The overgrown forest by WyldClaw
Plot: here's the next chapter! Let me check... hmmm …Nope. I just own the OCs. There is a line from the first Harry Potter book that I slightly modified.
Last edited for grammar: 1/4/2018
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"Um, the Pallet City woods?" Jaden guessed
She shook her head. "Guess again Jaden."
"Uh Viridian City?" I guessed.
Again she shook her head. "You're getting warmer."
(Pewter City?)
"Nope."
I thought hard. Not Viridian City, not the woods, not Pewter city. Then it hit me! "If it's not Pewter City, not the woods, not Viridian City... are you talking about The Overgrown Forest?"
She nodded. "Correct!"
The Overgrown Forest, or just "the Forest" was this enormous forest labyrinth between Viridian city and Pewter City. Originally called the Viridian +Forest it had grown vast over the decades. Stories said that it was like that due to some mad trainer who experimented on Pokémon and powerful Psychic types that tried to take over Viridian City before they were stopped. The story said some mutant Pokémon still lived deep within. Whenever I asked my dad about the trainer he pretended not to hear or changed the subject. There were also rumors of a hidden gym in it. Unless you stuck to the path or had a flying or a psychic type that could teleport it was the only way, to reach Pewter City. It could take days, even a month to navigate. Dad and other trainers made a walkway for trainers on one of the easier paths a few years ago.
"Let's go find them!" I said.
"It's just like that cartoon we used to watch." Jaden referred to our favorite cartoon, Pokemon Rescue Adventures. It focused on this human turned Squirtle with no memories who found himself transported into a world inhabited by just pokemon. He joined up with a team of Pokémon that went around on rescue missions across that land.
I could just see the headlines in the Pallet-Viridian Times- the local newspaper: Kids Save Frontier brain: Triple Teenage Threat- teens save frontier brain's life. Then mom could let me go on my own journey after that. Whatever they're hiding from me this rescue mission should be enough to-. Sami broke me out of my thoughts of glory by saying. "Good luck you three."
"Wait. Wh-what?"
"Um, I'm not joining you guys" she replied.
"But- but we're a team," Jaden sputtered.
(It's gonna be tricky without your help) Aki said.
"You said it, Aki." She sighed. "It'll take luck and skill. And while we may be three of the top trainers at the school, we're only teenagers. You and Jaden are better trainers than me." I opened my mouth to say something but she beat me to it. "Use your brain Derek. If Pikachu said he wasn't going to tell on you you're in the clear."
(And Jaden's parents are so wrapped up in the shop and the Grand Festival) Remy put in.
" Just cause Jordan's in it" Jaden muttered. He was a bit jealous of his older sister- she had been allowed to go off on her own.
"But what about you?" I asked Sami.
Aki answered. (Considering your parentage if only two of you are spotted out it isn't odd. Gary and Dora would know something is up)
(Plus the starters need to get bathed. I think the Harrisons are coming over- something about testing a new pokechow. We know how Ryan gets around those girls) Remy added.
I slapped my forehead. Oh crud! That means their dad- my godfather- is coming today. If he finds out Dad's gone and mom's injured…. {AN: who do you THINK is his godfather? Big hint: he's a huge flirt when it comes to pretty girls}. "Tauros dung! If he finds out that Dad's gone and mom's hurt he's gonna flip!"
(Relax Derek.) Remy saw the look on my face. (I'm not sure they are all coming today so don't quote me. It might just be Jenni and Topaz since he may be working at his clinic in Pewter City today. ) His whiskers twitched. (Or he may be speaking at a conference of somekind. I think he mentioned that the last time he was here.)
"Oh yeah. Thanks Remy. That makes me feel slightly better. "
"Mom and Dad said I'm supposed to help them out today. If I left they'd would find out and Brock' wouldn't be able to keep it secret from your mom. "
"Yeeeeah… She'd know he would be keeping something from her."
Sami looked up. Jaden, Aki and I saw an upset look in her eyes. " I Wish I could come with you guys."
"How are we supposed to get there? We can't teleport there or-" Sami silenced Jaden with a wave of her hand.
"Why do you think Talon and Sora are here?" she let out a long birdcall. It was remarkable-her aunt Crystal who lived and worked at the Sayda Lab on Sayda Island had taught her how to do it lifelike.
A minute later the Swellow and Pidgeotto above us flew down in front. The Swellow's tail feathers were fluffed out. (You rang, Samantha-) the Swellow began to bow but the other bird smacked his head with her wing. (Owww.)
(Featherbrain!) She glared at him (you know how much she hates that name).
