"Man, how much longer is this walk going to take?" Ash groaned, feeling fatigued from the long stretch that he, Iris, and Cilan embarked upon from a few hours prior. The three were headed towards Undella Town, to relax at the beach resort for a few days before continuing on their journey through Unova. They had just made their way through Reversal Mountain, so now they were going through a forest which was on the way to Undella.
"It won't be long before we get there," Cilan began, unfolding and looking at the map in his back pocket. "This forest isn't particularly large, so we should arrive within the next half hour if we keep our pace."
Shaking his head, Ash adjusted his hat as he looked ahead, frowning.
"I'm starting to get hungry too…" The black-haired boy sighed, causing Iris to get a little annoyed.
"Of course you are," she said rolling her eyes, "You always get hungry after only a few hours of walking. Why don't you just take a snack from Cilan's bag instead of whining?"
"Hey, you know that walking through Reversal Mountain took a lot of energy out of us! We haven't even had the chance to take a break yet!"
"Once we get to Undella Town, we're going to be able to relax anyway! I think you can wait another half hour," Iris responded, feeling her eye start to twitch. Axew, feeling the tension, felt a little disheartened, burrowing deeper into his trainer's maroon hair.
Ash and Iris continued to bicker for a minute straight, causing both the connoisseur and Pikachu, who was on Ash's left shoulder, to sigh.
"You know, I think it would be a fantastic idea to set up for lunch now," Cilan inserted himself into the conversation, wanting his friends to stop arguing. That immediately shut the two up, as they stopped walking to stare at him in surprise.
"But we're basically there already! This would just be a waste of time," Iris rebutted, causing Cilan to turn around and take the bag off his back, putting it on the ground.
"Well, think about it. Undella Town isn't a cheap place to stay at, even if it's only for a few days. We can have lunch early here so we can save a little Poké for later or emergencies."
Ash and Iris looked at each other for a few moments, before Iris sighed in defeat, putting her hands on her hips.
"Oh fine, you make a good point. Let's eat before Ash keeps on complaining."
Pikachu cheered as Ash groaned, was he really that annoying to Iris?
"Alright, I'll set up the table," Cilan said, doing the task as he spoke.
"Well, at least we can take a breather after such a long walk!" Ash exclaimed, feeling better already as he grabbed five Poké balls from his pocket.
"Let's go guys!" Ash threw the balls into the air, which released Krookodile, Pignite, Oshawott, Boldore, and Snivy with a bright light and white sparkles.
"We're just gonna hang around while Cilan makes lunch, before finally getting to that beach resort!" He pumped a fist into the air, prompting a cheer from his Pokémon. Pikachu joined in the cheer, jumping off his trainer's shoulder.
"Alright, Excadrill, Emolga, you guys can come out too!" Iris grabbed two of her own Poké balls from her waist, sending the steel mole and flying squirrel out of their confinements. Axew, feeling relieved that his trainer and Ash didn't fight for long, burrowed out of the hair he was so used to riding on.
"My friends, join us for another delicious meal!' Cilan exclaimed, getting his three Poké balls out and tossing them gracefully into the air. Out landed Pansage, Crustle, and Stunfisk, the grass monkey even striking a pose as he came out of his ball.
"Thankfully, since we already prepared our lunch ahead of time, I just need to set it up for us and our Pokémon!" Cilan shuffled around in his bag, looking for the sandwiches that he, Ash, and Iris made yesterday.
"Seems like you guys only have a few minutes till lunch, so make the best of your free time here now!" Iris said, directed towards all of the Pokémon. They all nodded or shouted in understanding, before dispersing amongst themselves.
In particular, Oshawott and Pignite were going to hang out off to the side, courtesy of the fire pig pushing the otter towards that direction.
"Ah, hey, what's this for!?" Oshawott protested, uselessly flailing his tiny arms around. Pignite didn't say anything until he pushed the otter all the way, letting go once they were there.
"We need to talk about something," he simply said, narrowing his eyes as a serious look grew on the pig's face. Oshawott started to feel concerned, wondering what was up.
"Did something happen?"
"No, shell for brains! We have to talk about…" The fire type looked around quickly, making sure no one could overhear their conversation. Upon seeing everyone was minding their own business, he got closer to Oshawott.
"How you're gonna ask Snivy out," he whispered, a toothy smirk appearing on his face as the water type immediately began to blush.
"Right… that," the water type nervously said, instinctually grabbing his scalchop from his stomach. It was a source of comfort for the otter, after all.
"Think you're gonna do it today?"
"No!" Oshawott harshly whispered, quickly responding to the fire/fighting type's inquiry. "I don't think I really feel ready to do that yet."
"Hmph," Pignite crossed his arms, "You've been saying that for a while now."
