Author's Note:
Here it is, the chapter which introduces arguably Ash's strongest Pokémon from the anime. For those of you think Charizard is, remember this guy defeated a self-healing Darkrai which had a super effective Ice Beam, several of which hit. Charizard almost fell to an Articuno that he had a massive type advantage over and then lost a one on one battle to a Dusclops. The comparison is clear. We also get to explore Serena's Wurmple some, I hope you like her story as well. Don't forget to vote in the poll and with that, let's begin.
Chapter seven: Earl of the Forest
May laughed at the tickling sensation all over her body. Wurmple was crawling over her once again. She looked around at the new makeshift campsite.
It's been a few days since Ash caught Taillow and that bird really seemed to throw of his teams dynamic. Sure, Granbull was a big battler but she seemed to match the playful nature of his Duskull and Phanpy. Even Pikachu seemed to be laid back, even if he could turn on the action in battle. She was constantly training and seemed to take to sparring with Brock's Golem almost daily, and when not, she was taking lessons from Pikachu on learning some new move.
Speaking of Brock, she turned her head towards him. A smile formed on her face as she saw him with Max, showing him how to brush Slakoth properly.
She didn't know what to make of Brock at first, both Ash and Serena spoke so highly of him and the fact he used to be a gym leader made her think he'd be like her dad. It's not that she doesn't love her father, of course she does. It's just he's always been so overprotective, and this journey was meant to be chance to break free from it, so the thought of another control freak wasn't to appealing... but boy was she wrong. Brock is like the big brother she never had, and he even seemed to have a way to make having her actual brother along somewhat bearable. Maybe it's because of his indulgence in Max's tutoring.
As she finished scanning the campsite, she stopped on Serena who was performing a dance with Murkrow and Cacnea. Her Wurmple was asleep and curled up with her Sylveon, who seemed to be giving pointers. She never got to see the performance in full but she sure was working hard and didn't look half bad doing it, no wonder Ash made her his choice over May herself. Not that she's bitter about it, she turned down Brendan because of ruining their pre-existing friendship. If she's gonna have a boyfriend, it'll be someone she meets on this journey. That way, if it goes wrong, she'll have nothing to worry about.
The honey-blonde girl came to an end and sat down on the grass with her team moving in around her. It almost made May jealous at the close relationship they share. Serena must've noticed her staring because she stood up and approached her with a smile on her face.
"Hey May," she greeted, "can we help you with anything?"
"Huh? Oh no," she shook her head, "just, ya know. Taking it all in. We kinda watched your dance and-"
"Oh well, that's great," she smiled, "what did you make of it? Rustbow has a contest hall so we're planning on it being our first official showcase."
"Why would it need a contest hall if your competing in showcases?" she asked.
"It's because showcases are new in the region, this is the first year a circuit is operating in Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh and of course Hoenn," Serena explained, "so they don't have their own halls set up. They are being held in the contest halls to see how popular they are before being integrated fully."
"But won't that hurt the contests being held there?" she asked.
"They tend to hold contests in the same halls once every fortnight," Serena replied, "from what I've read, showcases are following the same process but on the off weeks, so they run in conjunction with each other."
"Sounds like you've got it all figured out," she muttered.
"Hardly," she shook her head, "we've done performances before, but we had someone helping. This is the first one we're doing by ourselves."
She turned around and looked out over her own Pokémon. Surprisingly, her Wurmple woke up and slowly crawled over to her. She climbed up and rested on the girls shoulder. With some weak cries from her bug, the honey-blonde performer smiled and shook her head.
"You're hungry again?" she asked. Her lips pinched together and eye-brow lowered into a sort of frown, her eyes glanced over towards May herself, she wasn't sure why but watching her cerulean eyes flicker, it became clear she was looking at Wurmple, who stopped onto of her head, "how about we have a battle May?"
"What?" she asked, almost coughing in surprise.
"While nothing is concrete, sometimes when Pokémon are close to evolving, they feel an energy surge," she explained, "sound familiar?"
"Wurmple has always been this energetic," May shrugged, "it doesn't prove anything."
"When close to evolution, especially cocoon sort of evolutions which bug types typically are, they like to eat a bunch to store energy," she explained, "and they also evolve pretty young. I'd be more surprised if they don't evolve soon. Besides, what could it hurt?"
"You're not taking no for an answer, are you?" she sighed.
"Come on May, a quick battle will be fun," she smiled, "and if your planning on taking on the Rustbow gym then you'll need the practice."
"Fine," she shook her head. Serena smiled and took off towards the far side of the grassy field. She turned around her Wurmple slowly crawled down onto her grass, standing in front of her. It was hardly intimidating but that was more of a relief. Her own bug smiled and leaped off her head, entering a battle stance.
"You have the first move, May!" she called out.
"Use Poison Sting!" the Hoenn native shouted.
Her bug type reared her upper body up. A series of purple stingers flew across the makeshift field and struck the opposing Wurmple.
"String shot the nearby tree," Serena commanded.
The opposing bug type looked up and a thick white string shot out of her mouth. It landed on a branch of a tree; she went flying upwards.
"After it!" May shouted.
Her own Wurmple ended the poison sting attack. Turning towards the same branch, she too shot her own string shot.
"Use Poison sting to cut the string," Serena shouted, "then the trick we've been working on."
She barely had chance to register it before a series of purple stingers shot down. They pierced the string and snapped it in half, sending her own Wurmple flying straight into the tree trunk. Gasping at the sight, she flinched with the impact.
Serena's Wurmple jumped off the tree and jumped down. Spinning in the fall, she shot another web out of her mouth. Trapping May's bug against the tree.
Landing on ground, a bolt of electricity travelled up through the string. Reaching the trapped worm Pokémon, she cried out in pain.
