She glances up at Officer Jenny when she speaks up. A frown comes to her face when she notices that she's looking at the sky frustratingly, clearly angry that Team Galactic managed to get away. Casey doesn't blame her: they're all angry about it.
"I'm sure we haven't seen the last of those criminals, no doubt." She murmurs, her eyes remaining fixed on the empty night sky, "If only we knew more about Team Galactic's plans."
Casey sighs, her eyes now fixated on the empty sky with a frown, "Yeah, if only we did."
Casey and Dawn chuckle lightheartedly as they finish recalling an incident involving Shellos and Piplup earlier in the morning. The two Water-Types had a friendly yet heated competition on who could fire off the strongest Water-Type attack. Shellos won, though Piplup executed his attack far more elegantly than his opponent. Both Casey and Dawn found it amusing to watch, livening them both up for their continued travels alongside Ash and Brock en-route to Pastoria City.
That's precisely where the group is headed right now. They're passing along a peaceful path through a relatively quiet forest, providing them all with a sense of tranquility and comfort. It's nice to have a break after all of the chaos involving Team Galactic back in Veilstone City. However, she's smart enough to realise that there's nothing she can do about it right now.
No, right now she needs to be focusing on her next Gym Battle, which in her eyes is the most important one yet. She's been waiting for as long as she can remember to battle Crasher Wake, and now she's getting to do just that. She knows that she has to be ready for it.
She finds herself stopping abruptly when Ash suddenly freezes in his tracks, his face becoming stricken with shock. Casey looks over at him in concern, "Ash, is something wrong?"
Ash shakes his head, seemingly having snapped himself out of his strange stupor, "Nope."
Casey doesn't believe him in the slightest, but she finds herself unable to question him further when something else catches her eye. A lone Pokemon stumbles out onto the pathway, clutching its arm as it winces in pain. Casey can see its grip tighten when it notices that they're watching it.
"What's that?" Dawn asks, perplexed.
"That's a Riolu." Casey murmurs, looking at the wounded Pokemon in awe, "What's a Riolu doing all the way out here?"
Casey's hand subconsciously goes into her pocket and she pulls out her Pokedex. She aims the encyclopaedia at the rare Pokemon, her eyes shifting down to the screen as it records Riolu's data,
"Riolu, the Emanation Pokémon. When sad or scared, Riolu's aura becomes stronger as a way of signaling its allies."
"So...that was it!" Ash gasps, a look of realisation striking his face.
Casey pockets her Pokedex and looks over at her raven-haired friend, furrowing her eyebrows as she looks at him with bewilderment, "Ash, what in the world are you talking about?"
"Look! Riolu's hurt!"
Ash surges forward when Brock calls out, his instincts kicking in and prompting him to help out. He completely disregards her question in favour for helping out Riolu, Pikachu surging after his trainer in order to help out as well. Ash kneels down in front of Riolu, extending a hand out to the damaged Pokemon with a soft smile, "Are you okay?"
Riolu instantly recoils back, barking angrily at the startled trainer.
"I'm tryna help!" Ash protests, hurt and confusion crossing his face as his hands remain awkwardly suspended in midair.
Riolu's having none of his protests. The Emanation Pokemon draws its palm backwards with vigour, surprising everyone when it begins to generate a small orb of light blue energy before them. Nobody has the time to fully react to what's going on before Riolu thrusts its palm forward, sending the sphere of light directly into Ash's chest.
Ash cries out in pain as he goes flying back, landing in a heap just in front of his friends. Pikachu rushes back towards his trainer, looking over at him with great concern.
"Ash!" Dawn calls out, moving to help him up from the ground.
"Don't worry. I'm fine." Ash replies, brushing her off as he manages to stand himself up. He looks back over at Riolu in awe, "Whoa! That was some move!"
"That was an Aura Sphere!" Brock gasps, looking at the Riolu with just as much awe as Ash.
