Chapter three has arrived, hope you all enjoy it! It's one of my favourite episodes from the anime because it's where Ash meets one of my favourite Pokémon owned by him. It's just so cute! I love bug types :) review and tell me what your favourite types are, I'm curious to know because I'm nosy ;)
"Hey, that's weird." I looked up as Ash stopped walking and followed his line of sight to find out what he was looking at. I spotted the group of trees that were completely stripped bare of all leaves, the spindly wood looking sickly and frail. "The whole forest is green except for those trees there."
"Yeah." Misty agreed, looking around her as we went a little closer. "They don't have a single leaf left on their branches."
"The trees don't look burned and it's too early for the leaves to drop off." Brock said to us, bewildering us even more.
"That's so sad, these poor trees…" I murmured, reaching out to touch one only to find it felt dead as much as it looked that way.
"Pikachu…Pika?" Pikachu suddenly pricked up his long ears, hearing something ahead so we all looked down at him.
"What's out there Pikachu?" Ash asked but Brock had already spotted what Pikachu had heard.
"Guys look over there!" We all snapped our heads around to look ahead at a massive oak tree, standing tall and still but on the trunk were several strange looking creatures I had never seen before.
"What are they?" Misty asked, shrinking back behind me and I frowned.
"They look like bug types." I said, noticing their little wings, hard shells and large horns. Instantly Misty shuddered and hid further behind me for protection.
"Not bugs! They're so creepy! I just can't stand bug Pokémon!" Ash picked up his Pokédex and listened to the information stored there.
"Heracross, the single horn Pokémon. Though gentle and docile, Heracross possesses great strength and power. Their favourite food is the fresh sap of leafy trees." That's quite interesting, so these Pokémon rely on the forest to provide them with sap so they can carry on existing.
"I'm going to try to catch all those Heracross!" Ash declared and I blinked at him in surprise. "I can save the tree and get some neat Pokémon!" He explained and I frowned at him.
"But Ash, why would you want all of them? One should be more than enough and besides, I don't think they're really doing that much harm here." I tried to plead with him but it was a voice behind us that made Ash stop in his tracks.
"She's right you know. You're free to catch the Heracross if you like but if you do, you might be responsible for causing more harm to this forest than you know." It was a guy in an orange jumpsuit, wearing a simple hat on his bushy brown hair.
"Who're you?" Ash asked and the stranger smiled.
"My name is Woodruff. I'm a ranger for the Forest and Wildlife Bureau." He introduced and I gave a little wave.
"Hello, my name is Ruby. And this hothead over here is Ash." I smiled, slinging an arm over his shoulder which made him laugh a little as he grinned at me.
"My name's Brock."
"And mine's Misty." The others introduced so I let go of Ash and stepped forwards.
"I'm sorry if we're disturbing you or the Pokémon. We were just on our way to challenge the Violet City gym leader." I explained and he nodded his head.
"It's no trouble, I imagine you're all experienced Pokémon trainers."
"Right!" Ash agreed though I gave him a little nudge.
"Though some of us need to do a little more training." He turned around and glared playfully at me.
"Hey, I train plenty!" I arched my eyebrow with a smirk.
"One session since we've got here. You call that plenty?"
"It was a good session!" He argued back but Brock quickly pulled us apart.
"Okay that's enough now, let's not make a row that disturbs the whole forest and send a hoard of Beedrill chasing after us." Okay, he had a point. I'll save the banter for when we're out of the forest. Then I can get onto teasing Ash for his lack of motivation.
"I'm sure you're eager to catch as many Heracross as you can but in reality, you would do much more harm than good." Woodruff explained to us and we all listened curiously.
"Really?"
"It's important to understand how delicate the balance of nature can be." He nodded his head and Ash frowned, scratching his head in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"To survive in this forest, Butterfree need Heracross to live with them side by side." He then pointed back towards the tree and we all turned to see a flock of Butterfree fluttering towards it and when they reached an open patch of sap, they began to drink alongside the Heracross.
"Oh! I see! The Butterfree are too weak to dig into the trees." Ash said and I smiled to him proudly. Way to go Ash!
"They need the Heracross to get the sap flowing." Brock continued.
"The Heracross eat their fill, the Butterfree lick the leftovers and everybody's happy." Ash finished and I nodded my head, however there was still one question remaining. How come the trees were all dying?
