Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
Thanks for the review Nauran. I can understand how the style's differing a lot; I'm trying to experiment in the hopes of finding a style I like as I haven't really ever had a proper style when writing Fanfiction before, particularly as I've never written one this long before. We're barely in yet and this is already my longest story ever. Hopefully, consistency will come after that, but if you're saying that the jump between prologues gets a bit jarring, I might consider rewriting to rectify it. I think it might be down to the lack of dialogue in the first prologue; I wrote that a lot drawing on things I've learned in philosophy far more than I did in English over the past few years.
As for Chapter 5, yeah, I was going for the episodic feel with it, so it's good to hear it turned out like that. As for the Pearlshipping? The hints were intended, but I won't say anything more about what kinds of shipping might go on for fears of accidentally spoiling. I wouldn't worry about any kind of shipping taking over the story however; Venatus will mainly stick to Adventure and maybe Mystery a little, far more than it will for romance… At least for a while. Particularly as I've still got plenty more characters to introduce, and plenty more things to show along the way.
Thanks again for your review, I really appreciate it.
It took the group another day to reach the end of Route Fourteen. It was actually one of the shorter routes compared to some of the others that Ash, Cilan and Iris had traversed in their trek across Unova for Ash's gym badges, but, in stark contrast to what normally occurred during their journey, very little actually happened that day.
Ash could be overheard at one point muttering that a day of travelling might finally pass for him without his group being side-tracked, diverted or otherwise distracted from their overall goal, and that it might be the first time in years that he could actually recognise that feat as occurring.
Having finished the forest trek the day before, they set the first half of the morning hiking across rough ground, a situation which aggrieved Iris more than a little, as she had managed to get little sleep the night before for no apparent reason, and was finding it difficult to walk carefully while yawning every few steps. The terrain had yet to be caught up in the urban sprawl that so characterised much of the rest of Unova.
Indeed, what set Unova apart from other regions the most was not its comparatively "rare" and "exotic" varieties of Pokémon, but the very different way that the region could be seen to exist with its surroundings.
The other large regions that Ash had travelled through in the past – Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh – all tended to focus on traditional values and attitudes towards life, Pokémon and community. Towns and cities had been normally dotted around the countryside, often separated by rural land with varying levels of development.
In Unova it seemed that the reverse was true. Industrialisation was the norm for much of the region, particularly in Western and Central Unova; best demonstrated by Castelia City, Nimbasa city and Driftveil City. The people thrived on efficiency – sometimes at the cost of simplification – and traditional values were often thrown by the wayside. Construction projects, spurred on by the success of the magnificent bridges connecting the region, were taking place with greater frequency, and straying into places that they had previously never reached. Within two years, it was estimated, an underwater tunnel would connect Undella Town and Seigaiha City in the northeast via Undella Bay, saving the difficulty of navigating the treacherous mountain ranges that had yet to be tamed – but that was one more challenge to be conquered down the road. Eventually.
Such ambitious plans were so far nigh-on unthinkable outside Unova, with the exception of the Kanto-Johto Magnet train.
Of course, there were exceptions, and such is the problem with sweeping generalisations. Opelucid City, for example, was known for its stubborn refusal to modernise more than was strictly necessary, and this set it closer to, say, Sinnoh's Celestic Town than a metropolis in the vein of Castelia City, and the other regions possessed their own equivalents to the latter in the form of Celadon or Goldenrod.
But the rampant urbanisation of much of Unova still did contrast so heavily with Route Fourteen's… wildness.
It felt untamed when they were forced to cross a raging river with the aid of their Pokémon, eschewing the use of stepping stones that looked fatally slippery.
It felt uncultivated when they found that the path – if it could legitimately be termed as such – grew steeper and steeper, eventually culminating in a hill that granted a splendid view of the way that they had already come, the forest poking out on the horizon behind them, and an equally magnificent view of the way that they would yet go, the stretching out of sight for miles.
At least, it was splendid until they realised that there was no way to climb down safely; the hill simply dropped on one side, as Cilan abruptly found out as he nearly fell clean off. The group once more relied on their Pokémon for safe transport down to a less elevated level once again. Dragonite was more than happy by this point to give Iris a lift, whilst Cynthia and Cameron used Braviary and Jellicent respectively; the latter disembarking quickly, given how annoyed his Pokémon seemed to be getting at having to help with such a function. Togekiss supported Dawn's weight.
