Chapter 3: Attacked
The next morning…
Simon woke up in his and Jeanette's leaf bed. She was still asleep and looked so peaceful. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him. "Good morning, Simon."
"Good morning, Jeanette," Simon smiled and greeted.
"Alright! It's a brand new day!" Ben cheered. He tried to prod Summer up.
"Five more minutes," Summer groggily begged.
"Looks like Azula wasn't a dream," Cilan observed as he looked around at his surroundings.
"Nope. She's real as can be," Brittany smiled. She was wide awake, which was unusual at this time of day. "Silly Alvin is still asleep."
"That's no surprise," Simon chuckled.
"I got this," Thomas assured and took out a Poké Ball. "Minccino, come on out!" Out popped the Chinchilla Pokémon. Thomas asked, "Could you please use Hyper Voice on Alvin?"
"Minccino!" Minccino saluted. Translation: Yes!
It curled its ears, puffed up its cheeks, turned to the sleeping Alvin, and let loose an ear splitting cry. Alvin started screaming, "AAH! WHERE'S THE SNOOZE BUTTON?!"
"Good job, Minccino!" Thomas said to his Pokémon and called it back into its Poké Ball.
"What was that for?!" Alvin yelled, mostly so he could hear his own voice. "That could've totally deafened me!"
"Hey, if it was up to me, my Panpour would use Scald on you and you'd have second degree burns," Hannah said to the Chipmunk.
"Let's go win a small war that is within a bigger war!" Ash cheered.
"Yeah!" Thomas and Ben cheered with him.
"Where's Haon?" Jeanette asked. She looked around and didn't see their glowing acquaintance.
"I don't know, but I say we burn these leaf beds and dance around the flames," Thomas suggested.
"Ooh! Seconded!" Ben raised a hand.
"We're not burning our beds!" Summer snapped. She was still in hers.
"Says the Litwick Trainer," Hannah muttered.
"Okay! Fine! I'm up! Tired, but up!" Summer got out of the leaf bed.
"I think that the Shadow Master and King of Darkness are aware of our presence by now," Thomas hypothesized.
"I'll scout from above," Summer announced and took out a Poké Ball. "Staraptor, old buddy, let's go!" Her Staraptor flew out. "We're hitting the skies, buddy!"
"Star!" Staraptor nodded. Translation: Right!
"Please don't eat me!" Theodore randomly blurted out to Staraptor. The Predator Pokémon looked confused.
"My Staraptor wouldn't eat you, Theodore," Summer assured him. She climbed onto Staraptor's back and they flew into the sky.
"She's on of the best flyers in the Ranger Union. She'll be fine!" Ben assured.
"But you won't be, little hero," a sinister voice hissed. A fissure opened up, separating Ben, Brittany, and Alvin from their friends. Several ninjas with glowing red eyes appeared.
"Oh, great! It's the Shadow Master's goons," Thomas growled sarcastically, unsheathing his sword. The blade glowed yellow.
"They did know we were here!" Simon exclaimed. He took out his chipmunk sized sword. The blade glowed a bold blue light. He stood by Jeanette, ready to defend her. Jeanette was ready to have Simon's back. She pulled out and activated her retractable staff so it was at full length. It radiated a violet light.
"We're in for the fight of our lives, aren't we?" Ben asked from the other side of the fissure. He took out his sword, the Blade of the Hero. It was a weapon usable only by the Hero of Oblivia. It glowed many colors. Down the middle of each side of the blade of the sword were small, glowing symbols; the Involiths Ben has encountered in the past.
"We always are!" Hannah said. She pulled out several shurikens (she's a good ninja, not an evil one) and held them at the ready.
"Stay close, Brittany," Alvin said. He pulled out his chipmunk sized sword and the blade was glowing with a red light.
"Trust me, I wouldn't be anywhere else," Brittany assured. She was frightened.
"I'm sure glad the elder of my village sent me this last week," Iris sighed, holding a whip in her hands. Three spikes were at the end of the whip, and the handle was shaped like a dragon's head.
"There are so many!" Misty gasped in amazement.
