Pokémon: Best Wishes

Episode 5: Conflicting Dreams of Success!

Last time, our heroes, Darrien and Ash, had run into some unexpected trouble while traveling through Pinwheel Forest en route to Nacrene City. Meanwhile, our friend Bianca had come to a solid realization about what she will do in the future. Now, Cheren, Bianca, and Hilda have arrived in Striaton City!

"Yeah! We're finally here!" Hilda shouted out with both hands stretched in the air. She picked up her Gigi. "You excited, Gigi? We'll have the opportunity to have our own gym battle soon!" Hilda was beaming with anticipation.

Cheren smiled. "Wow, all this time I've known you, and I'd never guess you'd be excited to battle!" he remarked.

"Ok! Enough talk of battling, please!" Bianca said frantically. Her Lillipup was cupped tightly in her arms, and her Oshawott in its Poké Ball.

"What's up, B? You don't want to battle?" Hilda asked.

"Well…I want to continue on my journey…but isn't it a bit too soon to be going for a gym battle? I mean, I still would like to master Pokémon Basics first…." Bianca shrugged off.

"But B! We can't do it without you! You see, there are 3 leaders, all triplet brothers," Cheren began to explain. "We'll challenge them in a triple tag team battle! Think of it, our first major win and we could all do it together!" Cheren was trying to persuade Bianca.

"Well, I don't know… What do you think, Lillipup?" she asked looking hopefully at her new Pokémon.

"Pup! Pup!" It smiled at her and barked happily, not understanding what any of the three Trainers were going on about.

"Well, Cheren, maybe Bianca's right. We're trying to take on a gym, but we haven't exactly covered the basics yet. Why don't we all go to the Trainers' School? It's not too far from here." Hilda advised.

Cheren frowned. "I already know the basics…" He looked down at his Snivy, who was attentively taking in the new city environment around him. "Well, you two could go to the Trainers' School. I'll go with Snivy and Pidove to the Dreamyard. There's a Pokémon there called Panpour. Catching it will bring more balance to my team and help out in the gym battle." Cheren informed.

"Then it's settled! I guess we'll see ya later then, Cheren!" Bianca was happy. She grabbed a caught off guard Hilda in one arm, and quickly dashed off towards the school, with Gigi struggling to keep up.

Cheren laughed to himself. "Well, let's go Snivy." He began to walk into the direction of the Dreamyard.

"Hey, wait! Young man! Are you going to the Dreamyard?!" a female voice shouted out.

Cheren turned around. The person calling out to him had dark blue hair, wore classes, and had on a lab coat. She was stunningly beautiful, despite her choice of clothing. Cheren began to blush. "Um, are, are you talking to me?" Cheren muttered.

"Sni?" Snivy had never noticed this weird behavior in his trainer before.

"Yes, I am going to the Dreamyard to get some Dream Mist from a Musharna. See, this is my Munna here, and if you're going in that direction, I was wondering if you could help me. Oh! Where are my manners?! My name's Fennel." Fennel stuck out her hand to shake Cheren's. However, almost instinctively instead of completing the shake, he began to scan Munna on the Pokédex.

'Munna, the Dream Eater Pokémon. It eats the dreams of people and Pokémon. When it eats a pleasant dream, it expels pink-colored mist.'

Fennel took back her hand after realizing that he wasn't going to return the shake. "I'm Cheren, F-Fennel." His cheeks began to get rosy pink. "Um, may I ask? Why d-don't you evolve your Munna?"

"You see, I need a Moon Stone for that, and I don't have one unfortunately. Well, Cheren, can you help me? Will you go through the Dreamyard with me to find a Musharna?" Fennel looked so hopeful.

"Y-yeah, of course. But, you see, I already had a goal in mind." Cheren admitted.

"Oh, that's easy! We'll do both! What do you say?!" Fennel was a little overbearing for Cheren to handle.

"Y-yeah, let's do it!" Cheren smiled.

"Sni…" Snivy began to look concernedly at his trainer as they all traveled towards the Dreamyard.

"Hey, look Darrien! This sign says only 3 miles until Nacrene City! If we pick up the pace, we can get there before dark!" Ash was excited.

"Pika!" Pikachu was happily perched on Ash's shoulder. Ash and Pikachu were a bit ahead of Darrien, who was straggling behind, bonding with his new partner.

"So, I'm a connoisseur, Cottonee. That means I test the bonds between trainers and Pokémon. The fact that you're my first Pokémon makes you my premium brand! And that means our bond must be one of the best!" Darrien said encouragingly.