Because they had either switched out their flying type – or at least a Pokémon that could float and support their weight - to Professor Juniper or simply did not own any, Ash and Cilan were forced to wait for Braviary and Togekiss to return. Their trainers took their time to send them off again, and the Pokémon subsequently – eventually - returned with two thoroughly bored trainers.
The lesson seemed to sink in, at least. Ash resolved never to leave a Pokémon centre without a flying type in his party ever again, and Cilan swore to catch one as soon as possible.
They set up camp in a sizeable space not long after for lunch, as the sun reached its zenith in the sky and walking further without sustenance became uncomfortable to say the least. Having six people in the group meant that a lot more food – and space – was required, and so they took turns sending out their Pokémon during the time that they were there. Cilan and Cynthia collaborated to prepare both the Pokémon food and the food for the trainers, and the others helped when they were needed. The end result was hardly pretty, but was as nutritious as any of Cilan's creations and more than fit for purpose.
The quantity produced and consumed was always rather outstanding, but travelling Pokémon trainers knew to eat well when they could… and be prepared and willing to be hungry most of the time.
They didn't set off straight away after eating, because Cilan had a proposition to make.
"Hmm, Ash, how about a Pokémon battle? It's been a while since you and I have had a chance to go head to head, and I want to see what kind of flavour Jigglypuff can produce."
"That's a great idea!" Ash agreed immediately. "But let's make it two-on-two so that we can give more of our Pokémon a go!"
Having checked with the others – and confirmed with Meloetta – that there was still no need to hurry and that they could take a little time out, they found a space suitable for the battle. Cynthia offered to referee, and the others spectated.
"The Pokémon battle between Ash and Cilan will now commence. Each trainer may use up to two Pokémon each, and may switch their active Pokémon at any time." Cynthia announced.
"All right, Jigglypuff, you're up!" Cilan chose first.
Jigglypuff burst out of the ball in a flash of blue light, stretched and waved a pink arm happily at its trainer.
Ash pondered for a moment and then tossed a ball out.
"Snivy, I choose you!"
Snivy emerged and stared briefly at its opponent, having never seen a Jigglypuff, then shrugged and awaited its trainers' command.
"Don't get too scared of little old Jigglypuff, Ash!" Iris shouted from the sidelines. She was holding Pikachu, so Ash figured he'd try to get a little revenge…
"Pikachu, shock her for me, will you?" The yellow mouse refused to comply, and accepted a small ketchup packet from Iris in return. "Traitor…" Ash grumbled, and then signified to Cynthia that he was ready.
"You may now begin!" Cynthia declared.
"I'll let you have the first attack, Cilan." Ash wanted to see what Jigglypuff could do early on to be in a better position to counter it later.
"Why thank you, Ash! Jigglypuff, use Rollout!"
Jigglypuff curled into a ball and surged towards Snivy.
"Dodge it!"
Taking advantage of having superior speed, Snivy leapt out of the way just in time. Jigglypuff stopped at the other end of the battle field and giggled its name happily, seemingly without a care in the world.
"Now use Vine Whip!"
Snivy extended the vines out from between its shoulders and neck and launched them at Jigglypuff. The balloon Pokémon was nowhere near quick enough to dodge, and took the hits with a little visible damage, as well as being staggered slightly by the impact.
"Rollout again, Jigglypuff!"
"Stop it with Attract!" Ash cried.
With a wink, Snivy launched the hearts out to hit Jigglypuff dead-on, not that it was in any position to dodge them. Jigglypuff ground to a halt and uncurled, its' eyes consumed by the tell-tale heart shape.
"Well, now we know that Jigglypuff's male, I guess." Cilan sighed. "Return!" He said, recalling Jigglypuff.
"So soon?" Ash teased.
"For now." Cilan smiled. He picked out another ball and tossed it, sending out Stunfisk.
"That's an interesting choice." Dawn commented at the side. "Surely Stunfisk won't be able to do much to Snivy…"
"Stunfisk, use Camouflage, quickly!" Cilan ordered.