"Thanks, Sora. Someone needs to teach Talon common sense." Sami patted Sora on her neck for a minute. The two birds Pokemon were friendly rivals.
(I have common sense) he muttered.
(Then use it) Sora pecked him.
(Hey! Why I oughta-)
Sami rolled her eyes. "Oh brother. Can you two leave your spat aside for a few minutes? I've got a job for the both of you. I need you to take Jaden, Aki, and Derek into the darkest part of the Overgrown Forest… Without being seen"
They both nodded their heads. (No problem.)
Sora ducked down ad Aki and I got on her back. I easily got into the flying position, as did Jaden on Talon's back. "Good luck guys," Sami told us.
"You too" I told her, feeling myself go a bit pink. "I-I …Don't think I can do this."
She looked me in the eyes. "You'll be okay Derek. You're a great trainer, you really are."
"I'm not as good as you, " I muttered.
"Me? Books and cleverness. There are more important things in life-bravery and friendship. J-just be careful. " She replied.
I stroked Sora's feathers with a shaking hand. "It's just... What if I'm unable to get them? What if I don't make it back? What if I..." I couldn't finish.
(You'll do great) Aki licked my hand. (You can do it)
I looked down at the little mouse for a few seconds. "I can?"
(You're one of the greatest trainers in Pallet!) Remy squeaked.
"You really think so?"
Sora turned her gaze on me. (Think so? We KNOW so)
Jaden got off Talon and came over to us. "Don't beat yourself up. Meowth says um...uh…"
Sami lowered her voce and imitated Meowth to a - accent included. "Dat kid's got da biggest' heart i know and 'e doesn't know da meaning of da woid 'quit'. He wouldn't let nuttin' get in da way a his goals "
I shuddered. "I can understand Jaden able to imitate him but hearing his voice come out of you is creepy. "
She switched back to her normal voice. "Sorry. That's what happens when people send dad their chatots- you don't realize you pick up on the imitation thing. Besides don't worry Derek. After all you're the son of the Chosen One."
I rolled my eyes and made a face. Naturally I knew that whole mess by heart. " I hate that excuse. Dad said that it was just luck that got him through that event. Mom was the one who figured out what the legend meant. "
(If anyone can save them it's you.) Talon stated.
My eyes darted from my two best friends to Storm, Remy to the bird Pokémon and back again. They would never let me down- if they believed I could do it, I could. I turned my hat around. "I'll- I'll do it" In spite of everything I smiled. "Thanks guys. Let's go save my dad and Storm!"
There was a quiet cheer as we fist bumped each other. Then Jaden returned to Talon's back. "Good luck" Sami repeated.
I fished through my pocket, pulled out the note and handed it to her. "If we don't make it back before the deadline or… something c-comes up I- I want you to give this to my mom."
She took it from me. "But she'll freak out when she-"
Jaden realized something. "Hold you rapidashes Sami. Der didn't leave a note although he told Pikachu. The note might be enough to restore Mrs. K's memory of what happened "
(Fair point Jaden) Aki told him. I bit my lip.
(You guys ready) Talon asked us and we nodded.
(Hold on tight!) Sora zoomed up into the early morning air.
.
I wasn't scared – Dad had a bunch of flying types and I knew how to manage aerial riding as I had been riding bird Pokemon for years. The surrounding areas zipped by. Hope we're not too late. What if we meet up with that woman mom described? If she were able wipe to mom's memory and kidnap dad and storm, taking out two pre-teens wouldn't be a problem. What if….
Jaden looked at me breaking my train of thoughts. "Hey, you worried about your dad?"
"Not really about him but about what we're going to face. I mean it's like us walking into a Luxray's den. We don't know what will be there. " I admitted
"Don't worry- I got your back" we didn't speak after that.
Who knows what we would find. I got a chill down my body and it wasn't from the wind. I didn't know what we would find in the Overgrown Forest or where we'd find dad and storm. Not to mention where we would find them, I felt a shiver go down Aki's fur too. Sometimes I wish my parents weren't famous I thought as we flew closer into the mass of trees. I recalled what I knew about the Forest. It was incredibly vast-from the air it looked like a mass of green patches but we headed into a darker looking part. Since it was full of dense layers of trees it was dark and gloomy. Countless bug types, Weedles, Wurmples, and more lived there due to the dark environment. . It was allegedly where that trainer created the evil Pokémon.
