Chapter Five: Action in EverWood (Part One)

Sapph Manson was one exhausted, but highly pumped trainer in the evenings. Especially this evening…

Shrugging off his backpack in the EverWood Town Pokémon Centre, Sapph hummed a little as he prepared some Pokémon food for his Ledyba and Mongle. It had been two days since he left Olville and although he hadn't caught anymore Pokémon yet, Ledyba and Mongle were working side by side extraordinarily well. The trainer's thoughts drifted to the jam-packed, exhilarating time he had during his previous day in EverWood Forest…

-Flashback-

Back in EverWood Forest…

Dawn slipped through the dense overhead foliage to bathe the forest floor with dapple green light. In a small clearing Sapph woke up to a brand new day.

"Ahhh, what a beautiful day," Sapph said drowsily, stifling a huge yawn as he said so. Reaching for his belt, he plucked two pokéballs off it and released two beams of light which formed his Mongle and Ledyba.

What's the big i-deeeeaaaa? I was sleeping, Mongle said sleepily, his eyes still gummed together in sleep.

Wake up, Mongle, it's a brand new daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Ledyba chirped, his regular speech turning into a high pitched and continuous note.

Sapph covered his ears and stared at Mongle whose eyes had flown open so fast that as he lay on his side ears and mouth twitching, they seemed incapable of returning to their normal size again.

When I snap outta this, Ledyba, you are so going down, Mongle said in a highly muffled voice as Sapph quickly checked on him frantically and Ledyba apologized profusely over and over again for the supersonic wake-up call.

Fifteen minutes after packing up and setting off along the path, Sapph said to the others, "Hey, reckon we could catch one more Pokémon before we get to EverWood Town?"

Yeah, I'm game, Mongle said dismissively. Provided it isn't another stupid bird…

"Hey, Ledyba," Sapph said to his Bug Pokémon, looking in his guide book. "Is there a stream or river nearby?"

Well, there is a lake not too far from here, Ledyba said.

Okay, where? Mongle said.

Just a bit this way, Ledyba said, fluttering on ahead.

Within minutes, a large crystal clear lake came into view. A small cottage stood at the edge of what looked like a small pier which projected about fifteen feet into the lake. A small, unpainted boat stood at the end of the pier, roped to a post there.

A Pokémon Ranger lives there with his Breloom, Ledyba informed Sapph and Mongle. I've seen them lend the boat and old rods to trainers passing through here.

"Excellent! Well, let's go fishing!" Sapph cheered, pumping a fist and sprinting towards the cabin.

That line is so, so lame, Mongle groaned, taking off after him.

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"Man, this isn't my day!" Sapph cried out in frustration about two hours later.

More like, this isn't your life! Mongle joshed, bringing Ledyba to the point of tears of laughter.

"I mean, not even a Magikarp bit!" Sapph continued to fume.

Look, on the bright side, Mongle said cheerfully. At least the ranger got all his lost boots back!

Ledyba rolled over in laughter.

"Oh, ha, ha," Sapph said grumpily, returning the duo to their pokéballs.

"Psst, hey, buddy…" A whisper hissed out from the tree he'd just walked by.

"Hunh?" Sapph grunted, spinning round to face a shifty looking guy holding a silver briefcase and a serious thing for black: he wasn't dress in anything else. His hat, suit, tie, slacks and shoes were all black.

"Who're you?" Sapph said suspiciously.

The man grinned revealing a couple of gold teeth and a few more missing ones. "The name's Shade, kid. Expert Pokémon salesman."

"Salesman?" Sapph said curiously, blinking in a confused way.

"You want a rare Pokémon, kid?" The stranger went on in that hissing whisper, his black shades glinting in the sunlight. "I got some real good stuff here…oh, yeah: Ariados and Sharpedo, Ninetales, Teddiursa…"

"Why d'you sell Pokémon?" Sapph asked suspiciously. This guy was odd, and not in a pleasant way.

"…Shiftry, Foret… hunh? Whaddya mean by that?" The guy said, looking apprehensively at Sapph.

"Hey, you! Stop!" a voice yelled.