"Well I wouldn't be so sure about that." Misty said, looking also to the dead trees. "The Butterfree and the Heracross may be helping each other but their hurting the forest."
"Nature must be out of balance." Ash noted and we all looked to Ranger Woodruff for an answer but he looked down at the ground sadly.
"I'm afraid the balance has been destroyed by a dangerous band of invaders." Uh oh, that's bad. That's very bad. Especially the dangerous part.
"What kind of invaders?" Little did we know we would have our answer sooner than we would like. Pikachu picked up an incoming sound and turned around, making us all look to find a large hoard of Pinsir thundering towards the tree, drawn in by the scent of the sap.
"Here they come!" Brock called out and quickly pulled Misty and I back, putting out an arm to shield us as the Pinsir came closer. They leaped onto the tree and snapped their pincers together, frightening away the Butterfree but the Heracross remained put, guzzling down as much as they could.
"Knock it off Pinsir! Go eat someplace else!" Ash yelled at them and Misty stepped forwards too.
"Come on Heracross! Don't just sit there, those Pinsir will take your drink if you don't do something!" Seemingly at Misty's prompting, the Heracross spread their wings and flew up into the air, grouping together to face the Pinsir. "That's the spirit!"
"Chase those Pinsir out of there!" Ash joined in as the Heracross dived down towards the Pinsir, their horns lowered and aimed. For a moment it all looked promising, however the moment all the Pinsir stood up and snapped their pincers together threateningly, the Heracross all turned around and flew out of there as quickly as they could.
"What happened?" Misty asked in confusion. "Why did the Heracross bug out and fly away?"
"Heracross could chase off those Pinsir but they're just too peaceful and friendly. The Heracross would rather take flight than stay around and fight." Woodruff explained and I sighed in defeat. Well, looks like this is going to have to be sorted the hard way.
"Sometimes that's a pretty smart philosophy." Ash reasoned but Brock shook his head.
"Yeah, but if the Heracross don't fight off the Pinsir then all the trees the Butterfree feed on will be destroyed." Brock answered but then Ash gave a yell.
"Agh! Looks like trouble!" We all turned to see a Butterfree still caught amongst the Pinsir, shivering with fear but then a Heracross poked up its head, standing in front of the frightened little Butterfree. "A Heracross!"
"It's trying to protect that Butterfree that got left behind!" But as Brock spoke the Pinsir began to stab their pincers down onto the hard shell of the Heracross, and although it looked strong it was still taking damage and there would only be so much it could take.
"They're ganging up on Heracross! I gotta help it!" Ash said and I nodded my head, picking out a Pokéball of my own.
"You got it Ash, let's help those Pokémon!" I said and we nodded our heads together before sending out our Pokémon. "Go Eevee!" I chose, sending her out and she leaped forwards, shaking out her fur then tensed her body ready for battle.
"Vee!"
"I choose you, Bulbasaur!" Ash selected and the tough little grass Pokémon appeared. "Bulbasaur, use your Vine Whip attack!"
"Bulbasaur!"
"Eevee, you help out and use Swift!" I pointed and she nodded her head.
"Vee!" Stars shot out from her mouth as she directed them at the Pinsir, helping Bulbasaur to knock them down off the tree to give both Butterfree and the Heracross an opening to escape. The Butterfree flew away but the Heracross remained, too tired to even fly!
"Oh no! It's taken too much damage!" I called as the Pinsir jumped back onto the tree. "Quick Eevee, use Swift again!"
"Pikachu! Thunderbolt attack!" The two attacks combined to make a powerful hit against the Pinsir who all dropped off the tree once more, leaving Heracross alone but then they turned to us, hissing and spitting with anger before they charged.
Pikachu made to leap forwards but Eevee jumped in front of him, eyes narrowed as she nodded her head. "Vee."
"Okay Eevee, use Shadow Ball rapid fire!"
"Huh?!" Everyone stared at me as Eevee sucked in a deep breath before blowing out a series of dark balls, hitting the Pinsir with large booms of sound which made them tremble and quake in fear before racing away back to their own territory for safety. "Ruby, when did you teach Eevee Shadow Ball?" Misty asked me and I turned back with a smile and a wink as I walked over to Eevee.
