~ Chapter 17 ~

En Route, Route 204

"Pokémon are such amazing creatures, and I know that I have said this before, but I truly mean it. Sometimes I wonder who the smarter beings are, Pokémon, or us humans, and I question who should be training whom. If I have learned something from my time with Pokémon, it's that Pokémon and Trainers train each other, and learn from each other. It is a partnership, with give and take, and a friendship with an unbreakable bond. Some Pokémon are drawn to their Trainers, and some Trainers are drawn to their Pokémon. In the case of Alyssandra and her Chingling, nothing could be so true—she was quite literally drawn to it."

"All right, Pikachu!" cried Jeremy, "Use Thunder Shock on Skuntank! Turtwig, I want you to use Bite on Gliscor! Clamp down on its tail!"

"Pika-Pikachu!" shouted Pikachu as it dashed towards Skuntank.

Pikachu skidded to a halt, and released a shock of electricity on the Pokémon, "Pika-chuuuuuuuu!" cried Pikachu as the electricity shot towards the Skuntank.

The wild Skuntank recoiled with pain, and almost collapsed from the electric shock, but it managed to stay standing, and retaliated against Pikachu with a Slash, which sent Pikachu flying back across the grassy field where they battled.

Meanwhile, Turtwig ran at Gliscor, following the Pokémon as it hovered above the ground.

The flying Pokémon taunted Turtwig as it hovered up and down above the ground, trying to feint it into biting, which Turtwig would always miss.

Finally, Turtwig decided to stand still, and as the Gliscor came in for a Poison Tail, Turtwig dodged the attack and bit down on the Pokémon's tail. Gliscor howled in pain.

"Gliscor!" it cried, trying to fly away from Turtwig, shaking its tail violently in order to release Turtwig's clamping grip.

Turtwig refused to let go however, and the Gliscor was not able fly with the added weight, with Turtwig using itself as an anchor to hold itself and Gliscor to the ground.

"Pikachu use Quick Attack on Skuntank!" shouted Jeremy, "Turtwig, I want you to swing Gliscor around wildly, and slam it hard into the ground, understand?"

"Turtwig!" said Jeremy's Turtwig through a mouthful of Gliscor tail.

Gliscor was spun around in circle as if it was caught in a tornado or a whirlpool. This caused the Gliscor to get disoriented and stopped it from struggling against Turtwig's grasp. Then, Turtwig slammed Gliscor hard into the ground, kicking up dirt as it made impact.

Gliscor fell unconscious, and Turtwig was the victor in that match.

Meanwhile, Pikachu was dashing towards Skuntank, jumping left right and centre as to not be predictable in its attack angle, but the Skuntank was not fooled. It spun around and hit Pikachu square in the stomach with its tail.

Jeremy smiled. "Pikachu hang on to Skuntank's tail and release your strongest Thunder Shock!" he commanded.

Pikachu nodded, and with another loud cry, released a strong blast of electricity through its body into Skuntank's; the Skuntank let out a pained cry, and fell to the ground unconscious as the attack ended.

Jeremy was quick with his reaction, and sent two Poké Balls flying through the air, one aimed for Skuntank and the other for Gliscor.

The Poké Balls soon ensnared their targets and began to rock violently as the Pokémon inside were trying to escape and return to the wild. Once, twice, three times, a fourth—the balls kept shaking, until finally, in unison, the lights in the middle lit up and the Pokémon were officially caught.

"All right!" Cheered Jeremy, his Turtwig and Pikachu joining him in his celebrations, "I caught new Pokémon! Professor Rowan's going to enjoy studying these two!"

"Congrats!" said Sam as he ran up to Jeremy and patted him on the back, "You kicked butt out there."

"Thanks," he said with a smile, "I figured I needed to start catching up with you and your Pokémon. It was time my Pokémon started to get some serious training in—and it didn't hurt that I got to catch two Pokémon as well."

"Well, before you know it you're Pokémon are going to start evolving," said Sam, "And then you and I can battle again."

"Yeah, I know I can't—"

All of a sudden, Alyssandra shouted out, cutting Jeremy off with, "Guys, look!"

Everyone turned around, and was surprised to see Turtwig, and it was starting to glow white. Then, the glowing Turtwig began to morph and shift and grow, and the light suddenly broke with a bright flash, and in Turtwig's place stood a proud Grotle.

"Turtwig evolved!" exclaimed Jeremy, "I did not see that coming."

Sam laughed. "Well, I guess we'll be having that battle sooner than expected," he said, "Now that you're Pokémon are back on my level."

