AN: Hello again all!

K: What's up?

P: Clouds. The sky.

T: Probably a Rayquaza.

SV: Ok team, no need to be sarcastic. Let's rock on with this chapter!

Chapter 21.

*Timeskip: 3 days.*

"Are we actually going to get out of this forest anytime soon?" Misty whined.

"Yes, Misty, we are." Ash replied.

'By my own name, this is stupid.' Mia telepathed.

'I know.' Ash said back. 'How long have we been here, like four days? Five?'

'Five, I think.'

'Ok, that's a fairly long time to be lost in a forest, but still. That is getting annoying.'

"Mia, you have a Flying type, why haven't you just got him to get us out?"

"Well first, he's a Pidgeotto. He couldn't carry the three of us. And second, the journey's more important than the destination."

"Not when we're lost in a forest full of Bugs!"

'Right, I give up. Call out Arch, we're skipping anything that isn't important and taking a shortcut.' Ash said to Mia, sighing quietly.

'Right.' Mia took the Pokeball off her belt. "If you're going to be so insistent, fine. Arch, come out."

'What do you need Mia?' He asked as he materialised properly. Over the last three days he had really changed, and for the better. The arrogance he had shown during that first training session seemed to have evaporated entirely, and been completely replaced by a desire to learn. Conversations with Sarie had revealed that he had sometimes been like that, mostly after things that they considered huge accomplishments, like when he had fended off a small segment of a nearby Beedrill swarm that were particularly aggressive. She'd mentioned that he would tend to be boastful for a few days, sometimes belittling her for not being as good, but he would go back to normal after the fact. Mia had theorised that the knowledge that his trainer was actually Mew was the thing that had set him off, and Sarie agreed. Luckily, for everyone involved, it seemed the small battle against the Regirock and being told off by Mew so thoroughly seemed to have snapped him out of it completely. But whatever the case, he was fine now, and hopefully would stay that way.

"Misty's getting irritated by being in the forest, so I want you to help us find the way out. Is that ok?"

'Sure thing boss.' He said, saluting and flying off to circle above us, before shooting off towards the north.

"So, now we just wait until he gets back." Mia went over to Crimson, who was sitting on the floor waiting for the trainers to finish their little argument.

'Jeez, Misty's being annoying.' Crimson yawned, settling back into her place in Mia's arms.

'That she is dear, that she is.'

'Hey, do you think we could learn to do psychic stuff like telepathy?' Bolt asked suddenly.

'Maybe we could. It sounds like a useful idea.' Crimson replied, looking up at Mia slightly.

'Should be possible.' Mia hummed. 'I'm not sure, but we can try next time we go to a training world.' Surprisingly to all involved in conversation, a loud shriek echoed through the clearing.

'Arceus dammit Misty…' Crimson sighed, sitting up and looking over.

'That wasn't Misty.' Bolt said, stating something that was fairly obvious as soon as she looked. 'Sounded more like a bird…'

"What was that?" Misty asked.

"Not sure." Ash moved away from the tree he was leaning against and looked around. "Was that Arch?"

"It did sound like a bird." Mia agreed, repeating what Crimson had noted. All three of the trainers looked at the sky in the direction that the Pidgeotto had flown in. Said Pokemon came rocketing back to the clearing a minute later, looking slightly beaten up.

'There's a kid being attacked by some people over there!' He called back loudly. 'I was going to help, but I thought it would be good to warn you. Come on!' He jetted back towards the other side of the forest, pausing for a moment to look back before continuing.

'Right. Guys you understood that, we didn't.' Mia told the Pokemon, who nodded minutely.

"What just happened?" Misty asked plaintively. Bolt rolled her eyes at her, and went to pull on her arm, Crimson doing the same to the Pokemon in disguise.

'Come on, this way!' He called, running up to the trees and pointing once he got her attention.

"I don't know, but I guess something bad, since this guys seem pretty panicked." Mia fake guessed. "Is that right, Crimson?" She looked down at the Pokemon.

