Chapter 9: Never Forget

-Dash's POV-

There it is! The summit!

I ran to the clearing up ahead and immediately took a look around. And no one in sight… I dropped the item I was holding in my mouth so I could celebrate.

"Yes! I got here first! Woo-hoo! Go me!" Then I actually noticed my surroundings. Or, more precisely, I smelt my surroundings. I cringed and took a good look around, "Ugh! What is that horrible smell?!" Looking around more closely, the entire summit was covered in purple fog and sludgy pits. I shook my head, "This is the top of the mountain? This doesn't make sense! Everything is all gross and gloomy… It looked better on the way up."

Then I heard a bunch of "schlorp" sounds and looked around. Sludge was oozing together and forming into shapes. Some of them were familiar, but others were far larger. One thing is certain though. I'm surrounded.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that I may have bitten off more than I could chew. So, taking advantage of the fact that my teammates weren't here, I said the only thing that I could in this situation.

"Ooooohhhh… f***."

-Meowth's POV-

We had reached the 9th Station Clearing and Siltram spotted some items and slithered over to them.

Siltram sniffed at the cloth with the apple cores on it and then took a long sniff at the air. "He was here until just a few minutes ago. He must've fallen asleep; the trail's still strong. I'd give it… 5 or 6 minutes, maybe 8."

I was glad to hear that. While Rio talked with Shaymin, I asked Siltram when he learned to track smells.

He smiled sheepishly, "Well, when our team started getting larger, I didn't exactly want to be outclassed by the new recruits, so I practiced on the side. Didn't expect to use it for the first time on one of our teammates…"

Shaymin spoke up, getting my attention, "Well, at any rate, it's only a little farther up to the summit! Keep at it!"

We all nodded and I wrote in the journal. I didn't see anything by Dash this time. I slid it back in the mouth of the statue and we all started moving forward. While we moved through the Summit Pass, the weather started going wonky. Clear to cloudy, rain, snow, sandstorms. I had heard that weather can change fast in the mountains. I just hope there ain't gonna be a typhoon.

We got real lucky and found the stairs right away most of the time. After a while, the weather cleared up and Shaymin called out, "Oh! I can see it! The summit!"

We came into a foggy, filthy scene and Shaymin looked around, shocked, "Th… This is… terrible… All this happened while I was away for so long…"

Just then, a crackling sound came from up ahead and electricity jolted across the ground.

"Looks like someone else got here first…" Team Frontier walked in and Breloom looked forward, "… but what is this?!"

Mawile gasped, "Th-this is the summit?!"

Shaymin scowled, "No, this is…!"

Siltram took a sniff of the air and said, "Meowth, Rio… I don't mean to alarm you… But a place like this would attract my kind… lots of them. If Dash got here first…"

Another zapping sound came from up ahead and when we moved closer, I saw a bunch of bodies moving around, one of them much faster.

Electricity buzzed around the quick one and he charged into one of the large shapes, zapping it and knocking it off balance. We ran forward and Dash was trying to catch his breath, still buzzing with electricity. He dodged a Sludge attack and turned to us.

"Hey, everybody," He panted. "Come on in! Pool's open; water's fine."

Shaymin stepped forward, "What did you do?!"

Dash raised an eyebrow, "Hey, don't look at me! I showed up here at the top and this bunch of guys just attacked me!" He pointed a paw at two Muk and two Grimer. I noticed that there were a group of them further back that were unconscious. Dash went on, "Seriously, not as social as our friend Siltram here. I managed to defeat about half of them, but I've already used my Reviver Seed. I'm tapped out."

Shaymin turned to the Muk and Grimer, "This isn't your home and you know that… Please go back where you belong."

They droned on about how we were lying and that they drove away cleanliness. Wow. Talk about one track minds…

Shaymin glared, "Looks like we have to get them to come to their senses… Everyone, I'm counting on you!"

Team Frontier, sprang into action, but we hung back for a bit. Rio reached into the Treasure Bag and pulled out an Oran Berry. He put it down in front of Dash, "Join back in when you're ready."

He turned to join the fight and Dash called to him, "Wait, but I'm all out of moves!" Without looking back, Rio threw a Max Elixir, hitting Dash in the forehead with it.

Dash held his forehead as the bottle clacked to the ground, "He's mad isn't he?"

I started forward, "Big-time. Don't push yaself too far. Ya need ta recover." Siltram, Shaymin and I joined in on the fight. While I ran beside him I said, "Siltram, you use Mud Bomb as much as you can, but don't go getting hit by one."

"Can do, Boss!"

I wove between Machoke and Breloom, focusing on one Grimer to attack. I used Fury Swipes and followed up with a Slash attack before he could recover. He tried using Screech, but I circled around and used Assurance, slapping him over the head and shutting his mouth. Mawile came in for an assist, so I tagged out and went to Rio's side. He was dealing with a Muk, along with Siltram and Shaymin. A quick look around showed Dash dealing with the other Grimer and Machoke and Breloom holding off the other Muk.