"What is that?!" May cried.
"It's called Electroweb, and its move we had Pikachu's help perfecting," she explained, "Wurmple seems to have a natural talent for using unusual moves."
"Well we're not done yet!" May declared, "use Poison Sting to cut the thread like she did!"
Her Wurmple struggled around and shot out another barrage of poison stings. The webbing spit open and she rolled around on the floor.
"Tackle!" Serena shouted.
Shooting across the grassy pain, she made a beeline straight for May's Wurmple. It wasn't particularly fast, but she slammed into the side, sending her flying.
Smashing into the trunk of the tree once more. The energetic bug glew white and grew in size, rolling down to the roots. Running over to her she watched her shape morph in front of her eyes.
"What's happening?!" she asked.
"Your Wurmple is evolving, May, it's nothing to be scared off," Serena explained.
"So, she'll become a Beautifly?" she asked, turning towards her bug with shimmering eyes.
As the glowing came to a stop, her Wurmple was no-longer small and red but more of a white ball. Several white spikes struck out all over her body with a single red eye with a black pupil in the centre of what would've been her face.
"Wh-what?" she choked, "but Wurmple was meant to evolve into a Beautifly?! What is this?"
"Why not check with your Pokedex, May," Brock suggested, walking over. Seeing as the others were also approaching, she decided not to put up resistance which would only create more questions. Pulling out her device, she pointed it towards her newly evolved bug type Pokémon:
Silcoon, The Cocoon Pokémon. An evolved form of Wurmple. Silcoon tethers itself to a tree branch using silk to keep from falling. There, this Pokémon hangs quietly while it awaits evolution. It peers out of the silk cocoon through a small hole
Type: Bug
Ability: Shed Skin
Hidden Ability: N/A
Gender: Female
Nature: Relaxed (Note: This nature could change when/if this Pokémon evolves)
Move(s): Harden, Tackle, String Shot Poison Sting
"I don't get it," she sighed, as she put the device away, "when we saw a Beautifly before, it said that was the final evolved form of a Wurmple."
"And it's true, May, Silcoon will evolve into a Beautifly," Brock explained, "some Pokémon evolve twice. Some only once and some not at all. Silcoon is just the middle stage in this evolution line. But if you wanted a Beautifly, then you took a big risk catching just a Wurmple."
"What do you mean?" Serena asked.
"Wurmple are a part of a branched evolution," he replied, "they can either evolve into a Silcoon and Beautifly, or Cascoon and Dustox. For a long time, it was unsure what decided the evolution. It wasn't like with Gloom which evolves based the element stone, but it came down to the individual deciding at the time."
"Well I'm glad she went with Silcoon," she smiled, picking up her bug, "I don't know what I would've done if she picked Cascoon."
"Maybe we could finish this battle then," Serena suggested.
Placing her bug back down, she walked a little bit away and turned back towards the field. Serena's own bug was facing off against her once more. She took off across the grassy field. Entering a speedy tackle as she homed in on the newly evolve Silcoon.
May's cocoon Pokémon remained still but closed her eye. A shimmering light seemed to expand over her body.
Wurmple smashed into her but it didn't seem to do anything. She was sent flying backwards with a thick white string.
"Follow up with Poison Sting!" May gleamed.
A bolt of electricity travelled down the string. It struck the newly evolved bug type, who cried out in pain.
Serena's worm Pokémon landed in a ball of string. She launched out a series of poison stingers which broke the string free and-
A series of yellow bullets cleared the path between the two Pokémon. She turned towards the source and saw Treecko land at the base of a nearby tree. It looked just like the one at Professor Birch's lab which went with Sawyer.
"Treecko!"
It ran across the grass in almost the blink of an eye. Tackling Serena's Wurmple, it picked her up and leap up onto the branch of another tree. It leaped from one branch to another and out of sight.
"What?" she asked, blinking as it registered what happened.
"That was a Treecko!" Ash's excitedly exclaimed.
"And it's making off with Wurmple!" Serena shouted, bolting off in the direction it left.
Ash quickly held out his Pokéballs and recalled his team, except Pikachu who ran off after Serena, along with Sylveon. Ash didn't waste any time in following them a boyish grin on his face. He spun around and coned his hands around his lips.
"We'll be back soon guys! Don't leave without us!" he called out, turning around, and running into the tree lines.
He landed down at the base of his home. Placing the bug down by his feet. Taking a moment, he looked up towards the old tree, the leafless branches provided minimum shade and the bark was a pale grey colour... but it was home.
"What the hell!" a voice called out. He turned around to see the little child he just rescued.
A series of poison stingers flew towards him, but he leaped over head. Landing to her side, holding his paws out in a peaceful manner.
"Whoa, slow down," he pleaded, "I didn't mean to scare you but with all those humans around, I had to work fast."
"Work fast?!" she cried, "you Poké-napped me! What do you even want with me?!"
"I saved you," he replied, "let me start from the beginning and maybe this make more sense. But I didn't mean you any harm."
"You have a weird way of showing it!" she boomed.
"I'm a Treecko and I spend my days in this forest helping out the locals," he explained, "about a week ago, your father came to me and asked for my assistance. He wanted my help in finding his daughter, you. So, I've been looking. Following. I found you captured by those humans when your run in with the local Taillow flock. Since then I've been planning this rescue, so when I saw the battle you was forced into. I saw the opportunity to make my move!"
"You're a real idiot, you know that yeah?" she asked, "those humans weren't holding me or whatever you thought! They were my escape plan away!"
"Away from what?!" he cried.
"Away from my father!" she yelled, launching out a set of poison stingers at him, which he leaped to the side off once more, "I know humans travel. I walked out right in front of them, if I didn't want them to catch me, why would I do that?!"
