July 2, 2007
"Kori!" Lyssa yelled, panting. Lyssa had been woken up, just as the sun was rising. By 6:30 a.m., Kori had forced them to eat, dress, pack and leave the Pokémon Center. Yes Kori, the same girl who usually tended to wake up late in the morning. Now Lyssa and Diana have been running on and off for the past hour, trying to catching up with Kori. "What the hell is the rush?!"
"We've been in Floraroma Town for too long," Kori stated. She continued to run faster and faster. Kori was running so fast, Chimchar and Oshawott were struggling to keep their hold on Kori's shoulder. It wasn't too long before they ran past the Valley Windworks, which was currently closed down for the repairs that desperately needed to be done.
Lyssa was so annoyed by all this running. She felt so breathless and her legs felt like jelly. She wanted to stop running already. Lyssa eventually caught up with Kori and grabbed her arm to stop the younger girl from going any further. Lyssa didn't say anything at first, it took a few moments of catching her breath before she finally stated what was on her mind.
"Why are we running so fast?" Lyssa asked. Diana stopped as well, bent over with her hands on her knees. She was trying to catch her breath while the other two girls spoke.
"I told you-," Kori started.
"I heard what you said!" Lyssa yelled. "But that's not good enough!"
Both Chimchar and Oshawott shared an uneasy look between them. The yelling was making them nervous.
"Now," Lyssa said more calmly. "Tell us what's wrong? And why are we running so fast? It's not like we'll reach Eterna City in one day."
"I just want to get moving," Kori said. She turned and continued walking, "preferably as quickly as possible."
"But why are you pushing us so hard? I refuse to move another step until I know why you woke us up so early and had us running for an hour!"
"Fine!" Kori stopped. "Do you really want to know why I'm in such a hurry?" The rhetorical question came out in a soft whisper, almost too soft for the other two girls to properly hear. Kori turned so that she was facing them. "It's because we need to get stronger!"
"What?" Lyssa asked. She leaned her head to the side, wondering what the hell Kori meant. Diana on the other hand, seemed to understand exactly what Kori meant.
"You're talking about Team Galactic, aren't you." It was a statement, not a question.
"We shouldn't have been that outmatched," Kori answered. "Our pokémon took all of that damage… And Mars…" Oh god, she still remembered that horrible look in the other girl's eyes. When Mars had started towards her, Kori realized just how alone she was at that moment; everyone was either too hurt to be able to help her, or they were somewhere else that that moment. Kori honestly believed that Mars was going to kill her, and it scared her so badly, that her blood ran cold. Now she was just angry. I'm never going to be in that position ever again, Kori promised herself. "We were all too weak to stop them. I'm sorry that I've been pushing everyone so hard to leave like this, but the only way I can see us all getting stronger is to continue on this journey as quickly as possible."
Lyssa and Diana shared a look with each other. Kori was right; Team Galactic had been too much for them to handle. Also, even though they still did not know what happened to Kori when they left, the other girl seemed freaked out by it. None of them wanted to have something like that happen again.
So, without anything else to say to each other all three girls continued on their path silently, thankfully walking this time. In another fifteen minutes, they were surrounded by trees, bushes and all the shrubbery that came with being in a forest. Kori opened the map.
"We're in Eterna Forest," she said. No one said anything in response. Except for the sounds made by nearby pokémon, no one said anything else as they continued to walk. Chimchar and Oshawott jumped off of Kori and decided to go exploring up ahead. Both pokémon ran through some bushes and collided with something. Chimchar closed her eyes when she bumped into something soft and furry feeling, then shortly after Oshawott bumped into her, causing her to fall on top of the fur.
"Chim…" Chimchar slowly opened her eyes and got up. That hadn't been fun; not at all.
"Oshawott," the smaller pokémon complained. He got up from the ground, pulled his scalchop off, cleaned it and put it back when he was satisfied that it had not been damaged. "Wott?" What happened?
"Vee…" Chimchar and Oshawott turned towards the sound… A brown pokémon with a very large, cream- colored collar of fur on its neck. It got on its four legs slowly; its brown eyes looked very dazed, until those eyes focused on the other pokémon smiled and wagged its furry tail once every two seconds. "Eevui!" It yipped in delight. It seemed to be saying hello.
Chimchar and Oshawott smiled at their new friend. They had never seen this pokémon before.
"Hey Eevee where are you?" A boy came out of the bush behind the new pokémon. The boy was bent over, hands on his knees. He looked out of breath. Once he was done catching his breath, he combed his fingers through his short, brown hair, staring at the pokémon known as Eevee with amused, hazel eyes. The boy was wearing sky blue jeans with holes on the knees and black, converse high tops.
"Eevee you really shouldn't run off like that." The boy finally took notice of Chimchar and Oshawott. "Well hello," the boy said with a smile. "I've never seen you two before. Where did you two come from?" Chimchar and Oshawott just waved at the pair. The boy must be this pokémon's trainer, but before they could explain, a voice yelled.
"Chimchar! Oshawott! You two better not have gone too far!" Kori, Diana and Lyssa finally caught up with the two rambunctious pokémon. "You two can't just run off where I can't see you," Kori scolded. Both Chimchar and Oshawott gave her very bashful smiles.