"I'm looking forward to it," said Jeremy, "I'll kick your butt this time."

"We'll see," said Sam, "Come on, grab your new Pokémon and let's head back to camp. Niya's been waiting all morning for us, time to relieve her of guard duty. You can transfer the Pokémon to your PC back at the camp."

Jeremy nodded and ran over to the two Poké Balls that lay in the grass. He smiled at them as he picked them up, remembering the battle that just happened as if it was still occurring, and then ran back over to Sam and Alyssandra, and the three of them walked back towards the direction of their camp.

After twenty minutes of retracing the trail they took to find Gliscor and Skuntank, the group returned to their camp, which lay out in an open field beside a small river.

Niya was sitting in the camp, tossing a small ball around with her Pokémon, which she had released from her Poké Balls.

"Hey," said Sam as he re-entered the camp, "Getting bored, are we?"

"Well that depends, how long have you been back?" asked Niya with a sly smile on her face.

Sam shrugged, and turned back to face Jeremy. "So, are you cooking today?" he asked.

Jeremy smiled. "You want some of my family's famous chicken, don't you?"

"Of course! That's the only thing you can cook, but it just happens to be our favourite," joked Sam.

Jeremy sighed. "You're lucky I bought some chicken just before we left Jubilife," said Jeremy, "I had it air sealed and packed in Never-Melt Ice. You set up the tent and I'll get the fire pit set up, so we can smoke the chicken."

"All right!" said Sam as if winning a great victory, "Lyss, come help me with the tent!"

There was no reply, as Sam started to pick up the tent, to which Sam called again,

"Lyss!" he called, "Lyss?"

Sam stood up, and looked around, noticing that Alyssandra was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd she go?" he wondered aloud, "Niya, did you see her?"

Niya looked up from returning her Pokémon to her Poké Balls. "No clue," she shrugged, "She was just here a minute ago. Maybe she went to get some sleep? She's been looking rather tired lately—staying up for hours at night trying to practice her Contest routines. Her next Contest is in Floaroma, and we'll be there in a few days after all."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," said Sam, "Want to help me with this tent?"

Niya nodded and began to help Sam unpack and unravel the tent.

Sam sat on the banks of the river, his feet dipped into the river from the knees down. He lay on his back as his feet were surrounded by the lightly torrential waters and stared high up at the sky and the clouds above. Niya lay beside him, and the two of them guessed at the shapes of the clouds.

"That one has to be a Pichu," said Niya pointing to a cloud on the left, "It's got the pointy ears and everything."

"No way," said Sam, "Anyone can tell it's a Rattata! It has the long tail and everything!"

"Just like that last one was a Chansey?" asked Niya sceptically.

Sam rolled his eyes, "That's a better guess than a Voltorb," he added defensively.

"Hey guys, quit your fighting and come eat!" called Jeremy, "The food's ready!"

Sam and Niya instantly shot up and rolled down their pant legs, then dashed towards camp with their shoes in hand. They sat themselves down beside the now doused campfire that they would light up later tonight and waited for Jeremy to bring out the pot of chicken and rice from the tent that was now billowing smoke.

Jeremy walked from the tent and looked at Sam and Niya. "Call Lyss," he said, "The chicken needs a few more minutes than I thought, but we may as well wake her up now."

Niya stood up and walked towards the girls' tent. "I'll do it," she said with a small chuckle, "Waking her up from her naps is not something done lightly—better to let me handle it."

Niya walked over to the tent, and then knocked on the tent's tarp wall. "Time to get up Lyss," she said, "We're getting ready to eat."

There was no reply, and Niya waited a few minutes before trying again.

"Lyss? Do you hear me?" asked Niya, "We got to eat, and you need to get up." Still no answer, this time Niya unzipped the tent door, but gasped as she saw the tent was empty.

"Guys come quick," said Niya with haste.

Sam and Jeremy instantly came running, and their jaws dropped as well as they saw what Niya saw.

"The tent is empty," exclaimed Jeremy, "How is that possible?"

"I don't know, but you know what that means don't you?" asked Sam as he looked around the areas surrounding the camp, "It means she was never in there."

"How can you tell that?" asked Jeremy, "She might've just gone for a walk or something. I've been busy in the cooking tent and you guys were down by the river with your clouds. We must not have noticed her."

"No, Jeremy, Sam's right," said Niya pointing into the tent, "Look, the bedroll hasn't been slept in since this morning. It's pushed into the corner—that's where she left it when she woke up."

"So where do you think she's gone?" asked Jeremy, "We got back to camp almost an hour and a half ago. She could be anywhere!"