Oshawott sighed, rubbing the back of his head with a paw.
"Not to say I'm trying to push you into doing it now or anything, but it's about time you tried to make a move on her. You've liked her for a long time, and you keep talking to me about it and asking for advice. At this rate all I can say is that you need to start building some confidence with her."
Oshawott, knowing this was all true, looked down sadly at his scalchop as he fiddled with it.
"You're right, I need to make an effort. It's just so hard, I finally find a Pokémon that I really like and can't find the courage to ask them out. Definitely different from my crushes on Emolga and that Minccino from a while ago."
Pignite nodded in understanding, uncrossing his arms and giving Oshawott a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"It may be hard, but I believe in you dude."
The pig and otter smiled warmly at each other, Oshawott cheering up a little.
"Well, I guess I could-"
"Hi Pignite and Oshawott!" Axew walked right up to the two starter Pokémon, causing them to stare at the green dragon.
"Hey Axew!" Pignite nonchalantly greeted him as Oshawott put his scalchop back where it belonged.
"What are you guys doing?"
"We're just having a chat about… things," is all the water type could think to say, Axew tilting his head in confusion.
"Talking about what things?" He asked, his eyes seeming to glisten in wonder.
"Er… it's adult stuff, you wouldn't understand," was the catchall response whenever Axew or Scraggy asked about something private. Hearing that immediately made the dragon's eyelids and smile drop a little, as he felt like he was being brushed over.
"I feel like everyone always says that to me when they just don't want to tell me something. Is it important or what?" The dragon type asked, hints of annoyance in his voice.
Pignite and Oshawott exchanged glances at each other, the fire/fighting type shrugging his shoulders as he spoke up.
"I have to go check on lunch, see you guys around."
He quickly walked away, not in the mood to come up with something that would quell the baby dragon's curiosity. Oshawott's jaw dropped a bit, bewildered at the fact that his best friend would leave him like that.
"Pignite, this isn't fair!" He called out to the pig, who was already busy looking at all the bowls of Pokémon food lined up on a table Cilan had set up. He ignored the otter, instead counting how many bowls of food there were.
"Will you just tell me what's going on?" Axew interjected, the water type facepalming as he tried to think of a satisfactory answer for the green dragon.
"Alright guys, time for lunch!" Cilan yelled, everyone stopping what they were doing to look at him.
Oshawott sighed a sigh of relief, glad that he had an excuse to not make excuses with Axew.
"Finally! I'm starving!" Ash exclaimed, excited to chow down with his friends and all of their Pokémon.
"Not so fast, twerps!" A familiar voice shouted with a definitive BOOM, causing everyone to gasp collectively as they looked for the source of the shout.
From the direction of Reversal Mountain came a giant car, the Team Rocket logo emblazoned right on the front. It was able to mow down the trees thanks to being so large and sturdy, and it parked right in front of the small clearing Ash and company had stopped at.
"You should be preparing for trouble!" The voice who had shouted earlier spoke up again, her voice sounding a little sinister as it boomed through the car's speakers once more.
"And you can make it double!" Joined in another voice, Ash frowning as he recognized them both.
"Oh no, it's Team Rocket!" Iris exclaimed as she put her sandwich down, jumping right out of her seat.
The car's roof opened up, and a gray metallic platform rose up, revealing Jessie, James and Meowth doing the Team Rocket pose.
"Dat's right! We're here ta finally take dat Pikachu! Maybe we'll just take all of your other Pokémon too!" Meowth grinned evilly, exposing his claws from his paws to appear more intimidating.
"And we have just the trick up our sleeves to do so!" James grabbed a machine that he and Jessie were hiding behind them, wielding it like a flamethrower. He took aim at Pikachu, preparing to use his weapon.
"What is that thing?!" Ash cried out, rushing over to the electric mouse in an attempt to save him. The blue-haired man fired, and a large net shot out of the machine, heading straight for Pikachu.
Luckily, the mouse was quick enough to dodge the net, but it instead captured Oshawott, who was the next Pokémon in the line of fire. The net was able to force the otter to the ground.
"Oshawott, are you okay?" Ash tried to run towards his Pokémon, but was stopped by an Arbok, who sneaked around the trees, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Yes, excellent job Arbok! Keep that Oshawott at bay!" Jessie praised the poison snake, who hissed at Ash, making him back away.
"In fact, why don't we add Weezing to the fun, and really make things go our way!" James exclaimed, quickly putting the machine down to grab a Poké ball from his pocket, releasing the poison gas Pokémon.
"Okay guys, we're gonna have to fight! I want everyone but Krookodile to focus on Jessie and James' car and the Weezing! Don't forget to be careful with that machine either!" Ash ordered his Pokémon, and they all did as he said, rushing over to the Team Rocket car before they began their attacks.