"Oh so they're your pokémon?" Kori took a break from her mini rant to notice the boy standing nearby. Kori blushed in embarrassment. How had she not notice him earlier? He seemed to have been standing there for a while.
"Yes they are," Kori answered. "I'm Kori and these are my partners, Chimchar and Oshawott."
"Chimchar!"
"Oshawott!"
Lyssa smiled and waved. "My name is Lyssa."
Diana shyly waved. "And my name is Diana. Hello."
"Hello," the boy greeted. "My name is Bobby." Bobby gestured towards the brown pokémon in front of him. "And this is Eevee."
"Eevui." Eevee announced, wagging its tail.
"Ahh!" Lyssa cooed. "Nice to meet you Eevee." Lyssa knelt in front of Eevee petting its fur. Eevee seemed to puff its little chest out; taking pleasure in the attention the girl was giving it. Kori, who wondered what an Eevee was, pulled out her green pokédex.
Eevee- the Evolution Pokémon. Eevee is a unique pokémon that can adapt to its environment by changing its form and abilities when evolving.
"That's right," Bobby said. He seemed to agree with the explanation provided by the pokédex. "And that's the reason I'm here."
"What do you mean by that?" Kori asked, intrigued.
"Why don't you all join me at my camp?" Bobby offered. "It's just right behind me and I can explain a little more there."
Everyone agreed. They had nothing better to do anyway, and it also helped that Bobby seemed nice enough. So to the campsite they went.
Time Skip
"So you're a pokémon coordinator Bobby?" Diana asked exactly. "Have you won any ribbons yet? Can I see?"
Bobby smiled at the girl's enthusiasm. "Yes I am. So far I've won one ribbon, after competing in about four contests." Bobby pulled a red ribbon case out of his backpack and handed it to Diana, who opened the case. Inside was a yellow ribbon with baby blue borders. It also had a star shaped gold pin. It's so cute, Diana thought.
The girls had just found out that Bobby was a pokémon coordinator who just started his journey a month ago. He was from the Hoenn region, like Lyssa, but was from somewhere called Oldale Town and instead of beginning his travels in Hoenn, decided to begin in Sinnoh.
"That's great," Lyssa said. "I'm from Hoenn too; from Pacifidlog Town. I'm trying to be a Pokémon battle photographer."
"Awesome!" Bobby exclaimed. "Can I see your work?"
Lyssa nodded. "Sure." Lyssa pulled her album out from her bag and handed out to Bobby, who quickly went through them.
"These are really good," Bobby said.
Lyssa beamed in pride. "Thank you. I take a lot of pride in my work."
"Yes she does," Kori agreed. "Diana's also a coordinator."
Bobby seemed interested. "Really?"
Diana wrung her hands in her skirt. "Yeah… I competed in my first contest back in Floraroma Town." Diana looked back at Bobby's ribbon. "But I can't wait to actually win a ribbon…"
"Oh yeah," Bobby said. "It feels really great to look at that ribbon and know that my pokémon and I won. To know that all our hard work paid off feels great."
"Must be nice to have won," Diana sighed wistfully. She handed Bobby the ribbon case back.
"Yes it sure was," Bobby admitted, "but I still have a long way to go before I'll be able to compete in the Grand Festival with my pokémon. And while I'm competing for those four other ribbons, I have a lot of other contest losses to look forward to." Bobby shrugged. "That's okay because coordinators need to be able to take those losses and improve. It's hard to lose, but you can't take it too personally you know?"
Diana paused. She thought back to her own contest experience and smiled. "Yeah you're right."
Bobby nodded again and grinned. "Since we're both coordinators, that makes us rivals." Bobby winked. "So if we ever compete against each other, don't expect me to go easy on you."
Diana smirked. "Funny. I was just about to tell you the same thing."
Kori smiled. She was pleasantly surprised to see Diana so relaxed and confident with potential rival. It seemed that befriending other rivals would be doing some good for her self- esteem. She considered just going with the flow of conversation, but something was bothering Kori. "So what did you mean about changing Eevee?"
"Huh?" Bobby gave a blank glance towards Kori. "Oh yeah. Sorry, I forgot that I promised I would explain didn't I?"
The girls nodded. Nearby, Chimchar, Oshawott and Bobby's Eevee were chasing each other, playing some form of tag. Eevee ran back and sat next to Bobby, the boy patted its fur absently.
"Well I caught Eevee about two weeks ago," Bobby explained. "After the last contest I completed in. I made my way into Hearthome City. While I was in the Pokémon Center, I heard about this woman named Bebe. She lives close to the Center and she breeds Eevee and gives them away for free." Bobby looked down at his Eevee. "That's where I found this little guy."
"Bebe just gives away Eevee?" Lyssa asked excitedly. That's means she could get a cute little Eevee for herself.
Bobby nodded. "I think she continually breeds them."
"Anyway, the first two days, we stayed in Hearthome City. I wanted to get back on the road as soon as possible. I'm trying to find a contest I can compete in and Eevee got really excited about something I looked up to see."