'Yeah, that's right. Come on!' She nodded and ran over to Bolt, pointing as well.

'This is really damn stupid.' Bolt said, jumping down from the branch and running into the bushes.

"I guess we should follow them." Ash hid a smile at Bolt's comment.

"Sure." Misty still looked bewildered, but all three trainers ran after the Pokemon.

'It's still fun though, isn't it?' Crimson grinned at her fellow starter. 'Pretending that they don't understand, and having to lead them to the right answer without having to show that they understand? This is going to be one hell of a journey!'

'Yeah, I guess.' Bolt allowed. 'Though I hope the charade isn't kept up the entire time. It'd be nice to talk openly with them.'

'You got that right.' Mia telepathed to them. 'We'll hope for the best, eh?'

'Agreed.' Crimson stopped for a moment, and she and Bolt listened around. He frowned, then ran left, ears twitching.

'This way, I think.' He told them. 'Follow me!'

'You guys have no idea where you're going, do you?' Ash laughed.

'Not a clue!' Crimson called back. 'I'm following him!' She pointed forwards to Bolt, who clambered up a tree and looked around.

'And I'm following the sounds!' He called back, bouncing higher into the tree. He went out of sight for a few minutes, leaving the trainers and Crimson to stand at the bottom.

'This must look so weird to Misty.' Mia observed. 'I mean, none of us are saying anything, and these two are sometimes just yelling randomly.'

'Found them!' Bolt yelled suddenly, accidentally confirming her statement. 'Follow me!' He ran into the bushes again, and Crimson followed quickly, being careful not to touch anything with her tail flame. The three of them blinked, then shrugged and followed them as well.

On the other side of the bushes they ran through, they met a very odd sight. A boy in armour was looking despondently at a balloon, which was floating just above the ground and seemed to be holding some cages. Mia moved slightly to see what was in the cages, and her blood boiled to see the Bug Pokemon of the forest trapped and looking petrified. Crimson stood next to her, ready to take an order to attack as soon as it was given. She glanced up at her trainer and grinned, and Mia smiled back before closing her eyes to look around.

'Arch's just in the trees behind us. He seems to have taken a bit of a beating. Other than the kid and the Bug types, three others.' She reported to the other three. 'Looks to be the same trio from the Pokemon Center.'

'Looks like a case of Flare Shock, eh?' Ash thought back.

'Maybe, but if they take off we'll have a problem-'

"Well, look who we have here." A voice called from the other side.

"It looks to me like a set of twerps here to play hero." A second continued. Mia carefully moved back as they spoke, positioning herself next to a tree.

'Arch, stay still.' She instructed. Slowly, trying not to arouse suspicion, she pulled up a large amount of power and blasted it out behind her in the form of a Heal Pulse. Normally, a Heal Pulse would barely drain her, unless she was healing a huge group, since she was able to focus the power onto the one or two individuals, which would normally heal them fully. This time, she was using the Heal Pulse on a wide area, and only one of the things was her target. The rest of the power just dispersed away into the air and a little bit of the forest around her. Even with the massive reserves of power she had gained of the millennium, the same reserves she'd once used to form a tree of crystals and make it self sustaining unless disturbed, it still left her a little weary from the power spike. Arch shuffled behind her.

'All good. Thanks.' He whispered.

"No problem." She whispered back. "You might need to get beaten up a bit more, though. Can you handle that?"

'Of course. I'd appreciate some backup, however.'

"Naturally. We'll do our best." She smiled, and the bird nodded back before taking wing to hide further back in the trees. She stepped forward again, standing behind Ash and to the left of Misty. The two Pokemon already out stood before them, even if both of their trainers could likely handle the fight better than they could. After all, they were hiding as humans for a reason, and they'd keep up the charade as long as they could. The trio in the balloon finished talking, and Bolt sighed.

'My idiot radar is tingling.'

'I wonder why.' Crimson said sarcastically.

"Hey! You twerps be quiet!" Meowth yelled angrily.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't mess with others." Misty replied.