Stunfisk tensed in concentration, then began glowing.
"Quick, Snivy, Leaf Storm before it finishes!" Ash yelled, realising the danger. Snivy span around and hurled the leaves at Stunfisk with a whirl, but was not quick enough to hit Stunfisk before it finished its Camouflage. The attack impacted, but did very little damage; Stunfisk simply shrugged it off with its temporary grass typing.
"All right! Now, spray Scald in a wide area!" Cilan cried. Stunfisk took a deep breath and shot forth a large quantity of boiling hot water in an arc in front of it. Snivy attempted to avoid it, but took too much of the attack and was knocked to the floor.
"That looked like a water attack, surely that can't have hurt Snivy too much?" Dawn asked, confused.
"It probably didn't, but Scald can also burn the target too." Iris explained. Cameron nodded.
Sure enough, Snivy was scorched and appeared to be nursing the continuous pain of a burn, which put Ash on the clock, effectively; and he certainly knew it. The burn would hamper Snivy's physical attacks, and Leaf Storm, having hit once, would be weaker if used again.
"Quick, Snivy, Attract!" Ash said hurriedly.
Snivy prepared another barrage of hearts and launched them towards Stunfisk on the ground.
On the ground…
"Stunfisk, glide to avoid it and Mud Bomb!" Cilan yelled triumphantly.
"Glide?" Dawn's confusion turned to wonder as Stunfisk took to the air, flapping its "wings" to briefly stay aloft and evade the Attract. "Oh, wow!"
Stunfisk glided as high as it could and then spat a chunk of mud at Snivy, who, still shocked at Stunfisk's impressive manoeuvre, had no opportunity to avoid it. The burn did the rest.
"Snivy is unable to battle!" Cynthia declared. Ash recalled Snivy, praising her for what she had managed, and chose his next Pokémon.
Krokorok burst out of its Poké ball with a roar, clipped on its sunglasses and stood with its arms crossed, its' gaze firmly on Stunfisk.
"Quick, Krokorok, Crunch, let's go!" Ash wasted no time giving a command, and Krokorok wasted no time in executing it. It blitzed towards the just-landed Stunfisk and chomped down as hard as it could. The sheer power of the attack knocked Stunfisk out, and the way it was unceremoniously tossed towards Cilan afterwards hardly helped its condition either.
"That was some impressive flavour, Ash, I'll give you that!" Cilan admitted, recalling the unconscious Trap Pokémon. Krokork stood in its normal mocking pose, sunglasses glinting in the light. "But let's see what Jigglypuff can do this time!" He sent out the balloon Pokémon again, who waved at him once more, the Attract having worn off when it was inside the ball.
"Not if I can help it. Hit it with Stone Edge, now!" Krokorok summoned sharp rocks around its hands and hurled them at Jigglypuff.
"Dodge it and use Sing!" Jigglypuff obeyed, leaping and floating for a brief moment to avoid the stony onslaught. It landed and took a deep breath…
"Aahh!" Ash jumped and looked in horror at his pink opposition. "Quick, everyone cover your ears!" He cried, doing as he said. Taking no chances, Cameron, Cynthia and Dawn did the same.
Jigglypuff began singing a calming tune in the direction of Krokorok.
"Oh, please, Ash, don't be such a…" Iris nearly finished her sentence, but suddenly felt extremely drowsy, and decided to take a nap there and then to alleviate her tiredness. Pikachu had done as Ash had suggested; Piplup followed its trainer's example, and Axew was protected by Iris' bushy hair.
Meloetta had no such protection, and fell out of the air above Iris, her invisibility wearing off as she began to snooze. Dawn went to her aid immediately after Jigglypuff stopped singing.
"I hate that attack." Ash looked over the battlefield and realised that Krokorok was fast asleep, slumped over slightly as it snored, its sunglasses slipping off its face. "C'mon you've got to wake up!"
