Tangela, Tangrowth, and Togekiss

Looking like a heap of shoe-eating vines, the Tangela sat out in the sunny yard. He knocked his red shoes together, a little bored with the wait. The kids who had gathered seemed bored too, waiting on Luke, the boy ringleader who organized most every bit of mischief in town. Especially bored was the young girl who was creeping up on him.

With a smile hidden by blue foliage, Tangela continued knocking his shoes together. The girl walked up behind him, grabbed one of his vines, and started tickling him. "Gotcha!"

"Gweeeee!" he squealed, breaking into peals of laughter. The hairs on his vines were highly sensitive, so it never took much to get him tickled.

"Quit fooling around," Luke called, coming into the yard. "We've got a meeting to start."

Much to Tangela's disappointment, the girl let him go. "It would help if you weren't always late!"

"I came right at the start of the meeting, so I'm perfectly on time." He jumped on a stump, then let his Pinsir out of her ball. "Okay everyone, I've got big news, so listen up."

If the meeting was starting, Tangela needed to be ready. He caught his breath from being tickled, then skipped over to his Trainer Pete. Smiling, the boy patted him, then looked back to Luke. The two boys squabbled a lot, as they had different ideas on doing things. But Tangela believed in Pete. Once they were able to go out on a journey, he felt that the two of them would make a great start to a winning team.

Luke pointed to the north. "Up there is Aarde Woods, as you know. There's lots of great Pokemon in there, but I've learned something even bigger about the place. Living in the woods are a monster and an angel."

"It could just be some unusual Pokemon," Pete commented.

"They are not."

"I bet they are."

Luke glared down at him. "I'm in charge, so don't argue."

"What do they look like?" one of the other boys asked.

"Well the monster is huge and green. It eats little kids and young Pokemon, then hides by pretending to be part of the forest landscape. And worst of all, it smells like a wet Raticate."

"Ewwww," the girl said.

"But the angel had great white wings and a beautiful voice. Not many people have actually seen it, but many have heard it. And they say if you do see it, you'll be very lucky for the next year."

"That's awesome."

"I still think they sound like unusual Pokemon," Pete said.

Tangela patted his Trainer's knee. "Be careful. Remember what happened last time you got in an argument with Luke?" There was still a bruise on Pete's chest from that fight.

"Even if they are," Luke argued hostilely, "the monster one is dangerous. We're big kids, so it won't try to eat us, but what about the little ones? Or your little girly Grass Pokemon?"

"Tangela is not girly!"

"All Grass Pokemon are for girls. Anyhow, if you think you're man enough," he shot a daring look at Pete, "you can join me in saving the angel from the monster. We're gonna beat that monster, Pokemon or not, so that it's no longer a danger to anybody."

"So we'll be heroes?" a fourth boy asked.

"Of course."

"Unless they are just ordinary Pokemon," Pete said. "Then you'd be a villain for hurting one."

"I don't know why I call you to our meetings anymore, dork," Luke retorted. "If you don't like it, just stay out of it. As for the rest of you heroes, come on!" He ran off with his Pinsir and the other two boys.

"Are they gonna hurt a Pokemon?" the girl asked.

Luke got up. "We'll make sure they won't. Right Tangela?"

The mass of vines nodded. "Right."

"We've got to find the one they think is a monster first. Let's go!"

They ran into the woods.

Several hours later, Pete and Tangela were deep in the trees. It was getting dark. "Can you find the way out if night falls?"

Tangela nodded, holding some brush aside with a blue vine. "I can feel what the other plants feel. They can show me the way to go."

Although he didn't know the Pokemon language, Pete knew his own Pokemon enough to feel relief. "Good, thanks. Man, I hope Luke didn't find them."

"Kuu waiii."

Pete looked up to the Pokemon call. "There's that one again. Sounds like one of the birds. I wonder if that's his angel. It is a pretty voice."

Sensing something, Tangela knelt down and ran one of his more sensitive vines over the ground. He picked up chemical traces that seemed familiar; it was something he felt he should know, but didn't. Patting along the ground, he found a trail. He hopped up and waved a vine at his boy. "Hey, there's something here!"

"Found something? Good work." Pete hurried along after.

They came upon a clearing in the woods. It appeared that there was a vine-covered rock in the middle, but a closer look showed red shoes and a pair of eyes. But it was much larger than Tangela and had some extra long vine bundles that acted as arms. The Tangrowth was holding Luke and his Pinsir captive with some of vines, the former by his ankles, the latter around her pincers.