"Well, we've got all the Bug types in the forest for the Boss, and you can't stop us!" Jessie called, swinging herself into the balloon. "Meowth, come on up here!"

"Ok!" He ran over with lumbering strides.

'That 'mon is ridiculous.' Mia telepathed.

'Are we letting them up then?'

'Not unless I want them to.' Came the reply, accompanied by a vicious grin. "Crimson, blast them." She said quietly.

'Sure. Lightly roasted, or fried?'

"Careful. There's Bugs in there, remember."

'Light roast it is, then.' She aimed upwards, towards the balloon, and blew a thin stream of fire. It brushed over, then exploded, dropping the remains straight on top of the three in the balloon.

"Ouch!"

"Meowth, get off!"

"How about you two move!"

"Bolt, get moving." Ash nodded at his starter, who grinned back before running forwards into the balloon. A few crashing noises and the sound of lightning followed, and the small Pokemon ran back out again, followed by a ton of forest Pokemon, who looked relieved to be set free from Team Rocket.

'Good job bud.' Crimson smiled at the other starter Pokemon.

'Thanks.' He smirked back. 'Should we blast them?'

"Flare Shock it is." Mia replied, with Ash nodding behind her.

'Right. Stand back.' Crimson inhaled massively, and Bolt started sparking wildly. A few seconds later, a huge mix of fire and lightning crashed through the clearing. A small explosion rocked the whole balloon, and sent the whole thing flying sky high.

"Look's like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" A small glimmer of light shone for a moment, and Mia grinned.

"Good shot you too." She took a Pokeball off her belt and handed it to Crimson. "Go grab Arch for me, can you?"

'Sure thing.' She grinned back. 'I'll be back in a bit.' She bounced off into the forest, her small tail flame kept close to her stomach to avoid burning the area around her down.

"Thanks." Both new trainers turned, since Misty was too busy hiding behind a tree to do so, to the other boy who'd been in the clearing. He was standing next to a Pinsir and a Metapod, who looked happy to see him. "I was worried I'd lost my friends forever."

"It's no problem." Ash smiled back. Mia gave an evaluative look over the two Pokemon standing next to him.

"These two seem pretty powerful. How come you got caught by those idiots?"

'Good question.' Bolt said, appearing over Ash's shoulder.

"I wasn't with them at the time. These two were talking, about what I don't know, obviously, but I went to get something while they stayed here. When I came back, I couldn't do a thing."

'Hey, it's not a problem.' The Pinsir told him.

'Yeah, you couldn't have known.' The Metapod added, nudging him in the leg. The Samurai reached down to pat him, and Mia grinned. Ash nudged her discreetly, then nodded towards the collection of Bug types.

'Bolt, think you can talk to them?' Mia asked silently. He nodded, and jumped down to the floor again. He initiated a conversation with the Pokemon closest, which all the humans promptly ignored.

"Actually, it was a surprise to see that Pidgeotto suddenly fly in. I'm assuming he was one of yours?" He looked questioningly at the two.

"Yeah, he's mine." Mia nodded to him.

"I've gotta say, he's really a well trained Pokemon. The Ekans and Koffing those were using didn't look too badly trained, but your Pokemon rammed through them like they were nothing."

"He was already pretty strong when we found him, but we've worked pretty well together. Once we got past the occasional bouts of arrogance he came with, that is."

"Huh, sounds like that was a challenge." The Samurai nodded. "Say, have any Bug types?"

"My cousin here has a Kakuna, and I've got a Metapod and Scyther." Ash replied.

"You have a Scyther?" He repeated, impressed. "Where'd you get that?"

"In here." Ash answered. "She was being attacked by a Beedrill swarm with our Pidgeotto. We got Bolt and Crimson to drive them off with Flare Shock."

"Is that the move you used on the balloon then?" Mia nodded. "Did you come up with that?" Mia shook her head.

"I saw it when I was on a trip in Kalos with my parents a while back." She explained. "A girl was battling with someone, using a shiny Dratini, and it used both Flamethrower and Thunderbolt at the same time. The girl called it Flare Shock, so I thought I could try it myself."