"B-but that doesn't make," he shook his head, "why would you pick humans over your own father? Humans are evil, horrible creatures that-"
"Grow up," she shook her head, "yes, humans can be bad but so can Pokémon. And those humans were clearly kids. From my experience, it tends to be the older generation which are the true monsters, whether human or Pokémon."
"What did your father-"
He was cut off by a powerful wind which sent him flying into his family tree. Smashing into the dying delonix regia, grimacing as the bug type energy stung over his entire body. Sliding down to the base, he gritted his teeth in pain.
Wurmple tried to crawl away but a thick string shot caught her and dragged back, high into the dying tree. Dangling like some sort of meal for a bird.
Pushing himself up, he watched the male Beautifly emerge from the treeline. He attempted to shoot him down with a bullet seed.
Swooping under the barrage, his eyes glew bright blue and a psychic force hit him. He was lifted up to an eye level.
"I asked you to do a job and you fulfilled that," he calmly explained, "for that you have my thanks. But now I think it's time you took your leave, I'd like some alone time with my daughter. You understand."
He was sent flying backwards through the thicket of trees. Smashing into something everything went dark as he flopped onto the floor.
Ash jumped over a log and landed next towards Serena, Pikachu and Sylveon. Looking around, he found them stuck in the middle of the forest with trees surrounding them in all directions. Not a single sound could be heard.
"Can't you sense them, Pikachu?" he asked.
"Sorry but by jumping in trees, they don't leave tracks on the ground," he explained, "and its much winder up there. Their scent would've been blown in all directions. We might as well just pick a direction and hope for the best."
"Alright," he sighed, pulling out a Pokéball, "come on out Taillow."
In a flash of light, his female bird appeared hovering in front of him. She wasted no time in swooping down and resting on his shoulder. It was actually a little surprising, since joining the team, she has been completely loyal and listened to him. A far cry from the hard nut they met leading a flock into an ambush.
"So, we still chasing that Treecko or have we stumbled onto another little adventure?" she asked.
"We was looking for Treecko but lost track of him," Ash sighed, "we were gonna spread out and I was hoping you'd be able to alert the others when one of us find them."
"We could," she shrugged, pointing a wing in a single direction, "or we could just go that way?"
Turning towards the way she was suggesting, he saw a sea of trees filling the way, same as all others. Glancing up to the tops, in hopes that might lead some clues to her thinking, he saw a large grey tree standing in the background.
"What makes you so sure they went that way?" he asked.
"This forest use to be a natural home to the Treecko. Possibly hundreds lived here and kept the peace among other Pokémon," she explained, "its why my flock was located at the entrance. We had clear boards and we respected that. Then some humans came, grey trucks and some sort of golden gun, they took most of the Treecko's that lived there."
"Sounds like J..." he growled, tightening his fist.
"I don't know who that is," Taillow shook her head, "but they left one Treecko behind, maybe he ran or was hidden. Whatever the reason was, he didn't go with them and stayed here. Despite being alone, stories of the lone Treecko, helping the Pokémon in the forest reached us."
"Is that why your flock was near the edge of the forest?" he asked, "was you scared of a little Treecko."
"I'm not scared of anyone," she growled, "if you need me to prove that to you, then I'll beat the crap out of him when we find him. But no, we stayed by the forest edge because it worked. Most humans had just left town, had full supplies. Made perfect targets for our ambushes. Why go deeper into the forest if we didn't need to? Why cause issues with the other forest Pokémon when we had nothing to gain from them?"
"Okay, okay," he held his hands up, "but I still don't see how this convinces you they went in that direction."
"Maybe they didn't," she shrugged, "but that tree you can see, the biggest tree in the forest. That was the home of the Treecko and heart of Petalburg forest."
"So that's where Treecko lives," Ash finished.
"Even if he doesn't have Wurmple still, he must've taken her for a reason," she replied, "and he'll need to return home at some point."
"What exactly was that reason?" Pikachu asked, "miss know it all?"
"I dunno, spark plug, maybe bugs turn him on," she rolled her eyes, taking off, "now are we going or what?"
She didn't wait for an answer and took off in that direction. He cast a glance at Serena, who had been unusually quiet. Her eyes were closed and a light outline of psychic type energy radiating around her. She opened her eyes as the energy faded.
"Trying to link up your inner voices with Wurmple's?" he asked, grabbing her hand, and pulling her along. Her eyes glanced downward as her head hung low, she didn't need to verbalise her answer. Shaking his head, he focused back on his bird and picked up his pace.
Working their way through the thicket of trees, he found Taillow hovering over a single tree. It wasn't the large, dying tree, but it was random tree which seemed to match all the others around them. Closing in on the tree, his mouth dropped at the sight.
Treecko was lying at the base with cuts and bruises covering his body. His chest was raising and lowering lightly with small breaths. Eyes closed and just overall looking weak. Taillow landed on his shoulder as he stepped closer, kneeling down to check on him. Cautiously, he reached out and took the grass types hand. Feeling a small pulse through his wrist, he closed his eyes and retracted his hand. Sliding the backpack off, he scrambled through for equipment.
Taking out a super potion, he shook it and held it over the wood gekko Pokémon. Pressing the trigger in, it sprayed it over the pure grass type. He grimaced at the spray. Using up most of the bottle, he put it back into his back and watched his eyes lightly flutter open.
His eyes darted around, clearly taking in the sight as he looked between himself, Taillow, Pikachu, Serena and Sylveon. Pushing himself up against the tree, he winced in pain and slide back into his original placement. Frowning at the helplessness expression on his face, he leaned in closer.
"Hey there, Treecko," he greeted, "how are you feeling?"
He grunted and tried to pull back from his open hand. Ash frowned at the jarring movement, retracting his own had.
"We're not going to hurt you," he reassured, "but you've been injured. The potion I used will help you, but you need to relax and let it work."