Casey finds herself looking at Riolu differently to her friends. She finds herself questioning the Emanation Pokemon. She knows for a fact that Riolu doesn't learn Aura Sphere until it evolves into Lucario, yet this Riolu knows how to use the powerful attack. It doesn't add up.
"But I swear that Riolu only learns how to use Aura Sphere when it evolves into Lucario." Casey murmurs. She briefly turns away from Riolu to look at her friends, "That Riolu's not normal, guys. It shouldn't be able to use Aura Sphere. Something's not right here."
"Normal or not, that Riolu needs help!"
Ash rushes towards Riolu once again, Pikachu following tow, but the two of them stop halfway there when Riolu strikes a defensive position. It barks at them just like it did before, making Ash frown, "C'mon! I'm only trying to help!"
Riolu doesn't listen to a word that Ash is saying and draws its palm back once again; Casey knows exactly what its going to do before it even begins to generate the Aura Sphere.
"Ash! Move!"
He doesn't, and it's not long before Riolu pushes its palm back out and sends the Aura Sphere rushing towards its target. The sphere speeds towards Ash and it looks as if it's going to crash into him like before, but somebody else comes in and stops it before it can happen. An unknown boy, clad in a strange looking green cloak, appears from seemingly out of nowhere and knocks the sphere away with ease, much to the shock of Riolu and everybody else.
"Hey." He smiles, turning around to face them all, "Everybody still in one piece?"
They all murmur out a response, all of them still in shock at what just happened. They only snap out of their stupor when Riolu turns around and rushes off, leaving them all behind.
"Hey! Riolu!" Ash calls, moving to run after the fleeing Emanation Pokemon.
"Don't worry. I'll handle this." The boy says, halting Ash's attempt before rushing after Riolu.
The mysterious boy runs out of sight in pursuit of Riolu, leaving Casey and her friends standing there rather stunned. Casey instantly begins to question who that guy was, murmuring to herself as she looks where he was just stood, "Who was that guy?"
"C'mon, guys!" Ash calls out, springing out of his stupor and into action, "We can't just stand here and do nothing when Riolu needs help!"
He takes off in a run alongside Pikachu, leaving his friends behind feeling rather dazed.
"Ash, wait!" Dawn calls.
Casey sighs, knowing that they're wasting time by just standing around here. Once Ash is set on doing something, there's no way in the world that he's going to back out of it. Their only option is to chase after him. Besides, why shouldn't they help out Riolu?
"Ash is right." She says, turning towards Dawn and Brock, "Let's go after them. Riolu needs our help."
They agree and the three of them begin to run down the path and after Ash. They pass through the forest at top speed, the green trees all blurring into one as they pursue their friend. It's only when Brock strikes his arm out that they all fully come to a stop, the two girls looking over at their tall friend with bemusement.
"Brock, what is it?" Dawn asks, perplexed.
He gestures to a tree slightly further ahead from where they're stood and brings index fingers up to his lips, signalling for the two of them to be quiet. Casey looks up to where he is pointing, understanding immediately when she sees that Riolu is perched wearily up in the tree. Brock leads them into a bush at the side of the pathway, which just so happens to be where Ash is hiding, observing Riolu from afar along with the mysterious boy from before.
"So, is that your Riolu?" Dawn asks.
The boy glances back at her and shakes his head, "No. Not mine."
"So then it's a wild Riolu?" Brock assumes.
"No, not wild." The boy replies, confusing them all even more. He sighs, turning back towards the Riolu and looking at it wistfully, "All this Riolu wants to do right now is get back home."
What does he mean 'back home'? What's going on with this Riolu?
Casey has many valid questions about the situation, but those questions are instantly put on hold when yet another interruption arrives on the scene. She hears them before she actually sees them - six-wheeled transit vehicles arrive in the area, their distinctive dark colour palettes setting them apart. Casey recognises them in a heartbeat, even before anybody steps out of them.
Those vehicles belong to Hunter J.