"Krookodile, help me out with this Arbok!" Ash finished, the shades-wearing crocodile nodding as he hurried to his trainer's side.
"Hah, if you think that'll be enough to stop us, then you have another thing coming!" James picked up the net-launcher once more, as Wobbuffet materialized from his Poké ball, striking his usual pose.
"WOOOOOBBUFFET!"
Jessie's eye twitched, "Seriously? Now's not the time, you blue punching bag!"
"Wait, I tink he'll actually be useful this time around!" Meowth went behind Wobbuffet and started to push him forward. "Cover for James and da car!"
"We need to help Ash out! Pansage, Crustle, can you guys help with the Arbok while Stunfisk fights the car?" Cilan stared intently at his Pokémon, as they all nodded, going to their designated places. Cilan then ran to give specific orders to the monkey and crab Pokémon.
"Right!" Iris looked around to see Excadrill was already helping with the car while Emolga and Axew were nowhere to be found.
"Axew, Emolga, where are you guys!?" Iris gasped, now frantically looking around for her other two Pokémon.
"Axew's over here by Oshawott!" Ash yelled, Iris immediately running over to see the baby dragon cowering next to the otter.
"Oh, Axew! You're going to be okay soon!" Iris tried to reassure Axew, then looked around again for the missing Emolga. "Why don't you help out by using Dragon Rage?" She asked, running off to see if she could find the flying squirrel.
Axew groaned, looking at Oshawott worriedly before sitting down, putting himself in the fetal position as he was too frightened to fight.
"Alright twerps, you're going to get what you deserve!" James exclaimed, firing his fourth net, this time at Pignite. The pig used Flamethrower, burning right through it and hitting the platform. That caused the two humans, Meowth, and Wobbuffet to lose their balance for a few moments.
"Grr! You have to do a better job defending, Wobbuffet! At this rate, our car will explode!" Jessie chastised the blue Pokémon, as he began to feel a sweat.
"Weezing, why don't you use Sludge on that pesky Pikachu?" James ordered, to which the purple Pokémon obliged, sending a splash of poison at the mouse, who got nailed by the attack.
In response, Excadrill huffed, shifting his body into a drill formation as he used Drill Run on the Weezing, nicking him on the side.
"Gah! Alright, use Fire Blast on that Excadrill!"
Weezing did as it was told, shooting a string of fire which transformed into its signature Japanese character. The steel mole quickly dug underground to avoid the hit, and it completely missed, hitting a tree in the distance.
Jessie growled, feeling her anger come to a boil as all of the Pokémon kept attacking Weezing and the car with their moves. "Wobbuffet, make yourself useful and use Safeguard on the car!"
"Wobb…" He turned around, creating a domed barrier around the car. It was able to block most of the attacks on the vehicle, which helped Jessie calm down a little.
"Ya see that twerps, your puny attacks aren't doin' anytin' anymore!" Meowth snickered, all of the Pokémon continuing their onslaught of attacks to try to break through the new obstacle.
Meanwhile with Ash, he had just ordered Krookodile to use Dragon Claw on Arbok for a second time. The attack was a direct hit, causing the snake to be taken aback.
"CHAAARRRRRRBOK!" The poison snake hissed loudly, not going down so easily even with the fight being a three on one situation.
"I don't recall this Arbok having such persistence! Crustle, add on a X-Scissor with Pansage's Solarbeam for an overwhelming flavor!" Cilan exclaimed.
The crab and monkey nodded, attacking the Arbok with lots of vigor. Crustle slashed the snake hard, but he stayed up as the bug/rock type backed up to let Pansage shoot his shot. Once it was fully charged, the grass type blasted Solarbeam at full force, directly at the poison type. Arbok, however, dodged the blast, throwing himself to the ground and slithering towards Krookodile, wrapping his entire body around the crocodile.
The Solarbeam shred through the forest, destroying many trees and causing them to fall down, before hitting a Donphan that was resting. The damage done caused the elephant to snap awake, as it saw the destruction left behind from the blast...
"Krookodile! Try to use Crunch on Arbok to make him let go!" Ash ordered, feeling a little scared that the snake might cause something really bad to happen. The dark/ground type attempted to bite down on Arbok, but the snake tightened his grip, making it harder for him to breathe.
"Krook…" Krookodile fell down, struggling to free himself from the snake.
"There's no feasible way to hit Arbok!" Cilan gasped in surprise. He looked over at the black-haired boy, seeing the worry plastered all over his face.
"I've got to try and stop this!" Ash rushed to the tangled Pokémon, putting his hands on the snake in an attempt to make him let go. The connoisseur's eyes widened at the bizarre sight.
