Disclaimer: Pokémon is by Satoshi Tajiri

Pokémon BW: Yin-Yang Quest

It seemed like the source of the infestation was out of reach.

As a purple-haired woman with brown eyes gave a Pecha Berry to a Ducklett, she adjusted her glasses. She was called in by the Champion of Unova and the Ambassador of Unova to help a Pokémon Doctor from another region to help heal many poisoned Pokémon and to work with him to find the source and drive it out.

She had no luck finding the source so far. The woman sighed. 'This is going to be a long day,' she thought.

"Hey!" Mia yelled. The woman turned behind her to find Mia and Taylor. "Who left these Poké Balls on the ground?"

"Don't pick those Poké Balls up!" the woman warned as she raced to them.

Three Foongus popped out from the ground, ready to battle. Taylor looked up the mushroom-like Pokémon on his Pokédex.

"Foongus, the Mushroom Pokémon," the Dex explained. "It lures people in with its Poké Ball pattern, and then releases poison spores. Why it resembles a Poké Ball is unknown."

"Mia, get out of the way!" Taylor warned as he took out two Poké Balls. "Woobat, Dwebble!" he said as he threw them up.

"Help him out, Froslass!" the woman instructed as she threw a Poké Ball up. The three Pokémon were sent out. Mia, unfamiliar with Froslass, looked her up in the Pokédex.

"Froslass, the Snow Land Pokémon," the Dex explained. "It freezes prey by blowing its -58 degree F breath. It is said to then secretly display its prey."

"Froslass use Blizzard!" the woman commanded. Froslass blew a snowstorm from her mouth, making the Foongus shiver from the cold.

"Woobat, Air Slash!" Taylor commanded. Woobat released the discuses of air, hitting two Foongus and knocking them out.

"Dwebble, use Shell Smash!" Taylor instructed. Dwebble glowed red and white as it leaped out of his shell. The white light smashed to pieces. "Follow up with X-Scissor!"

He raised his pincers and collected the light in them. With one powerful X-shaped slash, he knocked the third Foongus out. They ran off.

"Nice skills!" the purple-haired woman commented.

"Thanks. Though, I owe it to Mia for teaching me that trick with Dwebble," Taylor replied.

"That's me," Mia said. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Shauntal of the Elite Four," Shauntal introduced. "And you two seem to be strong trainers. I need your help."

"An infestation of Foongus?" Mia questioned as the three went into a tent.

"Yep," Shauntal answered. "The Ambassador of Unova thinks it's a pack of them. She assigned me to find their leader and scare it off. Alder also had me help out a Pokémon Doctor from Kanto in healing the other sick Pokémon that were hit by their Effect Spore ability."

Indeed, Mia saw a Chansey summon a glowing gold egg that hovered over to an ill Patrat. The egg went into Patrat, curing it. Taylor looked up Chansey in the Pokédex.

"Chansey, the Egg Pokémon," the Dex explained. "A kindly Pokémon that lays highly nutritious eggs and shares them with injured Pokémon or people."

"This Chansey was the reason Alder called him over," Shauntal said with a smile. "She helped with curing many poisoned Pokémon before. She was a Happiny back then in Sinnoh, but her will to help the sick allowed her to evolve."

"Ah, welcome back, Shauntal!" a man with brown hair and squinted eyes greeted as he took her hand. He wore an orange shirt with brown cargo pants and tan sneakers. "My brave dear, were you injured in any way?"

"There were a few Foongus, but I wasn't hurt, Brock." she answered, not impressed with his flirting.

"Such mystery in your clothing and eyes," Brock described. "The more I look into them, the more I yearn to solve it."

"Cro!"

"Ah!" Mia yelped in shock as he suddenly got jabbed by a Croagunk whose fingers were tipped with poisonous light.

"Case…closed…" Brock groaned in pain as he fell down. Croagunk dragged him away by the cuff of his pants.

"Mia and Taylor, right?" Brock asked. "My name is Brock. As you've heard from Shauntal, Alder called me over to help out in Unova."

"We think there is an Amoonguss in the forest somewhere that's letting these Foongus roam free," Shauntal predicted.

"Did you bar this part of the forest as off-limits?" Mia asked. "Because if we did, we probably missed the sign."

"The Foongus knocked it down and took it away," Shauntal explained. "I don't know what's getting them agitated, but we need to stop these disasters from occurring."

"Shan!"

Shauntal and Brock looked outside to find a Chandelure floating into the tent. Mia looked up Chandelure in the Pokédex.

"Chandelure, the Luring Pokémon, and the evolved form of Lampent," the Dex explained. "Being consumed in Chandelure's flame burns up the spirit, leaving the body behind."

"Did you find the Amoonguss?" Shauntal asked.

"Shaan-de…" Chandelure said and floated away.

