Chapter 26: Every Friend was Once a Stranger

The next day the guild, Drowzee and Cresselia (who had stayed in overnight), and Paula, and Mason (who was carrying the barely conscious Laura on his back) gathered in the main area of the guild to go over the last-minute details of the impromptu expedition.

"…All right," Chatot finished. "Is everyone clear on what our goal is?"

"YEAH!" Loudred exclaimed, briefly startling Laura into a more awake state. But it was very short-lived and her eyes drooped sleepily once more, even as Loudred continued, "We've got to protect Laura so that she can get to the Aura Crystals SAFELY!"

Wigglytuff grinned at his apprentice's enthusiasm before turning towards Drowzee and Cresselia and saying, "Thank you for watching the guild for us while we're gone, friendly-friends!"

Cresselia gave him a gentle smile and replied, "It is no problem."

"Yeah," Drowzee agreed. "Just make sure that you get Laura there and back safely!"

Mason gave a small smile of gratitude and shifted Laura into a more comfortable position on his back. "Are you all set, Laura?" he asked. Laura mumbled unintelligibly, and Mason sighed in slight disappointment. "I'll take that as a yes…"

"All right! Let's go!" Wigglytuff ordered. "Off to the Eastern… I mean, Timeless Forest! YOOM-TAH!"

"HOORAY!" Everyone exclaimed.

The expedition made its way through the forest. Everyone had been on escort missions before, but this time seemed more urgent, probably because it was one of their own that they needed to protect, instead of a stranger. It was also tough because in general, the ones that they were escorting could at least defend themselves a little. But in Laura's case, she could hardly keep her eyes open, let alone fight.

Things were going well… until they entered the Monster House full of Bug-types. Immediately they jumped into action, trying desperately to protect Laura on all sides, the sounds of their exclamations creating a cacophony.

"Take that!"

"Eek! Don't use that move, Dugtrio! Earthquake will hurt Laura too!"

"Hey, hey! Can someone throw a Max Elixir over here?"

"Yup, yup! Here you go!"

"Squawk! Take this! Peck!"

"YOOM-TAH!"

With so many attackers, the Monster House was quickly defeated and attention was turned to healing injuries and ensuring that Laura was still doing all right.

"Mason, how is Laura doing?" Paula asked.

Surprisingly, Laura was the one to answer. "…I'm fine…" she mumbled sleepily. "Sorry for… causing… so much trouble…"

"It's not your fault," Mason murmured in exasperation.

"Of course we want to protect you!" Wigglytuff told her, joining in the conversation. "You're our friendly-friend!"

Laura smiled faintly before drifting off to sleep again. Everyone took that as a silent signal to continue forward. Mason drifted back to where Chatot and Wigglytuff were travelling side by side.

"So I've been wondering…" he began, "You said that you and Chatot got that Aura Crystal as a gift… but who gave it to you? And why?"

"It was a reward for a mission!" Wigglytuff explained, sharing a grin with Chatot.

"A mission?" Mason repeated.

"Yes… the mission that first brought us together as a team…"

Many years ago…

The forest looked stunning. The trees had wide boughs and were reminiscent of weeping willows. A plant that looked like Spanish moss hung from the branches. The grass was green, soft, and springy. Ivy grew everywhere, with heart-shaped leaves and curling tendrils beckoning with friendliness. A much younger Chatot was wandering through the forest. He seemed to be lost.

"Mumble… mumble… can't believe this…" he muttered to himself. "How could I get lost? This forest is tiny! Mumble… mumble…"

He glanced to his left and froze when he saw a tree with ivy encircling the trunk.

"Squawk! What?!" he exclaimed. "I've passed this same tree three times now! I knew I was going in circles! Grr…"

He stepped closer to the tree, determined to find out what it was about it that was causing him to lose his way. He noticed that one of the ivy tendrils seemed to be pointing to the left.

"I might as well go this way," he thought as he began heading in that direction.

As Chatot continued on the path, he felt the wind pick up in a gentle breeze. He also noticed that clusters of sweet-smelling white flowers with yellow centers that he had seen once or twice during his exploration seemed to be appearing in greater numbers on the forest floor. The further he went in, the more the wind picked up and the more white flowers he saw. He also began to be surrounded by a silvery glow, almost like an aura…

The instant he noticed this he froze in shock and looked at his wings.