"Oh you know, whilst you guys were in the Orange Islands I taught my Pokémon really useful moves." I answered then turned back to Eevee as she leaped into my arms. "You were great! You helped save that Butterfree and Heracross, Eevee, you should be very proud of yourself!"
"Vee!" She beamed then licked my cheek, snuggling close to me as the others went over to the tree.
"You can come on down now Heracross!" Ash shouted and the Pokémon gently flew down and walked over to Bulbasaur and Pikachu. "Hey look! Heracross wants to thank Bulbasaur and Pikachu!" Ash said proudly but then Heracross grabbed Bulbasaur and anchored his mouth to his bulb, sucking out any juices it could find.
"Agh! Guess again! It's sucking all the pollen out of Bulbasaur's bulb!" Brock corrected quickly and Bulbasaur's face grew stormy.
"Saur! Bulbasaur!" With that he whipped Heracross with his vines, sending it flying backwards and it landed heavily on its back, arms and legs flailing as it tried to get back up.
"Heracross learned the hard way that there's no free lunch." Brock commented as we all just stared.
"I think we all got suckered in. Heracross wasn't trying to protect Butterfree, it was just hungry for more tree sap." Misty assumed, shaking her head slightly.
"Maybe." Brock said and I agreed. Perhaps Heracross was trying to protect both its lunch and the Butterfree. After all, it did take lots of hits whilst standing right in front of its after all.
"Who cares if it was just trying to protect its lunch? Heracross scared off the Pinsir and now everything's back to normal, right?" Ash questioned but Woodruff shook his head.
"I'm afraid it won't be long until those Pinsir are right back." He answered and we all whirled around in shock.
"What? How come?" I asked. "Surely they've been taught not to mess with these trees, why would they come back? Don't they have trees in their own territory?"
"The Heracross and Pinsir have always lived in peace because they've each had their own forest. Only recently something has been driving Pinsir out of their forest and into Heracross territory. I'm afraid I don't know yet why they're coming over here, but if I can find out then maybe I can stop them."
"Then we'll help!" I volunteered. "We can help you find out why the Pinsir are being such meanies and then everything can be set back to the way things were. Right guys?" Misty laughed nervously.
"Uh…don't we have a train to catch or something?" She tried but I folded my arms and stood my ground.
"Misty, this forest need our help! You can't just leave it now!"
"If we don't then the whole forest could be destroyed." Brock added and she gulped nervously.
"Yeah, right." Ash turned around with me and together we clenched our fists, narrowing our eyes in concentration as we faced Woodruff.
"We'll do anything we can to help!" We both declared before glancing to one another and smirking. Well, great minds think alike, I suppose.
"Great! Let's head for the Pinsir forest." Woodruff said then began to lead the way. Misty hung at the back, constantly looking around her as she jittered nervously, worried a bug Pokémon was going to spring out at her any second. "It'll be slow going, the underbrush here is pretty thick." Woodruff told us but I looked to Ash and we both nodded our heads.
"We can fix that." He said so I called out my Bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur! Time to team up and help out!" He appeared with a confident call but the moment he was completely formed, Bulbasaur turned and leaped on me with his bell chiming away. "Agh!" I yelped, my body getting flattened by the affectionate Pokémon as he licked my face and I giggled. "Alright Bulbasaur I'm glad to see you too buddy!" I laughed, pushing him off me so that I could sit up and rub his head. "Hey, how about some Razor Leaf to help cut back the overgrown bushes?" I asked and he nodded his head.
"Bulbasaur!" Springing forwards he joined Ash's Bulbasaur and together they cut through the undergrowth. With our freshly cut path we followed the two Bulbasaur as they forged our way through, happily enjoying the sunshine as well. That is until Brock spoke.
"Don't look now but I think we've got some company." I slowly glanced over my shoulder, catching a quick glimpse of the same Heracross we'd help rescue earlier.
"I bet Heracross wants me to be its protector!" Ash said but Misty and I just looked at him blankly before she smiled.
"And I bet Heracross just wants to be a nectar protector!" Ash's Bulbasaur stopped and looked back.
"Bulba?" Upon seeing the Heracross he raced at it, growling angrily. "Bulbasaur! Bulbasaur Saur!" He leaped up into the air and was just about to send an attack at the Heracross when I nodded my head to my own Bulbasaur who quickly wound his Vine Whip around Bulbasaur, pulling him back and gently set him at Ash's side. "Bulba?"
