Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
Thanks for the review and praise, Omega-Saber!
The landscape south of Undella Town truly epitomised the drastic transformation that the town underwent in the fleeting summer months. Far more so than the north, where an unnatural chill originating from the Giant Chasm permeated its surroundings all year round, route fourteen during these months had pleasant weather, and was a mix of various brightly coloured flowers and vibrant, healthy Pokémon.
This was something that Ash might have appreciated a little more had he not been nursing a violent headache brought on several hours before that was only now beginning to die down.
Dawn had taken so long to prepare for their departure this time that, he had sworn through the door, rather rashly, that he would come in to see what was holding her up if she didn't vacate the room within ten seconds.
Despite having no intention of actually do so, it seemed like an appropriate threat at the time to vent his annoyance.
Unfortunately, Iris had taken the opportunity while his back was turned to sneak past and open the door wide, then wisely sprint away.
Three things followed.
First, Dawn had screamed.
Second, Ash had received a powerful blow to the cranium. He had fallen down, utterly bewildered by the turn of events.
Third, Iris had been driven to tears with laughter at the spectacle.
Three hours later and they were walking through route fourteen. The road was overgrown in places in places but they could still follow it, and had now reached what appeared to be a vast area of land with a snaking path raised above it, effectively creating a navigable hill above the tall grass. The land below had experienced rampant growth and, while they could probably move through it if they had to, was thick enough as to be impenetrable to the eye above, and so they chose to ignore it as a possible direction. The route had narrowed to the point of being only crossable in double file, and so they walked as such. Cynthia and Cameron took point; Iris and Cilan came next, and Dawn and Ash brought up the rear. Meloetta flew above Dawn and Ash, with Pikachu and Piplup on their trainers' shoulders below.
Dawn noticed Ash still rubbing his head and apologised again for what must have been the thirteenth time inside the hour.
Ash said that he didn't blame her and instead glared forward at the dragon-master to-be ahead of him.
Iris only snickered.
Past the tall grass lay a forest that stretched out on both sides as far as they could see. After consulting the map and what Cilan had heard of the route before, Cynthia and Cilan decided that the best way forward should be through said forest, and so they chose to continue.
"Did they say what kind of Pokémon live around here?" Dawn called to Cilan, who had done the most research on the area.
"The people I spoke to said that this is another area where a lot of rare Pokémon by Unovan standards that would be common in other regions make their homes." He replied.
"Any dragons?" Iris cut straight to her chosen field. Cilan thought for a moment.
"They said that there are rumours of Altaria in these parts." He recalled.
"I love Altaria, I hope we see some so I can catch one!" Iris cried.
"I wouldn't bank on it." Cameron called from the front. "The heat around this time of year makes most Pokémon stay off the road and congregate around lakes, rivers or natural pools. At best, we might see a Tropius."
""Did you look this place up too, Cameron?" Cilan asked.
"Well, no… I travelled here before when I was Champion."
"Oh, right."
As their conversation continued, they were unaware of an approaching threat.
The forest ahead trembled, shaking as if blown by an incredibly harsh wind, but on a day with such calm, pleasant weather, there was no natural force that this could be attributed to.
Something stormed in the direction of the group, flying through the forest. A rush of bodies moving, wings beating, in what can only be described as abject panic, a primal need to escape from what they feared.
To be fair, there was likely little that the group could have done to prepare for it if they had been aware.
Iris, her hearing honed by years of travel in the wild, heard it first. She stopped suddenly, causing Ash to crash straight into her, and displacing Pikachu to the ground. Cynthia and Cameron turned around at the sound of Ash falling over to see what had happened. They were fairly close to the first trees of the forest by this point.
"Hey… do you guys hear that?" Iris asked.
"Hear what?" Dawn replied, confused.
"All I hear is the sound of my headache getting worse…" Ash complained, getting up.
"It sounds like… buzzing, I think…"
"It's probably just the wind." Cilan reassured her. And then he heard it too. "Okay, no, that's not the wind."
"I… Oh, wow, I can hear it as well." Dawn corrected herself from earlier, cocking her head to one side.
All six were now silent, listening intently. All six could now hear the noise.
"It's like a droning…" Ash said. Uncertainty crept onto his face, an expression mirrored by Cilan, Dawn and Iris. Cynthia and Cameron shared a grim poker face as they stared at the forest ahead. Pikachu and Piplup clung to their trainers in apprehension, while Meloetta also moved down to be closer to the group. Axew dove deeper into Iris' hair in search of safety.