"Wh-what?! What's… what's this?!" he asked fearfully.

Suddenly the wind became intense and Chatot had to dig his talons into the ground to keep himself from blowing over. But that did no good when a whirlwind appeared and swept him up.

"AIEE!" he screamed as he was blown away…

Chatot landed in another part of the forest. He sat up dizzily, groaning, "Ugh… Wha…? What just happened…?"

"AIEE!" a sudden scream pierced the air.

"Squawk! Wh-What the-?!" Chatot exclaimed in surprise, looking up to see something big and pink fall from the sky… and land directly on top of him.

He groaned again, and it took him a minute or two to squirm out from under it. He shook his head to dispel the ringing in his ears before taking a closer look at what had fallen on him. In shock, he realized that it was a pokémon!

"Are you all right?" he asked frantically.

The pokémon sat up and blinked its eyes open. It glanced around, and when it caught sight of Chatot it immediately grinned and sprang to its feet. "Yep! I'm fine!" he assured. Then he looked around again and frowned. "But… P-perfect Apple… where did it go…?"

"Perfect Apple?" Chatot wondered.

"Sniffle…! P-Perfect Apple…!" the pink pokémon whimpered.

The ground started to shake, and Chatot began to grow alarmed.

"Waah!" the pink pokémon cried as the shaking became more intense and trees began to explode.

Chatot looked around in alarm at the destruction, and when he put two and two together and realized that the cause was the pink pokémon his eyes widened in fear. When he saw that the pokémon's distress was about to reach a new level, he quickly fumbled around for something in his treasure bag.

"Aack! It-it's okay!" he said in fear as he desperately searched his bag. When he found the item he was looking for, he quickly offered it to the distraught pokemon. "Here! You can have mine!"

"W-waah…?" the pokémon said, cracking open an eye. When he saw the offered item, his tears and shaking immediately stopped. "Oh! A Perfect Apple!" he exclaimed, grabbing it and beginning to dance. "Wow! Thank you, friendly-friend! I'm the explorer Wigglytuff! What's your name?"

"Er… Chatot," Chatot answered, feeling rather dumbfounded by Wigglytuff's abrupt mood swing.

"It's nice to meet you, friendly-friend Chatot!" Wigglytuff exclaimed, oblivious to Chatot's discomfort.

"S-so… you said you were an explorer?" Chatot asked, trying to figure out the apparent puzzle that was Wigglytuff. "Did you come to look for the Treasure's Clearing too?"

"Nope!" Wigglytuff replied, stopping his dance, grinning and shaking his head. "My other friendly-friends did… but I just tagged along because this is the Friendly Forest!"

Chatot stared at him in disbelief. "He… he just came because of the name?" he thought incredulously before asking, "So… so where are your friends now?"

"Haven't a clue!" Wigglytuff answered, not seeming at all distressed by this fact. "We were walking through the forest when my precious Perfect Apple slipped out of my hands and started rolling away! I chased and chased after it, but a whirlwind came and blew me away before I could catch it! Then I woke up here, and you gave me another Perfect Apple!" Wigglytuff explained. Then his grin widened and he began to dance again. "Yay! Thank you, friendly-friend Chatot!"

Chatot's eye began to twitch before he noticed a similarity between how he and Wigglytuff both arrived in their present location. He decided to vocalize it. "So you got hit by a whirlwind? That's how I ended up here, too!"

"Oh, oh?" Wigglytuff asked, sounding mildly curious.

"Yes!" Chatot said, bobbing his head in the affirmative. "Tell me, did you see a lot of white flowers before the whirlwind hit? And did you get surrounded by a silvery glow?"

"Hm… White flowers, yes," Wigglytuff said. "But I had pink glow."

"That's very strange…" Chatot murmured. He glanced over at Wigglytuff and saw that he was still happily dancing. He sighed in slight annoyance before beginning to walk away, saying, "Well anyways… it was nice meeting you, but I need to get going now."

"Are you really going to go off alone?" Wigglytuff asked, stopping Chatot in his tracks. "But you're lost, like me! We should go together!"