"What was it?" Kori asked. Chimchar and Oshawott leaned forward, hoping to hear more.
"It was a Leafeon," Bobby explained.
"A Leafeon?" Diana asked. Kori and Lyssa had never heard of the pokémon either. Diana pulled out her own pokédex.
Leafeon- the Verdant Pokémon and the evolved form of Eevee. Leafeon is always surrounded by fresh clean air because it uses photosynthesis just like a plant.
"So Leafeon is another eeveelution?" Lyssa asked. Over Diana's shoulder to see the image on the pokédex. Leafeon is a fox- like pokémon, whose body is tan, except for patches of green and dark, brown fur on its feet. Its eyes were the same color as its feet. Its ears, mane and tail seemed to be green plants as well. "I've never heard of it," Lyssa said.
Kori was confused. "What's an eeveelution? I thought that Leafeon is the evolved form of Eevee."
"Well Kori, Leafeon is just one evolution of Eevee," Bobby clarified. "Eevee is called the evolution pokémon because it can evolve into one of seven pokémon under the right circumstances. These evolutions of Eevee are called eeveelutions for short. Leafeon has been recently discovered along with another pokémon called Glaceon."
"Huh? What's a Glaceon?" Kori pulled out her pokédex again, just to see what would be said about this other pokémon she had never heard of. A four legged pokémon with blue fur and blue eyes appeared.
Glaceon- the Fresh Snow Pokémon and an evolved form of Eevee. Glaceon can freeze the fur on its body, and make it stick out like sharp needles.
"Okay," Kori said. It was beginning to make sense now. "You're trying to get Eevee to evolve into Leafeon, instead of the other evolutions, but how do you do that?"
"The only way to make Eevee evolve into Leafeon is to find a nearby Moss rock. For some reason, this rock needs to be nearby while Eevee is evolving. The Eterna Forest is the only place in Sinnoh where that Moss Rock can be found."
Bobby looked down in disappointment. "But I've been here a few days already and I still haven't found it. And Eevee really has his heart set on being a Leafeon… I don't know what we'll do."
"Hey don't give up," Kori said. "If Eevee really wants to be a Leafeon, we can help you." Kori looked towards the other girls, silently asking if that was alright."
"Yeah," Diana agreed. "We can cover more ground that way."
Chimchar pumped her fist in the air. "Chim!"
Oshawott gave a salute. "Oshawott."
"Well I'm in too." Lyssa sighed dreamily, "It would be awesome to take a picture of an actual evolution."
"Really?" Bobby asked. They all nodded and he jumped out of his seat and quickly started packing. "Let's get this show on the road then."
Eevee nodded. "Vui!"
After Bobby was done packing his stuff, they all began their search, Kori decided to call out one of her pokémon. "Altaria! Time to enter the fray!"
"Taria!" The humming pokémon soon came out of a white ball of light.
"I need you to search the forest for a really large rock covered in moss," Kori asked. "Think you can find it?"
"Taria!" Altaria gave a salute and took to the skies. They all watched as Altaria became a smaller and smaller dot, flying away.
"We should split up," Lyssa advised. "We'll cover more ground that way. One if us is bound to find it. We'll meet her in an hour."
They all nodded and all walked in separate directions- Bobby, Diana and Eevee went to the East. Lyssa, Kori, Chimchar and Oshawott went to the West. Altaria would continue to cover the sky.
Kori and Lyssa kept walking, but they haven't found anything as of yet. This forest was really big.
"We should call out our pokémon," Kori said. "They can help us search more of the area." Kori threw two pokéballs to release Cherrim and Duskull.
Lyssa agreed. The more help the better. Lyssa released her Corsola and Bidoof. "Everyone we're looking a Moss rock. Please travel together with a partner and help us find it." The pokémon all seemed to give their consent. Corsola and Bidoof quickly went off in one direction, Chimchar and Oshawott quickly went off in another. Duskull seemed to be very hesitant but, with Cherrim guiding the way, went another way. Kori and Lyssa went back to their own search.
Chimchar and Oshawott seemed to have been searching for a long while, but they seemed to be coming up empty. They had spoken to the forest pokémon they had met, but known of them either knew what they were talking about or weren't interested in talking with them. It was so frustrating.
Chimchar sighed. "Chimchar char." They still didn't find anything.
Oshawott was getting irritated. "Osh oshawott osha!" Where was this stupid rock. It made no sense at all.
"Chimchar…" Chimchar said, trying to get Oshawott to calm down. Getting angry wasn't going to get them anywhere. "Char char chimchar." They needed to keep looking.
"Oshawott!" Oshawott stopped his foot like a bratty child Oshawott was still a child, Chimchar reminded herself. It really wasn't that long ago that he hatched from an egg.
"Chimchar chim chim," Chimchar answered, gesturing around. The forest was a pretty big place.
That reminder did nothing to calm Oshawott down. Instead Oshawott seemed to be more aggravated. Oshawott was so mad; he took his scalchop and threw it into some nearby bush without a thought. After a few moments, Oshawott realized what he had done and ran into the bushes. He couldn't believe what he had done to his beloved scalchop. Chimchar could only sigh at Oshawott's erratic behavior.