"It's definitely coming from the forest." Cynthia confirmed.
She was about to add something along the lines of a warning like "stay vigilant", but never actually got the chance.
The swarm was upon them. The droning reached deafening levels as hundreds of red bodies with green faces and orange-striped, white diaphanous wings emerged screeching from the forest, flying quickly and surrounding the group of trainers and Pokémon.
Their sudden cries and screams of shock and surprised were lost in the air by the massive whirlwind that the swarm produced. Voices hardly carried over the rushing wind.
The initial force of the outbreak was lost, and soon the group found themselves effectively at the eye of the maelstrom. Dawn tried to yell something to the others, but only managed to have the wind knocked out of her, knocking her to the floor, and Piplup with her.
"Yes, Dawn, that's a good plan!" Cynthia managed to shout as she allowed herself to drop to the floor as well. "We should be able to stay on this path if we're closer to the floor!" Dawn, still trying to catch her breath, didn't have the opportunity to explain that she'd only fallen by accident, but decided not to try in the end anyway. The others replicated the motion anyway.
"What on earth is this, anyway?" screamed Iris. "A storm?"
Ash managed to reach his Pokédex out of his pocket – no small feat, considering how far he had crouched to the ground – and aimed it at the buzzing horde.
"Yanma, the Clear Wing Pokémon. Its eyes can see a full 360 degrees around without moving its head and it flits about to guard its territory." The dex identified the panicking Pokémon.
"They're Yanma!" Ash confirmed to the others.
"It's a swarm!" Cameron realised. "Stay on the ground until it passes or you could be carried or pushed off if they get too close!"
Having moved through the forest in such a small, compact rush, the bug Pokémon had dispersed immediately after breaching the treeline, and were now flying in confused circles over the comparatively empty path above the tall grass. Hence the "storm" effect.
Cameron's statement was tempting fate a little too much, unfortunately.
Pikachu was the first to go. He lost his grip on Ash's jacket and, weighing so little, was easily caught by the force of the wind and carried off.
"Pikaaaa!"
"Pikachu, no!" Ash roared, and dived left off the path to catch his best Pokémon companion. He succeeded, but rolled out of sight into the tall grass below. Meloetta followed him.
"Ash!" Dawn screamed. She moved slightly forward – and stood up - to try to watch his fall and see where he would land. Big mistake.
The Yanma were getting closer to the ground, and Dawn's straightening of her back left her vulnerable to them. One of the lowest caught her in the back, pushing her straight off the side and taking Piplup with her.
Cilan fell barely seconds after Dawn, more through bad luck than bad judgement; as more Yanma approached the ground, he was standing just a little too close to the side. Before anyone knew it, he was sent tumbling in the direction Ash and Dawn had gone as well.
Iris tried to scramble over to where her friends had been knocked off, but found herself pulled back and dragged to the floor by Cynthia.
"We can't help them at this point!" Cynthia cried, fighting to be heard over the drone of the frightened Yanma. "We need to stick together until the swarm calms down or passes on!"
Iris looked to be on the verge of disobeying Cynthia and leaping into the tall grass to find the others, but managed to restrain herself, and nodded.
They waited a full minute, but the swarm didn't seem to be slowing down or stopping its circular rampage; the Yanma just kept panicking and droning.
"This is going to take too long, we risk being separated further!" Cameron pulled a Poké Ball out of his jacket. "Volcarona, rock out!"
He tossed the ball at a low height to avoid it being intercepted by one of the Yanma. Volcarona emerged and gave a cry, spreading its wings in a flurry of red and orange hues and dotted with black spots. The swarm flowed around it as it rose slightly in the air, the Compound eyes of the individual Yanma alerting them to the bright warning colours.
"Wow, a Volcarona!" Iris gasped, recalling their rarity from her last encounter with the Sun Pokémon near Iccirus City.
"Use Bug Buzz and scare the swarm!" Cameron ordered. Volcarona dipped its head in assent, and rose further upwards into the "eye" of the swarm, so as to be at the centre vertically as well as horizontally.
For a moment, it hovered still, imperceptibly tensing its body for what it would imminently unleash, and holding firm against the wind whipped up by the swarm.
Then, everything changed in a heartbeat.
Volcarona's wings ceased flapping slowly and flared out as far as it could push them. They didn't visibly seem to be moving, but were actually vibrating faster than could be seen by the human eye.