A squad of stocky men emerge from the vehicles with gruff expressions on their faces, Casey instantly recognising their leader from her previous encounters with him. His dark eyes light up when he spots Riolu perched up in the tree. He reaches into his pocket, tossing a lone Pokeball out in front of him and calling out a command as the device is airborne, "Now, Crobat, Wing Attack! Go!"
Crobat bursts out and materialises from its bright form, speeding towards Riolu at top speed. Its wing shine brightly as it charges up its attack; it smashes the wings into Riolu moments later, sending the Emanation Pokemon cascading towards the ground.
"Riolu!" Casey finds the cry escaping her lips before she even realises it. She takes off in a run, rushing past the dazed goons and directly over to Riolu. She leaps towards the falling Pokemon, sliding underneath it and catching it securely in her arms before it can hit the ground. Her back sears in pain from where she skidded along the ground, but she soon forgets about her pain when she hears Ash call out.
"Okay, Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"
She sits up, completely forgetting about Riolu as she watches Pikachu fire off a powerful bolt of lightning directly at Crobat. The Bat Pokemon out-manouveres the attack, much to Ash's chagrin and its trainers delight. The goon smirks as Crobat begins to speed towards them, but the Bat Pokemon falls short when Riolu steps in.
The Emanation Pokemon intervenes and fires off an Aura Sphere, the energy sending Crobat flying back into one of the transit vehicles. Riolu ignores her presence and leaps up from where its hiding, firing off an array of Aura Spheres at everybody it can see. Ash and Pikachu rush out of the way before they can be hit, but Hunter J's goons aren't so lucky. The Aura Spheres miss them, but they strike their vehicles and the surrounding area. Riolu lands on the pathway, surprised to find that the goons are relatively unscathed from the attack.
"So that's the famous Aura Sphere. Impressive. Good power." The head goon smirks, turning towards his subordinates and barking out an order, "Riolu's ours. Let's go!"
Three of the goons spring into action and toss out three Pokeballs in front of them. Three Crobat emerge from the open Pokeballs and fly above their trainers, ready to attack when necessary.
Casey grits her teeth angrily, her blood boiling when she sees the smirks on the goons faces. She's not about to stand for this. She jumps up from where she's sat and rushes out onto the pathway, reaching for a Pokeball as she glares angrily at her opponents, "Oh, no you don't!"
"I won't allow it!"
She stops herself when the mysterious boy leaps in front of her, glaring fiercely over at the goons. He reaches for the edge of his cloak and draws it back, revealing a red and white uniform underneath. He withdraws a red wrist device that Casey recognises instantly, only adding to her awe of the boy.
That's a Vatonage Styler! No way! He's a Pokemon Ranger!
The boy aims the Capture Styler directly at a nearby Ariados that's hanging down from a nearby tree. He fires off a small capsule that loops around the Long Leg Pokemon.
"Vatonage!" He calls out, striking out a strong pose with a bright blue spark of energy. The capsule ring closes around the Ariados, surrounding it in a brief spell of light that quickly fades away.
The boy strikes a triumphant pose, "Capture complete!" He smirks, calling out a command to the Pokemon that's now under his control, "Ariados, use String Shot!"
The Ariados fires off a thin shot of white string from its pincers. The string wraps around the flying Crobat, ensuring them in its grip and trapping their wings tightly to their bodies. They drop to the floor, struggling feebly in an attempt to break free. The boy leaps up high above the goons as they stand there stunned, pointing his Capture Styler at a Nincada burrowing in the nearby ground. He fires a capsule at the Nincada and captures it just as he did with the Ariados before.
He lands flawlessly on the ground, smirking as he calls out a command to the Nincada, "Nincada, use Dig!"
The Nincada digs up tons of dirt and mud as it burrows deep underground. The goons stand there wearily, watching the ground with panicked eyes in a futile attempt to spot the Nincada. They fail, and soon go crashing down underneath the ground with a collective scream as it caves out from beneath them.
Whoa! That guy's incredible! I've never seen anything like that before!
Casey stands up, rushing over to where her friends are stood alongside Riolu, looking at the Pokemon Ranger in complete and utter awe.