Shaymin used Magical Leaf and Rio used Force Palm, but it wasn't doing much damage. Siltram was firing off Mud Bombs, which seemed to be doing the most damage. Getting an idea, I pulled Rio aside and said, "Rio, use Copycat to copy Siltram's Mud Bomb when he uses it!" He nodded before we had to dodge Muk's Sludge Bomb attack. The Muk used Pound to send Shaymin flying away, but Siltram stretched out to the side and caught him. After putting Shaymin back down, his cheeks inflated as he spat out another Mud Bomb.

Rio used Copycat and glowed with a brown aura before he concentrated it into his hands and fired a Mud Bomb from the aura. I followed on all fours after they hit and jumped with two Slash attacks. Shaymin fired a Magical Leaf and I was worried, but the leaves looped around and hit Muk in the back. I jumped back and got back in line with the rest of them. Dash ran up next to me and charged himself with electricity. I took a quick look to the side and saw the other Muk confused with Machoke and Breloom readying another Dynamic Punch.

"Look out!" I looked forward and a Sludge Bomb was heading right at me. I used Substitute and dodged it, letting a clone take the hit (while it was blowing a raspberry). I used Dig to burrow underground and circled behind Muk while I was underground. I broke through the surface and used Fury Swipes on the back of his head. As he turned around, I used Assurance to slap him over the head and used the move to vault off of his head and land with the others.

The Grimer and Muk all groaned and held their injuries. Shaymin stepped forward, "Have you come to your senses yet, Grimer and Muk?"

One of the Grimer tilted his head, "Huh?" Then backing up in shock another said, "Oh! Shaymin!"

"What happened while I was away for so long? You know that this isn't your home, right?"

"H-huhhh? This is so our hoooome… Seeee? It's all dirty and griiiiiimy…"

Shaymin looked down, "Dirty and grimy… I see… Nobody's come here for so long…" He looked back up to the group, "I'm sorry, Grimer and Muk. This is the mountain summit."

All of them jumped in shock, "H-huhhhh?! The summit?!"

"It can't be…!"

Shaymin shook his head, "I think it fell into disrepair because nobody visited for so long… But we can't leave the summit in this condition. Will you please return to your rightful home? Please? I'm asking you."

One of the Grimer looked around, "Wh-what? This is the summit? I didn't notiiiiice."

Another one bowed, "Sorry, Shaymin. We'll go home…"

Shaymin smiled, "All right. Thank you! I'll come visit with a token of thanks later! Bye!"

"Okay. Bye-byyyye!" They all left, slithering off the edges and down the mountain.

Shaymin looked around, "Where were we…? We have to clean this place up, restore it…"

Mawile stepped forward, "Restore it? It's so dirty, how could we possibly…"

"We Shaymin have a special power to clean up the land by absorbing dirt and things. Yet cleaning up this mess is no small task… Here goes nothing…" Shaymin took a more grounded stance and the ground rumbled slightly as purple gas seeped out of the ground and into his leaves. His leaves started turning dark-purple as he absorbed more and more.

Shaymin strained and said, "Get down, please!" Energy started swirling around him in a vortex and it curled in as his leaves lit up and there was a flash of light.

After it cleared up, the summit was completely clean, green grass and pink flowers with only a slightly cloudy sky and the sun shining through. Team Frontier looked around and Breloom was the first to give a comment.

"W-wow…"

Mawile looked around, her eyes shining with joy, "This is the summit? It's just such a change from what we were looking at before… It's so beautiful…"

Breloom continued, "I've never seen such a beautiful scenery before…"

Machoke just looked around, stunned.

Shaymin called out, "Congratulations on reaching the summit!"

Machoke cheered, "Wow! We did it!"

"At last! We've reached the summit!"

I looked around. It is real pretty. The sun shining down; pink flowers growing all 'round; a picture of peace. My eyes widened. A haiku? James wrote those sometimes when he was in disguise… Gee… I haven't given a second thought ta Jessie an' James in a long time… Wonder how they're doin'…

"Well, uh, we reached the summit… so I'll just be taking off. SeeyoubackatTresasureTown, BYE!"

"NOT… yet…" I looked up and Rio was holding Dash by his tail and he was kicking up dust trying to run away. Rio's feet were firmly planted and he wasn't giving an inch.

Oh, boy… I guess here comes my reminder of Jessie…

Dash gave up trying to run and turned around, sweating bullets, stammering "B-Before you say anything, I realize th-that I might have been a bit hasty in my choice."

Rio tilted his head, almost casually, "'Might'?"

Dash shook, "Was. W-was very hasty." Then he smiled sheepishly, "Seemed like a good idea at the time…"

Rio smiled, "I'm sure it did. I'm just glad you're okay." Dash let out a sigh of relief.

Don't listen! It's a trap!