"Get the squeaker! That's our top priority!" one of the ninjas ordered.
"Squeaker?" Alvin, Simon, Theodore, Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor all echoed, each of them very offended.
"Which one is the one we are after again, boss?" a grunt ninja asked.
"The planet talker, you dolt! She's the one we're after!" the admin ninja snapped.
"Ben! Evasive maneuvers! We'll cover you guys!" Thomas ordered.
"Right! Al, Britt, come on!" Ben instructed. Pichu climbed onto his shoulder as he and the two chipmunks fled the scene.
"After them!" the admin ninja ordered.
"Not on our watch! Emolga, let's go!" Iris threw a Poké Ball.
"Emol!" Emolga squeaked. Translation: Yay!
"Emolga, we have to buy Ben, Alvin, and Brittany some time. Use Hidden Power!" Iris ordered. Emolga drew out a mysterious power, condensed it into several orbs, and fired those orbs at the ninjas.
"Nice job, Iris! We'll stop them in their tracks for now! Sewaddle, String Shot!" Hannah ordered. Sewaddle shot sticky thread from its mouth and showered the ninjas with it. They were all tangled up.
"When will you shadow goons learn that one way or another, we'll kick your butt?" Thomas asked rhetorically. He sensed more shadow beings coming after them. "We have to move it! We should high tail it now!"
"Right!" everyone nodded.
With Ben, Alvin, and Brittany…
Alvin had his arms wrapped tightly around Brittany's head, trying to calm her down. Pichu was playing its blue ukulele, and Ben was looking around at their surroundings. He wondered what they could possibly use Brittany for. They ran into the hollow of a tree. Ben said in whisper, "I have a feeling that they'll come through, so we'll hide here for now."
"What if we get spotted?" Alvin asked.
"We won't. Try not to think of 'if'," Ben instructed. If anything was going to go wrong, he'd be ready.
"Do you think they meant me when they said 'planet talker'?" Brittany asked. She looked frightened.
"Pichu!" Pichu gasped. Translation: Look!
A Squealer sniffed the air for a few seconds, and then continued in another direction. Alvin sighed in relief. He whispered, "That was close."
"It could've been closer," Ben pointed out.
"Alvin, Ben, I'm scared. Azula's scared, too," Brittany choked on her words, trying not to burst into tears. "She's hurting, you guys. She's in pain."
"But what do the ninjas want with you, Britt?" Alvin asked.
"Does Azula know the answer?" Ben asked her. To both questions, Brittany just shook her head, her auburn ponytail swishing lightly to each side.
"What do we do?" Alvin asked. He silently vowed to protect Brittany with his life, but how would he manage to do so?
"Luckily, my Solosis evolved into Duosion not long ago. We should be fine…I think," Ben assured. "Hopefully, we can get back to the others."
Back with the others…
"Hello, children," a sinister voice greeted. The team looked up to find their old nemesis, Dr. Edward, sitting on a treetop. "Where is the young Hero of Oblivia?"
"Far from here!" Hannah snapped at him. "Sewaddle, Razor Leaf!"
"Sew…waddle, waddle, waddle, waddle!" Sewaddle shot razor sharp at Edward. The old man jumped high above them. Sewaddle gasped, "Sewa?" Translation: What?
"He's fast!" Ash gasped in amazement.
"Now, I'm on a mission. Where is the planet talker? Where is Brittany?" Edward demanded as he landed.
Jeanette mustered up her courage and shouted at him, "She's far from your reach!"
"Big words from such a little rodent," Edward raised an eyebrow. "Something has caught my eye. Where is Summer?"
She must still be scouting, Thomas telepathically said to Hannah.
I hope she's alright, Hannah thought back. She threw a smoke bomb to the ground and telepathically said to all of her friends, Knowing Edward, he has a trap. We'd better get out of her.
Right! Everyone else thought in response. They all escaped, but Iris, Cilan, Theodore, and Eleanor ran in a different direction in relation to Hannah, Thomas, Ash, Misty, Simon, and Jeanette.
When the smoke cleared, Edward muttered, "Drat! They're gone."