"Oops! Sorry, kid, gotta go!" Shade said hurriedly, turning to run and taking Sapph completely by surprise.

"Stop, thief!" the voice yelled again.

Thief? Sapph thought shocked. A split second later, Sapph felt Shade make a snatch for his pokéballs. Jumping back away from him, he grabbed a ball off the top of his jeans and said loudly "Ledyba, go!"

The Five Star Pokémon burst out, ready to fight just as a man in his late teens burst out of the bushes, cutting off Shade's escape route. He wore his green hair all over his face and his red tracksuit was drenched in sweat.

Breathing heavily, the Cool trainer raised a fist and yelled "Gimme back my Pokémon, you filthy sneak thief!"

Shade, sweating profusely, gabbled "Now, calm down, mate! The balls were just lying there… coulda been empty…"

"Yeah, right. Like I'll believe that," the youth snarled. Shade winced.

Pointing at Shade, Sapph snarled "Ledyba, let 'im have it! Tackle attack, now!"

Um, okay! Ledyba said nervously. But, Sapph…

"Hunh? What?" Sapph asked his Ledyba, snapping out of his rage for a minute.

Won't he get hurt?

Sapph and the cool trainer fell over animé-style.

"WHAT THE HELL, LEDYBA! " Sapph roared, towering over his Pokémon.

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! O-okay, I'm on it! Ledyba stuttered, flying in and slamming into the thief, slamming him into the ground and making him drop his briefcase. The portmanteau sprang open as pokéballs scattered.

"My Pokémon!" the Cool trainer cried out overjoyed.

"Hey, that's…" Sapph stared at a white pokéball with a black line running around the middle which had fallen out of Shade's hand when Ledyba tackled him.

Shade sweat dropped. "Uh, well… um, I can…erm, explain, kid…"

Hunh? Ledyba gasped, also recognizing the pokéball.

"Now I'm really ******! Supersonic!" Sapph snarled.

You bad man! Ledyba screeched, opening his mouth wide and releasing some earsplitting sound waves which stunned Shade and sent him flying into a tree stump at the same time.

"Ariados, Teddiursa, go!" The cool trainer called out, releasing what looked like a large red and black spider with six legs and striped markings on its legs and abdomen with a small, golden brown bear with a large crescent shaped moon on its forehead. With adorable cute eyes and large ears, it was very cute-looking…or would have been, if Sapph wasn't so intent on dishing 'Shade' some serious pain.

"Teddiursa, Lick attack! Ariados, String Shot!" the young man called out.

Teddiursa unleashed a large sticky tongue and painted the crook all over his face with thick, paralyzing slobber. As the thief screamed in disgust, the large Bug/Poison Pokémon shot out a fine line of thick gooey webbing which had within seconds, wrapped him up in a large cocoon.

"Thanks for the assist, man," the trainer said to Sapph with a thumbs up as the Teddiursa hefted the man onto the Stringspit Pokémon's obliging back. "The ranger will be sure glad to see this chump again."

"No problem!" Sapph said, returning Ledyba to his pokéball and returning the thumbs up.

"Well, see ya!" He said, turning to go.

"Yeah!" Sapph said, going his own way.

"Man," Sapph said, shaking his head as he returned Ledyba and Mongle's pokéballs to his waist. "What next?"

"Hey, you!" another voice yelled.

You and your big mouth Sapph Manson, Sapph groaned. You and your big, fat, mouth...

"Who? Me?" Sapph asked, turning round.

Two boys, in identical outfits to the youngster's who had lost Ledyba to him the previous day stepped out from behind two trees. They wore red and blue tops just like his yellow top and matching caps.

"Yes you, stupid! We challenge you to a double battle, one Pokémon each!" The one in red yelled.

"Stupid? I'm not stupid!" Sapph countered angrily. "…and incidentally, you're on!"

"OK, go Spinarak!" The red-shirted boy called.

"Let's get 'em, Ravow!" The boy in blue yelled.