Chimchar silently waited for Oshawott to pull himself together. She expected to wait a very long time, but she was surprised when Oshawott jumped out of the bushes and ran passed her. "Chim?" Huh? Chimchar turned back towards the bushes Oshawott came out of. What was that sound? Was that… buzzing? Chimchar readied herself.
Suddenly, a large swarm of yellow bugs with three faces each flew angrily out of the bushes.
"Combee!" The flock flapped their wings, ready to attack with Gust.
Chimchar took a deep breath and used Flamethrower on the Combee, hitting them and causing major damage. The attack was so powerful, that Chimchar ended was pushed into a nearby tree by the sheer force of it. Oshawott ran back, grinning bashfully.
"Osha," he answered, scratching his head in embarrassment. Chimchar just gave him a look. She was just glad that was over.
The buzzing sound came back with a vengeance. More of those terrifying pokémon started coming out of the bushes; too many for Chimchar and Oshawott to fight together. Chimchar grabbed Oshawott's paw and started running as fast as she could.
Lyssa sighed heavily. "We still didn't find it!"
"Hey calm down," Kori said half- heartedly. "We'll find it soon enough. We just have to keep on looking." Truth was, Kori was just as annoyed. She wished someone had thought to left a sign that revealed the location of that Moss Rock. Then no one would have to wonder around the whole forest looking for it. But no one had thought about that. Now we're in this situation. It's like searching for a needle in a haystack. Kori watched Lyssa take her frustration on some nearby rock by kicking it. Then Lyssa started hopping up and down on her only injured foot. Kori couldn't help it when the laughter started.
Lyssa groaned in pain. That stupid rock had hurt her foot. She was also fixing to give Kori a good tongue lashing; how dare the other girl laugh at her pain. Just when Lyssa was about to give Kori a piece of her mind, two familiar pokémon ran past them and stopped when they saw the girls.
"Chimchar? Oshawott?" Kori asked. Those were definitely her two pokémon, but she couldn't understand all of the jumping around, yelling and pointing they were doing. They were so loud and their speech so quick, neither girl could understand. They only understood when they heard a loud buzzing sound a few seconds later. Kori and Lyssa turned to face the source of the sound. A large group of small insectoid pokémon, with wings appeared. The pokémon resembled three pieces of orange, hexagonal honeycombs, with yellow faces, stuck together. Those faces were glaring down on them angrily. They looked about readily to start attacking them.
"Chimchar use your Flamethrower on them!"
Chimchar took a deep breath and then flames came out of her mouth, hitting some of the Combee in the middle of the mob with enough force to make Chimchar fall hard on the ground. Lyssa and Kori used the distraction to run. Kori picked up Chimchar and she, Lyssa and Oshawott continued to run. Kori could hear those pokémon coming after them.
"Why are they even chasing after us?" Lyssa asked out loud. Kori had no idea, but she heard the beep of her pokédex. Maybe she could find out what was chasing them.
Combee- the Tiny Bee Pokémon. It collects and delivers honey to its colony. At night, they cluster to form a beehive and sleep.
Oshawott started gesturing to the Combee while running. "Oshawott osha osha wott wott sha wott oshawott!"
"Why the hell did you do that?: Kori telled. Lyssa was still very confused, so Kori quickly explained what Oshawott had done to the Combee.
"Why the hell did you do that?" Lyssa yelled. Oshawott really didn't have to answer. Yes he messed up, but they were all too busy being chased by the Combee and Oshawott was getting tired fast.
"Okay Oshawott," Kori gasped. "Use Air Slash!"
What? Oshawott thought. Oh damn it. Oshawott turned towards the mob and jumped into the air before he unleashed his attack. He managed to hit some of the Combee out of the air. Kori grabbed Oshawott before he could lag behind. Most of the Combee were still chasing them. God damn it all!
"Taria…" So far Altaria continued to fly through the sky. He hasn't found anything. Wherever this rock was, it couldn't be seen from the sky. Maybe it was underground? While Altaria was searching, he noticed his trainer, Lyssa, Chimchar and Oshawott being chased by a group of flying pokémon. Now he was on alert. "TARIA!" Altaria flew as quickly as he could after them.
Cherrim and Duskull haven't had any luck finding the Moss Rock themselves.
"Cherrim cher?" Cherrim asked, wondering if they should start heading back now.
"Skull…" Duskull answered back unsure. Cherrim noticed that Duskull seemed to be quite timid and unsure about a lot of poor thing looked like he was about to run if someone made the wrong move.
"Corsola…"
"Bidoof…"
Cherrim and Duskull turned towards the voices. Corsola and Bidoof had come out of some large bushes, looking very tired and sullen. The pair hadn't noticed Cherrim and Duskull. "Cher!" She called, getting their attention. They turned towards to Cherrim.
"Corsola!" Corsola hopped closer to the Blossom Pokémon. "Corsola cor?" Corsola wondered if she had found the Moss Rock.
Cherrim shook her head. So for this meant none of them had come up with anything. Just great.