"That was awesome!" Dawn gasps, "I've never seen a Pokemon Ranger up close and in action like this before! It's so cool!"
"And he's no ordinary Pokemon Ranger either!" Brock remarks, "He's a Top Ranger!"
"A Top Ranger?" Ash asks, befuddled.
"That's a Pokemon Ranger who's skilled enough to use a Vatonage Styler." Brock explains.
The ranger turns around after thanking the Ariados and Nincada for their help. He sets his sights on Riolu, kneeling down in front of the confused Emanation Pokemon with a soft smile. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small pouch and gently taking a small carved doll out of it. Riolu stares at the doll curiously before tentatively reaching out and taking it from the smiling Ranger before its eyes lift back up to the boy's face.
"You see? You can trust me, Riolu." He says, reaching out and taking the Pokemon comfortably in his arms. He turns towards Casey and her friends once he has a secure grip on Riolu, "Come on. Follow me."
He takes off further down the path, everyone else following him after a few brief moments of hesitation. They run after the agile and speedy ranger with as much spped as they possess, Ash wasting no time in asking him questions.
"So you came out here to help out that Riolu, right?" He asks, his breath staggered from all of the running.
"Right." The boy replies, glancing back at them as he continues to run, The name's Kellyn."
"Hi. My name's Ash." Ash replies warmly.
They all follow Ash's lead and introduce themselves before they slip into silence, following the Pokemon Ranger away from the goons and into the unknown.
"You're gonna be just fine, Riolu." Kellyn says with a warm smile as he finishes giving the hurt Emanation Pokemon some much needed energy for its wounds. Riolu looks taken aback by the Pokemon Ranger's kindness, and it's not long before it withdraws its arm and rushes towards a nearby stream, standing there idly and alone.
They found refuge a fair distance away from J's goons, them all collectively deciding that it would keep Riolu safe for the time being. They still haven't received much of an explanation as to what's going on, but Casey and her friends decided that it could wait when they saw the sight of Riolu's injuries. Riolu was the priority to sort out, not their curiosity.
"It looks like Riolu's suffered through some tough times, and that can make it hard to trust anybody." Kellyn sighs, standing up and putting the medicine back into his pocket.
"That makes sense." Casey muses, "I suppose it must be tough for it to trust humans after what we've subjected it to. Nobody deserves to go through what Riolu's gone through."
Kellyn turns to her and nods, "It's gonna take time before Riolu can trust people again."
Casey sighs and turns to look back at Riolu, noticing that the Emanation Pokemon is looking at a small carved doll fondly. It's the same doll that Kellyn handed it earlier, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that it means something to the frightful Pokemon.
"Hey." Dawn says, "Isn't that the doll you gave Riolu before?"
Kellyn nods, "Yeah. It was a gift from the man who raised it."
Casey hears a sharp intake of breath to her right. She turns and finds that Ash is pulling the same expression as he did just before they ran into Riolu, though this one persists for slightly longer than the first. He eventually snaps out of it and walks towards Riolu, standing over it with a smile.
"That's worth more to you than anything, right Riolu?" He says, the Emanation Pokemon glancing back at him confusedly, "You used your aura to tell me that."
Everybody collectively gasps at Ash's statement. Casey instantly thinks back to what she heard about aura during her time in Veilstone City, but that only seems to puzzle her all the more.
"Ash, what do you mean Riolu 'used its aura'?" Dawn asks.
"Riolu used its aura to transmit all of its emotions and memories." Brock explains, "Right, Ash?"
"Yeah." Ash says, turning back towards them.
"Wow, Ash. That's...that's something, all right." Casey says, stumbling over her words as she tries to understand the situation.
"You see, an aura's like a feeling or spirit. All living things have their own unique aura." Kellyn explains, surprising everyone with his extensive knowledge on Aura, "Ash, my friend, it looks like your aura and Riolu's aura are a perfect match."
A perfect match, huh? Wow...that's incredible! I wonder whose aura mine matches...