"T-together?" Chatot asked, surprised by Wigglytuff's suggestions.

Wigglytuff nodded happily. "Yep! I bet we could find my Perfect Apple and your 'Treasure's Clearing' much faster if we worked together as a team!" Wigglytuff explained.

"Squawk! What?! How did you know that I was looking for the Treasure's Clearing?!" Chatot demanded, flapping his wings in confusion.

Wigglytuff obliged, "You asked me if I was looking for it 'too.' Also… you look like the exploring type, and explorers are always looking for treasures!"

Chatot froze. "I… I really look like an explorer to you…?" he whispered, sounding hopeful.

Wigglytuff grinned and nodded. "Yep! So let's go! I'm coming, Perfect Apple!"

He charged off, and Chatot blinked, dispelling the happy haze that Wigglytuff's affirmation had put him in. Then he blinked again as he recalled another important piece of information that Wigglytuff had told him. "Wait a minute! What about your friends? Don't you want to look for them, too?"

"They're super strong! I'm sure they'll be fine!" Wigglytuff called back.

Chatot sighed and hurried to catch up with him, muttering, "If you say so…"

The duo set off into the forest. Wigglytuff kept chatting about random things, and Chatot couldn't decide whether it was amusing or annoying. They came across a few wild pokémon, but it was nothing that the two couldn't handle. Chatot was impressed that, despite his dopey demeanor, Wigglytuff was actually good at fighting. Things progressed quickly, and it wasn't long before the two had arrived back where the patches of white flowers grew.

"Ooh! Look, look! We're back here!" Wigglytuff exclaimed, eyes shining brightly, when he recognized the area. "I'm coming, Perfect Apple!"

When it looked like he was about to rush into the midst of the flowers, Chatot gasped in alarm and grabbed onto him in an attempt to slow him down. It didn't work, and the alarm increased when Chatot realized that they both had started glowing again.

"Wait a minute!" Chatot squawked. "This is where the whirlwinds were! We have to be care—!"

He was cut off when another whirlwind appeared and blew the pair away…

"AIEE!"

When they landed, the two lay still for a moment. Wigglytuff recovered first. He sat up and shook away the dizziness before immediately looking for Chatot. When he saw that he was on the ground a little ways away and still unconscious, he gasped and rushed to his side.

"Chatot! Are you all right?" he asked worriedly, helping his new friend to sit up.

"Ugh…" Chatot moaned, putting a wing to his pounding head in an attempt to relieve the headache. "I… y-yes… I think so. But… what were you thinking?! Why would you just rush in like that?!"

"You tried to rush in? Sheesh… then of course you'd get blown away," a mysterious, male voice sounded from the duo's right. The two turned in surprise to see a cacturne leaning against a tree, admiring the moss hanging off of the branches. "Direct approaches don't work on that place," the cacturne continued. "If you want to get into the Treasure's Clearing, you have to be bearing a… 'Gift.'"

With that, the cacturne wandered away.

"…Who was that?" Chatot wondered aloud once the stranger was out of sight.

"Ooh… A mysterious friendly-friend!" was Wigglytuff's only reply.

Chatot's head dropped and he sighed in exasperation. "Of course," he muttered, sounding annoyed. Then he raised his head as a thought came to him. "But… he did seem to know about the Treasure's Clearing… so maybe we should go after him?"

"What?! The Treasure's Clearing?! What do you want with the Treasure's Clearing?!" an angry voice screeched from behind them.

The two whipped around in shock… only for their shock to increase when they realized that the livid-sounding pokémon… was a mew! They were also surprised to see that he was wearing a fragment of some rainbow-colored rock or crystal from a chain around his neck, and he was carrying a heavy-looking bag. As they studied him, he gripped the bag closer to his body and eyed them suspiciously.

"Don't tell me… are you the ones who are trying to steal from the Treasure?!" he demanded.

"S-Steal?" Chatot asked. "What do you mean? Doesn't the treasure belong to the first pokémon who finds it?"

"No!" the mew all but shrieked. "The Treasure is not something to be possessed! If you intend to go into the clearing as thieves… then you must first go through me, Mew!"

Mew began to prepare an Aura Sphere attack… but before it could be released, Wigglytuff stepped in.