"I think we'll help you there, Ash!" Cilan grinned and gave a mock bow. He removed a pair of discreet plugs from his ears. "Use Wake-Up Slap!" Stubby arms glowing with power, Jigglypuff took its time walking up to Krokorok as Ash begged it to awaken. Jigglypuff reached back and gave it a full force slap across the face, knocking it to the ground, now very much awake but also very dazed. "Yes! Wake-Up Slap as a fighting type move will easily overpower a part-dark type such as Krokorok, and becomes doubled in power if that target was asleep at the time."
"Krokorok, can you still fight?" Ash asked, a received a shaky, tentative growl of affirmation as Krokorok staggered to its feet. It adjusted its sunglasses again and resumed its previous pose. "All right, let's see if we can overpower it! Crunch!" The Desert Croc Pokémon bared its glowing fangs and rushed with what strength it had remaining at Jigglypuff.
"Just what I've been waiting for! Now that it can't dodge, use Rollout!" Cilan was completely correct, unfortunately for Ash; Krokorok was too preoccupied with attacking to avoid the incoming pink ball, and it collided with the ground/dark type's belly and pushed it far back towards Ash, almost on its knees with pain at this point.
"Krokorok, no!" Ash cried.
"Let's finish this, shall we?" Cilan gave a dramatic twirl that was replicated amusingly by his Pokémon. "Rollout, one more time!"
Given its current state, Krokorok had no chance of dodging the oncoming attack, and took the increased power across the stomach again, knocking it clean out.
"Krokorok is unable to battle." Cynthia called out, raising a hand in Cilan's direction. "Jigglypuff and Cilan are the winners!"
"You did a great job, Krokorok, get some rest now." Ash returned his Pokémon to its Poke ball, and looked over to Cilan, who was hugging Jigglypuff tightly; a motion that the Pokémon was returning.
"You were amazing, just brilliant!" Cilan praised, and Jigglypuff giggled happily. "I've never seen such cute yet powerful flavour!"
"It really was!" Dawn gushed, having run over after the battle. Cameron and Cynthia were carefully checking over Iris, who had yet to wake up.
"Yeah, that was a great battle, Cilan." Ash smiled.
"Maybe if you have a few more battles later, you'll be able to get you over your irrational fear of Jigglypuff?" Dawn suggested sweetly, with only the barest hint of mocking detectable in her voice. Ash muttered something uncharitable about microphones and stalking Pokémon under his breath.
Cameron walked over and praised them for the battle. He pointed to Iris, and said that while it was unusual that she had yet to wake up, she should do so soon; she was probably just tired, having slept so little the night before. Ash suggested that Jigglypuff use Wake-Up Slap on her, but Cameron demurred.
As it was, Iris took three hours to wake up, and declared the experience to have been the best nap of her life. She did so without realising the not-so-subtle marker pen drawings on her face, courtesy of Ash, but did notice the giggles of the rest of the group, and put two and two together pretty quickly. Dawn in particular was a giveaway.
The delay was advantageous insofar as it allowed the group a chance to heal Stunfisk, Jigglypuff, Snivy and Krokorok using the never-ending supply of potions that Cilan and Cynthia together seemed to possess. It also allowed them the chance to check the various maps that Cilan had downloaded of the area around Route Fourteen in an attempt to plot their destination, and try to reaffirm their bearings.
The delay was disadvantageous for reasons twofold.
First, it meant that they were set more than three hours behind on schedule for the trip, as they were forced to witness Iris' brief attempts to take revenge on Ash – and then her extended attempts to find a running stream to wash her face off with. Failing that, she sought one of the group's water Pokémon. Ash was hiding, so Oshawott was a no-go. She asked Cameron for Jellicent's help, but he reminded her that having Scald used on her would probably not improve the situation. It eventually culminated in her asking Piplup to use Hydro Pump, which Dawn finally agreed to.
Second, the various maps that Cilan had downloaded were problematic because they all seemed to disagree rather heavily on the layout of the area that they would be heading in to. This lead to something of an argument in the group as Cameron, Cilan and Cynthia each swore by a different map. Cameron backed one because it seemed the most familiar to him judging from his previous travels in the area. Cilan rated another highly because of the judgment of a group of Map Connoisseurs he had once met at a convention somewhere, who all had great faith in the accuracy of that particular brand. Cynthia pointed out that a third had been the most accurate so far, and would be likely to continue to be.