"Ash, this is dangerous! You need to back off, we can find another way!" Cilan looked to see how all of the other Pokémon were faring, seeing that they were having trouble breaking through the Safeguard.
"I… have to… do this!" Ash said in between groans, the coiled snake being quite difficult for the boy to pull off of the crocodile.
"Hm… Pignite, could you come over here to help us out by any chance?" Cilan hoped that the pig's burly arms could assist Ash in getting the snake to let go.
After firing off yet another Flamethrower, the fire/fighting type grunted, making his way over to his trainer and the connoisseur who had called him over.
Before he was able to make it even halfway, however, a roar could be heard from the forest, causing everyone to stop as the ground rumbled. Looking into the trees yielded the sight of an angry Donphan, charging to the clearing from the newly knocked down trees.
"Oh no, it's a Donphan! I think they're angry!" Cilan yelled, feeling intimidated as the ground type arrived, picking a tree up from the ground with its trunk and flinging it straight at him. Cilan dropped down on his stomach, breathing sharply as he watched the tree fly right over his head.
"We've gotta get out of here!" Jessie, James, and Meowth all screamed simultaneously, James frantically putting the machine down for a final time. He scrambled for Weezing's Poké ball, returning the poison gas Pokémon as Jessie did the same with Arbok, the snake having slithered back near the car after finally letting go of Krookodile.
The elephant wasn't going to let them leave so easily though, quickly charging up and firing off a powerful Hyper Beam. It was able to break through the weakened barrier and caused the car to explode, sending Team Rocket into the air. The explosion also caused some of Ash's Pokémon that were closer to the car to be thrown into the air as well, along with Stunfisk.
"LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAAAAAIN!" The trio screamed as they usually did after their plans got foiled, accompanied by the scream of "WOOOOBBUFFET!"
All Cilan and Ash could do now was stare in disbelief, as one of the connoisseur's Pokémon were gone along with three of Ash's, one of which was Pikachu. The Donphan continued to rampage about, stomping the ground and breaking it apart with an Earthquake.
"Oh no, watch out Axew!" Iris screamed, seeing that the ground below him began to open. It was too late for the dragon type however, and so both Axew and Oshawott fell into the hole, screaming as they did so. Ash, Cilan, and their three Pokémon who had helped fight the Arbok earlier scrambled out of the way, barely avoiding the newly opened ground.
Snivy, Pignite, and Excadrill had already ran back to their trainers after the car had exploded, being the only Pokémon left from that aftermath. Pignite and Excadrill attempted to engage the ground type in battle, while Snivy tried to rescue Axew and Oshawott, knowing she was the only one who had a feasible chance of getting them out of the hole.
The ground below rumbled greatly as the elephant charged at Excadrill with Tackle, which caused more of the ground to open up and Snivy to fall into the hole, as she couldn't save herself fast enough.
"Oh no!" Ash could feel the tears form in his eyes, not allowing them to fall as he quickly grabbed two Poké balls from his pocket, wanting to at least save some of his Pokémon.
"Pignite, Krookodile, return!" A red beamed zapped up the pig and crocodile, so they were now safe and sound with their trainer. Cilan followed suit, returning Crustle and Pansage to their Poké balls.
"We have to run!" Cilan turned around, beginning to get away from the clearing in hopes that the Donphan would stop rampaging about. Ash hesitated, looking down to look at the three Pokémon currently in the ground, then back at Donphan. He sighed in defeat, turning tail as he followed the green-haired man into the forest.
"Excadrill, we have to get out of here too!" Iris grabbed the mole's Poké ball, attempting to return him to it. Excadrill avoided the beam, wanting to continue fighting the Donphan.
"Come on, we've got to go!" Iris pleaded, trying to return him once more. Excadrill ignored her, dodging the beam again before using Focus Blast on the elephant. It was a hit, but it wasn't enough to stop Donphan.
"PHAN!" The ground type bellowed, huffing as it charged up another Hyper Beam. Iris saw this, gasping as Excadrill stood his ground instead of running away.
"You need to get out of the way, you're going to get blasted like Team Rocket!" She said, backing up as she didn't want to get hit either.
The steel mole got into position, intending to use Drill Run to counter the Hyper Beam head-on. He spun rapidly, before speeding towards the elephant as it shot its powerful beam.
Excadrill quickly got overwhelmed, being shot back into and through the trees. The purple-haired girl got blown back a short distance as well, despite not getting directly hit by the blast. She scrambled to get up on her feet, rushing from the clearing to chase after Excadrill.
After all was said and done, Donphan breathed heavily, walking back to where it was originally sleeping to rest once more after clearing out all of the humans and Pokémon that disturbed it…