"We're not going to hurt him?" Taillow asked, "your no fun."
"Why are you asking him a question?" Treecko asked the flying type, "it's not like he's gonna understand-"
"Actually, I can understand you, Treecko," he interjected. The grass type's eyes burst open in shock as his pupils dilated and focused on him, "look Treecko, we came looking for Wurmple. I've got a feeling the answer to that also answers why we found you injured and at the base of this tree."
"I made a bad call," he muttered, closing his eyes as a single tear rolled down his cheek, "all I've ever wanted to do was help Pokémon... so when a Beautifly came to me and told me about his missing daughter... I didn't hesitate in offering to help him look."
"So, Serena's Wurmple was his daughter?" Ash asked.
"I mean, Pokémon aren't like humans. They don't all look the same," Pikachu interjected, "recognising the family resemblance would've been easy."
Ash turned to look at his starter with a confused expression, an eyebrow quirked up. The pure electric type smirked up at him and winked.
"After I grabbed her, I took her to my home," he explained, "Beautifly came asking most days for progress so it was just a matter of time. As we waited, Wurmple kinda gave me a telling off. I was shocked at how against her father she was then before I could correct it, he appeared."
"Oh no," Serena gasped, covering her mouth with her hand, standing up and wondering away. She closed her eyes and looked ready to be sick.
"Can she understand me too?" he asked.
"In a sense," Taillow interjected, "she's a psychic so as long as you think before talking. Opposite of spark plug down there."
Pikachu stuck his tongue out in response.
"Come on guys, we need to focus," Ash called out, as he caught sight of Serena turning back to them, "you okay?"
"Ye-yeah," she stuttered, "Wurmple didn't talk much but when she did. I got the impression she was scared of something... guess we know what of, now."
"I-I'm so sorry," Treecko looked up at her, "a... a few months back, some humans attacked my home. Took my family. It was my first interaction with your kind, other than watching trainers walking past. So, when I saw her with some more humans-"
"You don't need to explain yourself," Ash held his hands up, "if some guy came to us and asked for help finding his child. We'd also wouldn't go questioning him until we found out where the child is. Your heart was in the right place and that's all that matters. How are you feeling?"
"Better," he sighed, "but I still can't move much. Sorry I can't help in retrieving your Wurmple back."
"That's alright, if you'd like I can carry you over," Ash offered, "I know that large tree is meant to be your home and you said that's where you met him."
The small grass type hesitantly nodded. Slowly, he kneeled back down and scooped his arms underneath the small Pokémon, carefully picking him back up, cradling him like a baby. Standing back up, he turned towards his girlfriend and their other Pokémon.
"Okay, it sounds like we're gonna need to act fast," he sighed, "what I'm thinking is, me, Taillow and Pikachu will distract Beautifly-"
"I can handle it myself," Taillow interjected.
"Maybe, but the more we've got distracting him, the better," Ash explained, turning back towards the others, "then you and Sylveon can sneak behind and rescue Wurmple during the battle."
"Sounds good," she nodded.
Pikachu climbed up his body to perch on the opposite shoulder to Taillow. Checking on all three Pokémon currently riding him, they set off with Serena disappearing from sight. Even if he couldn't see her, he could feel
"We're gonna need to hit them hard and fast," he explained, "Taillow, as soon as you see Beautifly, charge in and start an aerial battle. Lead him as far away from Wurmple as possible. Pikachu, once we start the duel, wait for an opening, and try to paralysis him. The bigger the odds against Beautifly, the better."
His electric starter nodded in agreement and he turned towards his newly caught female bird. She didn't seem happy about his plan but after a few moments, she also nodded in agreement. Slowly making his way through the thicket of trees, waiting for the fully evolved bug type to appear in the distance.
Ash came to a stop behind a tree. Beautifly way floating up by a single branch, creating a cocoon of sorts dangling down. Squinting closer, he tried to look at the bug type, seeing a red blur within the cocoon. Realising that it was Serena's Wurmple, he turned towards the female bird perched on his shoulder.
"Alright Taillow, go in hard and fast!" he instructed.
She gave a serious nod and took off from his shoulder. Seconds later, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
He turned towards the bug flying type, just in time to see Taillow smash into him. Both duel flying types went spewing away from the cocoon, the female bird making a u-turn and leading the bug after her and away from Serena's Wurmple.
Several blobs of white string flew towards her. With wings spread, she expertly manuvered her way through doubling back with glowing wings.
As his female bird entered a speedy hit and run tactic, never giving her opponent a chance to counter or even dodge. Or giving Pikachu his opening to paralysis the male Beautifly. He had a sneaking suspicion that she would give in to take any thunder wave he tried just to activate her guts ability.
She really reveals in the pain.
Glancing past the battle, he noticed Serena appear with Sylveon. Two feelers reached up and pulled the cocoon down, as a weak psychic wave removed the string covering the red worm Pokémon. He smirked, knowing that the main objective had been fulfilled, so he turned back towards the battle.
Taillow had gained a lot of height, diving straight down with her beak glowing. She was set on a straight collision course for the Beautifly.
His eyes glew blue and a powerful psychic wave shot out. The force caught her in place, stopping an inch from impact.
"Alright Pikachu, now Thunder Wave!" he shouted, revealing both of them to the bug.
His electric starter jumped forward and let out a weak static shock. It shot across the air towards the two flying types.
"No!" Taillow cried out.
With a mighty cry her wings shimmered in a metal coating. The electric sparks jumped towards the conductors and static spread over her body.
"I didn't think she had Steel Wing working yet," Ash muttered, "you've only been teaching her for a few days."
"I'm just that good," Pikachu smirked.