"Follow Chandelure!" Shauntal said and went off. The three of them went after her.

The quartet arrived at a hollow tree and on Shauntal's signal, they ducked behind a rock. There was an Amoonguss looking rather antsy as many Foongus gathered around it. They began dancing around in a swaying motion.

"That's the Amoonguss," Mia whispered. Taylor looked the Pokémon up.

"Amoonguss, the Mushroom Pokémon, and the evolved form of Foongus," the Dex explained. "It lures prey close by dancing and waving its arm caps, which resemble Poké Balls, in a swaying motion."

"Let's go, Chandelure," Shauntal whispered.

"Wait!" Brock warned quietly. "Take a look at its expression."

The three observed Amoonguss intently. As it waved its arms around, a spore released from them. "It seems a bit anxious, isn't it?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, I feel an air of fear around here," Taylor said as Momo looked around anxiously.

"Woo! Woo! Woo!" a voice echoed. This scared some of the Foongus out of the cave.

"Those were Woobat!" Mia noted. "Looks like they made this hollow tree their home!"

Brock sniffed the air and picked up moisture. "This is an ideal home for the Foongus and Amoonguss because it's so moist, but a colony of Woobat settled here because it's so dark," he explained.

"No wonder they're scared," Shauntal said. "Chandelure, go up and provide some light so we can get rid of those unwanted guests!"

Chandelure floated out of the hiding spot and up into the tree. The flames on Chadelure glowed blue, letting a faint light cast upon the area. The Woobat got agitated and flew down.

"Leave this to me, Shauntal!" Brock requested as he got out of the spot.

"We'll help too!" Mia offered as he followed them.

"Okay. Return, Chandelure!" Shauntal said as she took out a Poké Ball. Chandelure was recalled back.

"Go, Axew!" Mia said as she threw a Poké Ball.

"Dwebble, let's do this!" Taylor commanded as he threw a Poké Ball as well.

"Croagunk, let's go!" Brock said. The three Pokémon came out of their Poké Balls.

Shauntal whistled, getting the Mushroom Pokémon's attention. "Foongus! Amoonguss! It's not safe here. I know a better place, though. Follow me!" the Elite Four member instructed. They left the tree for the forest.

"Croagunk, use Poison Sting!" Brock commanded. Croagunk released purple needles, downing five Woobat with poison.

"Axew, Scratch attack!" Mia commanded.

"Dwebble, use X-Scissor!" Taylor commanded.

Dwebble slashed at three Woobat with X-shaped slashes, while Axew focused on scratching one of them rapidly.

"Croagunk, use Brick Break!" Brock commanded. Hand glowing red, Croagunk downed a few more that came its way. Woobat swooped down to Dwebble, noses glowing.

"Protect!" Taylor instructed. Dwebble ducked into his shell and a blue-green barrier surrounded the shell. When the Heart Stamps hit, they hit the barrier instead.

"Dragon Rage!" Mia yelled out.

Axew charged up energy in his mouth. A Woobat tackled it, closing his mouth and causing the ball to explode in a burst of blue light.

In a marsh, Shauntal saw smoke rise up from a section of the forest. "Whoa!" she exclaimed. The Foongus got scared and gathered up around Amoonguss.

"Be right back, you guys," she said and went off.

When Shauntal arrived at the hollow tree, there were many Woobat knocked out, two Emolga looking rather surprised, a knocked out Croagunk, and a Dwebble that withdrew into his shell for protection. Mia, Taylor, and Brock were also there, though a bit beat up. Axew was crying in the middle of it all.

"H-hi, Shauntal…" Mia greeted.

"What happened?" Shauntal asked in surprise.

"An attack misfired," Taylor explained as he helped Brock up. "I'm not sure what happened either, but we cleared out all the Woobat."

Mia picked up Axew and began rocking him back and forth.

"You're almost at the Skyarrow Bridge, according to this map," Shauntal said, showing them a map of the forest.

"We're almost there!" Mia said with optimism.

"I need to go there, too," Brock said. "There's a ferry that runs back to Kanto there."

"Come on with us!" Mia offered.

"Yeah, we're all heading in the same direction," Taylor added. "Can't hurt to have someone else to talk to."

"I'm going to report to Alder and the Ambassador," Shauntal said while putting on her backpack. "Maybe I'll meet you all again sometime."

"Yes, indeed," Brock agreed. "Parting is such sweet sorrow!"

"Gunk!"

"Ah!" Mia yelped as Brock's Croagunk popped out of its Poké Ball and jabbed him again.

"Sweet sorrow…and bitter pain…" Brock commented as he fell to the ground. Croagunk dragged him away.

The Amoonguss, along with its Foongus friends, laughed as they watched the four from above. They later waved goodbye as the four went their separate ways.