Suddenly as I looked to the top of the Overgrown Forest I had a weird sense of déjà vu. I closed my eyes for a second and an image of an odd glowing Beedrill carrying me somewhere popped into my mind. I opened my eyes again and shook my head. . Strange. Why'd I see that? Its just nerves. Why did I chug down that smoothie and granola bar? I got a bad vibe as we got closer. What am I going to do? I'm just a kid! I've never really taken on anyone in a fight asides from school. There were those Spearows but I hope that we can get in to wherever they are being held and get them out safety. .
I must have been thinking hard since I didn't notice we landed until Aki poked me in the rib with her paw. "Huh?"
(We're here.) She saw the worried look on my face. (Whatcha thinking about)
"About what's waiting for use?" I admitted as I got off Sora's back. She jumped onto my shoulder- her favorite spot.
Sora looked at us. (You guys be careful.) She gave my hat a playful nip with her beak. (Good luck)
(We will) Aki assured her. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Talon give Jaden, who had gotten off, the same kind of nip.
…
We went over to Jaden and saw them take off through the trees. Unfortunately the trees were so thick that we couldn't see them once they hit the treetops. We walked in silence for a while. Aki jumped to the ground and sniffed the way with her nose. The sounds of birds twittering and chirping around us calmed me down a bit but I was still jumpy. It was so dark that we couldn't really see what was in front of us. It's not so bad. "Where do you think we'll find them?" Jaden asked after about ten minutes.
"I have no clue," I confessed.
Aki's ears twitched and she stopped - she heard something. (Wait. I hear some- Ugghh)
Her 'Ugghh' was due to a big sticky glob of honey plopping onto her fur from somewhere high above us. Seconds later a glob fell onto the back of my shirt then a second one fell onto my hat. "Yuck!"
"Gross and icky is what I'd say," remarked Jaden.
(You said that right.) Aki was trying to clean her fur of the sticky stuff and failing.
PLOP!
PLOP!
PLOP!
PLOP!
Four more huge golden sticky globs fell all over Aki and I.
"Ewwwww" Jaden remarked.
(My poor fur feels so gross now.)
"I agree." I agreed. "But at least we aren't being attacked by Combee, Burmy or Munchlax."
"As soon as we find your dad and storm we'll get that gross stuff off you, " Jaden suggested.
"Yeah..." I stopped in the middle of the path and aki and Jaden followed suit. I had heard something in the distance... something like a large group of wing beats that seemed to coming closer
"Derek? What's up man? Why did you stop?"
"Thought i heard a bunch of wing beats coming toward us."
(Turn slowly around humans. I don't attack yet. You turn around) a voice buzzed.
…
We turned around. Jaden gave out a little gasp. "YIPES! Don't move a muscle," he said from the corner of his mouth.
I understood why he screamed. There was a huge swarm of bug Pokémon flying around us- Venomoths, Beautiflies, Combees and more. In front were two large oddly glowing Dustox, Beedrils and a Mega Beedrill. The bipedal, yellow wasp glared at us with its long sleek eyes. I started shivering- I didn't have a major phobia of Bug types like Mom did but the Mega Beedrill was making me sweat. It looked at me angrily as its three sets of wings kept it aloft. My eyes shifted to the largest set, which were like javelins and then to all of its deadly stingers. It pointed one of its stingers at me accusingly and I saw there was a small-injured Weedle cradled in another. Stay calm. Stay calm.
The bugs circled us. "Wh-what do they want with us?" Jaden asked.
"No clue". It wasn't the bugs but the Dustox that unnerved me. The bugs around us stopped circling and hovered in the air, as if daring us to attack.
The Mega Beedril looked and pointed a wing at me then at Aki. (Human intruders. Odd Dustox said you stole honey from hive and then injured the little one when you were caught.)
My legs felt like rubber as I tried to figure out the right way to address it without getting a poisonous stinger lodged in my throat. Luckily my best friend stepped forward and saved my hide. Jaden bowed. "Honorable and majestic Mega Beedril… we are but newcomers to this territory and have not the foggiest familiarity of this forest. " He explained.
It glared at me. (The Dustox said that it saw a human steal or try to steal the honey. The Weedles tried to stop it but was stopped as you can see. A mouse that looks like that attacked him) it pointed at Aki. (Did you attack it mouse?)
(N-n-no.) Aki stammered as she tried to act braver than she was (we didn't attack any one nor did we steal-)
(It liessss) one of the Dustox buzzed, making my skin crawl. (Bind it and the humans and then kill it. They have honey on them)
I shook my head. "Sh-she's n-not lying. The honey plopped on us from above."
The Mega Beedril looked at me and at the Weedle. (Were they the thieves?)