The normal flying type broke free from her hold with a spin. A red outline surrounding her body as her wings switched from metal to a bright white colour. She entered a spinning dive and drilled straight into Beautifly.
Both Pokémon smashed into the grotto floor. Wurmple's father stood up quicker, a white light shimmering over his body with solar orbs moving towards him.
Taillow struggled up after him. Sparks appearing all over her body, limiting her movements.
Beautifly's proboscis extended outward, sending a thick string web. It wrapped around the former flock leader, with a bolt of electricity following.
She cried out in pain. With a swing of the head, the electroweb trap sent her flying into the old grey tree trunk.
"Just that good, huh?" he smirked down at his electric starter, "so what do you think of letting her have a go at the Rustbow gym."
Leaping out from the impact, Taillow smashed beak first into Beautifly. He attempted to fly away but due to the webbing, she pulled him straight back down.
"I don't see why not," Pikachu shrugged, wincing at the double clap wing attack on the bug flying types head, "she's certainly enthusiastic, a lot more than Duskull, at least. And you've used Pokémon with a disadvantage before, even when other options were available."
Flapping his wings, the butterfly Pokémon sent former flock leader sailing backwards. Jolted to a stop by her web-coating.
"You two seem awfully none-chalant about this battle," Treecko interjected, "shouldn't we help her? She's taken what, two, three, electric attacks."
She leaped high into the air and spun around, wrapping the rest of the webbing around her already trapped body. With her wings fully concealed by the webbing, she spun at a high speed, dragging her opponent in closer.
Smashing her body into him, Beautifly was sent smashing down into the floor. Her beak extended out and glew. She dived straight down on him.
"As you can see, Taillow is doing just fine by herself," Ash smiled, "besides, she'd me more mad if we did try to intervene."
Standing over the top of the male bug, she continued to stab him with her beak. His cries of pain could be heard as she went full force.
Ash smiled as Serena and Sylveon reappeared by his side. Her Wurmple in her arms, still covered in string.
A psychic field extended outward and blew Taillow upwards. Beautifly followed her up, smashing her body against one of the dying branching. Shooting out a second-thick thread. Trapping her to the top branch, as she struggled to break free... to no avail.
"Now we help her, Treecko," Ash clarified, glancing down to his starter, "you wanna take this buddy?"
"I would say let Phanpy or Granbull get their fill but after seeing his diverse move set," Pikachu shrugged, "I think he'd have something for both of them."
"We can take it from here, Ash," Serena replied.
"Fine with me," he stepped back, as his electric starter scattered up his body, perching on his shoulder. He took out a plain Pokéball and enlarged it in his hand with a smile on his face, "when I get an opening, I'll recall Taillow."
Sylveon ran forward and came to a stop with a powerful fairy wind blowing though her feelers. It struck Beautifly and sent him flying upwards.
Soaring over the attack. He extended out his proboscis and shot out another string shot.
It struck one of her feelers, which she pulled back, forcing him along. A pink ball of fairy type energy formed at her mouth, which she shot up at him.
Seeing the male bug crash onto the ground. Ash stepped forward and recalled his female bird, the strings remaining out draped over the dying tree.
His eyes locked with the bug, who scanned to his side. Realising that their position had been given up, he chanced a glance to see Serena, Sylveon and Wurmple also by his side. The male Beautifly's eyes glew blue and a powerful psychic force exerted outward.
He turned to the side and pulled Treecko close to his chest, ready for the blast. His eyes caught sight of Serena using one hand to put up her own psychic shield, while her other cradled Wurmple. The two psychic forces fighting back and forth. Despite hoping his girlfriend could handle it, Beautifly clearly has more experience in putting the psychic abilities into combat and she also has to focus on protecting the small bug in her arms.
Speaking of her Wurmple, she sat up in the embrace and turned towards the battling forces. He would've got either Pikachu or Sylveon to intervene but as shown with Pikachu's explode-y tail, to many opposing energies can have... explosive results.
Leaping from his girlfriend's embrace. Wurmple landed directly in the middle of the psychic forces. She cried out in pain as her body glew white. Her body changed into a sort of circular oval shape. Falling down onto the ground as both psychic fields faded, the glowing also ended. She laid still on the ground, her body now a cocoon shape in a similar shape to Silcoon, however, no spikes were sticking out of her. She also had a tint of purple colouring to her silk skin.
Beautifly eyed her for what felt like forever, both Pikachu and Sylveon on guard ready to attack. Serena kneeled beside her and scooped her back up, an unreadable expression spread across her face. His eyes flickered back to the bug who seemed to frown at the sight. Turning around, he took off.
"What just happened?" Ash blinked in surprise.
Serena leaned against the tree looked at her newly evolved bug type. It was clear that it wasn't a Silcoon. When looking up her Wurmple and the evolution paths, she knew that she could decide to become either and while she was excited to have a Beautifly... as long as her bug is happy, that's all that matters.
"So... you decided to become a Cascoon?" Serena asked with her ESP.
"Yeah... I know you wanted a Beautifly," she muttered, "its why I was trying to hold off on my evolution."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You was my get away from her ticket," Cascoon explained, "well one of you, at least. When I came across the group, I didn't care which of you tried to catch me. I just wanted you to help me get away from here."
"So, when I mentioned being a Beautifly, you already knew that you didn't want to share that path," Serena guessed.
"Exactly," she replied, "I didn't want to give you a reason to diss miss me and leave me around for dear old dad to find me."
"You know, I never had a great relationship with my own dad," Serena explained, "for half my life I thought he was dead, and I recently learnt that even if he wasn't, he... let's say I have repressed memories of his true self."
"Well mine is a misogamist and has hundreds of children," Cascoon explained, "he'd get on with any bug types he could find, have his children but he only took interest in the Wurmple's... then he'd force them into Beautifly's like himself."