"Well, it's one heck of a move." Further conversation was interrupted as Crimson ran back over, handing Arch's Pokeball to Mia.

'What took you so long?' Bolt asked, mostly for the sake of their trainers.

'Arch,' She grinned. 'Was being a little silly. Laughed about the good shot though. Said to tell you that the explosion looked great from where he was standing.' She looked around at the expanse of Bug types that were dispelling back into the woods around them. 'Think we're ready to go?'

'Maybe. Once these two are done talking about Bug types.' Bolt gestured over to the Mia, who was talking avidly to the bug catcher about the rarer bug Pokemon that were around in Kanto. Feeling their stares, Ash glanced back to them and rolled his eyes. Both Pokemon chuckled lightly, and were more than ready to get Mia to continue on when Misty beat them to the punch.

"Hey, if you don't mind, could you point us in the direction of Pewter City? We got a little lost in here."

'More like you don't want to be near the Bug types here any more.' Crimson muttered to Bolt.

'Heh, yeah.' He nodded towards the Pinsir and Metapod that had been among the Pokemon they'd freed. 'She's still keeping her distance, look.'

"I'd be happy too!" The Samurai nodded to her. "Follow me, if you will." He looked to his Pinsir and Metapod. "Come back and rest for now. I'll bring you out again later." Both nodded as best they could, and disappeared into the balls.

'I still don't get how you guys can go into those things.' Bolt shivered.

'They aren't that bad.' She replied, walking over to Mia. 'A little weird at first, but not bad once you get used to it.'

'Yeah, I'll take your word for it.' He muttered, taking his own place on Ash's shoulder. Said trainer chuckled lightly at the final statement.

"Right. Follow me, and I'll get you to your destination shortly." The bug catcher set off, the rest of the team trailing behind. "You're all actually a lot closer than you might think. It won't take long, maybe ten minutes."

'Huh. This place is smaller than I remember it being.' Mia frowned for a second, then schooled her face back to neutral.

'Well, depends on the last time you saw it.' Ash replied. 'It might have been a long time, or maybe you got it confused with another forest.'

'Like what? Eterna?' Mia deadpanned. 'It hasn't been that long.'

'Sure. Come on 'Mia', let's focus on getting out of here.'

True to what he had said, they were out of the forest within ten minutes of starting the trip.

"Here." The Samurai said. "This path leads to Pewter City. I assume you are challenging the gym there, so good luck to you all."

"Thanks for guiding us." Mia smiled back. "Maybe we'll meet again." She lead the way out of the forest, Ash walking behind her and Misty still shivering slightly behind them both.

'Pokemon Center, then extra training?' Ash asked her quietly. Mia hummed.

'I don't think we need it. Maybe just with Flutter and Dart to get them to their last evolutions, but other than that I don't think so.'

'Sure thing.' Ash grinned. 'Guess we can't have them getting too powerful too quickly, can we?'

'Of course not dear.' Mia caught his eye, and gave a fiery grin herself. 'Now, let's get ready to beat this gym.'

AN: Next time! 'Cause this update is likely a little late already.

P: If it's going up on the day we think it is, of course.

K: Sometimes life gets in the way, but we try our best to keep a schedule and have things go up on time.

T: Anything to note?

SV: Well, the poll's still up, of course. Going quite well, but I gotta say, ain't much love for Electrike.

K: Along with that, we've pretty much decided that if the next few chapters take too long to get up, because of life and stuff, the poll might end earlier.

P: We'll do our best to alert you all, either through an update here or on Twitter.

T: Which, by the way, we've mentioned already, but feel we should mention again, since not everyone here follows the other fics here. ShadowVulpix, Shadow_Vulpix2, for tweets about when chapters go up, occasional random stuff, and shinies from the extra hunts she does sometimes, normally on weekends.

SV: It's not always the most fun thing to see, but maybe you think that's cool, maybe you don't.

P: Remember to get your own vote into the poll for what Pokemon we replace Damien's Charmander with!

K: We'll see you all around!