Team Wildfire: Rekindled
Chapter Two: Into the Tiny Woods
*Anthony's p.o.v*
After entering the forest south of town, we stumbled across a large fissure in the ground. ''Whoa,'' I said looking down the fissure. Inside was a miniature forest. ''W-we gotta go in HERE?''
''Yes, we have to rescue Caterpie no matter what,'' Riolu said coming up to the edge of the fissure. Riolu then leaped from ledge to ledge and landed on the ground inside the fissure. ''Well c'mon! Let's go!'' Squirtle climbed down the side of the cliff face and Zorua leapt from each ledge like Riolu did. I gulped and bit my lip nervously. I looked down and saw that the others were already down on the ground. ''Hurry up, Anthony!'' I took a deep breath and jumped onto a ledge. I then leapt to another one.
''That's it, Anthony! You're almost there!'' Squirtle encouraged. I smiled a small smile and took one more leap towards the ground. I landed on the ground with little difficulty.
''Glad that's over,'' I sighed.
''Took you long enough,'' Riolu grumbled crossing his arms. I felt bad for taking a long time to suck up my courage. I remember that I was afraid of heights ever since I was a little kid. Strange that that's the only other thing that I can remember so far other than my name and that I'm a human. Maybe my memory is slowly but surely coming back to me? ''Let's move.'' We began exploring the underground forest.
''Hopefully Caterpie is okay,'' Zorua said concerned.
''Yeah, and here I thought that the natural disasters stopped,'' Squirtle said sadly.
''Wait, you mean there have been other disasters lately?'' I asked intrigued.
''Yep, earthquakes, tsunamis, you name it,'' Riolu said not looking back at us. ''It's also caused many good Pokémon to turn into savages!'' Suddenly, my ears picked up noise coming from the bushes. A Ratata came bursting out of the bushes towards us. Its eyes were harsh and angry as it scurried towards us. It leapt towards Riolu jaw agape.
''Look out!'' I shouted pushing Riolu out of the way and accepting Ratata's Bite attack. I screamed in agony as the Ratata's teeth sunk into my shoulder. Squirtle grabbed Ratata by the tail and threw him off of me. I groaned and bit my lip in order to stop myself from screaming anymore from the pain. Ratata scampered towards Squirtle still enraged. Squirtle doused it with Water Gun knocking it out.
''Squirtle, Anthony's bite is real bad!'' Zorua said panicked. Squirtle looked at my wound and winced. I saw that blood was pouring out of my wound and was soaking my fur.
''Don't worry, buddy, I got some bandages in the explorer's kit,'' Squirtle said rummaging through the kit. He pulled out some blue substance in a jar and some leaves. Squirtle opened the jar and applied the blue substance. The substance stung on contact but I fought the instinct to yell. ''This is mashed Oran Berry, it heals wounds in about two days.'' Squirtle then put one the leaves which stuck to the mashed berry. I instantly started to feel relief.
''Ah, that's much better,'' I said relieved. ''Thanks, Squirtle.''
''No problem,'' Squirtle smiled. ''That's what friends are for, right?'' I chuckled at the comment. ''You should be grateful, Riolu. Anthony saved you from serious injury.'' Riolu stared at us blankly.
''I can take care of myself,'' Riolu spat ungratefully before walking away from us. We just sneered at Riolu as he marched off to parts unknown.
''Let's just keep going,'' Squirtle said walking. Zorua and I followed him. I did have some difficulty walking with this wound, but I was able to manage a good pace to keep up with the others.
*Zorua's p.o.v*
We wandered the forest for what seemed like hours searching for the lost Caterpie. Anthony's nose was sniffing the air. ''Wow, my nose is picking up so many smells,'' Anthony said taken back by his newfound ability. ''I guess since I'm a Growlithe now, I can smell things much better than when I was a human.''
''You get used to it,'' I chuckled.
''Well, I hope that maybe I can smell out Caterpie or any dangers,'' Anthony said. Anthony resumed smelling the air. He then winced in disgust.
''What? What do you smell?'' Riolu asked somewhat impatiently.
''You don't want to know,'' Anthony said repulsed. I also picked up on the putrid smell.
''Yeah, you really don't,'' I added.
''Well stop wasting time, we need to find Caterpie before it gets dark,'' Riolu said agitated. We then resumed walking. After awhile, my right ear started to twitch.
''Hey, I hear something!'' I said alert. Everyone turned their attention towards me.
''What are you doing in our territory, huh?!'' a malicious voice demanded.
''Please help me, I lost my momma,'' a small, innocent voice pleaded.
''How about we rough you up and teach you a lesson instead, you little runt?'' another voice suggested. I could then hear some approving voices to the one voice's suggestion.
''No! No please! Someone help me!'' the innocent voice yelled.
''That must be Caterpie! He's in trouble!'' I said worried.
''Where's the voice coming from?'' Riolu asked.
''That way!'' I said pointing straight down the path.
''Well, let's go then!'' Squirtle said determined. We ran down the path getting closer and closer to Caterpie's voice. In a few minutes, we saw a cowering Caterpie and a group of Wurmple who cornered him.
''HEY!'' Riolu shouted. ''Leave Caterpie alone!''
''More intruders?!'' the largest Wurmple said. ''Looks like we'll have to teach you a lesson as well!'' Wurmple then lunged at us with his horn pointed towards us. We dodged out of the way. Squirtle immediately pelted a Wurmple with Water Gun and I slashed at another Wurmple with Fury Swipes. Riolu dodged a Wurmple's head thrusts hoping to inject Riolu with poison. I glanced over at Anthony who was running away from the largest Wurmple fearfully.