"Why not just evolve into a Cascoon then?" she asked, "at least that would've worked. It clearly worked here."
"Because I would still be stuck here," she explained, "I know it's a long shot but travelling around with trainers would be my best chance at finding my mother, a Venomoth. Besides, any of his children that evolved into Cascoon, he was demolish in battle and belittle them for weeks before they evolved again. He called it punishment for him wasting his time on them. It only worked here because of everyone attacking him. His own self-preservation is more important."
"I'm sorry you had to go through this, Cascoon," Serena replied, bringing the newly evolved bug into a hug. "but now that I know, I can help you with finding your mother."
"You mean that you're not just going to release me and try again?" her cocoon Pokémon asked, eyes shimmering with tears.
"Of course, not, only if you wanted me too," she replied, "true, having a Beautifly would've been fun but what you want is more important. You're the one who has to live with the evolution, not me."
"Heh, it's funny," she uttered, "when I first saw the group, I didn't care about any of you. Only seeing you as a chance to escape but guess I found the best one of the lot of you. I couldn't imagine what it would've been like if that May girl caught me instead."
"I know that she seems bad but-" she paused, considering her next words. While she gets on with May, her favouritism towards Silcoon is ever present and she doubts that she would have the same view. Hopefully, they can get through to May just how terrible her current mindset could really be.
"She is your friend but please don't try and justify her to me," Cascoon replied, "her Wurmple, or well, Silcoon. Is just like some of my brother's or sister's, particularly the ones which brought dad's talk about the superior evolution and became Beautifies with him."
"Well... you don't need to worry about him anymore," Serena reassured, pulling out her Pokedex to do a quick scan:
Cascoon, The Cocoon Pokémon. An evolved form of Wurmple. Cascoon makes its protective cocoon by wrapping its body entirely with a fine silk from its mouth. Once the silk goes around its body, it hardens. This Pokémon prepares for its evolution inside the cocoon
Type: Bug
Ability: Shed Skin
Hidden Ability: N/A
Gender: Female
Nature: Docile (Note: This nature could change when/if this Pokémon evolves)
Move(s): Harden, Iron Defence, Tackle, String Shot, Poison Sting, Bug Bite, Snore, Electroweb
"Serena..." Cascoon replied, as she put the device away.
"Yeah," she smiled, stroking her bug types head.
"I know I never showed much interest in those show things you've been practising," she admitted, "but they look nice, at least. Mind if I joined in or is it too late before the actual showcase?"
"Of course, we'll find you a part to play Cascoon," she smiled, "can't promise a massive role since Cacnea and Murkrow have a routine planned together, but there will also be more showcases so maybe someday we'll do one with you at the helm."
"Thank you," she smiled.
Leaving his girlfriend to speak with her newly evolved bug, Ash walked over to the dying tree. Glancing down at the grass type in his arms, he frown at the still injured state he was in, even if slowly recovering. His eyes were weakly open, and he tried to push himself up.
"Hey, slow down buddy," Ash pleaded adjusting his arms to better hold the little guy, "your gonna do yourself more damage."
"But... the tree," he grunted, "it needs water, and nutrients... if I don't give it some soon..."
"I hate to say it, Treecko but it looks like this tree's time has already passed," he muttered, in a solemn tone.
His head flew to the side as a barrage of yellow-golden seeds blew past. As they came to a stop, he turned towards the source, Treecko. Feeling how much this place meant to him, he closed his eyes. His mind running through any possible option to help, when an old memory resurfaced, his eyes burst open.
"Ya know, Treecko, I might know someone who could help with your tree," he offered a small smile.
Reaching into pocket, he pulled out his Pokedex and scanned through the options with it. After a few button pushes, a Pokéball materialised on top of it. Taking it off, he held it out to the side. In a flash of light, Meganium materialised in front of them, who relaxed with a smile on her face as she approached.
"Miss me already, Ash?" she asked.
"How are you, Meganium?" he asked, standing up to embrace her in a hug, "and how's everyone at the lab?"
"There good, Sandslash is the same loner grouch. Dragonite marching around like she owns the place," she explained, "Venusaur has brought a few more into his ranks of protectors. Myself? I've been spending more time with Tauros and Primeape. More than I expected."
"In the training ground?" he smiled, "yeah. From what I've been told, those two like to spend their days there."
"So, what do I owe this pleasure?" she asked.
He gestured down to the weak grass type, lying against the dying tree. She followed his guide and her expression softened even more. "This is Treecko, he's... a protector, of sorts, for this forest. And this is his home. It was damaged by some poachers and he's been trying to nurse it back."
"I'll see what I can do," she smiled.
Stepping backwards she turned to face the tree. Closing her eyes, her head held high and a shimmering light spread over her body. A sort of mystic energy radiated off her in waves. Travelling through all the plant live surrounding them, up through Treecko's home. The large grey tree lit up like a holiday tree in the middle of a festive season. After nearly a minute she re-opened her eyes and stepped back.
"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered, "it's too far gone. I might've been able to help it in the final moments but just like other living creatures, time passes."
"It's okay, Meganium," Ash replied, placing a hand on the back of her neck, "I knew it was a long shot. Thanks for trying, though."
"Maybe I could do something else," she offered, turning down towards the small grass type resting against the tree corpse. He answered with a serious nod.
She closed her eyes once more. Treecko seemed to glow this time as more mystic waves radiated over him. The injuries slowly disappeared, and he stood back up walking over to her leg. A bright light engulfed the large tree as well, funnelling upwards across it. Several seconds past before it imploded upon itself, small bits of bark raining down and covering the end result.
Treecko's eyes widened and he ran forward into the unknown. Ash turned towards his fully evolved grass type, who smiled back at him with her usual confident expression normally saved for battle. With a gesture from one of her vines, he turned back to see the end result.