"Bulbasaur, you know it's not nice to just attack other Pokémon like that." I said to him. "If you want Heracross to leave you alone, you only have to ask nicely." I planted my hands on my hips and nodded to the others. "Come on, we'd better hurry."
Everyone else nodded their head in agreement so we continued down the path, both Bulbasaur cutting our way through until Woodruff stopped us. "The path should be clear from now on."
"Right." We both said at once and turned to our own Pokémon. "There you are Bulbasaur, you take a well deserved rest." I said as Ash did the same. Woodruff led the way and it wasn't long until I was standing in direct sunlight, having broken free from the woods.
Before us lay a steep drop into a seemingly never ending crevasse which was as dark as if someone had dipped their pen in black in and drawn it over the earth. "Wow, look how deep that canyon is!" Misty breathed as we looked down over the edge. That was very deep. I don't think I'd like to be the idiot who falls over.
"Yes it's quite a drop." Woodruff said as I leaned a little closer, hearing the rush of water from down below. "The Pinsir forest is on the other side of the river." He said and we looked up over to the forest on the other side.
"Do we have to climb all the way down then back up to get there?" Ash asked but Woodruff merely chuckled and shook his head.
"No, lucky for us there's an old rope bridge upriver." When he said old, I pictured a little rickety, maybe a little on the drab side but still intact. What we found was practically two ropes crossing over the river and hardly any wooden boards left. "Oh no!" Woodruff gasped as he ran closer. "I was just here a week ago and the bridge was fine!"
"Maybe it wore out and the ropes finally broke."
"It's alright, we'll find a way across." I said to Woodruff comfortingly.
"Hey! Look down there!" Misty said and we looked to find a large root jutting out from the cliff which the Pinsir were using to spring from one side to the other. "The Pinsir have their own way across."
"Lucky for us, so do we!" I smiled then flung out a Pokéball. "Charizard! I choose you!" I called and he came out with a proud roar, stretching his wings up before turning to look at me, waiting for directions. "Okay Charizard, I need you to fly us over to the other side of this canyon. Could you do that for me?"
In answer Charizard bent down and rubbed his head into me, growling affectionately as I giggled, catching a hold of his head. "Okay! That's great! Climb on everyone!" I said and they all blinked at me.
"Won't Charizard need to make loads of trips?" Misty asked but I shook my head.
"No, we've been working on Charizard's strength and endurance. He could take all of us but I suppose since there's not that much room we can do this in two groups. Who wants to go first?" I asked but then I heard something begin to crunch and crack. "Huh?" I turned around to see a tree beginning to fall, leaning this way with us very close to its line of fire. "Agh!"
Charizard roared and whipped out his tail, grabbing both me and Ash as we yelled together and Charizard dragged us out the way as the tree fell, seeing as there wasn't enough time for him to stop it himself. "Hey look! It's that Heracross, he built us a bridge!" Brock said and we all looked to see the Heracross.
"Huh, maybe it really does want to help." Misty mused then looked over the side of the canyon and to the new tree bridge. "But I'm not getting on that thing. Charizard, I'm hitching a ride with you." She decided and climbed up onto his back as he watched the Heracross carefully, making sure it didn't try anything funny.
"It's okay buddy, we'll be fine." I assured him. "Anyone else?" I offered but the boys all shook their heads.
"If you girls are too wimpy to use the bridge then that's fine." Ash said with a smirk. "We boys will show you how it's done." Oh the nerve of him! He better watch out because tonight I'm putting hot sauce in his dinner!
Charizard snorted at him then looked up as I climbed aboard, patting his back. "Okay buddy, let's go!" Charizard flapped his wings and easily carried us both in the air though Misty cried out from the sudden movement, holding onto his shoulder tightly with one hand and the other curled around Togepi. "Relax Misty, Charizard will never let you fall." I promised her. "We've done loads of crazy stunts together for training, sometimes I've even jumped off his back and he had to dive down to catch me."
"What?! Are you crazy?" Misty demanded and I laughed as we soared into the air, Charizard decided to take a little detour over the forest.
"Probably, but hey, it keeps him on his toes. Right Charizard?" He gave a roar of agreement then smoothly banked down, beginning to spiral. Misty gasped and gazed out at the world from the air, admiring the forest and the sky as it all spun around her dreamily.