(N-) The injured Weedle looked at me as it started to shake his head but the nearest Dustox leered at the worm. He nodded his head instead. (Ye-) he muttered and then said (I mean no.)
The bee looked at us as if trying to decide if I was telling the truth and twitched its wings. (You not steal honey from hive then?)
"N-No. We don't know where anything is," Jaden honestly said.
Whispers went through the crowd. I noticed something golden on the second Dustox's wingtips and arms. "Look at the Dustox. It has something on its -"
They let out an ear-shattering screech that made us put our hands over our ears (LIES! THIS HUMAN TELLS LIES! KILL THEM! ATT-)
Murmurs went through the circle of bugs. The Mega Beedril put up a stinger and silence fell. It glared at the Dustox (this is my domain -you don't tell the swarm to attack. I do. Swoba'a. Where be Swoba'a?)
I heard whispers among the swarm. (Swoba'a.)
(Swoba'a tell if lying or not)
(She can read humans minds)
"Who's Swoba'a?" I whispered to Jaden.
He shrugged. "Dunno. The name sounds like a Swoobat"
From the crowd a lone figure appeared- it was a shiny Swoobat. She flew up to us. (I am Swoba'a. probe minds for truth I shall.) she closed her eyes and I heard a slight humming for a minute like she was scanning my brain. Then she opened them. The shiny Pokémon turned to the Dustox, eyes narrowed. (Humans tell the truth. They not steal from hive…. You do!)
She unleashed a Psybeam at the same time as a Shadow Ball was sent out from the Dustox. (You framed the humans!)
Within a matter of seconds there were attacks flying left and right. "Come on!" Jaden told us. "Let's get out of here!"
We ran as fast as we could away from the fighting bugs. It was pretty hard because Aki and I were covered in honey.
After we had gone a few feet we saw Swoba'a fly in front of us and we stopped. (Get sticky honey off you I shall) she used a light Confusion attack so that the honey was wiped off of us.
"Thank you " I said as Aki and I bowed respectfully
(Run away you should, Dustox still angry- wanted you dead)
We nodded and resumed our running.
"Those Dustox framed us" I said out loud as we ran. "But why"
"I don't know. " Jaden answered.
Then we heard a buzzing noise and we looked behind us. (DUCK!) Aki yelled. We did that, missing the Razor Wind flying over our heads.
"Something tells me those Dustox don't want us to leave here alive," I muttered.
"Well" Jaden said as he took out Severus' pokeball and enlarged it. "They can't find us if we disappear in smoke. " He threw it into the air " Severus come on out!"
"I get what you're saying" I grinned as his Seviper materialized and made the biggest Smokescreen/Haze cloud he could.
(Issss thisss good enough Jaden) the snake asked after he completed his task.
"Yup. Great job" he replied. All four of us ran as fast as we could- we knew it would not hold for long.
We ran untill we hit a fork in the path next to a dark looking cave. Jaden panted for breath. ". Think... we lost them" he said.
(Wrong-o humans) a voice buzzed. We looked up and saw those weird Dustox appear out of thin air. What is with those things?
Jaden was about to tell Sev to use Sludge Bomb when the bugs' eyes glowed blue. A blue outline appeared around the two. "What's going on?" Jaden said as they were lifted into the air and slammed against a tree. They fell to the ground. The two Dustox waved their wings and Jaden and Severus' eyes closed as if asleep. The four eyes went back to normal.
Aki jumped into my open arms and I held her tight as we backed up. "That's impossible. Dustox. …Can't use Hypnosis…"
Aki shivered in my arms- she knew something was off about the two moth Pokémon and not just because they were glowing. . (Th-that's not p-p-posible.).
"H-how can you know Hypnosis? Dustox can't know that move. H-how did you get here so fast?" I tried hard not to let my fear show. Where did they come from? How did they know that move? Why were they so focused on us?
The glowing Pokemon looked at each other. (We are special) they spoke in unison.
The one on the right sneered. (It would have been much more convenient if that stupid Swoobat hadn't revealed the truth…)
I gasped. " The truth? Holy cow. You mean that-"
(Y-you DID frame us with the honey! You wanted us to be skewered by those Bug types) Aki came to the same conclusion I did.
" I bet you injured the Weedle yourselves and somehow blackmailed it to say that we did it."
(Of course you stupid human). The one on the left buzzed. (That Mega Beedril is a fool. It's too close-minded to think that Bug types can't betray Bug Types. And that Weedle. Such an easy mind to manipulate)
(But-but. That doesn't make sense- Dustox aren't even Psychic types,) Aki stated and I saw her fur shiver.
To be continued