All in all, if the battle between Ash and Cilan had a positive impact on group morale, the break after had a negative effect.
Still, after the "discussion" had been resolved, they had enough time, aided by the long length of days granted by summer, to cover good ground before the encroaching darkness forced them to set up camp once again.
Ash fell asleep quickly for once, exhausted by the need to stay ahead of Iris during the afternoon as she – jokingly? - constantly threatened violence against his person.
Iris fell asleep quickly too, having exerted herself chasing after Ash.
Dawn stayed awake a little while longer, and then was consumed by dreams of victory in a grand festival – she couldn't remember which, in the morning - and the embrace of a raven-haired friend. Maybe someday…
Cilan drifted off, delighting in the dual cuteness and battle prowess of his new capture. What wonderful flavour indeed…
Cameron was just about to fall asleep when, rolling over in his sleeping bag, he somehow accidentally sent out Jellicent. Woken by its quiet droning hum, he chased around the Floating Pokémon, half-asleep himself, until it turned out that it was sleepwalking, and avoiding his pleas for it to return as though it was in a battle dodging an enemy. Fortunately, it awoke before it started to counterattack, and before anyone else woke up.
Cynthia's sleep began in the throes of a nightmare; her dismissal as a champion on trumped up charges. It turned around after she managed to get revenge on each of the board members, all of it non-violent and all the more sweeter to her for it. Not that she remembered any of it in the morning.
Pikachu dreamed of ketchup. Piplup dreamed of Meloetta.
Meloetta dreamed of saying goodbye to Ash, and it was nothing else but a nightmare.
Meanwhile, as they rested, so too did their unknown pursuers.
Well, unknown in the sense that the group did not know they were being pursued. They certainly would have known the identity of their pursuers if that if they had been aware at all.
The Team Rocket trio took turns keeping watch; one observed the twerps as the other two slept; first Meowth, then James, then Jessie.
The hunt was almost over, and things had gone so well; so closely to plan so far.
The group set off the next morning mostly rested, refreshed and restored. They had managed to reach a more mountainous area the night before, which Cameron described as being moderately contoured with moisture. Cynthia translated blithely to the others that he was referencing the many waterfalls and precipices that practically littered the area.
The morning of that day was spent crossing these obstacles, the path once again being effectively none existence, leading to a great deal of complaining from Dawn in particular. The sun was mercifully less oppressive now than it had been the day before, especially given their proximity to such imposing sources of cool water, and so they were able to walk faster than the previous day without becoming as easily tired.
Still, by midday, they were all thoroughly tired out and relieved to find that the last of the elevated terrain was behind them, and that they had reached the beginning of the end of their Unovan journey – known to the maps and locally as the White Forest.
They rested at the entrance for a time, taking the opportunity to feed themselves and the Pokémon. There was no repeat of yesterday's battle, as they were too focused on completing their goal now that they were so close to doing so.
Upon finishing, the six trainers, Pikachu, Piplup and Axew – with Meloetta hovering above – assembled just before the treeline.
"All right, this is it." Cilan brandished the map on his tablet that they had decided was the most accurate the day before. "Not many people come here, and the all of the maps are rather sketchy on exactly how the forest goes. However, all of them agree, as do all of the rumours I've heard, that there is a cave inside the forest that, eventually leads out to a plateau with its own ecosystem that has somehow escaped aerial mapping. We can't be sure what this cave or this plateau look like, but they should exist, and that's where Meloetta should be able to live safely, away from whoever was chasing it." He finished.
"Great!" Ash turned to smile at Meloetta. "Hear that, Meloetta? We're really close to your new home!"
Meloetta gave a half-grateful, half-worried cry, and vanished as it always did.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Iris shouted, giving neither Ash, nor anyone else, any chance to be puzzled at Meloetta's muted reaction. "Let's go!" She went to run forward into the forest, but Cynthia held her back.
"Not so fast." Cynthia said, her face level compared to Iris' quizzical expression. "We need to stick together here, otherwise there's a very good chance of getting separated and lost for a long time, especially in case aerial reconnaissance isn't going to work for whatever reason."