The repetitive beeping of Kellyn's Capture Styler is what catches everyone's attention next. He looks down at the device and flips up a retractable screen, "Kellyn here."
"Hi. It's Solana." A feminine voice sounds from the other side.
Ash rushes over to Kellyn and looks down at the screen, showing recognition for the voice on the other side. It seems that the other person recognises him just as well, as she is quick to respond warmly to his appearance, "If it isn't Ash and Pikachu! It's been a long time!"
Casey moves to join Ash at the Capture Styler. She looks down at the device, discovering that another Pokemon Ranger is on the other end of the line. She's wearing a red sweatband that ties back her turquoise blue hair along with a similar style outfit to Kellyn.
"Huh!" Dawn gasps, rushing over to the opposite side of Kellyn and looking down at the Capture Styler in awe, "Wow! A girl! And with such awesome clothes! My name's Dawn! Nice to meet you!"
"Hi, I'm Cas...agh!"
Casey's yelps in surprise when she's sent tumbling to the ground by none other than Brock. The Pokemon Breeder doesn't even realise that he's knocked her out of the way. He's too focused on Solana too notice, of course.
"Of course, I sure do hope that you didn't forget little old me, Solana!" He says over enthusiastically, his sense going out of the window as it usually does around girls he's attracted to.
"Of course not, Brock!" Solana replies cordially, "Still working to be a Pokemon Breeder?"
"Of course!" Brock chirps back, "But now I'm working on something else, and that's for you to use your Capture Styler to capture me!"
The infatuated boy continues to stare contently at Solana, only stopping when Croagunk steps in and delivers a decisive Poison Jab. Brock snaps right out of his lovesick trance when he crashes down to the ground, his body twitching as Croagunk pulls him away. Casey chuckles, standing up and looking back at the Capture Styler to properly greet Solana.
"As I was saying. I'm Casey." She says, smiling, "It's nice to meet you, Solana."
"It's nice to meet you too, Casey. Tell me: are you working to compete in the Sinnoh League?"
"Yeah, I am actually." Casey replies, "How'd you know?"
"I figured that's why Ash is in the Sinnoh Region." She explains before directing her attention to Kellyn, "And, Kellyn, with Ash being such an amazing trainer, I'm sure he's gonna be a big help to you. I'm sure everybody will be."
"Sounds good, Solana." Kellyn replies, "So, what's the latest on the search?"
"We've determined the precise location of Pokemon Hunter J's client, and Officer Jenny and I are headed there now."
"Got it." Kellyn says determinedly, briefly glancing over at Riolu before looking back to her, "Riolu's under our protection, and we're headed for the rendezvous coordinates."
"Understood. We'll be in touch."
The video transmission cuts out, casting a silence over the area. Ash breaks the silence when he turns to Kellyn, "So, where are we headed to now, Kellyn?"
A loud rumbling follows soon after Ash's question. Casey turns around, her eyes darting about frantically as she tries to determine where the sound is coming from. It's only when she looks up to the sky that she discovers where it's coming from. One ginormous, grey and black coloured ship is flying up high above, and it doesn't take long for Casey to identify it.
"We're in trouble, guys." She says, her voice frantic, "That's J's ship. We need to get away from here, and fast."
Her friends all share panicked glances, clearly just as worried as she is about their situation. Even Riolu looks over at them from the river, a slight frightful expression plastered upon its face. The only person who truly stays calm is Kellyn, his voice steady as he gives them quick and concise commands.
"Now everybody needs to stay calm and do just as I say, okay?" He says.
"We're with you, Kellyn." Casey says, her sense flooding back to her, "What do you need us to do?"
The water ripples rapidly as the small wooden boat surges through it. Shellos, Buizel and a Floatzel that Kellyn befriended with his Capture Styler are pulling the boat downstream at a decent speed whilst their trainers and Riolu sit within the boat. Casey's sat right at the front of the boat, her sights set forward and her face steeled. They have to make sure that Riolu is safe from J and her goons. Who knows when they'll show up again?
"Hey! How are you doing, you three?"