Nor did Volcarona seem to make a sound to human ears. For Cynthia, Cameron and Iris, it may as well have just floated frozen mutely in the sky, its glowing eyes the only sign of life.
But to the Yanma, whose ears could detect the frequency Volcarona had carefully produced, it was pure, burning agony given aural form.
The effect was immediate and obvious. The swarm scattered across the area in all directions, a few heading back into the forest, apparently more fearful of Volcarona and the baleful noise it had emitted than whatever had scared them in the first place. The furious wind that they had brought with them dissipated, and the day seemed as it had been before.
Except with the absence of Ash, Cilan and Dawn from the group.
"That was amazing, thanks Volcarona." Cameron told it as it fluttered back down to re-join them. He held out its ball to return it, but it shook its head, waving a wing in the direction of the sun. "Ah, sure, you can stay out and enjoy it." Volcarona buzzed on a frequency that they could hear and began to flap its wings slowly, but quietly, to hover next to the group.
"Wonder what had them spooked so badly…" Cynthia muttered.
Iris ran over to the side of the path and stared into the deep tall grass that the others had disappeared into. Axew burst out of her hair and began to sob for the missing trio and their Pokémon. Cynthia walked next to her and put a hand on her shoulder to forestall her from trying to follow them again.
"We can't go into there, it's practically a maze, unless we cut down half the grass to find them. We probably won't be able to see them from above either." She reasoned to Iris.
"But then how will we find them?"
"Look over there, in the distance." Cameron pointed to where the forest met the tall grass below to the left. "That looks like it's a way to enter the forest from inside the grass. If they're going to make it out of there, I'll bet that if we head that way too, we should meet them around that area."
"Hope you're right…" Iris murmured, consoling Axew in her arms as they set off again.
"Why, why, why does this always happen to us?"
"It doesn't always happen to us, Ash. We don't always get separated from each other." Cilan pointed out.
"Yeah, but it still happens a lot, and it's seriously annoying!"
"Well, I'm sure that the others will work out that we made it into the forest and will meet up with us soon." Dawn patted him on the back.
"Yeah, yeah…"
Their respective falls off the path had landed them fairly close together, though they only discovered this after the swarm had subsided. The tall grass was bent over at the top, providing a thick canopy that had been painful to fall through, but rolling down the hill into it had been less so than falling from a height into it probably would have been. The hill had, indeed, been misleadingly far above the actual ground.
It was however impenetrable to the human eye on both sides, which made signalling the other three problematic.
It might have been less so had they come up with the idea of sending up a flying Pokémon to scout sooner. Ash thought of the plan, but had sent Unfezant to Professor Juniper's laboratory, and so had no such Pokémon to send. By the time he met up with Dawn, who sent Togekiss using Air Slash up immediately, Cynthia, Iris and Cameron were nowhere to be seen.
So, upon meeting up with Cilan shortly after, they set off in the direction of the forest through the tall grass, reaching it five minutes later. Dawn recalled Togekiss at this point, reasoning that there would be no point sending her off to probably get lost in the densely packed woodland.
And then they spent nearly another five minutes staring apprehensively at the entrance to the forest. Well, Cilan and Dawn stared. Ash merely became increasingly annoyed at their hesitancy.
"Doesn't look very safe." Dawn worried.
"I wonder what made the Yanma swarm like that." Cilan mused.
"All right, that's enough." Ash cried, exasperated. "I'm going in to find the others." He set off with Pikachu tailing behind, and Meloetta floating along as usual. Cilan and Dawn exchanged a glance and then followed them.
They walked through the gaps in between the trees, given that there was no existing road. Little light made it through the trees to the ground below, and so they had to move carefully to avoid tripping on giant roots in the perpetual twilight. Small insects buzzed around, but they saw no Pokémon.
They walked for another ten minutes, and by the end of that time simply sat down in the first clearing that they found, accepting that they were lost. The clearing allowed a little more sunlight than the rest of the forest normally offered, and it took a little time for their eyes to adjust to it.
"Well, now what?" Ash went ahead and put forward what was on each of their minds.
"We're going to be lost in this forest forever!" Dawn wailed. Although, she mentally added, I guess being lost with Ash forever wouldn't be too bad.
"Hmm… Hush for a second, guys." Cilan requested. They complied, and he cocked his head to the side, listening again.
"What?" Ash asked, confused.
"Can you hear that?"
"Oh no… Not the Yanma again?" Dawn asked fearfully.
"No, it sounds different… It sounds like rushing water." Cilan's face lit up. "Yes, definitely! I'll bet there's a stream that way!" He pointed out into the darkening forest, and started running in the specified direction.
