beautiful. Too bad we had no time to play tourist…

Then I noticed two Pokemon flying in the distance. One was Ash's Fletchinder - the other was Brianna's new Swanna. Now, we were getting somewhere. "Hey! Over here!" I called out, catching their attention. One of them spotted us and flew our way, an entourage of Pokemon following close behind. I counted eight Pokemon altogether, including Diancie and Brock.

'Where is everyone else?' he asked.

"Right now, you're all we found," James explained. "We haven't seen anybody else since those Pokemon attacked us."

Diancie spoke up after that. 'I heard some of what they said as they did so… it sounded like they called us thieves.'

"How can that be?" I asked. "We've never even seen them, let alone stolen from them." We would figure that out later, after we reunited with everyone else.


*Meowth's POV*


As the two of us walked along a path, we stumbled upon one of the Pangoros from earlier, sound asleep on their path. Cocoa and I both shushed each other, not wanting to wake it up, and we both snuck past it quietly. Soon, they made it past it, and were able to continue on, but there was trouble ahead. We snuck right into a large gap in the trail, We fell from the small cliff and landed on a bundle of Foongus.

I had bounced off of them, but Cocoa was not so lucky. She was splashed by a giant-sized whiff of Spore, knocking her out while the Foongus scattered. "Oy vey!" I squealed. "This isn't good."

From the distance, I thought I could see some Chesto Berries hanging off a vine. I was low enough that I could grab it, but it was still too far for me to reach. Seeing no other Pokemon nearby, I had no alternative. I lifted her over my back and tried to drag her over. It was all kinds of difficult, considering she was four times larger than me, and about six times as heavy. I could only move a few steps at a time.

I gotta work out more often…

After about fifteen to twenty tries, I finally made it to the Berry. I held it over Cocoa's head and squeezed some of the juice into her open mouth. The results were almost immediate. "GROSS!" I leaped back as she flailed her arms and legs about. "Ugh… What happened? And why does my mouth taste like roadkill?"

I was just about to explain when suddenly, I saw something. "Hey, look! It's Fletchinder!" and I pointed to the sky. "The others must be close"!

My assumption was correct. By following him, we caught up with the rest of our friends, who had finally found one another. Brianna grabbed her partner in a warm embrace. "Thank Arceus you're safe! I was so worried I-!" She backed up. "Ew! Why does your breath smell like roadkill?"

"Long story…" I interrupted, holding up the vine that bound us. "Anyway, would somebody mind chopping through this thing?"

"Allow me," Clemont stepped up. "Clemontic gear, ON! Scizor Shears, GO!" From his backpack came what looked like cable shears on a retractable arm. It chomped through the vine like a hot knife through butter.

"Much better…" Cocoa commented.

Just then, everyone heard the bushes rustle. It turned out to be the trio of Pangoros from earlier. I panicked and backed up, joining the rest of the group.

"Why are they following us?" Serena asked.

The three of them started to charge their attacks, but before they could unleash them, Serena's Pancham jumped in front of them. They discharged their attacks and listened to him. They spoke back to him, and as they did, I translated. "It sounds to me like they're having a problem with their food supply."


*Brianna's POV*


With everyone calmed down, the Pangoro directed us to a large tree. Jessie and James recognized it at once.

As they spoke Squishy translated. 'They say that this is their tree. Every year they harvest the fruit from this tree and divide it between them. But this year, Jessie and James beat them to it.'

James smiled. "Why didn't you say so? We would've given it back." And that was just what he did. He put the sack down in front of them and backed away.

Misty smiled. "Now you got your food back. Enjoy!"

Then, to her surprise, one of the Pangoro offered her a Berry, which was a very generous offer. The other Pangoros offered some to the rest of us. "I think this is their way of apologizing," Brock commented.

"It's all good, Pangoro. No hard feelings." And with that, Ash took a bite out of his share. "It tastes great!"

As we enjoyed our little snack with the Pangoro, we all shared what happened while we were separated. Cocoa and Meowth's story seemed to be the most exciting. "Your fortune did say you'd have the worst day of the year today, and since Meowth's Charm-thing is gold, I guess that came true as well."

"Hey! That's just plain rude!" rebuked Meowth.

Cocoa just smiled. "It wasn't all that bad. Actually, it was kinda fun!"

Serena looked on with confused amazement. "You're… joking, right?"

Cocoa and Meowth shared a look and winked at each other, smiling about the crazy day they all had together. Although we were all separated for a little bit by force, we were able to find each other once again. Perhaps that was in our fortune, too… But one thing is for sure, our journey continues…