"Bidoof!" Bidoof yelled. "Doof Bidoof…," he said. This was a waste of them. Both female pokémon sighed, they couldn't help but to agree.
"Bee…" All four pokémon looked towards the sound, which got louder and louder, until they finally saw something. Kori, Lyssa, Chimchar and Oshawott running towards them. Behind them, thousands of angry, Combee.
"Run!" Kori yells to the pokémon. They didn't need to be told twice; they all started running like there was no tomorrow.
Lyssa started wheezing. "We have to slow them down," she whispered. Her throat felt so dry, her legs were turning into jelly. She still hadn't recovered from the earlier run. It made Lyssa wish she never skipped gym class when she was younger. "Corsola use Rock Blast. Bidoof… jump over the rocks and use Hyper Fang."
Corsola abruptly stopped and turned towards the Combee. Her spikes began to glow and rocks were thrown towards the Combee, hitting those who were too close to dodge. Bidoof jumped over the attack, baring his fangs. Bidoof flipped over multiple rocks. Bidoof flipped multiple times and hit a few of the Combee. Kori realized that move wasn't Hyper Fang at all. Bidoof repeated the move a few times, rolling over the Combee mob over and over again. They all stopped running when they realized that all but one of the Combee had fainted.
"Is this… finally over?" Kori asked.
"I… don't know," Lyssa answered. She suddenly started laughing. "But Bidoof learned Roll Out!"
Bidoof smiled bashfully while everyone offered their congratulations. They were all happy it was finally over.
Unfortunately they were wrong.
"Bee…" Everyone stopped celebrating when they heard the sound.
"Oh god," Kori gasped.
"Please no," Lyssa pleaded.
The Combee started to get back up. The girls' blood went cold when the Combee glared so ominously at them.
"Now what?" Lyssa yelled, exhausted. Kori had no answer, she didn't even think she could run anymore. The Combee used Gust, but a white blur hit the pokémon.
"Altaria!" Kori yelled, glad that finally was still a chance to escape this. "Use Sing!"
Altaria started singing, causing magical tunes to come out and circle around the Combee. One by one, the Combee started dropping like flies, asleep. This girls and the pokémon were so relieved they did not notice that two of the Combee escaped.
"Thanks Altaria!" Kori smiled. Altaria cooed in response. "Lyssa we should return some of our pokémon. That way we won't all to run like this if the Combee wake up."
Lyssa nodded. It made sense to her. Both girls returned their pokémon, leaving only Chimchar, Oshawott, Altaria and Corsola out. That way, if the Combee woke up and attacked, their pokémon would be able to do significant damage. With that in mind, they ran, hoping to find Diana and Bobby before it was too late.
Diana, Bobby and Eevee have been searching for at least forty-five minutes at least, and they have yet to find the Moss Rock.
"I think that we should start heading back now…" Diana stated hesitantly.
Bobby sighed. "You're probably right. Let's start heading back."
Eevee sighed, physically deflating. "Ee…" Suddenly, Eevee's ears perked up. What is that? The evolution pokémon asked himself. In the distance, Eevee could hear a very loud buzzing sound. Eevee looked to his trainer and Diana. Both were walking back towards the way they had came; none of them seemed to have heard the sound at all. It still surprised Eevee; how could humans live with such bad hearing? It made absolutely no sense.
At some point, the buzzing got so loud, too loud for even human hearing to ignore. "What is that?" Bobby asked. Everyone turned to the bushes in the left, where the buzzing sound was coming from. It didn't take too long to answer Bobby's question. A large group of Combee came out of the trees, and they were being led by another pokémon that was still unknown. Diana pulled out her pokédex.
Vespiquen- the Beehive Pokémon and the evolved form of a female Combee. It's body is a hive and it raises its offspring with the honey gathered by the Combee.
"They don't look very happy right now…" Diana hesitantly pointed out. Eevee stood in front of his trainer, ready to do whatever it took to protect them.
The Combee flapped their little wings to perform a Gust attack. Eevee charged up a Shadow Ball and attacked them all with the attack. Some of the Combee were hit by the attack but some managed to dodge.
"Vespi!" Vespiquen began to charge up a red ball of energy.
"Oh no!" Bobby yelled, panicked. "That Power Gem!"
Vespiquen's attack, Power Gem was charged and released the attack on Kori, Diana and Eevee.
The attack was coming too fast to dodge. Diana closed her eyes and prayed that she felt no pain. Loud explosions could be heard, but the pain never came. Diana opened her eyes. Flying between her, Bobby, Eevee and Vespiquen was Altaria.
"Great job Altaria!" Kori yelled. When she saw Vespiquen attack, she had thought that they were too late, but Altaria managed to deflect the attack with a move Kori had never seen him perform before.
Bobby sighed. "That's for the save Kori." His countenance became grim. That Vespiquen wasn't playing around, so neither could he. Bobby pulled out a pokéball. "Mudkip!" Bobby threw the pokéball. "Help us out!"
Out of the ball, came a small, blue, amphibious looking pokémon with black, beady eyes. On its large head was a large fin, orange gills on its cheek."Mudkip!" Kori pulled out her pokédex.