"Hey, wait for us!" Dawn yelled as she and Ash followed him.
On the other side of the forest, actually sticking to the path, Cynthia, Iris and Cameron were technically less lost than Ash, Cilan and Dawn, but functionally may have been more so. Sure, they had the path to follow, but it was taking them no closer to those that they sought – sometimes, it seemed to be taking them further away.
This aggrieved Iris to no end.
At least they could see. That was probably of some use.
Not that Iris cared.
"We need to get off the path and go back towards them!" She shouted for the umpteenth time, earning another sigh from the champion and former champion walking in front of her.
"I told you already, if we go off the path we could be endlessly lost." Cameron explained slowly and patronisingly. "We just need to hope that the path brings us back towards them."
"Don't patronise me, I'm not a kid!" Iris certainly wasn't as oblivious as Ash seemed to be. "If we stick to it the chance that we'll actually find them will be pretty much zero!"
"And even if we don't we'll have no chance that way either! If we follow your plan, we may never leave the forest!"
"Enough, guys." Cynthia begged. "Let's just stick to the path until we reach the end or we find some evidence that they're off it. If we reach the end without them, we can double back."
They walked in silence for a little while after, but it didn't last long.
"Uggh, this humidity is just disgusting!" Iris moaned.
"Pfft, get used to it." Cameron snapped back.
They glared daggers at each other.
"Okay, okay." Cynthia stepped in, noting that they seemed to be coming closer to parting ways on acrimonious terms. She flicked a stray strand of her own hair out of her hair, which was also beginning to feel the effects of the humidity. "Tell you what, I'll send a Pokémon up to scout from above." She pulled out a Poké ball. "Braviary, battle dance!"
The Valiant Pokémon emerged from its ball, flapping its wings slowly to keep it aloft without disturbing the humans, Volcarona and Axew below. It ruffled its feathers and awaited a command from its trainer.
"When did you catch a Braviary?" quizzed Cameron, surprised at the newcomer.
"A while back." Cynthia answered. "Braviary, I need you to look for three other people; one has a Pikachu as a partner, and one has a Piplup. If you find them, come back to us on this path and lead us to them."
Braviary nodded its understanding and, beating its powerful wings, took off above the treeline.
The three then continued on the path, hoping that it would return soon with good news.
The stream was deeper into the forest than Cilan had anticipated, and it took them almost another ten minutes to find it, though the sound of the rushing water increased in volume with every step.
Dawn was about to wonder aloud whether it could simply be a mirage – or whatever the equivalent for the realm of sound was – when they reached the edge of the treeline once more and emerged into a long, extensive clearing.
The clearing had no canopy above it, allowing for the stream to effectively separate two halves of the forest with its presence.
The current of the rushing water was weak, and so posed no threat of being dragged away by Pokémon or people swimming in it.
"This must be where the Pokémon in the forest come to drink when they need it!" Cilan realised.
"Perfect, I could use a drink." Dawn panted, having exerted herself a little too much keeping up with the forest. The three trainers bent down and began scooping up the clear water, joined by Pikachu. Meleotta dropped her invisibility and floated down to join them. Ash let out Oshawott, who dived into the water with Piplup to play and refresh.
The resumed sunlight was also a welcome boon to the weary, darkness dazed group.
Cilan looked up to the right as he finished drinking and noticed something; two shapes along the bank. One appeared to be pink, small, round and moving; the other larger, of darker colouration and did not appear to be shifting at all.
"Look over there!" He started running again towards the shapes, followed by Ash and, cantankerously, by Dawn.
"Not more running…"
The shapes turned out to be Pokemon. Specifically…
"Aahhh!" Ash screeched. "A Jigglypuff!"
"Hey, look, a Yanmega too!" Dawn noted.
"Wow… I've never seen either; they're pretty rare around this region." Cilan explained.
"Well, Jessie from Team Rocket had a Yanmega in Sinnoh, and there was a rude coordinator who used a Jigglypuff there too called Ursula."
The Jigglypuff suddenly noticed them, and waved at them frantically, indicating that they should come closer. Cilan and Dawn started to do so.
"Stay back!" Ash practically barked, recoiling from the Jigglypuff. "Don't get near it!"
"Why not? Ash, that Yanmega looks like it could be hurt!" Cilan chastised him. The Yanmega did indeed seem to be in a bad shape.