Kneeling in the creator which once housed the roots of the tree. Treecko's eyes were wide and shimmering, filled with enthusiasm and hope. In the ground was a small bark sprout with two twigs sticking out of the roof on either side of the top. It looked brand new and filled with life. He stood up and turned towards Meganium, lightly breathing as he took a step forward and kneeled down onto one knee, bowing his head.
"Thank you," he muttered.
"Your most welcome," she smiled, "like all plant life, you shared a special bond with your previous home. I was able to extra all information I needed when healing you so it should grow into as strong of a tree as what once sprouted here. Of course, it'll take many years, but this forest shall provide a good home for both of you until here. I can feel it's genetic make-up in every blade of grass, it truly was the heart of the forest and birthed this entire place."
"Thank you, Meganium," Ash smiled, watching as the wood gekko Pokémon turned back to the new sprout, "why don't you rest up for a bit?"
"I'll stay out, this tropical sun is nice for a grass type," she smiled, and adding in a wink, "besides, I don't want this to be a day trip or whatever."
Watching her turn around, she walked out into an opening where the bright sun shone down onto the forest floor. Smiling at her enjoying the warm weather, he turned back towards the lone grass type down in the creator. Cautiously, he approached and sat beside him.
"Hey," he greeted.
"Thank you," he repeated, "and I'm sorry about... stealing your friends Wurmple. Had I known then-"
"You did what you thought was right," Ash held his hands up, "I couldn't blame anyone for that. You just need to learn not to be as impulsive, heh, I could probably use the same lesson now that I think of it."
"From what I've gathered, you seem to have the same drive to do what's right," Treecko muttered, "from the moment you learnt the truth, you worked with that female human-"
"Serena," he interjected.
"You worked with Serena," he corrected, "and performed heroics that I could only dream off. I have a lot to aspire to."
"You sell yourself short," Ash sighed, "look Treecko, I know you like to protect the Pokémon of this forest and do a good job. But... you had a tragedy experienced here. I had something bad happen a while back too, lost a friend. I understand your drive to want to stop that happening to others.
He sighed and pinched the top of his nose.
"What I'm trying to say is, this isn't health for you," he continued, "look, there are a lot of people and Pokémon out there. A lot of them need saving just like those in the forest. What I'm trying to say is, will you join my team. Or well, if you want to, there's a spot for you. I can't say for certain how long or how hard it'll be but to move on from what happened here, you should really... move on."
"I trust your judgement, I can sense the same blackness darkening your heart that has concealed mine," he replied, standing up, casting a glance to the side where he seemed to be looking at Meganium. With a small smile on his face, he looked, "if you'd have me, I'd be honoured to work alongside you."
"Like I said," he smiled, pulling out an empty Pokémon and kneeling down beside him. He held the device out, "if you want it, you've got a spot."
Treecko took a deep breath and looked up into his eyes. His head turned slightly and appeared to be looking directly at Meganium. He continued to scan those around them, it probably took a minute if not longer. With one fine sigh, he reached out and tapped the device with his fist. Disappearing in a red light, he was sucked into the device. It didn't even shake before dinging. Smiling, he used his free hand to pull out his Pokedex and scan the device:
Treecko, The Wood Gekko Pokémon. Treecko is cool, calm, and collected—it never panics under any situation. If a bigger foe were to glare at this Pokémon, it would glare right back without conceding an inch of ground
Type: Grass
Ability: Overgrow
Hidden Ability: Unburden (Note: This hidden ability is currently locked)
Gender: Male
Nature: Hardy (Note: This nature could change when this Pokémon evolves)
Move(s): Pound, Leer, Bullet Seed, Quick Attack, Absorb, Pursuit, Fury Cutter
"Please select which Pokémon you wish to send back." The device requested.
He looked over the options of Pikachu, Meganium, Phanpy, Granbull, Duskull, Taillow and Treecko. Of course, both Pikachu and Meganium were blacked out, being out of their Pokéballs. The thought that this option came so quickly was irrating, of course Serena is able to carry seven Pokémon thanks to her winning the grand festival. It's not that he resents her privilege or anything but-
Shaking his head, he refocused on the decision, obviously he'd be keeping his three Hoenn Pokémon and Pikachu. Then the next one to cross off would be Phanpy, as he was set in stone for the Rustbow gym. That left Meganium and Granbull... part of him felt like Meganium should be the obvious choice but she only just arrived and not to mention Treecko seems a little infatuated with her. While tough, he made his decision and hit the image of his fairy type.
Feeling her Pokéball teleport off his belt, he put the device away and pressed the middle button. In a flash of red light, his newly caught grass type materialised right in front of him. He took a moment and looked at his arms and legs.
"So how does it feel?" he asked, "having a Pokéball, I mean."
"Weird... different," he muttered, "I thought... I guess I thought it would be like a prison. Like that gold casing my family was dragged off in."
"Treecko... the people that attacked your family," Ash paused, sighing and sitting down so they were eye level, "I believe I know who they were or at least who they worked for. A vicious Pokémon hunter called J. We... ran into her a few times back in Johto and if she is really in Hoenn..."
"Why not tell me before?" he asked.
"I didn't want it to be a factor in your decision to join the team," Ash offered a small smile, "there's no guarantee that we'd run into her again but from the gold casing to men in metal suits. It sure sounds like her work. If it is, and we run into her again, I promise to help you in any way I can."
"Thank you but I know that this J has likely already moved them on," he sighed, "but what I truly do want from you, Ash, is to learn how best to protect."
"Protect?" he questioned.
"Protect others so that they won't go through what I have," he explained, "just like an aura guardian does."
"Who-"
"Your Pikachu told me whilst you were rescuing Wurmple," he smiled, "I know you're not a full guardian but anyone with the potential must be worthy. That heart is what made my decision easy in the end."