"Nee!" Cottonee was happy that he was so important to his new Trainer.

"DARRIEN! Let's pick up the pace! WE GOTTA GO!" Ash called back, dragging out each syllable. Suddenly, an invisible ripple sliced through the air, and hit Pikachu right off of Ash's shoulder!

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted in surprise.

"PIKA," Pikachu quickly got back on its feet and began to scan the area, knowing already who fired that Air Slash.

Darrien caught up with Ash now. "Ash, are you ok? What was that?!"

"Nee, nee…" Cottonee looked a bit frightened. Had that wretched Rufflet returned?

Swiftly, another sharp blade of air went firing at Pikachu. It detected this however, and released a Thunderbolt! "CHU!" It hit the Air Slash, causing a tiny explosion. Pikachu began to look around frantically. "Pika…" Where were these attacks coming from?

"No doubt. This is the work of Rufflet, presumably the same one from yesterday." Darrien concluded.

"Nee…" Cottonee cowered into Darrien's afro.

"You're kidding!" Ash couldn't believe it. "Rufflet! I challenge you! Show yourself!" Ash called out.

"RUFF!" Rufflet came charging at lightning-fast speed, so that the air around it parted, creating the appearance of white lights surround it.

"That's an Aerial Ace! Be on guard, Ash!" Darrien called from the sidelines.

"Pikachu, wait there!" Ash decided.

"RUFF!" It inched closer and closer, and just as it was to hit Pikachu, Ash called out.

"PIKACHU! DO IT, QUICK ATTACK! OUT OF THERE!" Pikachu quickly moved out the way, with a similar white light-stream following him.

"RUFF!" Rufflet crashed into the floor and began to shriek in pain.

"Now, Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded.

"PikaCCCCCCHHHUUUUUUUU!" Pikachu let loose some serious voltage that shocked the Rufflet to its core!

"Now, Poké Ball!" Ash threw his Ball at Rufflet. He looked on in hope. It shook once. It shook twice. It shook a third time. Then…it stopped moving. "Is that it?" Ash asked. As soon as he finished his sentenced, the Ball opened, and Rufflet escaped, beginning to fly off. Within 3 seconds, it was out of sight.

"Wow, that's a tough Pokémon, Ash. Even after taking all of that from Pikachu, it can still manage to break free and fly off at such speed. You know what, that sorta reminds me of you. You've experienced a lot of things over your journey, but you continue on with such vigor and drive. You guys are meant for each other! If you were to capture Rufflet, I see great things ahead!" Darrien gave his dose of "tasting time".

"Wow, you really think so? Well, I gotta have it now! Come on, Pikachu! It couldn't have gotten too far! This could be our first capture in Unova, and it's a strong one to boot!" Ash and Pikachu began to run in the direction that Rufflet flew off in and Darrien and Cottonee followed.

"Woah, Hilda, do you know the answer to any of these questions?" Bianca was struggling. She and Hilda had arrived at the school and were taking a test on the basics of Pokémon Training. Gigi, Oshawott, and Lillipup were playing in the Pokémon Play Section.

"Shh, B, I can't help you cheat!" Hilda said sternly.

"Ugh, ok…" Bianca frowned. She read the question. "What item heals any status condition a Pokémon can suffer from?" She thought for about 5 seconds. "How am I supposed to know? I came here to learn, not be tested!" She was flustered and frustrated.

Hilda noticed that Bianca was really having a tough time. She giggled. "B, you know it, look at the choices. Antidote, Burn Heal, FULL HEAL, Awakening…." Hilda hoped her hint would give Bianca the answer.

"IT COULD BE ANY OF THESE!" Bianca was stumped.

"Sorry, B, then try to go with what you think is right…" Hilda continued to work on her test.

"Well, my mind's saying Burn Heal, so that must be it!" Bianca bubbled that choice in.

"NO!" Hilda got up from her seat.

"HILDA! BIANCA! Your tests are disqualified!" the proctor said monotonously. He came over and ripped them up.

"No! Now how am supposed to learn the basics of training?" Bianca was sad.

The proctor turned around. "You two, let's leave the rest of them to finish the test. Come with me out to the garden." The proctor took Hilda and Bianca out to the garden, which had lots of grass and flowers and fountains. The shrubs were cut into the shapes of Pokémon. "You seem really ambitious. I think the best thing that you two could do for experience is to well- experience! Maybe the classroom setting isn't the best for you guys." The proctor explained.