"Come on, you're not afraid of a cute little Jigglypuff, are you Ash?" Dawn teased.
He shook his head.
"A few years back a wild Jigglypuff followed me, Brock and Misty through Kanto, Johto and even to Hoenn. It always used to put us to sleep and then draw on our faces after."
"Since Iris isn't here right now, I'll do the honours of calling you a kid." Dawn shook her head as she and Cilan approached the two Pokémon, Ash tailing behind slightly.
"What's wrong, little guy?" Cilan asked the balloon Pokémon as they reached it.
"Jiggly, Jigglypuff!" It gestured with its small arms at the Yanmega, whose laboured breathing was apparent even from afar. Now that they were closer, they could see that it would make occasional attempts to flutter its wings for flight, but constantly failed.
"Yanmega's hurt, huh?" Cilan bent down to examine the wounded bug. "Look there…" He pointed areas of its body out to Dawn and Ash – the latter from a distance - as it stirred slightly and buzzed in a way that indicated a groan. "There's a lot of damage along its back, legs and wings…" It was apparent even to their untrained eyes; one of its wings and two of its legs seemed out of shape or bent, and its back carapace seemed dented, almost having cracked under whatever pressure it had earlier – just - withstood. Cilan reached into his bag and brought out a potion, spraying across the wounded areas carefully. Yanmega tensed and shifted slightly as if trying to resist, but relaxed as it felt the potion take effect and understood what Cilan was trying to do.
"Jiggly…" Cilan and Dawn turned to look at the concerned pink Pokémon at their side.
"I think Jigglypuff was trying to help Yanmega." Cilan told Dawn.
"Ash, get out of from behind that tree, Jigglypuff isn't going to put you to sleep." Dawn ordered, annoyed at his cowardice. Ash complied, muttering something along the lines of you don't understand.
"I'd guess that swarm from earlier came about out of panic about what happened to Yanmega." Cilan continued.
"But what did this to Yanmega?" Dawn asked, worriedly. "Could it come back?"
During this time, Oshawott and Piplup had followed their trainers up the stream but had stayed in the water whilst the humans, Pikachu and Meloetta had interacted with Jigglypuff and Yanmega. They had, as was their usual behaviour when together, began to bicker and argue.
This distracted them from noticing slight changes to the water that they were swimming in. The force of the flow of the water began to grow stronger. It wasn't as if the actual stream itself was somehow doing so, but rather that something was swimming towards them.
Caught up in their argument, they paid this little heed.
Well, until something burst out of the water, at least, throwing them onto the bank.
The trainers cried out in shock and surprise, catching the flying water Pokémon before they hit the ground. Jigglypuff and Yanmega recognised the threat; the former ran for cover behind Cilan whilst the latter, still wounded, fruitlessly tried to rise.
The torrent of water exploded and a vaguely humanoid figure leapt out to land on the other side of the stream, turning to regard them with a deep glare.
"Woah, a Golduck!" Ash exclaimed.
"I haven't seen a Golduck since we just started out in Sinnoh!" The power of Dawn's memory sometimes amazed Ash.
"You guys have seen a lot of rare Pokémon." Cilan muttered enviously as they stared at the Duck Pokémon before them. It seemed fierce, protective of its territory, and very, very angry. Not to mention larger than any Golduck that both Ash and Dawn had ever seen.
"Look at those scars!" Part of what made it so fierce-looking was a criss-cross of scars running from the right side of its head to the left side of its chest. Its muscles seemed to bulge with power and the skin around its beak was lined with age.
"Jiggly, jiggly!" Jigglypuff seemed to gain a little confidence and began shouting at the Golduck. "Puff, Jiggly jigglyuff!"
Golduck merely snorted and then growled at its accuser, who scooted behind Cilan once more.
This was apparently not a response that pleased Pikachu.
"Pika, pika! Pika pika pikaa!" Pikachu's cheeks began to spark with electricity as its frown deepened. Yanmega finally regained its flight and fluttered adeptly – albeit not entirely in a solid manner – next to Pikachu. Golduck snorted again and entered what can only be described as a preparatory stance for battle.
"Looks like it wants a fight!" Ash realised. "Oshawott, get ready!"
"You too, Piplup!" Dawn called.
Golduck just laughed at the opposition it faced this time.
A soothing sound descended upon the tense situation as Meloetta made its presence known. The melody Pokémon moved to hover above the river in between Ash's group and the Golduck as it sang its calming song. Pikachu, Oshawott, Piplup and even Yanmega and Jigglypuff were visibly affected. Golduck paused.