A large, green spider with black and yellow striped legs and black markings in the form of a face on its back and a small mud brown bird with two tails and a hood of darker brown feathers on its head and similarly coloured wing and tail feathers burst out of their pokéballs. The spider clicked his short red claws as the bird flapped its wings to get a little altitude for attack.

Ravow, the Little Crow Pokémon, the Pokédex recited. Common in woodlands, this Pokémon is fairly gentle in temperament. It may, however, turn violent in the cause of caring for and protecting its family.

Ok, now this could be tricky, Sapph thought nervously, but we can handle it…

Aloud, he said, "Come on out, Mongle! And you too, Ledyba!"

The Leaf Squirrel and Five Star Pokémon emerged from their pokéballs and stared their opposition down…

…or at least Mongle did.

Cool! A battle! Mongle thought happily, directing a wicked smile at his opponent, which could only be translated to mean 'Ready for the whuppin' of ya life, losers?!' Aloud he said, This is just what the Chansey ordered to pick up the pace, hunh Ledyba? Ledyba? Mongle's grin slid off his face like a Sludge attack aimed at a wall as he looked around to see where his team mate had gone.

His timid compadré seemed to have another agenda when it came to battling. For upon seeing the Stringspit and Little Crow Pokémon, Ledyba had dived for cover behind a nearby rock. Sapph sweat-dropped as Mongle got an anime- style dumb, confused look on his face as he saw the Bug/Flying Pokémon's wide, round eyes peer out from behind his rock.

"You, er, OK, Ledyba?" Sapph said uncertainly.

"What's with that pathetic bug anyways?" jeered the red shirt kid.

I was saying? Sapph groaned inwardly.

Oh-kay…we're in trouble... Mongle added, his eyes sliding back to the corner behind him at his opponents to see the Spinarak and Ravow leer back at him. Mongle inwardly broke into a feverish cold sweat.

"You look pretty stupid to me now!" crowed the blue topped one.

Uhhh… Ledyba? We're kinda in a battle now… Mongle said awkwardly, turning back to look at his team mate, so as not to get the sudden urge to run screaming for his mommy at the Yew Lab Observatory at the sight of his opponents' dangerously smug smiles.

W-w-we are? Ledyba stammered.

Yeah. We are. Mongle explained slowly.

They sort of scare me though! Ledyba trilled.

Don't worry, I got your back…if you're willing to watch mine. Mongle said reassuringly.

Hunh?

Well, we do have to fight them together… Mongle explained.

We d-do?

Yeah, but don't sweat it. Just follow Sapph's battle commands… he's good. We'll be fine. Mongle smiled.

Oh. Okay! Ledyba said, flying out to join Mongle on the field.

"Enough of this crap! Spinarak, use Poison Sting on the Mongle!" The scarlet-clad youngster yelled, pumping his fist.

"Ravow, use Gust on the Ledyba!" The blue-topped trainer directed pointing his Pokémon the way towards Mongle and Ledyba.

"Mongle, jump backwards! Ledyba, gain some air!" Sapph ordered.

Roger! The Spinarak and Ravow called out, racing in to strike.

Got it, Sapph! Mongle called, tensing all his leg muscles in preparation to evade.

I'm on it! Ledyba said, ready to comply.

All four Pokémon leapt into action at once: Spinarak opened its clawed mouth wide and fired several darts at Mongle as Ravow furiously flapped its wings to send a couple of sharp bursts of wind at Ledyba. Mongle did a back flip as the Poison Sting came at him. The attack missed, hitting the ground where Mongle stood a second before. Ledyba flapped his wings even faster, gaining height and managed to escape the dangerous winds.

"Ravow, another Gust, this time at the Mongle!"

Ravow fired another round of sharp bursts of wind at the little Squirrel Pokémon, but Mongle was faster. Mongle dodged again with apparent ease.

"Good job, Mongle! Ledyba, Tackle the Ravow!" Sapph cheered.

"Spinarak, stop him with String Shot!" Red-Shirt hollered.

As Ledyba bore down on the bird Pokémon, Spinarak scuttled up a tree and fired a fine string of sticky web at him similar to the Ariados's Sapph had seen mere minutes ago. The string wound itself around Ledyba on contact, binding Ledyba's wings and forcing him to crash land on the field.