Indeed, the trees did not appear to block the view from above with a canopy as Yanmega's forest had generally done, but if the inner plateau was protected by something, perhaps the forest could be to. No sense risking it. Cynthia thought.
"Agreed. Do the maps say anything about what Pokémon can we find here, Cilan?" Cameron queried. Cilan flicked the tablet on again and checked for the details.
"And you said you've travelled here before." Iris teased.
"I skipped this part, went back to Undella after leaving the last forest." He grumbled. "I'm in for as much as a surprise as everyone else."
"It doesn't specify." Cilan finally answered. "There could be no Pokémon there, or there could be any Pokémon there."
"Well, let's take a look." Ash decided.
The others agreed, and, together, they walked boldly through the treeline and into the forest.
The naming of the White Forest is not mere coincidence. Indeed, naming conventions across all of the regions for caves and forests tend to be simple, descriptive and memorable.
The Dark Cave on Johto's Route Thirty-One, for example, requires an outside source of illumination to be easily navigated. Hoenn's Granite Cave is famous for the abundance of the eponymous stone that can be found in its depths.
There are, of course, exceptions, and Sinnoh's Eterna Forest is one of the more striking, designed to convey the importance of Time, and especially Dialga's dominion of it, that the natives hold so dear.
The White Forest is not one of those exceptions, however, and its name relates to the colouration of a specific type of tree that can be found in greater frequency as one penetrates deeper into the forest itself. The blossom of the tree is pure white, and the leaves of the tree are mostly white too, with enough chlorophyll to maintain the slightest green strip necessary to allow for the attraction of light and the process of photosynthesis.
In spring, summer and autumn this remains the same; in winter, the area becomes blanketed in a thick, deep coat of snow, fuelling either way the name; the White Forest.
It didn't take long for the group to discover this, but it was not the occasional fall of a branch-full of white petals that proceeded to annoy them.
The forest had, like Route Fourteen had before it, experienced a marked increase in the abundance and growth of plant life. The roots of the trees were smaller than in the previous forest, but still large enough to be problematic.
The growth also left the map out of date enough to cause problems, and there were other, more human issues too. Two hours were spent walking in one direction, only for Cilan to realise that he had been holding the tablet upside down for the better part of an hour, drawing groans and a few choice words from everyone else. Three more were spent walking in one massive circle, only realised when Iris noticed – and swore to those who would doubt her veracity – that she had seen that particular part of the forest before.
For their part and unlike before, Cameron and Cynthia did not question Cilan's map-reading, and neither did Ash, Dawn nor Iris. They all recognised that the task at hand was difficult enough given the circumstances without the confusion of input from multiple people.
"We can't have too many cooks spoiling the broth." As Cynthia put it.
Ash said that he saw no link between their current adventure and cooking, earning exasperated sighs from everyone else, including Pikachu but not Iris, who offered her traditional refrain of Such. A. Kid.
Other than these brief stops to work out where, when or how they had gone wrong or gotten lost, they took no proper breaks. Unless they wanted to camp in the forest, which supposedly became very cold as the temperature dropped suddenly at night, time was now of the essence.
The afternoon dragged on to be replaced by the early evening, as the sun began to drift closer to the westward horizon and a chilling wind began to slowly rise.
It was around this time that Cilan declared, with an exhausted, yet triumphant finality, that they were only five minutes away from the cave.
This would prove to be a mistake, not because he turned out to be wrong, but instead because he announced it.
Five minutes later, they reached a break in the trees. Cilan pointed past it, claiming that what they sought was merely on the other side.
Meloetta removed its invisibility, and, seemingly with all reservations gone, happily went through alongside Ash.
They found nothing but a small clearing, and a few fallen trees.
"Uh, Cilan?" Ash turned to the gobsmacked Connoisseur. "This doesn't look much like a cave to me…" Meloetta stayed close by, looking worried again.
"But but but… That's impossible!" Cilan cried. He pulled out the tablet and flicked through it frantically. Behind him, Dawn shook her head; Iris brought her palm to her face dejectedly. Cameron and Cynthia stared at the clearing curiously. "We should be right on top of it, and yet it's not here!"
"Well, maybe it's just… wrong?" Iris suggested, her patience fully worn down. "Or maybe you read it wrong!"