"This is amazing. You fly up here all the time?" She asked and I nodded my head.
"As often as I can. It's a great place to be, the sky. You should see it by sunset and by night. Now that's when it really starts to feel magical."
"Will you take me flying tonight? I'd love to see it." Misty asked and I smiled.
"Sure! What do you think Charizard? Shall we show Misty just how amazing flying can be?" I questioned and he nodded his head. Just then we heard a cry of alarm and we all looked down to see Ash flailing his arms, unable to keep himself steady as he lost his balance on the tree bridge.
"Oh no! Ash!" Misty yelled and instantly Charizard and I were thinking as one.
"Dive!" Charizard dove down as Ash slipped off the bridge, yelling as he descended down into the depths with Pikachu calling out to him on the bridge with worry. Charizard shot past him, wings tucked in before stretching them out and arching back up, easily catching Ash in his arms to then fly out of the canyon.
"So you sure showed us Ash." I told him as Charizard held him by the leg. "And yet it was us wimpy girls who had to come rescue you." Misty giggled as Ash kicked and struggled slightly.
"I was doing fine without your help! I would have thought of something!" He yelled back but I just rolled my eyes. That's Ash for you, stubborn to the end. Charizard huffed in irritation as Ash continued to struggle so he flew to the other side and dropped him on his head, snorting with amusement as Misty and I dismounted.
"Good work Charizard. Great catch." I said to him and he growled softly, letting me rub his head before I lifted his Pokéball. "Return now and have a good rest." Just then Woodruff and Brock leaped down with Pikachu who instantly sprang into Ash's arms.
"Is everyone alright?" Woodruff asked and we all smiled.
"We're fine. So where next?"
"This way." He directed, leading us into the trees. "It shouldn't take long to reach the Pinsir nest." So we walked along in silence, not wanting our talking to disturb anything that might attack us but after a while I got the sense of something watching us from behind. I think the others felt it to because when we looked around we saw Heracross still following.
"Heracross is still following us."
"It probably thinks the three of us are saps." Misty answered but then Woodruff cut us off in a serious tone.
"Get ready, stay alert, we're almost at the Pinsir's forest now." He told us so we all nodded our heads, though Misty didn't look too impressed.
"Oh that's great. Lots more bug Pokémon." We followed the trail keeping close to Woodruff and constantly kept a sharp eye on our surroundings. We walked for a few minutes and I was surprised at how still and quiet everything was. Nothing really stirred, not even the leaves on the branches as the wind was practically non-existent.
"Up there." I blinked and looked up. "The tallest tree. That's where the Pinsir live." It doesn't look too far from here, I could see it easily and it looks like it's just through these trees here. We stepped forwards with caution, keeping low to the ground then crawled through the bushes to see what was going on.
"Look! Up near the top! It's a giant Pinsir!" Ash whispered excitedly and sure enough there was a massive Pinsir sucking up the sap from the tree, though there was something strange about it. It didn't feel natural, as if it were not really real and only a façade of some kind. Sounds weird, right?
"Wow, I didn't know Pinsir got that big." Misty breathed.
"They don't." I answered for them. "No Pinsir has ever been seen to grow that big before. I've looked through hundreds of reports and documents about Pokémon and Pinsir have always been around the same height. The tallest ever found had grown to be five foot in height whereas the rest are normally around four eleven. This looks more like a robot that's been designed to look like one." Woodruff looked at me with an impressed expression.
"You sure know your stuff." I blushed a little.
"I've studied under some really great people, so I know a little about Pokémon." Turning back to the robot Pinsir the sunlight began to shed onto it, showing its form a little more clearly.
"It appears to be made out of steel." Woodruff mused as Ash and Misty just stared.
"It's a monster!"
"Who would build something that creepy?" She worried but then laughter filled our ears, the kind that made me want to just claw my ears off.
"Prepare for trouble while we're in the woods!"
"Make it double we're up to no good." It's none other than Team Rocket! I should have guessed it would be them making trouble for everyone and everything. But wait, where are they? They haven't shown their faces yet.
"To protect the world from devastation." Jessie announced as she stepped forwards with a light shining behind her.
"To unite all people within our nation." James continued as he too dropped down from a branch with an elegant landing, turning to face us sideways on.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Jessie!"