Shoot! Sapph exclaimed mentally, gritting his teeth.

"Got you! Now Ravow, Gust that Mongle outta here!" cheered the blue shirted youngster.

"Mongle, Pound it and cut Ledyba free!" Sapph called frantically.

Mongle focused its speed to its feet and sprang up to slam the Ravow in the side of the head with its tail, sending it spinning towards the Stringspit Pokémon, who managed to dodge by scuttling quickly further up the tree. Its tail then glowed green as he brought it down towards Ledyba, who was struggling to free itself. A trio of sharp leaves struck the webbing and shattered the cocoon, freeing Ledyba.

Cool, a Razor Leaf attack! Sapph thought enthusiastically.

Thanks, Mongle! Ledyba called, shrugging off the last few strands of webbing and rising a few feet off the ground.

No problem! Mongle panted, trying to catch its breath as he struggled to stay upright.

That Mongle's getting tired, Red-Shirt thought, that means we can still win this!

"Spinarak, use Poison Sting on the Mongle!"

Spinarak complied, firing another series of darts at the worn-out Mongle. Mongle tried to dodge the barrage of needles, but was too tired to move much. Sapph noticed this. And, for the first time since the battle began, started to panicked.

"Ledyba, help Mongle! Quickly!" Sapph yelled.

Just when it looked like the attack was about to hit, a red-and black blur appeared and Mongle vanished.

"What the– "

"Good job, Ledyba! Now finish it a Supersonic-Pound combo, you guys!"

"Spinarak, look out!" its trainer yelled in a panicky voice.

Spinarak looked around frantically for his opponents, but before he could get a fix on their location, Mongle and Ledyba showed up on its right. Ledyba let off a stream of high-pitched, focused sound waves at the spider's head as Mongle jumped off his partner's back, spinning in mid-air above Spinarak's head.

"Oh, no!" the Youngster groaned.

"Oh, yes!" Sapph crowed.

Mongle broke his spin above the now-dazed spider by bringing his tail down hard on Spinarak's head. Spinarak, unable to take anymore, fell from the tree trunk onto Ravow, who was just regaining its wits. The crash fainted both Pokémon. Mongle began to fall, exhausted, only to be caught by Ledyba in mid-air, who brought them in for a safe landing.

"Yes, yes, YEEEEESSSS!" Sapph cheered, hugging both his Pokémon.

"Ravow, Spinarak, return!" both boys said, recalling their Pokémon. "Wow, you're pretty strong!" They admitted to Sapph.

"Thanks! That wasn't shabby on your part either! Good battle!" Sapph smiled back.

"Let's battle again sometime!" Blue Shirt said.

"Sure!" Sapph exclaimed, letting go of his Pokémon and a long, low whistle of relief.

"Okay, we'll see ya around at the league, then. We've gotta go home now! Bye!" Red Shirt called as they turned to leave.

"See ya!" Sapph replied, turning to leave.

"Bye!" the duo called, waving goodbye as they disappeared into the shrubbery.

"OK, guys, up for some chow?" Sapph asked eagerly as he set his knapsack down on a tree stump and started to rummage through it for some tinned food.

Mongle and Ledyba looked at each other aghast, before surveying their trainer with some apprehension.

Uh, Mister Sapph, Ledyba began.

"Ledyba? Sapph is OK," Sapph told his ditsy Pokémon cheerfully.

Uh, OK…um, Sapph? What is for dinner?

"Canned pokéchow for you guys and baked beans for me," Sapph answered distractedly, taking out three tins.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOO! Both Pokémon screamed and jumped into each others arms in horror.

"C'mon guys, I'm not that bad a cook, am I?" Sapph said cheerfully, now gathering twigs and sticks for a fire to cook their meal on.

Speak for yourself! Mongle yelled, disentangling himself from Ledyba many arms. Hey! Short Stacks! Save us! Take me with you!

Take you? What about ME! Ledyba screeched indignantly.

