Chapter 17

"It's alright Swinub," said Amanita as she crouched a little towards the fog surrounding her. "You can stop using Mist now."

The billowing white particles started to dissipate and slowly revealed a creature which appeared to be a small lump of brown-striped fur with an adorable little nose. I narrowed my eyes at it in an attempt to discern what type this Pokémon could be. It was the first one I'd come across since my lesson and I wanted to prove to Joleen and Rex that I was learning more about Pokémon.

Its nose snuffled as it moved closer to Amanita's ankles and accepted her calm hand on its shaggy back. It's back came to about halfway up her shin.

It took notice of me and shuffled up to my feet and tilted its body back as though it was trying to look up at me. Its nose continued moving as though it was perpetually sniffing the air. Remembering Joleen mention how making oneself appear smaller would be less startling to unfamiliar Pokémon; I crouched and slowly reached a hand towards this new creature.

"Swiiiiine!"

It squealed slightly before flicking my hand briefly with its nose and hurrying back to Amanita's feet.

"It seems he likes you," muttered Joleen with a wide grin.

"I'll take you to meet my sister," said Amanita with a slight nod. "We can discuss what brings you to our sanctuary once we reach her."

I leaned closer to Joleen as we followed the woman so as not to alert the others to my question.

"What species of Pokémon was that and what type is it?"

Joleen's jovial expression gained a hint of mischief as she narrowed her eyes slightly and her grin got wider than before. "That, was a Swinub. They are most commonly found in the Johto region, but I recall hearing mention that its evolutions, Piloswine and Mamoswine, used to roam a remote part of Unova. That was before Team Plasma won Unova, so I don't know if you'll be able to find any now.

"It's no surprise that this Pokémon's typing is a little difficult to figure out. It's an Ice and Ground type. I'm sure if you'd been able to touch its actually body, you would have noticed that it would have felt cold. Can you tell me what you learned about those types' weaknesses and strengths and how they might go together? Start with attack types used against it."

"Well," I started as we continued deeper into the trees. "Fire would be good against it, right?"

At her smile and slight prompting nod, I continued. "And Steel, Fighting, Rock … but definitely not Electric."

When the silence after my statement stretched on longer than anticipated, I opened my mouth to say more, but she beat me to it. "It seems you remember Ice better than Ground. Its Ground typing adds Grass and Water as further weaknesses. Also, in this case, Rock is not a weakness as it is negated by its Ground-type the same way its Ice-type side cancels out its Ground-Type weakness to Ice."

"That's a lot to remember," I muttered with a wince. "I definitely remember that I shouldn't go up against a Ground-type with Raikou."

Joleen punched me lightly in the arm. "Considering what you knew before starting on this venture, I'd say you've really improved."

"Thanks," I muttered as we stepped out from the underbrush and into a bright clearing. The sight was enough to make me stop in my tracks as the others continued on ahead.

Several buildings stood out in a rather stark comparison to the green surrounding it. I could tell that this place must have been an impressive facility at some point. It now lay in the semblance of tidy ruins. Whatever had happened here, nature was winning and slowly taking over once more. Several people and creatures I assumed were Pokémon appeared to have made shelters out of the remnants that had remained intact.

It was at this point that I noticed that the trees actually had green growing on them. I remember studying about leaves, but since the forest around Nuvema had been barren of such, I'd never gotten the chance to actually see any. This was a shock. Things were thriving here, and I could almost feel it through all of my senses. The air smelled as fresh as the green was vibrant. A rustling sounded as a gentle breeze wove its way through the foliage surrounding us. I could have stood staring at the quiet scene for hours.

My awe and wonderment was abruptly shattered when something cold slammed into my lower body and almost knocked me over. Whatever it was, it swiftly manoeuvered itself behind my back and clung there shaking.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed as I swiftly regained my balance.

"Sno," yelped what appeared to be a small snow covered tree. It only came up to my chest in height, and as I turned to view it more, it glanced up at me with wide green eyes.

"Licki!"

"Beheeyem!"

The shouts turned my attention towards the two Pokémon it was fleeing from. One was a pink Pokémon almost the same height as the tree clinging to me and had an extremely large tongue protruding from its mouth. The other was a brown Pokémon that almost appeared to be hovering off the ground. It had a very oblong head with beady green eyes and three differently coloured lights on the end of its arms instead of hands. Both were approaching fast in a rage.

Somehow, I had the Master Ball out of my jacket pocket and into the air before I'd realized I'd made a conscious decision to protect the snowy tree Pokémon cowering behind me.

"Go, Raikou!"

The yellow tiger Pokémon appeared before me and growled loudly as the other two Pokémon halted in their tracks. Raikou glanced back at me as if awaiting my instructions.

I needed more information if I was to face these two new Pokémon. I pulled out the Pokédex my mother had given me and aimed it first at one Pokémon and then the other as they slowed to a stop to confront my Raikou.

-"Lickitung, the Licking Pokémon. When it extends its over six-foot long tongue, its tail quivers. There is a possibility they are connected."- stated the device loudly.

-"Beheeyem, the Cerebral Pokémon. It can manipulate an opponent's memory. Apparently, it communicates by flashing its three different-coloured fingers."-

"Get ready, Raikou," I exclaimed while crouching slightly the same time my Pokémon did.

I waited for both Pokémon to make a move. If I was right, Beheeyem was a Psychic type, and I couldn't be certain about the Lickitung, but I was hazarding a guess that it might be Normal. Instead of attacking, they moved back a few paces and abruptly fled.

I relaxed my stance in confusion before a female voice spoke almost directly behind me.

"There's no need for that young man."

I spun to face an old lady with long hair in the process of transforming from dark blue to silver. She had a stern face lined with several worry lines which seemed to make her age difficult to make out, and yet she had an aura of authority. There was no doubt in my mind that she was in charge as she held her forefinger and thumb to the edge of her glasses and peered down at me.

"Fennel!" exclaimed Amanita as she joined us with Joleen and Rex following closely behind her. I had all but forgotten about them in the sudden rush of a potential battle. "We have guests."

"I can see that," said the woman while looking me up and down before shifting her attention to the Raikou beside me and the white and brown Pokémon still clinging to my back. "Please escort them back to my tent; we shall get their story there."

A/N: The three Pokemon Chris faces, Snover, Lickitung, and Beheeyem, were all chosen at random the moment I reached the part where Chris meets them in my writing. I had no prior plans for them before writing them in, although it does make sense that having a Pokemon that can manipulate peoples memories to aide in keeping the Dream Yard hidden from enemies. I'll go more into what Fennel and Amanita have been doing in the Dream Yard since Plasma's takeover in the next Chapter.