"James…"
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!" The Pinsir robot continued its work on the tree whilst Meowth dropped down from the branch and delivered the finishing touch to the motto.
"Meowth that's right!" We all ran forwards, glaring at Team Rocket as they faced us with smirks.
"Well there's the answer to your creepy question." Ash said to Misty as we all stood our ground.
"So you're the ones responsible for that mechanical Pinsir!" Woodruff accused and Meowth nodded his head proudly.
"That's right. We found this tree and the sticky stuff on it, and when we tried it the stuff tasted great so we're making a million dollar plan come to life. And none of you's is going to ruin our plan!" He yelled at us with a sharp gleam of his claws.
"You willing to bet on that?" I questioned, stepping up to Ash's side. "You're stealing all that sap and driving the Pinsir who live here away into Heracross territory, you're starting a war that could endanger other Pokémon and the trees in both forests unless you stop right now!"
"This is exactly what happens when humans use nature selfishly without thinking about the consequences first." Woodruff agreed and Ash stepped forwards too, itching and ready to battle.
"That's right! The Heracross and Pinsir got along fine until the three of you showed up here!" He yelled at them though the just stood there looking bored. "You come in here sucking up all the sap and throw off the balance of nature!"
"Who cares about that?!" Jessie shouted back, thin eyebrows darting down in a terrifying expression of anger. "The only balance we care about is the balance in our checking account!" She told us as James came to her side.
"This situation is about to get sticky!" The both of them picked up a Pokéball each and threw them forwards together.
"Lickitung, I choose you!"
"Victreebel go!" However the moment James had caught the Pokéball again he ran off into the bushes with laboured breath, diving for cover and hid there, however when he realised Victreebel hadn't followed he slowly popped his head back up. "That's funny, I wonder why Victreebel isn't attacking me." I blinked at him.
"You think Victreebel attacks you?" I questioned him as he came out from the bushes and dusted himself off.
"Well it keeps on trying to bite my head off, of course it attacks me!" I giggled and shook my head.
"No, that's how Victreebel show affection. Your Pokémon really likes you because you really love your Pokémon." I explained to him. "You see, Victreebel is a plant type Pokémon like a Venus flytrap, which catch their pray in their mouths, however numerous studies into Victreebel have found that the way they show affection to their trainer is by anchoring itself to their trainer, almost like their way of kissing someone." I informed him and he blinked, rubbing the back of his head in surprise.
"Gee, thanks. I didn't know that." Suddenly we had Jessie shoving us apart and glaring furiously at James.
"If you've finished with your little chit chat how about you go and stop your Pokémon from having lunch so we can have a real battle!" James shuddered fearfully then ran over to his Victreebel.
"Hey! You're eating up all our profits you yellow bellied sap sucker!" In answer Victreebel turned around and practically swallowed James up to the waist, making him squeal and kick his legs as he tried to get out. "Sorry I didn't mean it, let me go please!" I giggled again, seeing its happy expression.
"What are you doing? You're supposed to lick the twerp not the sap!" Jessie growled at her Lickitung as Meowth looked on with a devastated expression.
"The real Pokémon are out to lunch. This looks like a job for super Pinsir!" He crowed and suddenly the Pinsir turned around to face us, eyes flashing a bright green before it leaped down to the ground with a crash. "This little suck bucket was made for collecting sap but it's a pretty mean crusher in a pinch." Meowth joked and I gulped slightly, stepping back. That thing looked mean and scary, I can see why Misty doesn't like bug Pokémon in this instance.
"I choose you, Bulbasaur!" Ash called, taking his chance first with his bravest little Pokémon. "Razor Leaf attack!"
"Bulbasaur!" Leaves shot out from under his bulb and struck the Pinsir who brushed them off easily, a loud ping singing each time a leaf hit but it had no further effect.
"Bulbasaur thought it could stop our Pinsir by putting its petals to the metal." Meowth crowed snidely as James laughed and Jessie smirked.
"That was a good one." Ash shook the setback off and pointed, not yet ready to give up.
"Hurry Bulbasaur, use your Vine Whip!" The vines shot out and coiled around the Pinsir, restraining it from moving and Bulbasaur pulled them taut, keeping his ground steady before whipping them both back at once, spinning the Pinsir around in a perfect pirouette and before it could recover, Ash looked down to Pikachu. "Your turn Pikachu, Thundershock attack!"