"Not a chance." Cilan refused to acknowledge that. "I read it wrong for five hours. For the last hour I've been completely sure about where we've been going!"
"And yet here we are." She replied, her annoyance bleeding through into her tone. "Lost again."
"Maybe it's just a bit further on?" Ash suggested, trying to keep the hope alive. He moved towards the side of the clearing that wasn't blocked by fallen trees. Cameron, Cynthia, Dawn and Iris followed him, though the champion and ex-champion lingered a little longer than the coordinator and the dragon-master to-be.
"Maybe…" Cilan stared one last time at the clearing before he ran to catch the others up. But I was so sure…
Ten minutes later and they had a problem. They were back at the clearing again. Iris resolved not to follow Cilan's directions again and suggested they go her way, completely the opposite way that they had been when last in the clearing. Cilan's response to her criticism was now angry too, though he still stuck with the group. Meloetta returned to being invisible, floating sadly at Ash's side.
Cameron and Cynthia again lingered at the clearing a little longer than the others.
Ten more minutes later and they were all completely baffled by their inexplicable return to the clearing. Somehow.
"This forest is mad and I am exhausted." Dawn gave evidence to her statement by promptly falling over and lying on the floor.
"It just doesn't make any sense…" Cilan groaned, as he and the others sank to the ground as well. "I was so sure…"
"Well, you completely mucked this one up, so…" Iris started without looking at him.
"Hey! I…" He tried to interrupt her.
"Guys, knock it off." Ash muttered, with a tone that matched the atmosphere; everyone was sick of the bickering now.
"Maybe… we'll just have to… give up?" Iris suggested weakly.
"What?" Ash looked at her. "What about Meloetta?"
"Well…" Iris shrugged. "Why can't Meloetta just come with us?"
"Huh?"
Meloetta emerged from invisibility with a shocked look of happiness on its face, as if this would be an acceptable alternative.
"Well, why not?" Iris continued. "I mean, I'll bet whoever's after Meloetta won't keep looking after we leave Unova, and even if they do, we'll just stop them!"
"I guess… I mean, we just never considered it as an option, but if this is completely hopeless, then…"
They stayed silent for a little while. The sky above was now almost completely dark, and so sight was hard to come by in the subsequent gloom.
Five more minutes passed as the group sat there. The cold was beginning to go from mildly chilly to shivering, aided by the strong wind blowing through the open, draughty clearing. Axew had delved fully into Iris' hair.
Ash opened his mouth to agree fully with Iris, and simply go home with Meloetta. The trip had been a failure.
"You know what's unusual?" Cynthia spoke for the first time in a long while. Neither she nor Cameron had said anything since they had first arrived at the clearing.
"What?" Dawn asked, pulling her jacket around her. She hadn't worn it since coming to Unova; it was summer, after all, but now seemed like a good time to use it.
"Nowhere else in the forest have we seen trees knocked down or fallen over. Only here, and nowhere else."
That was unusual.
"Nowhere else have we seen a clearing either." She continued. "Not a single natural or unnatural break in the pattern of the forest. Except here."
The others were all very quiet now. They sat in thought for a little while longer.
"There's something strange about this clearing." Cynthia finished, and looked at everyone else in turn, trying to make them think.
"Well, it seems to be that no matter where we go after leaving this place, we end up back here after a while…"Ash started.
"Though we haven't tried going back." Iris reminded him.
"Yeah… So… Maybe a Pokémon lives around here, and it's protecting its territory somehow? Making us get lost?"
"Possibly… But if that's the case what can we do about it?" Dawn asked.
"If it's a mirage or another type of illusion, perhaps a Psychic-type could help dispel it?" Cameron suggested.
"A mirage…" Ash blinked. "That's it!" He said excitedly as the others turned to him. "Dawn, your Togekiss!"
"What about it?" She asked, confused.
"Back when I was travelling through Hoenn with May, Brock and Max, we met up with Misty once and visited a place called the Mirage Kingdom." He said.
Dawn felt a pang of jealousy run through her at the mention of both May and Misty, but quashed it quickly.
"Go on." She said, keeping her face neutral.