The three Water-Type Pokemon respond enthusiastically to her question, though they keep their eyes set ahead of them. They all know just how serious the situation is. She sighs, turning back towards Kellyn as she continues to listen to Riolu's story that he's been explaining so articulately for the last few minutes.
"This Paradise Kingdom is Riolu's home." He explains, "Riolu's official title is: inheritor of the aura. It was carefully raised by its breeder."
"Inheritor of the aura?" Ash asks curiously.
"Each royal generation uses Riolu's aura to protect the kingdom. It's passed on and on, from generation to generation, and Riolu's next in line."
"That's why Riolu can use Aura Sphere!"
Kellyn nods, "Riolu was kidnapped and locked up by people who plan to use its power for evil purposes. But a different group of people orchestrated Riolu's breakout for their evil purposes. Although it's obvious that Riolu somehow managed to escape from them, too."
"That's awful." Casey says with a sigh. She looks towards Riolu, watching the poor Pokemon that has suffered so greatly with sympathetic eyes.
It's not fair just how much that Pokemon's been through. We have to make sure that Riolu returns safely to its kingdom! We just have to!
"To transport Riolu safely back home is my mission." Kellyn says, "A recovery team from headquarters is just up ahead."
Casey nods, directing her attention back towards the area further downstream. She's relieved that Kellyn has a plan in place to deal with all of this. Riolu deserves to go back home, so it's comforting to know that there's a plan in place to make that happen. Everything seems to be falling into place.
That is until everything begins to spiral into chaos.
A scream rips itself out of Casey's throat when she feels the wooden planks of the boat break from beneath her. She briefly hears the others scream in panic before she plunges deep under the surface, water clouding her already befuddled senses. She pushes herself back up onto the surface, gasping for air as she looks around frantically in an attempt to figure out what's going on.
"Shell!" Shellos cries, concerned. The Sea Slug Pokemon swims towards her, acting a a buoy to help her trainer stay afloat.
"Thank you, Shellos." Casey manages to gasp out, still looking around with panicked eyes.
"Those Sharpedo belong to Hunter J! They found us!"
She looks towards the shores of the river when Brock yells out, her heart thumping rapidly at the sight of J's goons getting out of their dark transit vehicles. She looks back to her friends, relieved to see that they're all unharmed albeit a little shocked. She looks to Kellyn, the only one of them all who managed to stay upon the wrecked boat along with Riolu, and finds him finishing up using his Capture Styler on the Floatzel that helped them across the river in the first place.
"Kellyn!" She calls, "What do we do?"
"Get to the other side!" Kellyn yells back before diving into the water himself, making a beeline for the other side of the river with the help of Floatzel.
Casey's expression steels and she sets her sights on the direction that Kellyn's heading in, "Let's go, Shellos! Follow Kellyn and Floatzel!"
"Shell!" The slug chirps in response. She surges through the water with remarkable speed, cleverly outmanoeuvring any of the debris in her path to follow after Kellyn and Floatzel.
It's only when J swoops down on them, her presence casting a dark shadow on them - both literally and figuratively due to the almighty size of her Salamence - that they are forced to come to stop, the entire group pausing abruptly when she has Salamence fire off a Hyper Beam into the water in order to block their path.
"I'm taking Riolu!" She demands as the smoke clears, Casey's blood boiling at the mere sight of her.
She has no right to come here and demand such a thing. She doesn't care about Riolu, she only cares about the money that she'll get for selling it off to some anonymous buyer who will likely keep Riolu in their disgusting excuse for a collection. It's horrifying to think about, and for that very reason there's no way in the world that Casey's letting her get away with this.
"No you're not!" She shouts, determinedly, "Shellos, use Water Pulse!"
Ash catches her drift and joins in on her attack, ordering Pikachu to use Thunderbolt as Shellos prepares to fire off a series of Water Pulses at J. Water merges with electricity as their attacks combine, a powerful beam of energy surging towards J and her Salamence at top speed.