It then, however, proved itself to be incorrigible. Sneering, it flicked its webbed hand out towards the opposing group and, by extension, Meloetta in the way.
"Uh-" Ash started to say, then suddenly found it incredibly difficult to move his mouth.
Every being in the clearing apart from Golduck was now enveloped in a glowing blue outline, indicating the work of psychic power. Golduck seemed to concentrating as the red gem on its forehead glowed brighter, but it still was able to stare at them contemptuously.
Every being in the clearing apart from Golduck suddenly found themselves lifted into the air.
With a final snort, Golduck jerked a clawed finger upwards.
Golduck was then alone in the clearing once more, as the foes it had dismissed soared into the air, and, as soon as its psychic power fell out of range, began to fall and scream at the same time. It gave one last look around the clearing, then, satisfied, dived back into the stream.
It was at about this time – when they were flying through the air - that Cynthia's Braviary was circling the vast forest and searching for those it's trainer had asked it to find.
It had not expected to see them in the sky; that was for sure.
Overcoming its surprise, it followed the direction that they had soared and noted the position at which they had appeared to land, then flew back with great haste to the path where it had left its trainer waiting.
As it turned out, the three on the path had not moved since Braviary had begun scouting. Cynthia had reasoned that it would be easier for her Pokémon to find them if they stayed where they were, and so they sat down by the roadside to wait.
And so, the bickering had taken a turn for the worse.
By the time Braviary returned, a full-blow shouting match had erupted between the former Unova champion and the prospective dragon-master, defused by Cynthia who had separated the two. It had culminated in Iris angrily demanding why Cameron had not known about the possibility of a Yanma swarm on a route in the region that he had been champion of, and had only lowered her volume slightly upon realising that Volcarona was floating slightly closer to its trainer's head, staring innocently at her with only the slightest hint of fire wreathing its impressive wings.
Cynthia was therefore relieved at Braviary's return for more than just the fact that it had returned with news; it allowed them to finally move into the forest in search of their missing friends. Cameron returned Volcarona at this point, citing the lack of the presence of the sun to his disappointed Pokemon, but Braviary remained out and flew above the trio to guide from the air as well as it could.
They were certainly able to handle the forest trek better than the others, at least. Iris was obviously adept at traversing such environments. Cynthia had honed her off road skills when travelling in her pursuit of ancient history, and Cameron, despite seemingly the least competent in such matters, was still able to keep up.
It took little time, therefore, for them to reach Ash, Cilan and Dawn. Iris, who had a slight lead on the older two, burst through a particularly dense section of the forest, gave a cry of delight the presence of her friends, and tackled them down in a leaping hug.
By the time Cynthia and Cameron caught up, Iris had already been apprised of the situation regarding the concerned Jigglypuff, the still-wounded Yanmega and the bully Golduck.
Pikachu had aided in some capacity as a translator, responding to the trainers' questions with nods or shakes of the head and communicating with the two other Pokémon.
It seemed that Yanmegea had been defeated by a new, aggressive Golduck who seemed to have decided that the river was its' property; it had not been seen in the area previously. Yanmega was the Patriarch of the group of Yanma that lived in the forest, and so its defeat caused them to panic. Jigglypuff had found it sometime after and gone to its aid, and that was how the trainers had found them.
Its defeat could not be allowed to stand, because all of the Pokémon of that part of the forest depended on the water for their survival. The stream could not be hogged by a single greedy, albeit strong, Golduck.
They took some time to compose their next plan of action, during which Cynthia applied further potion to Yanmega's wounds. By the end of the conversation, it was flying as ably as it had been before it had sustained its injuries. They were unanimous over the decision that they needed to accompany the two forest natives to confront Golduck and resolve the situation; though Cameron expressed surprise at the presence of such an aggressive specimen, Iris grumbled back that he hadn't predicted the swarm either.
Eventually, it was decided that they would allow Yanmega to deal with the situation itself – and render any assistance that was required as the situation called for it. With that, now fully reunited, they set off through the forest again, with Braviary flying over to confirm the location of the stream.
When they reached the water source, they noted that Yanma were beginning to return to the trees around it once more, having finally overcome their panic.
"Maybe they were scared off when Yanmega was defeated earlier…" Cilan mused. "And are now returning because they can tell it's coming back for a rematch? It's just a theory…"
"A likely one." Cynthia confirmed. "If even one Yanma heard that Yanmega was fighting again, you can bet that the whole swarm would know."