Right on cue, Rio gripped the center of Dash's necklace and pulled his head down to meet eyes. Dash's legs bent awkwardly and his eyes widened as Rio said, "But if you ever make me worry that much again, I will personally drag you up this mountain and throw you off of the summit."

I knew it was a casual threat, but that didn't make it any less scary.

Dash scrambled a few feet away when Rio let him go and Mawile called out, "Hey, everyone! Look over here!" We all walked over and saw a bunch of mountains from the range sticking out of the clouds. But up above, you could see the stars, even though it was daytime.

Team Frontier gushed praise about it and how they were glad they climbed the mountain. I was glad too. Everybody in the team had a look of wonder glued to their faces. I could see Dash trying to take it all in and look at every part of the sight, probably to try and draw it in his scrapbook.

Mawile, in total awe, Mawile said, "This must be the fabled treasure that is superior to all other treasure…"

Breloom turned around, "Shaymin… Thank you so much for guiding us here."

Shaymin beamed, "My pleasure! I had fun climbing the mountain with all of you! So thank you very much! Well… we should do this again sometime!"

Mawile cheered, "Yes!"

Shaymin smiled, "It seems like you really enjoyed the view from the summit… Shall we head back to the base of the mountain?"

"Yeah!"

The wind blowing was the only sound for a short while.

Mawile's face dropped, "… Heading back means…"

"Aaaah!" Breloom screamed, "We didn't think about how to get back down! You've got to get back down?!"

Machoke was once again speechless. I tried to break the tension, saying, "Well, they say getting there's half da fun…"

Shaymin laughed, "Calm down. It's fine. I'll take you all back to the base of the mountain, no problem."

Mawile tilted her head, "Huh? How will you do that?"

Shaymin turned to one of the pink flowers, "There's a special flower here called the Gracidea. It's a special flower for us Shaymin. How is it special, you ask?" He nuzzled the flower and his leaves gleamed as he transformed into a taller, leaner body with wing-like things on his head. "I just touch the flower like this and I can change Forme temporarily."

Everybody except me stood in shock.

Breloom said, "Wow… Are you really that adorable… Shaymin…?"

Shaymin chuckled, "Hee-hee-hee. When I'm in this Forme, I can fly."

Mawile gasped, "You can fly? That means…"

Shaymin walked to the edge of the summit, "That's right. Flying is so much fun! It's not much, but this is a gift from me to you! All right, let's soar down to the base of the mountain! Hold on tight!"

We all lined up, Machoke holding onto Shaymin and the rest of us holding on in a line.

"Dibs on the back," Siltram said. "I don't wanna get stretched."

-Later, at Spinda's Café-

A huge party was thrown at the café to celebrate the exploration of Sky Peak. All of us celebrated the day's accomplishments (while trying to politely ignore the bandages on Savage's face). I congratulated Rose on the making of her new fighting strategy and thanked Damus for training the two. While our team, along with Team Frontier got the credit of exploring the mountain, I made a special note with our recruits that Dash was the one who got there first.

"But don't tink dat makes it all right to go against orders," I said. "It's seriously not cool."

As the evening wore on, I heard talk of Siltram, Rose and Vlad talking about heading out for evolution soon.

Siltram elbowed Hogan, "How about you, Hogan? You've been ready to evolve for a while now, haven't you?"

Hogan leaned back into his chair, putting his feet up and staring at the ceiling, "Nah, not yet. I just learned Cross Chop in the field. Only a few more moves that I can learn. When I learn them all, then I'll evolve."

Rose smiled and said, "That's very admirable! But I think I could stand to be a bit less… fragile if I'm going to pull off my strategy."

Hogan shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "It's up to you, but you have my respect for coming up with that strategy. Not many Psychic-types would think to try a physical attack!"

Rose muttered a quick "thank you", and then drank her juice. I raised an eyebrow. Rose always acts kinda funny around Hogan…

Vlad added, "I would just like to evolve because I never realized the problem of not having hands until I joined this team." He slurped his drink on the table through a straw. Then I noticed something.

"Say, Vlad, if your body's made o' gas, where do ya keep your badge?"

His eyebrows rose and he grinned before opening his mouth and his tongue stuck out with the badge stuck to it. Dash fell over laughing and my jaw dropped, "Vlad! Ya can't hang it there!"

He casually flipped the badge by waving his tongue up and down while he talked, "Blell, phugith meh, buh thith ith wuhn oph thuh onleh tholid puhth oph meh." He caught the badge and rolled his tongue back into his mouth before going on, "And I was certainly not going to attach it to my eye."

Everybody at the table laughed (even Damus chuckled a bit!) and I eventually went along with them.

In Japanese, the move Assurance is called "Make Sure", as in "Make sure he's down", so I feel that using it after a sequence of moves would be appropriate. This is just my guess, since it's never actually been used in the anime.

Also, for those who can't make the connection or are too lazy to figure it out, Vlad was saying, "Well, forgive me, but this is one of the only solid parts of me."