"Salamence, use Hyper Beam!" J counters nonchalantly.
Casey groans as the Dragon Pokemon effortlessly counters with a powerful Hyper Beam, the collision of their attacks resulting in an explosion that cloaks the sky above them in a thick cloud of black smoke.
"Quick, Floatzel! Use Water Gun!" Kellyn yells abruptly as the smoke clears and J comes back into sight, his sudden command catching the cocky Pokemon Hunter off guard. Floatzel's perfectly executed Water Gun strikes Salamence's right wing with vigour, temporarily knocking J off balance as the colossal Pokemon sways upon impact.
J doesn't waste any of her time by firing a capture beam directly in Riolu and Kellyn's direction, Casey's heart gripping in fear at the sight of the beam rushing towards them.
"Quick, dodge it!" Kellyn yells, roughly pushing Riolu to the side before the beam can make contact, the small doll concealed in the pouch around its neck tumbling into the stream from the sudden force.
Riolu's eyes go wide with panic as the doll begins to head downstream, prompting it to go rushing after it without a second thought, the Emanation Pokemon swimming away from all of them in aid of catching up to its prized possession. J hastily yells at her men to chase after it before rushing after Riolu itself, prompting Casey and the others to take action as well.
"Shellos, come on! Let's go after Riolu!" Casey shouts, the Sea Slug Pokemon chirping out a quick response before setting off down the river at top speed, pulling her trainer along with her with ease.
The others follow suit, and for a few brief moments it seems like they're going to catch up with Riolu before J does, but that temporary bliss is soon interrupted by J's meddling. Rocks cascade down from the cliffside and towards the water after Salamence directs a calculated Hyper Beam at the rock face per its trainers request, halting their efforts in catching up to Riolu as they all desperately attempt to dodge the falling debris.
She hears her friends screams behind her mixed in with rushed commands from Kellyn, but she's forced to ignore all of that as she desperately tries to come up with a way to get herself out of this mess. Thankfully, it doesn't take her long to come up with something.
"Shellos, dive under!" She orders.
"Shell!" She shouts back, diving deep underneath the murky water effortlessly.
Casey's visions blurred and everything sounds muffled as she surges through the water, but by the time that she resurfaces, breathless, she's far out of the way of the falling rocks and Hunter J - and she's not the only one.
Ash emerges from the stream right beside her with a gasp, Pikachu still perched upon his soaking wet shoulder and Buizel still pulling the both of them along. The two of them briefly glance over at each other; they make a silent agreement to focus on Riolu first. They can talk later.
They rush downstream after Riolu with reckless abandon, not even stopping as they come across a few small bumps in the river, simply soaring high above the bumps before crashing back down into the stream. They seem to be gaining on Riolu just fine, but the panic settles back in when she notices that Riolu's getting tired and is beginning to fumble around in the water.
"Ash! Riolu's in trouble!" She calls out, panicked, as Riolu drops underneath the waters surface.
"I've got it!" He shouts back, ordering Buizel to dive under the water after Riolu.
Casey watches with bated breath as Ash remains underwater, sighing in relief when he emerges with Riolu and its small, prized doll in his arms. Casey rushes over to the shore and stumbles out onto the grass with a splutter alongside Shellos - who she quickly reassures that she's fine when she looks at her with concern - and instantly moves to aid Ash despite her fatigued state. She takes the unconscious Emanation Pokemon from Ash's arms, easing it onto the grass as Ash and his Pokemon jump up out of the stream.
"Riley." Ash gasps out, his eyes darting between her and Riolu frantically, "Riley, is Riolu-?"
She catches onto what Ash is trying to ask and quickly examines Riolu herself, sighing in relief when she sees the slight rise and fall of its chest. She looks back to Ash with a smile, "Riolu's gonna be fine, Ash."
He nods, looking over at Buizel with a smile, "Thank you, Buizel. You were amazing."
"So were you, Shellos." Casey adds, looking back at Shellos with just as much gratitude, "You really saved me back there."