Sorry buddy! Women, children and Mongle first! Mongle called over his shoulder as he ran for it. In an attempt to hightail it, Mongle dashed into a bush as fast as he could but ran smack into something cold, wet and roughly the size of his face.

Hunh? Mongle started, peering more closely at what he'd run into. Eerie golden eyes framed by extremely shaggy black hair peered blearily back. Mongle shivered as his new 'acquaintance' rose four feet six inches straight up into shadow as he sat on his backside to rub his nose with a huge, clawed paw.

SAAAAAPPH! LEDYBAAAAAAA! HEEEEEELP! Mongle screamed as the huge bear lumbered out of the undergrowth after him. Sapph was having a tough time getting Ledyba to hold still long enough to see if there was enough salt in the pokéchow.

"Hey what's that?" Sapph asked curiously, fishing out his Pokédex. Ledyba took his chance to run for it.

Do you really think I CARE, Sapph?!! Mongle continued to scream as he ran around in a circle, the black bear hot on his heels. Sapph's Pokédex blinked as an entry was proclaimed to the screaming, snarling, staring and squirming audience.

Grizzlar, the Nocturnal Bear Pokémon. Grizzlar normally restrict their activities to the hours of night. Grizzlar have terrible tempers and tend to attack anything that disturbs their sleep with their long, powerful arms and powerful Hyper Beam attack.

As they past closer to the pot of bubbling Pokémon food, Grizzlar paused to sniff the air. Grizzlar swooned and hit the floor with a thud with its eyes closed as though in a faint.

"Hi there, want a bite?" Sapph asked kindly, spooning a hot ladle load of pokéchow into the Nocturnal Bear's mouth.

Sapph, what in the flipping heck do you think you're DOING??!! Mongle yelled, pelting for cover beside Ledyba.

The Grizzlar's eyes opened wide in horror and disgust as it swallowed the large morsel of food Sapph had stuck into his mouth.

"How was it?" Sapph asked hopefully. "Too spicy?"

The Grizzlar's response was to run for the nearest bush to throw up his last two meals together with the slop Sapph had the indignity to call food fit for champions, his face changing colour faster than a set of traffic lights.

Told you that stuff isn't edible, Mongle told Ledyba.

I never said it was, Ledyba replied delicately.

"Hmm, too much salt," Sapph mused turning back to his cooking.

A fresh, mad and insatiable desire to destroy everything in sight suddenly seized it as it bellowed in rage, stomping the pot and Pokémon food flat.

"So that's how ya wanna play, Teddy? Okay, let's play!" Sapph grinned, rising to his feet and pulling out an empty pokéball as a red and green pair of blurs raced past him. "Mongle! Ledyba! Let's catch him!"

HAVE YOU FREAKING LOST IT!!! Mongle yelled as he and Ledyba yanked Sapph onto his butt just out of the Grizzlar's seven foot six arm span as it swiped at the air with four foot long claws.

Sapph sweatdropped as he saw the Grizzlar shred a good portion of a nearby tree trunk to powder with that one power-packed swing.

"Oh-kaaay," Sapph said uneasily. "What d'you guys say to Plan B?"

What's Plan B? Ledyba asked.

RUN AWAY LIKE LITTLE GIRLS!!! Mongle supplied in a scream, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

Ledyba and Sapph stared at the hulking mass of nine hundred pound fury before them and then at each other.

"Well! Not quite what I wanted to say, but it works," Sapph began.

The Grizzlar's next roar blew the duo away.

"Let's beat it, Ledyba!" Sapph screamed, grabbing his knapsack and running for it into the undergrowth.

Sapph and Ledyba ran and within no time had caught up with Mongle. The Grizzlar, hot on their heels gave another roar as it gave off a Hyper Beam that turned a low hanging branch just above Sapph head to mere traces of blackened dust.

About thirty yards ahead, a girl in a cowboy hat with reddish blond hair straightened up and turned to her Aquari and said, "Well, that's all for this area, Bubbles… let's g…"

In the next second and a whirl of leaves they were gone as Sapph and his Pokémon charged out of the clearing and right into them. The five of them rolled all over each other downhill and smack into the side of a large rock where they disentangled themselves from each other and stared at each other.