"Yannnn." Yanmega seemed to confirm this. It was floating above their heads at about the same height as Meloetta, not that it could know this; Meloetta was, once again, invisible, somewhat shaken after Golduck's callous dismissal of her singing.
"So… How do we get Golduck to come back?" Ash pondered, gazing into the water.
"Last time it seemed to come after Piplup and Oshawott were in the water…" Dawn noted.
Yanmega flew down, skimming the surface of the stream, and lowered its head carefully as if to take a drink, but instead vibrated its mouth into the water, sending large ripples across the previously calm area.
As if on cue, the flow of the water began to increase – but far more rapidly than before.
"Here it comes…" Cilan whispered. Jigglypuff clutched his leg tightly; it seemed to have taken a liking to him.
The assembled trainers and Pokémon barely had time to register a dark shape moving through the water before, again, it burst out, splashing quantities of water onto the previously dry land as it landed on the opposite bank. Yanmega stayed stoic, but Pikachu growled, Axew went deeper into Iris' hair, and the surrounding Yanma fled deeper into the forest with a buzzing that cut out very quickly.
Golduck looked out at its challenger again and practically guffawed at seeing that Yanmega had returned. Yanmega didn't do restrain itself this time, however, and vibrated its wings extremely quickly; a Bug Buzz designed to generate targeted pain instead of merely intimidate an area at a different frequency as Volcarona had performed earlier.
Golduck clutched its ears and fell to one knee in pain. Yanmega stopped buzzing.
"Yannnnn… Yanmega Yann!" It seemed to the human trainers that Yanmega was doing the equivalent of taunting Golduck, something that its reaction agreed with.
Pushing itself up off the ground, Golduck ran at the hovering Yanmega and attempted to use Slash, but Yanmega swiftly increased its height to dodge the attack.
Golduck repeated the attack, and Yanmega simply dodged again. And again. And again.
"Golduck looks like it's getting tired out, but if anything Yanmega just looks like it's getting faster!" Iris observed.
"That's Yanmega's Speed Boost." Cilan told her. "The longer this battle goes on, the faster Yanmega will get! Golduck won't be able to keep up much longer."
"All right! Keep it up Yanmega!" Ash yelled in encouragement.
After dodging a particularly inaccurate swipe of claws, Yanmega went back on the offensive with an Air Slash, knocking the Duck Pokémon off its feet.
"You've got him now, Yanmega!"
Golduck's eyes widened as it heard Ash's cheer and a cunning grin spread across its face. It sprang back up and fired off a huge blast of water towards Yanmega, which it barely dodged. The spray carried on towards the spectators, narrowly missing them and hitting a tree, but still managing to drench Ash with the impact dispersion – and dislodging a number of Yanma from the tree, who were knocked out by their sudden fall.
"That Hydro Pump got a little too close for comfort!" Cameron cried.
Yanmega paused in its attacks and gazed at Golduck again, worried by the look in its eyes, before glancing back at the trainers, and the vulnerable Yanma on the ground.
It suddenly understood what Golduck was planning.
It began moving too late to stop Golduck from launching another Hydro Pump, this time unerringly accurate towards the unsuspecting group.
It made no attempt to stop the attack, only to intercept it; first with an Air Slash to weaken it, and then, because that failed, its own body.
The attack – and the resulting explosion – happened so quickly that none of the group knew what occurred until it was over.
When the smoke from the clashing attacks faded, Golduck stood triumphantly on top of Yanmega, who was clinging on to consciousness on the floor. There was a sudden, fearful buzzing from the fearful Yanma cowering in the surrounding trees.
"Yanmega!"
"No! You can't give up!"
Ash and Dawn's cries only served to amuse Golduck, proud of its own cleverness. At least until another Pokémon's voice joined in.
"Jiggly!" The balloon Pokémon broke ranks from behind the cover of Cilan to stand on the edge of the bank opposite Golduck and the wounded Yanmega. "Jiggly, jiggly! Jigglypuff, Jiggly!" It continued on as such for a while. To the trainers, it seemed to be ranting at Golduck.
Golduck wasn't smiling any more. It lifted a claw and Jigglypuff was lifted into the air, enveloped in psychic power. It stared, afraid, at the contorted face of the concentrating Golduck.
Behind it, five trainers went for their Poké balls, and Ash raised a hand to order Pikachu to attack.
Yanmega lifted its head to look at Jigglypuff, its body still pinned beneath Golduck's foot.