"Shellos! Shell!" Shellos cries cheerily, jumping up and landing perfectly on Casey's soaked hair. Casey chuckles, reaching up to pat Shellos' back with a smile, "You love doing that, don't you?"
"Shell!"
Casey goes to respond to her Pokemon's enthusiastic cry when Riolu groans beneath her. Both her and Ash burst into smiles as the Emanation Pokemon's eyes begin to flutter open, confusion settling in on its face as it sees the two of them grinning down at it. Riolu jolts up, prompting Ash and Casey to move back in order to give the bewildered Pokemon some space.
"We're glad you're awake, Riolu! We were getting worried." Ash smiles.
Despite Ash's attempts at being comforting, Casey can still see the panic on the Emanation Pokemon's face as its eyes dart about frantically. She figures out what it's looking for immediately and hastily looks over at Ash, "Ash, you've got the doll, right?"
"Oh, yeah." He murmurs, taking the doll in his right hand and gently pressing it into Riolu's palm, the tension and panic diffusing out of the worried Pokemon at the sight of its prized possession, "This belongs to you. Now, take good care of it."
Riolu looks back at Ash tentatively, clearly still not fully trusted the raven-haired boy despite his kindness. She understands why it doesn't trust him - why it doesn't trust any of them, for that matter - but at the same time Ash does seem to have some kind of aura connection to Riolu. You'd think that Riolu would at least trust him somewhat for that reason alone.
Regardless, Casey knows exactly what they have to do next,
"We should keep moving. J's gonna be after us for sure." She sighs with a glance back in the way that they came, frowning. J's not gonna stop until she catches Riolu. The least they can do is get a good head start on her.
"You're right, Casey." Ash chimes in, standing up and looking to Riolu with a smile, "You ready to get out of here, Riolu?"
Riolu gruffly responds and stands up itself, still keeping the doll firmly in its grip. Casey stands up herself, chuckling slightly when she hears Shellos whine in protest, "It's okay, Shellos. You can stay up there if you want."
"Shell!"
Ash chuckles, "Shellos sure does like sitting on your head like that, huh?"
"She sure does. I think it's kinda just become a habit by now." Casey replies with a glance up at Shellos, who nods her head back with an enthusiastic cry. Casey smiles before setting her sights on the forest ahead, "Let's get going."
They begin to make their way through the dense forest, Casey leading the charge as they rush down the dirt path and carefully outmanoeuvre the numerous trees in their path. She's certain that if they can make it to the rendezvous point, or at least put a reasonable amount of distance between themselves and J, then they should be able to get Riolu back where it belongs with relative ease. The challenge is simply getting to that point.
Her heart pounds and her breaths come out laboured as they continue to rush through the forest, none of them stopping for even a second out of sheer terror of whose after them. However, Casey's forced to stop when she begins to notice bright flashes of red in her peripheral vision, her eyes going wide when she discovers the source of such a bright red coloring.
The entire forest has gone up in flames!
"Ash, we've got a problem!" She shouts as she scans the area around her, desperately trying to find a clearing that they can escape through. She's aware of Shellos shaking out of fear atop her head, but she's too panicked herself to reassure her.
It doesn't help that J decides to appear at that precise moment, swooping down on them from above atop her Salamence, a smirk on her face as the roaring flames reflect in her shaded visor.
"I warned you to stay out of my way!" She shouts, both rage and satisfaction laced in her voice.
"Stop this, J! This is wrong and you know it!" Casey yells angrily, staring up at the cruel Pokemon Hunter with fire in her eyes, "We're taking care of Riolu, so back off!"
She knows that she's crazy. She's literally trying to appeal to the senses of a maniac, but she's not sure what else she can do. She's too worried about the approaching flames to come up with a better plan.
Which is precisely why her heart drops when J simply smirks, clearly not buying in to what she's saying for even a second.
"Salamence, use Flamethrower now."
Casey finds herself frozen in her place as Salamence lunges its head back. Time seems to stand still as a radiating beam of fire rushes towards her...
"Watch out!"