"You see, we were going to challenge the gym leaders, but then realized we really didn't know a thing about Training. That's why we really wanted to come here…" Hilda tried to fill in the blanks for the man.

"Is that so?" the man asked. "Well, Cilan, one of the brothers of the Striaton Gym, is coming over here later today to give a lecture on Pokémon Training. Maybe you guys should swing by then."

"Well, what are we supposed to do until he comes?" Bianca was impatient.

"Train! Against each other! There's no easier way for both of you to get stronger if not to battle each other! What do you say, I'll be the referee!" the proctor suggested.

"What!? Me battle Hilda! I can't! She'll beat me in one hit!" Bianca really wasn't up for battle.

"Come on, B. You had a battle before, and I still haven't. Maybe that could come into play here. I'd like to battle, and I'd be honored if you were my opponent." Hilda offered.

Bianca thought hard. "Fine! Hilda, let's do this!" Bianca got her Lillipup. Hilda got her Gigi.

"This will be a one on one battle. One side loses when their Pokémon are unable to go on any further. Battle begin!" the proctor called out.

"Rufflet! Come on out! I challenge you! Rufflet!" Ash called out anxiously for his opponent.

"Pika!" Pikachu was ready too.

"Waddle! Waddle!" A Sewaddle came running hysterically out of a shrub. Following it was Rufflet.

"Rufflet's terrorizing the wild Pokémon again!" Darrien said angrily. Cottonee didn't dare come out of his hair.

"Pick on someone of equal strength! Like me! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"CHU!" Pikachu let loose a Thunderbolt, which Rufflet quickly dodged. The Sewaddle escaped, much to Rufflet's disappointment.

"LET!" Rufflet flapped its wings and two blades of air came firing at Pikachu!

"Pikachu! Do it, Thunder Armor!" Pikachu commanded.

"Thunder Armor?" Darrien had never heard that one before.

"CHU!" Pikachu began to do Thunderbolt while spinning around, so that a barrier of wild electricity protected it, but still struck wildly, and hit Rufflet!

"LETT!" Rufflet dropped to the floor.

"Woah, Ash! When did you learn to do that?" Darrien was impressed.

"Learned it from a friend in the Sinnoh Region! She was a coordinator, you see. Ok, now, Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Ash commanded.

"Pika!" Pikachu lunged at Rufflet, causing it to go flying into a tree!

"Let…" Rufflet couldn't move! It was paralyzed!

"Perfect! Now go Poké Ball!" Ash threw his Ball! It shook once. It shook twice. And now a third! Then, a blue light surrounded the inner circle. Rufflet was caught! "ALL RIGHT! I GOT MY FIRST POKÉMON IN UNOVA! AND IT'S RUFFLET!" Ash shouted out.

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu was happy that he successfully weakened Rufflet for Ash.

"Now, come on out, Rufflet!" Ash sent Rufflet out.

"Ash…Rufflet seems a bit…upset…." Darrien pointed out. Rufflet had pure anger in its eyes. IT charged at Ash. It couldn't believe that it let itself get caught!

"WAIT RUFFLET WHAT ARE YOU DOIN'!" Rufflet began to peck at Ash over and over again.

"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"

"CHU!" Pikachu shocked both Ash and Rufflet, with both of them fainting.

"Great power as usual Pikachu…." Ash was fried! Pikachu looked on in surprise of his power, while Cottonee and Darrien giggled to themselves.

"So, w-with this Dream Mist, you'd be able to see the dreams of any living organism, including things like plants?" Cheren inquired.

"Yes or at least thoughts being processed. My Munna can only show the dreams of sleeping Pokémon, but Musharna can show dreams of Pokémon, people, berries, you name it!" Fennel became excited.

Cheren saw a drive in Fennel that he found extremely attractive. He tried to make conversation. "So, I'm challenging the gym later. I'm looking for a-"

"WAIT! Shh…" Fennel quieted Cheren, cutting him off. A Musharna loomed in the distance minding its own business. "Hey," she whispered to Munna. "Go make nice with Musharna. If that doesn't work, then Cheren'll assist me in weakening it for capture." Fennel reassured.

"Munna!" Munna levitated off to Musharna. During this, Cheren scanned it on his Pokédex.

'Musharna, the Drowsing Pokémon. With the mist from its forehead, it can create shapes of things from dreams it has eaten.'