"Pika…CHUUUUU!" Pikachu leaped up into the air and sent a powerful shock at the Pinsir but by the looks of things, it wasn't doing any damage. But how? It's made out of metal, right? It should be blowing apart right now!
Pikachu landed and the attack stopped, however the Pinsir's horns began to crackle with electricity, sparking brightly before the bolts shot forwards and struck us instead, filling us with a powerful shock that tingled all over as we yelled.
"That cut those saplings down to size!" Jessie crowed and James punched the air.
"Zap them again! Zap them again!" Meowth laughed, obviously enjoying the a little too much.
"Now we'll show those twerps what it's like to have a real power failure!" The Pinsir began to stomp forwards, aiming straight for us as we remained on the ground, our legs and bodies still too shocked up to move.
"It's coming this way, what do we do?!" Misty panicked but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't reach Charizard's Pokéball. Before I could out for him, however, I heard a bang and looked up to see Heracross standing in front of us, holding the Pinsir back with amazing power and strength.
"It's Heracross!"
"Alright!" I cheered as I slowly began to regain feeling in my fingers. "Go Heracross!"
"Come on! A mechanical Pinsir should be able to squash Heracross like a bug!" Meowth panicked, working the controls as fast as he could to get his Pinsir moving. The Pinsir grabbed Heracross and began to push it back, forcing its feet to grind up the ground as it refused to take a step back.
Finally I was able to move and I got to my feet along with Woodruff and Ash, who called out encouragingly to the Pokémon who was trying to help us. "Hang in there Heracross!" Suddenly a fresh wave of determination rose over Heracross and he began to push Pinsir back, earning a cheer from us.
"Keep pushing! You're doing great!" Brock called as Heracross continued to win over the Pinsir.
"You're our new hero Heracross!" Misty cheered but Brock turned to her with a frown.
"I thought you hated all the bug Pokémon." But Misty merely smiled brightly.
"Heracross isn't creepy. You go!" I jumped and punched the air, whooping and calling out in encouragement as Pinsir was held back by our new friend Heracross.
"Go Heracross! You show them who owns these woods!"
"Come on guys!" Ash called to us as he made his way forwards quickly. "If we hurry we can take away that robo-Pinsir's sap sucker sack!" Great idea Ash! We raced forwards and worked on detaching the sap sacks whilst Heracross held the Pinsir steady and Team Rocket remained busy arguing.
They argued over who was going to drive the Pinsir, so much so that they began to snatch and grab at the controls, all of them wanting to handle the situation but with everyone grabbing at the joy sticks, they snapped right off just as we got the sap back.
"Alright Heracross, we've got the sap so we're ready to go!" Ash yelled over to Heracross who glanced over his shoulder.
"Heracro?" Lowering down the horn it gripped the Pinsir's legs and slowly began to lift it up, growling as it struggled slightly under the weight. "Hera…cross!"
"You can do it Heracross!" I cheered, watching as it summoned one last scrap of energy and threw the Pinsir up into the air. "Alright!" It flew pretty high and when it crashed back into the ground, the force of the blow made it erupt and blast Team Rocket away, who we could still hear yelling.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Heracross celebrated by showing off its arm muscle, standing upright with pride.
"Heracro!" It nodded its head with satisfaction as we all called out to it.
"Heracross wins the match!"
"You're our hero!"
"Now that was awesome Heracross!" I added, folding my arms before drawing out my notebook and began to make some points about Heracross. Although very docile it was pretty powerful, which meant it would be a very strong ally in a battle. Suddenly I heard rustling in the bushes and I looked to see Pinsir returning back to their tree now that the trouble was gone.
"The Pinsir!"
"Hey, now that Team Rocket's gone the Pinsir are coming back!" Brock smiled with a nod of his head as we watched them climb back onto their tree to feed.
"Well you know what they say. There's no place like home." Misty said and I defiantly agreed, and it looks like the Pinsir do too!
"I guess you're right Misty. The Pinsir won't have to leave their habitat and the Pokémon can live in harmony." Woodruff said, gazing out the Pinsir with gladness in his eyes. I guess being a ranger it's always nice to see a job well done, especially if it means peace and security returning to the Pokémon and their habitat.