"Kwaa." The birdcall came from somewhere nearby.

Tangela hopped up close, then bowed politely. "Good evening, elder. I didn't know you were living here."

Tangrowth nodded to him. "Good evening. I keep to myself, mostly."

"Pete!" Luke called, seeing them approach. "See, I told you! It's the monster and he's got some angel with a beautiful voice captive."

He sighed, shaking his head. "You nitwit, I'm the one who's right. This is what my Pokemon's going to evolve into."

Luke looked back at the mass of blue vines. It was obvious to see the connection, although he didn't want to admit to his mistake. "That thing?"

Smirking, Pete came up to his rival. "Can't say that he's girly now, huh?"

"How am I to evolve?" Tangela asked. "My mother never did."

"Hmmm..." He put a vine onto Tangela's mass. "When you get a chance to learn an ancient power, do not hesitate."

"An ancient power? I'll remember that."

"But you have to admit that this thing is a monster," Luke said, still trying to prove his point. "It's got me and Pinsir captive, along with the angel."

"You probably acted in a threatening manner."

Tangrowth nodded. "Rude and crude is a better way to put it, but it was a threat."

Pinsir growled. "Once I get myself loose, you're going to pay for this."

"Can it, bug."

Waving his vines, Tangela asked, "Hey, who is that Pokemon calling out every now and then? The one he calls an angel."

"Togekiss? Back under that bush." He pointed towards a large draping mound of leaves. "She's injured, so I'm watching out for her as she heals."

"Can we go up to her? My Trainer might be able to do something for her."

"I don't know about that. It was a human who hurt her."

"It's okay," a soft voice came from the bush. "I sense compassion from him."

Tangela then tugged at Pete's shirt. "Hey, come over here." He hopped over to the bush.

"What's up?" The boy looked up at Tangrowth when he noticed where his Pokemon was going. But the older Pokemon nodded again, allowing them to go.

Underneath the bush was a rare white bird Pokemon; her plumage was so pure that if the Tangrowth hadn't been hiding her, a predator might have had her helpless. With she had natural speckles of red and blue, there was an extra red mark on her left wing. "A human tried to capture me by violent means," she explained. "I would have been unhappy under him and my powers would thus be weak. So I did my best to get away, only to end up unable to fly for long."

Pete grinned. "You're kind of right, Luke," he called into the clearing. "I've heard some people call Togekiss an angelic Pokemon. But this Grass 'monster' is protecting her."

"Dang it," the other boy grumbled. "I was going to be a hero sooner rather than later."

"You aren't going to be a hero with your attitude," Tangrowth retorted. He released Luke, but kept hold of Pinsir. "And you, for snipping off my vines, you're staying put."

"You grew them back already," she said in a huff.

"It still hurt."

"I hope you don't mind if I use one of your medicines," Pete told Tangela as he pulled a Super Potion out of his bag.

"No problem."

He sprayed the potion over Togekiss' wound; it worked quickly to increase the healing rate. "You don't want to fly on it tonight, but you should be fine tomorrow."

"That's good," she replied, nuzzling Pete's arm. "Are you two traveling?"

"Not yet," Tangela replied. "But we should be setting out next summer."

"He already has a kind heart, which is a good start. But I assure you, you both may find a bit of luck coming your way."

"Thank you very much." He bowed.

Pete closed up his bag and got up. "Come on Tangela. And you too Luke, I guess. We're going to miss the fireworks if we don't get back to town soon."

"So long as they're far away from me, great!" Tangela bounded back to a path.

Luke recalled his Pinsir, then ran after them. "Wait! You aren't even going to try catching them?"

"You have any Pokeballs?"

"No."

"Good." Pete grinned. "I do, but it's not fair to catch an already wounded Pokemon like that. And Tangela will be that powerful too, in his own time."

"You loser!"

Togekiss settled back down as Tangrowth made sure the bush covered her again. "A poor opinion. He won't make it far."

"You'll see to that?" the vine Pokemon asked.

"No, he'll see to that himself."

A week later, Pete woke up to find a mysterious egg on his windowsill.

…

Tangela Leaf Green entry: The blue vines shrouding its body are covered in a growth of fine hair. It is known to be ticklish.

Tangrowth Platinum entry: Its arms are made of plants that bind themselves to things. They grow back right away if cut.

Togekiss Platinum entry: It shares many blessings with people who respect one another's rights and avoid needless strife.

This was originally posted for Independence Day (of America). The Togekiss entry here is really appropriate for that.