"Munna, mun, mun, munna!"Munna tried to persuade Musharna into being captured.

"SHARNA!" It shook its head no.

"Munna!" Munna tried again.

"SHAR!" Musharna fired off a peculiar colorful ray at Munna!

"MUNNA!" It shrieked.

"Hey! What was the Psybeam for?!" Fennel came out of hiding.

"Shar?"

"Cheren, go on, I need you to help!" Fennel shouted.

"Ok, Snivy, let's go, Vine Whip!" Cheren commanded.

"SNI!" His whips slapped Musharna hard, and it crashed into the floor.

"Ok, here goes!" Fennel threw a Dream Ball! It was like a Poké Ball but colored in different shades of pink and purple. The ball shook three times, and the Musharna was captured. She sent it out.

"Shar!" Musharna was docile and awaited Fennel's command.

"Listen, I'm really sorry for hurting you. But you are extremely vital to my research. I don't want to make you do something that you don't want to, however. Do you agree to help me?" Fennel asked.

"Sharna!" It happily agreed.

"Ok, now use Hypnosis on Cheren!" She commanded.

"W-wait, what?!" Cheren was taken aback. Quickly, he was lulled to sleep.

"Sni!" Snivy was shocked, but couldn't do anything about it.

"Your trainer's looking for a Pokémon, right Snivy? I'm going to use Musharna to read his dream, find the Pokémon, and give it to him all before he wakes up, what do you say? You know, as thanks for him helping me!" Fennel explained.

"Sni!" Snivy agreed.

"Listen up, Rufflet…I'm your trainer now, and you're going to have to accept it. Stop giving me the cold shoulder." Ash was trying to get through to an unruly and defiant Rufflet.

Rufflet had his back to Ash and refused to give any indication that he was going to give in.

Ash looked up at Darrien and sighed. "I thought you said that we were compatible and stuff. Why is it that I can't get through to Rufflet?" Ash asked.

"Well, of course it's going to be tough in the beginning. Maybe Rufflet needs time to process that it's no longer able to do whatever it wants whenever it wants. It needs to learn to trust you and it needs to see that you're a capable trainer. Maybe after all that, it'll show some affection. Trust me; it's probably better this way. When Rufflet finally does come around, the bond between you two will be really strong, almost as strong as the bond between you and Pikachu!" Darrien tried to comfort Ash.

"Well, you're the connoisseur…I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Anyway, let's continue traveling, we're getting closer to Nacrene City." The group all began to move, except for Rufflet. Ash sighed. "Rufflet, return."

"Tackle, Lillipup! Keep on Gigi!" Bianca was getting into her own little groove of battling.

"Dodge, Gigi, then Defense Curl!" Hilda shouted.

"PUP!" Lillipup charged at Gigi, who quickly dodged, and rolled, but the pace was a bit fast, and the roll turned into a Rollout, which sent Lillipup flying!

"Wow, what was that?" Hilda was excited.

"Your Gigi has just learned Rollout. Congratulations," the proctor said.

"OK! Time for a combination! Flame Charge, then into Rollout!" Hilda commanded.

"Wait, you can't do two attacks! Fine then, Tackle, then Bite, dear Lillipup!" Bianca wanted to settle the score.

"Pig, pig, pig!" Gigi was covered in flames and was quickly approaching Lillipup, who was also charging at her. Then, Gigi rolled up, bit lost momentum! CHOMP! Lillipup built up speed from the Tackle, and the Bite had a lot more gusto than it would have normally! "PIG!" Gigi shouted in pain.

"What happened to my combination?" Hilda shouted out.

"It's great you are trying to make combinations, but what you described is a move called Flame Wheel, a move that Tepig cannot learn." The proctor explained.

"WOOHOO! Dear Lillipup, that was great! Now, let's lower their defenses with Leer!" Bianca began to think of countless strategies and was having a lot of fun.

"Grr…" Lillipup made a menacing look, and looked Gigi straight in the eye so she began to whimper.

"Hey, Gigi, what's going on?! You ok? Oh no!" Hilda was freaking out.

"Hilda, you have to keep your cool. You're letting Bianca take control of the battle. If your calm, you can make better decisions." The proctor advised.

"Shake it off, Gigi! Those Flame Charges should've really boosted your speed! Let's go, Rollout, again, and again! Use that speed!" Hilda shouted confidently.

"What's she up to?" Bianca was thoroughly enjoying the battle. "Nice try, Hilda! Now, Lillipup, use Gigi's momentum, and knock it back with Tackle!"