We returned to the other nest to make sure the Heracross were okay and it was great to see them already feeding alongside the Butterfree, happily sucking up their dinner. "Now the Heracross and Butterfree can live in peace again, here in their own forest." Ash said, smiling up at a Butterfree as it fluttered by.
"That's right Ash. The trees are safe, the balance has been restored and things are back to the way they should be." Just then I noticed a Heracross approaching us, its little clawed hands laced together as if it were shy of coming too close, however I instantly knew it to be the same Heracross just because of that gesture.
"You were awesome Heracross! You stood up to the Pinsir and everything worked out perfectly." Ash praised warmly.
"You were really brave Heracross, and I take back all the things I said about bug Pokémon being creepy." This made Heracross really happy, smiling at us with a little blush to its cheeks.
"You're a great Pokémon and we'll really miss you." Ash added and Pikachu beamed up at him.
"Pikachu." We all turned and walked away, waving and saying goodbye one last time to Ranger Woodruff and as I turned around, I felt really at peace. So much so that I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, letting all thoughts escape me with it.
With a flash of light I suddenly felt upset and great sadness, enough so that I cried out and tears rushed to my eyes. "Ruby! Ruby what's wrong?" Ash asked, hurrying back to my side and reached out to me. "Hello? Anyone in there?" But all I could feel was the longing to not let these people go. I didn't want them to leave, they had all been so nice and encouraging, made me feel so strong and because of them I'd been able to help save the forest.
Wait…was I…? I was thinking Heracross's thoughts! My mind slowly began to take control, mapping out exactly what was going on. Heracross stepped forwards, looking at me intently as I slowly turned around and faced him, registering each thought and feeling until finally it passed over, leaving me feeling cold and tingly all over as my eyes slid shut slightly and I slumped. "Whoa! Ruby!" Ash caught me, helping me to rest on the ground as he felt my brow. "You're freezing cold Ruby! What happened?"
"That thing that sometimes happens? You know?" I said slowly and he drew back slightly before nodding his head.
"You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Sometimes it leaves an after effect like this but it only takes a minute or so to pass." I explained. "It's just that…I was connected to Heracross." I said to them as Misty and Brock came and stood by us.
"What do you mean? You heard its thoughts?" I nodded my head.
"Or at least, I got impressions of them. He doesn't want us to go." I told Ash, looking at him with a smile. "He wants to follow you."
"Really? You want to come with me Heracross?" He asked, standing up as Woodruff approached.
"Is everything alright?" He questioned, kneeling down to take my hands. "Hmm, you're very cold. Maybe you've come down with something." But already I was feeling stronger so I smiled and shook my head.
"No I'm alright, it was just a dizzy spell." I answered then stood up with Misty and Brock helping me, both of them holding onto an arm as Ash turned to us.
"Hey you guys, Heracross wants to come with us!" He cheered then turned back to face Heracross with a Pokéball in hand. "Alright!" The Pokéball bumped against Heracross and sucked him in before flying back to Ash's hand which he caught easily. "Heracross chose me!" He announced joyously, making the rest of us laugh as I felt myself warm up. "Bye Woodruff! Take care!" He called then practically skipped down the road as we headed on our way.
"So Ruby, how did it happen this time?" Misty asked me and I thought for a moment.
"So far I've figured this much. I can connect with Pokémon's emotions and feelings only when I'm really closely bonded with them, like with Charizard, or when they're really desperate to reach out to someone, like Areodactyl, or when I'm completely calm and empty of thought or any feeling of my own feelings, like in a state of meditation like I was just now and when I was back when the egg reached out to me." I told them as we walked. "I really don't understand any more than that, however it seems when I try to force it or when I connect with a Pokémon that's not naturally close to me, I get an after effect like you just saw."
"You're really weird." Ash told me and I glared at him. "In a good way! I meant what you can do is really weird, you can actually feel what a Pokémon is feeling." I growled at him.
"I didn't ask to be born this way Ash Ketchum! Come back here!" I yelled as he ran off with a yell. "I'll make you feel something you'll never going to forget, a real Ruby Bates Butt Kicking! Get back here so I can strangle you already!" I chased him down but after a while I just gave up. It wasn't worth it.
Besides, I still have that hot sauce that can somehow slip into his dinner.