Mudkip- the Mud Fish Pokémon. Mudkip uses the sensitive radar receptors on its headfin to determine what's going on around it. In a pinch, it can brandish enough power to crush rocks.
"Mudkip use Water Gun on Vespiquen!" Bobby yelled.
Mudkip opened his mouth and released a copious amount of water, which drenched Vespiquen.
Diana threw a pokéball. "Shinx, use Thundershock!"
Shinx was released from this pokéball and attacked with a powerful Thundershock. The attack hit all of the Combee, causing most them of faint.
"Altaria use Aerial Ace on Vespiquen!"
Altaria flew towards Vespiquen at a breakneck pace and hit the Beehive pokémon.
"Now Chimchar use Flamethrower!"
"Chim." Chimchar took a very deep breath and released a powerful flame. The flame was so powerful, Chimchar was knocked off balance. Instead of hitting Vespiquen like she intended, she hit the remaining Combee. Those Combee passed out from the pain.
Vespiquen quickly went on the offensive. It created another Power Gem and threw the attack at Altaria.
"Altaria watch out!" Kori yelled.
It was too late. The super effective attack hit Altaria, and caused the flying- type to fall out of the sky. Kori manage to return Altaria to his pokéball before he fell to the ground. It was then that the situation became direr. Even more Combee appeared out of the bushes and behind their leader. The army was too large for the trainers and their pokémon to fight against.
"We need to get out of here!" Lyssa yelled. "Corsola! Distract them with Rock Blast!"
Corsola's spike glowed, and released multiple glowing stones. The stones hit some of the Combee and this Vespiquen.
"Now's our chance to run!" Lyssa yelled before running. No one needed to be told twice. They people and pokémon- ran as fast as they possibly could.
Little Time Skip
Bobby leaned against a damp wall, trying to catch his breath. "This… is better… we'll be able to hide from them in here."
The girls nodded in agreement. Their current location was probably the best hiding place in the entire forest.
After they had run away from the Vespiquen and Combee horde, they had ran everywhere in search of a hiding spot. When they found a dark cave that was hidden behind a waterfall, they all began to breath easier.
Kori walked closer to the entrance of the cave. Chimchar and Oshawott followed.
"I don't see them anywhere,"" Kori reported, "but we should all stay here just in case."
"I agree," Diana gasped. "They could really show up anywhere. We need to wait them out."
"What I don't understand," Bobby remarked, "is why they were attacking us in this first place."
Kori blushed furiously Oshawott looked down on the ground, carefully avoiding eye contact with everyone. They both did not want to explain.
Lyssa had no such reservation. She quickly reiterated the same story that Kori had told her.
"Huh?" Bobby was dumbfounded. "Why the hell would it do that?!"
"Vee?"
"Mud?" Both Mudkip and Eevee fixed looks of disbelief on the culprit responsible for this. Oshawott shrugged bashfully.
"While that explains why they were so riled up in the first place." Diana stretched her arms over her head. "It doesn't explains why they continued to attack us. After they chased us all around a few times, why didn't they get over it?"
Everyone realized that Diana made an excellent point. Why did Vespiquen and the Combee want to attack them?
"Maybe they felt threatened?" Lyssa asked aloud. "When our pokémon began to attack them, maybe they took it as some sort of threat?"
Bobby shook his head. "I don't think so," he said. "It makes no sense, especially when they started attacking us. I think that when Oshawott threw the scalchop at one of them, they became very annoyed. Then when we had to defend ourselves against them, that annoyance turned to anger. They're just overreacting-."
"Shush," Kori whispered. She grabbed Chimchar and Oshawott and went deeper into the cave with everyone else. "They're coming this way," she whispered.
Everyone quieted down and leaned towards the walls, praying that the shadows would be enough to cover had no choice but to silently watched the Combee and Vespiquen through the waterfall. The bee pokémon were still looking for them. If they were to notice the trainers inside the cave, they would be done for.
"Let's slowly walk deeper into the cave," Bobby whispered. "If we're quiet, they may not notice."
Everyone agreed. No one felt good about standing this close to the cave's entrance; it seemed like Vespiquen or the Combee would notice them in no time. The trainers and their pokémon slowly walked deeper in the cave, never once taking their eyes off the angry mob buzzing at the entrance.
They continued to move farther into the back; farther from the Combee. They thought the had finally escaped them, but alas, they were not so lucky.
The pokémon were doing exactly what their humans were doing. Eevee and Mudkip took up the front, while Chimchar and Oshawott took up the very rear of the group. Oshawott wanted to keep an eye on things going on outside the cave, so he decided to walk backwards.
Oshawott was so busy watching the Combee outside, he didn't notice the rock that was behind him. Oshawott tripped over the rock and fell.
Kori and Chimchar watched in horrified fascination as Oshawott's scalchop soared through the air. The object flew outside of the cave and landed in front of Vespiquen. Kori cursed their luck.
At first, Vespiquen made no movement. It just continued to watch the scalchop that landed in front of it. Then it looked towards the waterfall that the object came out if. Vespiquen knew that the object looked familiar, but she couldn't remember why.