"Pig!" Gigi rolled into a ball and at an amazingly fast pace, shot around, with poor accuracy, aiming for Lillipup.

"What's wrong, Gigi? Hit!" Hilda didn't understand why this battle was so difficult. Gigi rolled into a nearby tree! And soon after, Lillipup hit into her too!

"PIG!" Gigi struggled to stand.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, Hila! I think we really hurt Gigi! We didn't mean to! Dear Lillipup tell her you're sorry!" Bianca was genuinely worried.

Hilda wore a blank expression on her face. Had Bianca, the girl who was supposedly behind her and Cheren in training, beat her in battle? She then smiled. "Well, B, I got to give it to ya. You're really strong. When we challenge the gym, I know we'll win!" She hugged Bianca, to show that there were no hard feelings, and picked up Gigi. The proctor checked his watch.

"Oh my! Well girls, Cilan is here. Are you two interested in the lecture?" the proctor asked.

Bianca and Hilda looked at each other. "You know what, we'll pass." Bianca started.

"Like you said, we'll just experience things our own way. Right now, we have to go the Pokémon Center. A good Trainer knows when to heal their Pokémon." Hilda said cheerfully.

The proctor smiled. "I wish you two ladies good luck in your gym battle, and on the rest of your journey.

"Thanks, see ya!" Bianca said happily as she and Hilda waved as they walked towards the Center.

"Dove,dove!" Pidove came flying to Fennel.

"So you've found a Panpour?" Fennel asked.

"VY!" Snivy brightened up.

"Dove!" It nodded yes.

"Show us! Snivy, get ready to battle! Munna, Musharna, watch Cheren! We'll be right back!" Fennel and Snivy followed Cheren's Pidove.

They came to a clearing, where a Panpour was playing in the trees. "Ok, Pidove, fly up there and try to convince Panpour to join Cheren." Fennel said nicely.

"Dove," Pidove flew up to Panpour and tried to persuade it to join Cheren's team.

"Pour!" It actually agreed and jumped down to Fennel, thinking she was Cheren. It jumped into Fennel's arms.

"Sni?" Snivy was dumbfounded. Was it really that easy?

"You see, Snivy, not all Pokémon need to be battled to be captured. Violence isn't the answer always. Sometimes you need to just open your heart. Let's go back." It wasn't long until they arrived back to their original location, and a waking Cheren. He yawned loudly.

"Snivy? Fennel? Hello?!"He looked around and only saw Munna and Musharna, and realized Pidove's Poké Ball was missing!

"Over here, sleepy head! Here's your Panpour!" Fennel crept up from behind and Panpour jumped into his arms.

"What?" Cheren couldn't understand what was happening.

"Well, as thanks for helping me obtain Musharna, as well as for being my first test subject in seeing how Musharna shows human dreams, I thought I'd catch you a Panpour. Well, you still have to catch it; it just obediently tagged along…" Fennel began to ramble.

'Panpour, the Spray Pokémon. It does not thrive in dry environments. It keeps itself damp by shooting water stored in its head tuft from its tail.'

Cheren captured the Panpour and returned his Pidove. "W-wow, Fennel. You're awesome." He began to blush.

Fennel smiled. "Here," He gave Cheren a kiss on the cheek and returned her Musharna. "Good luck in your gym battle, and hey, maybe you will be the champion of the Unova League!" She winked at him and walked off.

Cheren was bright red and couldn't believe what just happened.

"Sni?" Snivy was oblivious to what was happening to his trainer.

"Huh, so she can read dreams. Well, she's right! I will be the champion of the Unova League, and I'll crush anyone who'll get in my way!" Cheren declared. He and Snivy proudly found their way out of the Dreamyard.

"Darrien! Look! Nacrene City straight ahead!" Ash pointed out,

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted happily.

"What are you waiting for, let's go!" Darrien ran past Ash, as the gang all ran off into the sunset, towards the forecoming gym battle!

Things are getting exciting for our heroes! Bianca is starting to believe in abilities as a Trainer, while Hilda is beginning to realize that being a Trainer is not as easy as she previously thought. Cheren has made a declaration to becoming the Unova League Champ, but does our hero Ash have anything to say about that? Two stories, two gym battles! What will happen? Stay tuned!

Author's Note: *Hey guys, I'm back! I'll try to upload a new story every weekend, like the animé does it. Thanks for taking the time to read, and have a great day! :D *