"Why would she just up and leave us like that is the better question," said Sam as he walked back to the centre of camp, still scanning the surrounding grass fields.

"Do you think she was kidnapped?" asked Jeremy, "Team Galactic's still pretty mad about what we did to their plans—three times."

"No, we would've heard or seen a struggle," said Niya, "She could have gone off on a walk like Jeremy said, and maybe not have told us? She has been rather tired lately and was probably too dazed with lack of sleep that she forgot to mention it."

"Well, whatever the reason is we need to find her," said Sam, "Jeremy, get your Staravia. I've got mine, we'll send them out to look."

Niya raised a hand to stop Sam from throwing his Poké Ball and looked at him.

"Don't," she said, "We need to find her fast, just in case she's in danger. Your Staravia—as good for tracking as it is—takes a longer time to find someone than a scent tracker."

"So, I'll use Luxio," said Sam.

Niya shook her head again, "We don't have time." Niya said swiftly, "My Glameow's had many more years of experience when it comes to tracking. Allow me, please."

Sam nodded, and placed his Poké Ball back onto his belt, while Niya sent out her Glameow.

"Glameow, go inside the tent and take a sniff from Alyssandra's shoulder bag," said Niya, "Then help me track her."

Glameow nodded and did as it was told, then quickly exited the tent, and led Niya and the others off towards the river, then across it.

"Your Glameow must be one of a kind," said Sam as he dashed after Niya and her Glameow, "Not too many cat-like Pokémon I know that can track by scent. That's usually a dog-like Pokémon thing."

"It wasn't easy," laughed Niya as she ran, "A lot of work went into my Glameow, but now I have a rarity—and I'm perfectly fine with that. Now come on, we need to find Lyss, and let's hope she's okay when we do."

Sam, Jeremy and Niya ran after Glameow for almost a half hour, pausing only every so often to catch their breath. Their trip led them to a tree line, which they were inevitably forced to cross in order to find Alyssandra and keep following Glameow.

After almost another twenty minutes of forest, they came to a small clearing; there were figures in the clearing, and Glameow, Sam, Jeremy and Niya stopped outside of it.

"There's something or someone in there?" whispered Jeremy, "Should we go in and see who it is?"

Sam nodded. "Why not, it could be Lyss," he suggested, "What have we got to lose? We have our Pokémon on us just in case."

"I'll lead the way," said Niya, "If you're really that scared."

Jeremy rolled his eyes, and together, the three of them walked out into the clearing, Glameow close behind them. As they reached the middle of the clearing, they could see that the figure in the middle was Alyssandra, and she was sleeping. Dancing around her was a small little Pokémon, which Niya instantly identified as a Chingling.

"Well that makes sense," said Sam, "I've heard Chingling sometimes emit sounds that are on such a frequency that only certain people can hear them. They become hypnotizing, like a siren's song."

"Lyss must've been drawn to this Chingling in a similar manner then," said Jeremy, "And when she got here, she must've been so tired she fell asleep."

"Well, you're half right," yawned Alyssandra as she woke up, "I got here and the Chingling was dancing around happily. It was so cute, and I was so far from where I last remembered being that I introduced myself. We played for a bit, and then I grew sort of tired. Chingling noticed it, and used Sing on me, and put me to sleep for a bit."

"It's not normal for a Chingling to learn Sing, is it?" asked Jeremy in bewilderment.

"No, it is not," said Niya as she knelt down beside Alyssandra and helped her up off the ground, "Did you catch it while you were playing?"

Alyssandra shook her head, then began to run her hands through her hair, taking leaves out of it.

"No," she said, "I planned to do that after I woken up. I did promise it that it could come with us—it seemed so lonely up here."

"Well, what are you waiting for," said Sam, "We're leaving Jeremy's smoked, glazed and grilled chicken alone for this, hurry up and catch it!"

Alyssandra rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Sam. "Honestly, you and this chicken," she sighed, "Fine, here I go then."

Alyssandra pulled out a Poké Ball and tossed it at the bouncing Chingling—who seemed entirely oblivious to anything that was happening around it—and with a few shakes, the Pokémon was caught.

"There, are you happy?" asked Alyssandra mockingly.

"I won't be happy until I get my chicken," laughed Sam as he and group began to return to camp.

Alyssandra sighed, but said nothing, too tired to speak, but also quite happy that she had made a new friend such as Chingling, while also excited, as the thought of her next Pokémon Contest swelled through her mind and filled her thoughts.

'Only a few more days,' she thought to herself. 'A few more days and that Floaroma Ribbon will be mine.'