"Sapph!" Haley Kent gasped, pointing a shaking finger at the boy trainer as he sat near the rock, massaging his head. Noticing that something else had gone wrong, her head whipped around and gasped, "Where's Bubbles?"

"Ouch, guess I hit that rock harder than I thought," Sapph moaned, touching his sore head and oblivious to Haley's dilemma. A split second later, the pain tripled as Haley conked him one over the top of his head.

"AAAARGH! OWWW, WHAT THE…hunh? What's that buzzing?" Sapph said, stopping in mid-tirade as a loud buzzing sound filled the air around them.

"Don't change the sub- hunh? What is that noise?" Haley said, suddenly noticing the buzzing noise had increased significantly as she had searched for her Pokémon.

The trainer and researcher both turned around and peered into the gloom of the trees behind them. The air there was pitch-black for a few seconds before large red lights filled the air all around them.

"Don't tell me-"Sapph said tremulously as large white cones appeared out of the darkness, the buzzing noises growing ever larger.

"They're…they're," Haley stuttered in fright as large yellow and black striped bodies appeared attached to the large pincers by strong looking purple limbs. The buzzing had reached a crescendo that was almost deafening.

"BEEDRILL!!" Both yelled in unison as a large swarm of the Poison Bee Pokémon appeared in all their three foot three terrifying glory.

"OK…wanna go for it? Mongle, Ledyba! I choose y- Mongle, Ledyba?" Sapph stammered, suddenly noticing that they too were missing. A cold sweat trickled down the back of Sapph's neck as the Beedrill closed in.

"Uh, you guys want to take a rain check on that challenge?" Sapph suggested feebly.

Haley hit him again, snarling" What kind of stupid remark was that?"

If the Beedrill were caught off guard by Sapph's stupidity, they were fast regaining their wits. Their large front pincers glowed white as they reared up. Sapph was no expert when it came to Beedrill, but he at least recognized the attack that was coming next.

"Okay, Plan B," Sapph said nervously, backing away slowly with Haley suddenly whimpering at his shoulder. She'd obviously known what was coming next too.

"What's Plan B?" Haley said with an unusual quaver in her voice.

"RUN AWAY LIKE LITTLE GIRLS!!!" Sapph yelled, grabbing Haley's wrist and dashing through a gap in the ring of bee Pokémon.

"'Run away like'… hey, jerk!" Haley snorted, using her free hand to smack Sapph over the head as he pulled her through the thorny overgrowth.

"Ow! Ouch! Hey, will you knock it off already?!" Sapph howled, using his free hand to cover his head and protect it from Haley's fist and the continuing rain of Poison Sting and Pin Missile attacks that followed them with the attacking Beedrill.

"I'm trying to!" Haley snarled. "But it's still attached to your stupid body!"

"Where are Mongle, Ledyba and Bubbles when we need them?" Sapph howled, dashing around a clump of trees with Haley in tow as their pursuers tore through them like they were made of toilet paper.

"Don't be dumb, they can't handle all of these guys!" Haley yelled back, now clutching a stitch in her side as they came to a large, rickety, rope bridge. Leaning against the post Haley was stunned to see Sapph stare at the bridge as though wanting to cross it.

"You're not serious?" she asked Sapph as he tested its strength.

"Just look behind you," Sapph said shortly.

Haley did. What she saw made her shove Sapph onto the bridge hurriedly as about fifty Beedrill shot out the trees and right at them.

"Hey, not so rough!" Sapph protested as the Beedrill fired a relentless rain of Pin Missile all over the bridge. Not of them hit Sapph and Haley, though that was merely dumb luck. They however tore through everything else: rotting wood, rope, it made no difference. The one thing that seemed definite in that moment was that Sapph and Haley were not going to make it across.

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Hooo, that took some time to write! How you like it? I'd write what comes next but at this rate, the chapter would be about twenty-thirty pages long! Thanks to all reviewers and let me know what ya think! Okay, later!