It remembered how Jigglypuff had tried to aid it earlier, and saw how scared it was now.
It remembered how Golduck had callously attacked young, defenceless Yanma before, and tried to again not even a minute before.
It decided that enough was enough.
With a rallying cry – mostly for its own benefit – it vibrated its water clogged wings fast enough to clear the moisture and generate another Bug Buzz, forcing Golduck away, and flew to hover next to Jigglypuff as Golduck took a step back, stuuned; the balloon Pokémon was now free of the psychic onslaught as Golduck's concentration was broken.
"Yes! Good work, Yanmega!" Ash yelled, and the others cheered too.
Golduck snarled, regaining its focus, and prepared to launch another Hydro Pump. Yanmega never gave it the chance. It buzzed again and, concentrating hard, ripped rocks from the ground and smashed them into Golduck, doing so repeatedly until the Duck Pokémon fell into the water with a pained yelp. The gathering of trainers and Pokémon watched as the shape underwater fled downstream, away from the place – hopefully forever.
"Wow, that was an amazing AncientPower!" Cilan gasped, awestruck.
Yanmega gave a triumphant buzzing of its wings and was joined in the action by every Yanma nearby – previously an annoyance, now an appropriate accompaniment to the cheering of the trainers and other Pokémon below.
When they said their goodbyes to Yanmega later, it was mid-afternoon, and they were through that part of the forest. After a complicated translation session using Pikachu and many nods and shakes of the head, they had realised that Yanmega was offering to guide them through what it knew of the area in return for the healing and encouragement that they had given it earlier – an offer that they gladly accepted.
"Goodbye, Yanmega!"
"Take care!"
"Look after the others! Oh, Jigglypuff!" Cilan started, noticing the pink Pokémon tugging at its leg. "What's up, little guy?"
Yanmega buzzed one last time as the others waved, then flew off to return to its swarm. It already knew what Jigglypuff intended, and had already said its goodbyes and given its thanks to its friend.
Jigglypuff pointed at one of the minimized Poké balls at Cilan's belt, and then at itself.
"You want to come with me? Well, of course, we'd be delighted to have you! The kindness that you demonstrated earlier is a true example of the flavour of friendship!" Jigglypuff beamed as Cilan unclipped an empty ball and tossed it.
Ash tried to voice his objections, but was too late. The ball locked, and Jigglypuff was caught.
"All right! Now we're even, Iris. I've got a rare Pokémon too!" He declared, gazing happily at the ball.
They walked on for a while, but eventually set up camp for the night right at the end of Route Fourteen, the forest having long disappeared over the horizon behind them. Iris questioned Dawn about Ash's curious reaction to Jigglypuff's capture earlier, and Dawn happily told her what Ash had revealed on the river bank at their first encounter.
Iris found the resulting knowledge absolutely hilarious and proceeded to tease Ash about it for half the night.
Indeed, the teasing only ceased because Ash had the opportunity to get some payback; included in which was revenge for her prank at the start of the morning involving the bathroom door.
He had managed to persuade Cameron – when Iris went off to get some firewood – to lend Volcarona for the action. The former champion readily agreed, having spent half the day arguing with Iris himself.
Volcarona received its instructions and went off to enjoy the last rays of sunlight as Iris returned and the taunting resumed.
Just as the spectators in the group were beginning to think that Iris was pushing it, Ash played his trump, signalling discreetly to the recently returned Volcarona.
Axew, fortunately for Ash's conscience, was not actually on Iris' person at the time.
"I mean, really, though, Ash, scared of a Jigglypuff? I knew you were a kid, but…" Iris babbled on, repeating herself for perhaps the fiftieth time, unaware of Volcarona's presence right behind her and right above her. It tensed for a moment, and then emitted a buzzing very similar to the droning that the Yanma had produced much earlier in the day.
Iris screamed. Axew looked confused. Every other trainer burst out laughing. Ash gave Volcarona a grateful pat on the head, careful to avoid its flaming hot wings.
Iris proceeded to remain silent for the rest of the evening, though, in a spontaneous moment of maturity, Ash did later go to apologise to her – and, in a similarly unusual reciprocation, she apologised for her earlier behaviour too.
Mulling the events over as he climbed into his sleeping bag, Ash decided that it had been a pretty good day.
Let's just hope that finding a home for Meloetta and going to Kanto ends up going this well…
Their arrival is heralded by the deafening hum of ten thousand wings. Their departure is marked by the silence of the dead.
- Devouring Swarm (M12)