"There were many Togepi and Togetic in the kingdom, and they had something to do with maintaining the mirage that kept the kingdom hidden."
"Ah, so if the Togepi line can create mirages, maybe it can remove them as well!" She finished for him. He nodded. "Only way to find out. Togekiss, take the stage!" She tossed the ball and the Jubilee Pokémon emerged, stretching its wings and hovering above the ground.
After a few seconds, however, its face contorted as though it was suddenly under pressure, and it gave a pained cry.
"Togekiss, we think that there's some kind of illusion or mirage around this area." Dawn explained, worried by its sudden reaction to its surroundings. "Can you do anything about it, if there is one?"
Togekiss nodded, wincing. It stretched its eyes, and began to glow faintly with a white aura.
The fallen trees in front of them flickered, and were gone.
The cave stood in its place, the entrance dripping with moisture and utterly dark after a few metres inside.
Everyone gasped. Iris, who had just stood up when Togekiss had been sent out, fell over backwards with a yelp, disturbing Axew.
"You were right, Ash!" Dawn cried, smiling at him. The strain on Togekiss' face had disappeared and it was smiling as happily as it always did.
Meloetta gave a plaintive cry and fell out of the air to the ground.
"Meloetta!" Ash reacted first, followed by…
"Pika pi!"
"Pip-piplup!"
Ash ran over to Meloetta's side, cradling it in his arms as the rest of the group moved closer to examine her.
"What happened?" He asked, concern marking his face. "Come on, whatever it is, you're so close now."
At that, Meloetta started to cry.
Realisation spread over the faces of both Cameron and Cynthia. They glanced at each other.
"Meloetta… Meloetta did this." Cameron whispered.
"Yes… She created the mirage." Cynthia confirmed grimly.
Ash looked at them, shocked. The whole area suddenly seemed darker and colder.
"That can't be right! Why would Meloetta do that?" He demanded, and then turned to look at the Pokémon he was holding. Meloetta averted its eyes from his gaze, still crying.
"Pika… Pika pi…" Pikachu leapt off Ash's shoulder and tried to talk to Meloetta. "Pika… Pikachu pi?"
Meloetta gave a one word reply.
"Pika…" Pikachu pointed at Ash.
"Me?" He asked. Pikachu nodded. "What about me?"
"I'm guessing… Meloetta wanted to come with you." Cynthia suggested, as gently as she could. "It didn't want to go. That's why it created the mirage… So that we'd give up…"
"That makes sense…" Cilan nodded. "It's always stuck so close to you, Ash."
Ash had no idea what to say, and could only stare at the weeping form of the Melody Pokémon in his arms.
By the time he'd finally got the words together, it was too late.
The grappling arm was as quick as it always was. One second, Ash was holding Meloetta.
The next, Team Rocket had it in a containment jar.
"What the-"
"How?"
"You!" Ash cried, recovering from the abruptness first.
"Team Rocket!" Dawn screeched, pointing an accusing finger.
The trio stood triumphantly, just inside the entrance to the cave. Meowth was holding the jar containing Meloetta between his paws.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu began charging electricity. He still had a score to settle with Meowth after Nimbasa City.
"Sorry, twerps, but we're in a little bit of a hurry." Jessie's face twisted into the mock apology.
"Yes, we'll have to be off, the boss has a great many things planned for Meloetta." James added.
"You give Meloetta back right now, you crooks!" Iris yelled, brandishing Dragonite's Poké Ball.
"Hope ya enjoy the smoke though." Meowth replied. James took a small canister from his belt and lobbed it at the opposing trainers. It landed on the floor in between Ash and Dawn and began to spew a thick, black smoke, which soon obscured the mouth of the cave and the small area outside it.
The villains sprinted into the cave, cackling with glee over the success of their plan so far.
"Team Rocket! You won't get away with this!" Ash roared as he and the others started to cough and choke from the smoke, their vision now completely prevented.
The smoke stained the trees that it touched, their brilliant shine consumed by the inky darkness of the particles.
From the way that Team Rocket had struck and succeeded, it seemed that Ash's promise would prove to be a hollow one.
Possession is ten-tenths of the law.
- Master Thief, M12