"Heh," he chuckled at the grass type, reaching down to scratch the top of his head, "alright Treecko, I promise I'll teach you all I can... but honestly, I'm not much of a hero."
"That's all I ask," he bowed, "and in return I promise to work hard, follow your every command and do whatever is needed of me, and more."
Smiling down at the wood gekko Pokémon, he stood up as his newest team member walked back over to the tree sprout which stood where his home once did. Reaching down, he broke off a single small twig off it and placed it in his mouth. Turning back, he smirked and strode over.
Chuckling at that little interaction, Ash looked around. Wanting to see if the others were ready to go and find their friends as well. He made his way over to his girlfriend as both of his grass types joined him. She offered a smile and stood up, her bug type resting in her arms.
"You ready to get back to the others?" he asked.
"Yep," she smiled, "I bet they'll be worrying about us."
"Well May and Max, maybe," he replied, "but Brock would be fine with them. Hey, where's Pikachu and Sylveon?"
"I think she carried him off sometime after the battle with Beautifly," Serena explained, "I wouldn't worry though. They can find their way back when ready."
"Worrying wasn't exactly my first thought," he replied, shuddering, and shaking his head. Deciding not to think about them, he lead the way back to the group... with Serena's directions, of course.
May sat down with a brush, running it over the silk skin of her newly evolved bug type. Despite wanting to scream and shout about the joy of being that step closer to a Beautifly, something Brock said was eating away at her.
Her eyes cast over to her fire starter, Torchic. He was happily running around and seemed to be having a good time. Sighing, she looked towards the breeder, who was talking with Max. He appeared to be showing him a technique in brushing his Golem. Why anyone would think of brushing that thing is beyond her, it's not exactly got fur. Shortly after Ash and Serena left, he made a point about her favouritism towards Silcoon, but she can't help it. Silcoon is the first Pokémon she's met that she is actually excited to meet. Besides, if Torchic really had an issue with it then he'd tell her himself, wouldn't he?
"Hey guys, were back!" a familiar voice echoed. She turned to see both Ash and Serena walking towards them. Serena was carrying some Pokémon which at first glance looked like a Silcoon. Casting a quick glance down at her's, she frowned, whilst similar, there were clear differences between them.
Behind them walked two green Pokémon as well. One was easy to identify as the Treecko from earlier, but the other one was a complete mystery. It was large and quadrupedal, a long neck decorated with flower petals and two yellow antenna things sticking out of its head. Unsure where or even what this new Pokémon was, she stood up and walking over. Quickly spotting her brother doing the same, they came to a stop in front of them.
"Whoa, it's your Meganium!" Max yelled.
"So that's a Meganium, huh?" May asked, pulling out her Pokedex:
Meganium, The Herb Pokémon. The final evolved form of Chikorita. The fragrance of Meganium's flower soothes and calms emotions. In battle, this Pokémon gives off more of its becalming scent to blunt the foe's fighting spirit
"Hey Meganium, do you mind using Heal Pulse and Aromatherapy on Taillow?" Ash asked, "she kinda got beat up with Beautifly."
"Meg Meganium," she replied.
"I think you two will actually get on," he replied, enlarging a Pokéball in his hand, "your pretty similar now that I think about it."
His Taillow appeared on the ground, static covering her body as she held her wings out. Meganium let out a loud cry as her head shot up. The petals around her neck seemed to shake as waves radiated out of her, a green mist joining them. It struck the female bird, who was panting heavily, the static fading.
"Feeling better?" Ash asked.
"Tail Taillow!" she cried out, turning to face large grass type, "Taillow."
A vine shot out of the herb Pokémon. It wrapped around female bird and she lifted her up to an eye level, "Meganium." With Taillow smirking in response.
"What was that?" May found herself asking.
"Bonding..." Ash muttered, "I think. Or arguing. With these two, it's the same thing. Anyway, might as well get the introductions over with. Come on out, everyone!"
In a flash of light, his Phanpy and Duskull appeared in front of them. Treecko walked up to them first, holding his hand out. The ghost type grabbed his hand as Phanpy grabbed his other hand with his long nose. Both enthusiastically shook it up and down, shaking the wood gekko in multiple ways. He retracted the two hands, rolling the small stick around in his mouth. He quickly jumped to a nearby tree and climbed up. Landing on the branch, he leaned against the trunk in a laid-back fashion. For May, at least, he seemed a little weird. This isn't the old west like from those movies her dad likes.
Watching as the two small and playful Pokémon walked forward to greet the fully evolved grass type, she turned her attention towards Serena who was sat down with her Silcoon-like Pokémon. She wasted no time in joining the honey-blonde girl on the floor.
"Did your Wurmple evolve as well?" she asked.
"Yeah, and she evolved into a Cascoon," Serena replied, a smile on her face as she stroked the top of her head, "and we got to know each other a little better, so it was all worth it in the end, right Cascoon."
"Cascoon," the bug type cooed.
"B-but I thought you wanted a Beautifly," May muttered, "how can you be alright with it choosing the opposite evolution paths?"
"Because it's what Cascoon wants, that's the important part May," Serena replied, "yes, having a Beautifly would be fun but I wouldn't want to force it on Cascoon here or any Pokémon. And one thing you'll learn is that any Pokémon can be amazing and beautiful if given the chance."
She bite her lower lip and nodded before silently standing up. Walking away, she cast a glance back to see the cerulean-eyed girl re-introducing her newly evolved bug type to the rest of her team. While she wanted to share that sentiment and in theory, it sounds like the right approach. May couldn't be certain that she would be able to share that opinion. If her Wurmple decided to become a Cascoon instead, that is.
Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. Don't forget to vote in the polls. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time...