Then the answer became clear. One of the Combee had complained that they had been attacked by an object that looked something like this… Which means that those intruders were still near. Vespiquen picked up the scalchop and yet for her underlings.
"Oh my god," Lyssa whispered. Fear marred her face as she watched the scene taking place outside.
Vespiquen yelled and pointed towards their location. The Combee flew towards their location.
"They spotted us!" Kori yelled. She carried Chimchar. "Chimchar use Flamethrower!"
"Chim!" Chimchar attacked as commanded. The attack was so strong, Kori had to brace herself from the force of the attack. The Combee were kept at bay by the attack.
"Shinx use Thundershock!" Diana called out. Shinx used Thundershock on the remaining Combee. The Combee fainted.
"Ves!" Vespiquen powered up a powerful Gust. The attack blew everyone deeper into the cave.
"Mudkip use Water Gun… Eevee…," Bobby could hardly breathe the attack was so powerful, "use Shadow Ball on Vespiquen."
Oshawott use Air Slash on Vespiquen… Chimchar use Flamethrower on Vespiquen."
"Corsola… you use Rock Blast on Vespiquen!"
All five attacks were used on Vespiquen. Vespiquen stopped using Gust and yelled. The remaining Combee who didn't faint jumped in front of her. Everyone watched, shocked that they had sacrificed themselves in such a way.
"Eevee use Quick Attack!" Bobby commanded. Eevee ran quickly towards Vespiquen.
The Beehive pokémon attacked using Power Gem. The attack hit Eevee. The little evolution pokémon was thrown farther into the cave.
"Eevee!" The pokémon cried out in pain.
"Eevee!" Bobby watched helplessly as his pokémon was physically thrown farther into the cave. Bobby tried to run after Eevee, but another Power Gem right in front of him. By the time the smoke cleared, Eevee had vanished.
"Eevee!" Eevee was physically thrown farther into the cave. Eevee panicked when he could no longer see his trainer. The attack kept pushing him farther and farther into the cave. Eevee panicked when he could no longer see his trainer. The attack kept pushing him farther and farther into the cave, no matter how hard Eevee tried to go back.
The attack pushed him into a rock. Eevee winced as he slid off of the rock and on the ground. Before he could even register the pain of his new injuries, Eevee's body began to glow.
The trainers and pokémon were still facing Vespiquen, inside the cave.
"Chimchar use Flame Wheel!"
"Chimchar!" Chimchar rolled into a Flame Wheel towards Vespiquen, who managed to dodge. Flame Wheel ended up hitting Turtwig by mistake.
"Twig!" The tiny leaf pokémon yelled in pain.
"Turtwig!" Diana yelled. Diana returned her starter to his pokéball after he fainted.
"Sorry!" Kori yelled quickly, trying to find the bug- type. Chimchar had come out of the attack after hitting Turtwig. She was so distracted that she didn't notice that Vespiquen was suddenly behind her. "Chimchar look out!"
"Chim?" Chimachar slowly turned around. Everyone watched as Vespiquen's red eyes glowed an ominous purple. Chimchar's blue eyes began to glow the same purple. Chimchar couldn't understand what was happening. "CHIM!"
Chimchar started attacking one of the cave walls with her Iron Tail.
Kori's stomach squirmed. "Chimchar stop it!" Kori yelled. Chimchar continued on, as if she couldn't hear her trainer. Kori realized that her starter had been confused, she helplessly watched Chimchar continued to hurt herself more and more.
This can't continue like this," Lyssa thought. "Corsola use Water Gun on Chimchar!" A whole chorus of "what?" could be heard.
"Cor?" Corsola looked very apprehensive. Everyone watched, completely shocked when Corsola did hit Chimchar with the attack. Chimchar fainted.
"Kori picked Chimchar's body up and spared a glance to Lyssa. The older girl's brown eyes held nothing but remorse. Kori understood; Lyssa and Corsola did the only thing they could to save Chimchar.
"Kori look out!" Diana yelled. "Shinx use Thundershock!"
Kori narrowly dodged the attack Vespiquen must have been behind her. Hopefully, this last attack may finish her off.
Unfortunately, the queen bee saw the attack coming and managed to dodge.
"What?" Diana yelled in disbelief. How could Vespiquen didge it so quickly?
The stray Thundershock hit both Mudkip and Oshawott.
"Mudkip!"
"Oshawott!" Both pokémon fell on the ground.
"No Mudkip!" Bobby returned his starter into a pokéball. Kori grabbed Oshawott.
Kori growled. "This is hopeless!" It had been their pokémon against the Combee and Vespiquen. While the Combee went down with little no real problem, Vespiquen had proven to be their most powerful opponent.
Kori's Altaria and Cherrim had fainted earlier in the battle. When Kori released Duskull to join the fight, the ghost- type kept trying to run away, so Kori returned it. Now both Chimchar and Oshawott have fainted as well, meaning she was out of pokémon.
Bobby lost Eevee in the cave, now Mudkip fainted. Kori felt a pang of sadness for Bobby; he had to be very worried about Eevee but he couldn't check on him.