''Anthony, fight back!'' Riolu commanded.
''But this is really dangerous!'' Anthony said panicked.
''Get over here, you coward!'' Wurmple yelled annoyed at Anthony's cowardice. Anthony tripped over his feet and face-planted into the dirt. Anthony tried to get up but Wurmple tied him down with String Shot.
''Now I got you right where I want you!'' Wurmple boasted. Wurmple then sank his horn into Anthony's flesh causing him to howl in pain.
''Anthony!'' Riolu, Squirtle and I shouted. However, the rest of the Wurmple wrapped us up with String Shot.
''Anthony, you gotta fight back!'' I pleaded.
''I c-can't, guys,'' Anthony said weakly. ''M-my body feels w-weak.''
''Well, that's what poison does to ya,'' Wurmple snorted. ''Now, sit there while we finish off your friends!'' The Wurmple scurried towards us and signaled for everyone to ready their Poison Sting attack. The Wurmple charged at us and we braced ourselves for the attack.
''THAT'S ENOUGH!'' Anthony shouted breathing Ember at the Wurmple knocking out all of the smaller Wurmple leaving the largest Wurmple to shiver in fear. Anthony ripped the string and slumped towards us. ''Get out of…my sight…NOW!''
''Y-you got it!'' Wurmple scampered into the brush.
''Hey, you did it, Anthony!'' Squirtle said proudly.
''Way to go!'' I chimed in.
''Yeah, not bad,'' Riolu said trying to hide his impressed attitude.
''Th-thanks…guuuuuys…'' Anthony said before fainting and startling us.
''Anthony!'' We exclaimed.
*Anthony's p.o.v (Thirty minutes later)*
''Hey…Anthony! Wake up!'' Squirtle's voice said. I woke up to find myself surrounded by my teammates, Caterpie and his mother, and Blastoise.
''You're awake!'' Caterpie said relieved.
''Thank Arceus!'' Blastoise added.
''Wh-what happened?'' I asked slowly getting over my grogginess.
''You fainted from poison,'' Riolu explained. ''We needed a Reviver Seed to wake you up.''
''AND you saved Caterpie and your teammates from that Wurmple gang,'' Blastoise smiled.
''That's right, you mustered up the courage to save us!'' Squirtle chimed.
''You're my hero!'' Caterpie said as his eyes sparkled.
''Thank you so much,'' Butterfree said fluttering up to me. She then pecked me on the cheek. A Butterfree's kiss tickled but wasn't wet like a human's kiss.
''No problem, Miss,'' I said bashfully. ''I just felt a fire brew inside of me and unleashed it on that Wurmple gang.'' Butterfree giggled in response.
''Anyways, I suppose I should reward you with something nice,'' Butterfree said turning towards Riolu.
''No ma'am, you don't have to do that!'' Riolu said waving his hands.
''It's alright, I insist,'' Butterfree pushed. She pulled out a small bag and handed it to Riolu. Riolu opened it up revealing an Oran, Pecha and Rawst berry. ''I don't have much money and can only afford to give you these berries.''
''It's fine, ma'am, the safety of your baby is reward enough for us,'' Riolu smiled.
''Aw, you're so sweet,'' Butterfree giggled before pecking Riolu on the cheek. Riolu blushed in response causing Squirtle and Zorua to snicker.
''What's so funny?!'' Riolu snapped embarrassedly. The others laughed at the situation.
''You're so cool!'' Caterpie said in awe of us. ''I want to be on a rescue team one day and be cool just like you!''
''That's a great goal to pursue,'' Riolu said kneeling down to Caterpie's level.
''We hope your dream comes true,'' Squirtle added. Caterpie continued to stare in adoration of us. This kid's as cute as a button, I thought.
''Well, it's time for us to leave, boys,'' Butterfree said. ''Come now, Caterpie.''
''Bye!'' Caterpie yelled before crawling after his mother. The two Bug Pokémon disappeared into the forest.
''I'm really proud of you boys,'' Blastoise said. ''You completed your first rescue mission and you did it well! Keep up the good work now.''
''Thanks, dad!'' Squirtle cheered. ''I'll be back home in a bit. I just want to show Anthony something.''
''Take your time, son,'' Blastoise chuckled before walking into the forest.
''See that house, Anthony?'' Squirtle said pointing to a brick house. ''That's our base!'' The house had a low brick fence surrounding the house and a dirt lawn was inside the fence.
''Hey, that's a nice base!'' I said in awe. I felt my tail wagging frantically. Maybe it was my Pokémon instincts? I ran inside and saw a stone floor with a small stump table and some stump chairs. A bowl of apples were on the table and seemed to glisten in the sunlight. A straw bed was in front of a large window. A pot of water sat nearby. ''This is so cool!''
''I'm glad you like it,'' Squirtle said proudly. ''This house has been here for ages! We figured that you don't have anywhere to stay and so we thought you'd like to live here.''
''Really? Oh, thank you!'' I said happily. ''This looks like a cozy place to sleep.''
''Good, then we should get going,'' Zorua said. ''It's getting late.''
''Yeah, I am feeling tired,'' I yawned. ''Good night, guys.''
''Good night, Anthony,'' Squirtle said waving. He and the others left the room and disappeared. What a strange day, I thought. I get turned into a Growlithe and join a Pokémon rescue team! Maybe this is just a dream? I still can't remember anything about my life other than I'm a human. Maybe some sleep will make things clear. I circled in my bed and lied down to go to sleep.