Lyssa's Bidoof fainted as well. Now the only pokémon left to battle were Lyssa's Corsola and Diana's Shinx.
Vespiquen flew in front of the last two pokémon standing. How was Vespiquen still able to battle? So frustrating.
"Corsola use Rock Blast!" Lyssa ordered.
"Shinx use Swift!" Rock and golden stars combined to become what seemed like an unstoppable force.
Vespiquen managed to dodge both attacks and use Gust. Both Corsola and Shinx took major damage and fainted.
Both Lyssa and Diana returned their pokémon. The trainers knew that they were defeated; there was nothing else they could do. Unfortunately, Vespiquen knew that as well.
The Beehive pokémon flew over the trainers and unleashed another Power Gem.
This time no one made a move to dodge. They couldn't continue to fight; they had already lost.
The attack came closer and closer to them. They knew there was nothing they could do. They were defeated.
Bobby seemed to be the most defeated. His Eevee was still missing and he couldn't go and see if he was alright. "Eevee…" Bobby closed his eyes. He did not wasn't the last thing he saw to be that devastating attack.
As the attack was about to make its mark, a blur appeared right in front of the trainers. Vespiquen couldn't believe that her attack had failed. Just who did that?
The smoke cleared. A figure was revealed. The girls gasped.
"No way…" Kori breathed. Diana ran over to Bobby and shook the boy out of his stupor.
"Bobby," the girl whispered. "You've got to see this. Quick!"
"What…?" Bobby opened his eyes. The maile coordinator gasped. "Could it be…?"
Golden hazel eyes looked at Bobby, as if awaiting an order. "Leaf?"
"Leafeon!" Bobby exclaimed. He pulled out his pokédex studying the attacks that his newly evolved pokémon learned. "Use Quick Attack!"
"Lea!" Leafeon ran towards Vespiquen, hoping to land a hit on the bug- type.
"Ves!" Vespiquen charged a Power Gem attack and threw it at the verdant pokémon.
"Leafeon use Leaf Blade!" Leafeon jumped and flipped. The leaf on his head glowed with power. Leafeon continued to flip like a wheel, through the Power Gem, causing the attack to explode. Then Leaf Blade attacked Vespiquen as well. Vespiquen fell out of the sky with a loud cry and crashed on the ground. Everyone waited with bated breaths, but after a few long moments, they realized that Vespiquen wasn't getting up.
It was finally over.
"It's time for us to keep moving," Kori told everyone. Her newly revived Chimchar and Oshawott were on her shoulders.
"Do you really have to go now?" Bobby asked. His Mudkip and Leafeon were standing, right next to him.
"Kori nodded. "We need to make it to Eterna City as soon as possible."
Bobby shrugged. "I understand. Thanks for all your help." Bobby shook hands with all three girls.
"No problem." Lyssa grinned. "We got to see an Eeveelution."
"Oh," Bobby said, "before I forget. Diana, there's another contest that's going to take place about two weeks from now."
"Really?" Diana asked, excited. "Where?"
"MesLoban Town. I know that it's pretty close to Eterna City."
Diana couldn't stop grinner. Another contest is just what she needed.
After some more goodbye were said, the three girl left for Eterna City.
Diary entry, July 2, 2007
Night has fallen so we decided to set up camp. Thank God.
Honestly the whole day has been intense. With getting attacked by the mob of Combee and that Vespiquen, not to mention all that running, I'm surprised that none of us fell unconscious from exhaustion.
This whole day has really been humbling. That wild Vespiquen practically annihilated my team of pokémon, along with my friends'. This just proves that we all need to get stronger than ever.
-Kori
P.S- Helping Eevee evolve was so awesome. Bobby had told us that a woman in Hearthome City always gives away a litter of Eevee. I can't wait to get my own Eevee.
Kori's Pokemon
1. CHIMCHAR (female): (FLAMETHROWER, ACROBATICS, IRON TAIL, TAUNT, FLAME WHEEL)
2. ALTARIA (male): (SING, STEEL WING, AERIAL ACE, COTTON GUARD, MIRROR MOVE)
3. OSHAWOTT (male): (SCALD, AIR SLASH, RAZOR SHELL)
4. CHERRIM (female): (MAGICAL LEAF, SUNNY DAY, PETAL DANCE, TACKLE)
5. DUSKULL (male): (MEAN LOOK, DARK PULSE, NIGHTSHADE, WILL-O-WISP)
Lyssa's Pokemon
1. CORSOLA (female): (WATER GUN, ROCK BLAST, BUBBLE)
2. BIDOOF (male): (HYPER FANG, ROLL OUT)
Diana's Pokemon
1. TURTWIG (male): (RAZOR LEAF, EARTH POWER, BITE, ENERGY BALL, SYNTHESIS)
2. SHINX (male): (SWIFT, TACKLE, THUNDERSHOCK, SCARY FACE, SPARK)
The Friends
Bobby's Pokemon
1. LEAFEON (male): (SHADOW BALL, QUICK ATTACK, LEAF BLADE)
2. Mudkip (female): (WATER GUN)