Chapter 11: Nearing The End
Both of the brothers' stood frozen against the cave, both met with a several pairs of red eyes, scattered all around the cave, gazing straight at them. But as Sparks looked at what he'd assume be more Beedrill, he noticed that all of those death stares were staring straight towards Bolt, which made Sparks worry about his brother.
Sparks started to step back, hoping that Bolt would follow suit. However, the Luxio stood as strong as he could toward the dozens of red eyes, making Sparks, on the other paw, look at his bother in total fear.
He wasn't thinking about-
And then, just as Sparks had feared, the Bee Pokémon flew out of the cave and straight towards the lion. Sparks Quick Attacked to run behind a nearby boulder to hide from the Beedrill, just incase it changed it's direction.
Fortunately, Bolt had also been expecting this, as he jumped to his right side and dodged all but two of them, who charged at him with furious faces. Bolt took a second to smirk as sparks went up his body.
"Let see you dodge this!" He said as the yellow bolts of lightning escaped from his body and shot both of the bees in their chests. Bolt watched the two of them fell to the ground, he then quickly turned around to see the others swarm around him. Bolt was ready to dodge and then attack, but they instead kept flying around the Luxio, giving out a loud buzzing sound that only grew louder and louder.
Bolt did his best to stand his ground, and angrily tried to figure out what they were doing. Sparks poked his head out from behind the fight and recognized what the Beedrill were doing. They were flying all around Bolt so that he wouldn't be able to get out, trapping him inside! Sparks remembered reading one time that this form of attack was to confuse the opponent inside. A type of strategy that was perfect for fighting against Bolt.
Bolt thought about what he could do as the buzzing was just getting louder and louder with every passing second. He decided to use Thunderbolt again. Just...on which one? Bolt tried to find a target, but due to all of the Beedrills' speed and the amount of dust that was starting to kick up in the air he could barely even tell how many Beedrills there were.
Bolt closed his eyes and shot another thunderbolt at a random spot out of rage, hoping to at least stop the noise.
It seemed to have worked a little, as some of the noise went down, so he opened his left eye, but he was met with a drill that dove straight into his upper left shoulder. The impact sent the lion tumbling into a nearby wall, which made Sparks let out a small gasp.
Bolt was a good fighter, but this was just way too much for him! Let alone Sparks! There just didn't seem like a way to beat them! Even if tried to get away from them by swimming on Melody, Sparks was sure that they'd...
Wait, that's it!
Sparks looked down the river to see where Melody was, and it looked like she was still trying to fight the current. So, she wasn't in the best spot to fight, but that didn't matter, because the Beedrill could still hear her!
"Melody! Try to talk to them! See if we can figure out why they're attacking us!" Sparks yelled toward the turtle.
Bolt got mad, and went to speak up, but with his eyes still locked at the angry Bug-Types. "Wait, what!? Talk? They'll attack us either way, I just knocked down one of them, so of course the rest are going to attack! They're wild!" He yelled.
Sparks corrected Bolt, saying, "They're Pokémon. They can understa-"
Bolt cut Sparks off. "Look, could you, for once in your life, HELP me! We can take them, especially when the Lapras shows up-"
*Stab!*
"AGH!" But Bolt also couldn't finish, as he suddenly felt a sharp drill go into his left back leg. Bolt fell to his knees and turned to see what hit him, and he saw the Beedrill, who he thought he'd knocked out, with it's now purple drill inside his skin.
Bolt had been poisoned, badly. And the worst part was, Bolt could tell that this was the Beedrill Sparks gave the berry to.
"Come on Sparks!" He cried out angrily. Bolt struggled to turn around, but his fighting rage was enough strength he needed to do so. "Why...Why you little!.." Bolt growled.
He started to jump at it, but then the poison kick into his leg, causing the once strong lion to fall flat on his face. He then put his head up to see two more Beedrill charge straight it him.
Bolt quickly pushed on his back right leg, and rolled out of the way just in time to dodge the first bee, but the second one slammed right into the Luxio's face. Sparks watch in horror as Bolt was slammed right towards the water.
He looked at Melody, who was now very close to the shore, but she wasn't saying anything to calm things down. Sparks was in total confusion, and spoke to her. "Why aren't you saying something?!"
"He gets what he deserves. Now, let's cause no more trouble-" Melody said.
Now Sparks was angry at her. Yes, Bolt has done bad things, but that's because sometimes, he doesn't know better! Sparks looked at his brother, who was now at the shore, just barely moving. He looked across from him to see the rest of the Beedrill slowly ganging up on him, readying their stingers to poison him even more.
The Beedrill never seemed to care about Sparks or Melody, he could just run away from Bolt, but no. That would be nothing but a heartless move for him to make. He knew he had to save Bolt, because they were brothers at the end of the day
Sparks bent down on his four paws, and gave one more look at Melody. "Fine. If you won't do it, then I'll make you." He muttered.
Before Melody could reply, Sparks Quick Attacked straight toward the Beedrill. He then jumped right into one Beedrill's face and bounced to his brother. Sparks was right in front of Bolt when Sparks turned around and saw the Beedrill get up from the ground with an angry look across his face.
They were thinking of attacking him now, which is just as he had planned.
Sparks then put both his paws up, and looked toward Melody, and said, "Melody! Calm. Them. Down!"
Melody froze and looked at her friend, he...he wasn't going to just stand still, was he?! The Beedrill then turned their heads toward her.
Melody then looked at Sparks, seeing the same look of bravery he'd given to her so many times.
The Lapras closed her eyes. Alright, fine, she'd do it.
She then charged up a cyan light and shot it straight into the sky, causing all of the Pokémon to stop moving and freeze. Melody looked at the Bug-Types and saw that they were all still, she then looked at Sparks and asked, "Now, what?"
Sparks let out a sigh, it worked! Thank goodness. He looked up at Melody. "Call them to you and ask them why they are fighting us." Sparks ordered.
Melody thought for a moment and then spoke in her wild voice to the Bug-Types. The bees just look at each other in surprise at first, as they probably didn't expect the Lapras to talk like them, considering that she could also talk like the brothers.
They then one by one left Bolt, who was now covered with marks and on the ground, and went towards Melody. Sparks ran to his brother.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
Bolt didn't move. Sparks' immediately rubbed his two front paws and shocked Bolt making both of them jolt a little.
"Let's try it again: Are you okay?" Sparks said a little louder.
Bolt then slowly turned his head toward Sparks and groaned. "No, give me a berry-Cough! You coward! I can-" He looked around and saw the Beedrill flying by the Lapras.
Sparks ignored that last part once again went into his bag and started looking for one of his Pecha Berries. Once he gave the Luxio his request, he heard one of the bees speak up to Melody. He turned toward them to find a Beedrill pointing to them.
"What's it saying?" Sparks asked.
Melody raised her head and looked at Sparks. "It say Luxio attack them first!"
What? Sparks looked at Bolt, and then back at Melody. "But we just got here, and they attacked us first!" Sparks then looked at Bolt, who now looked shocked.
He then came up with an idea. "Ask them HOW we attacked first!"
Melody nodded and spoke to the Bug types again. And suddenly the same Beedrill that pointed at Sparks and Bolt, seemed to be going on some sort of rant with it going on and on to the Lapras like if he was playing charades. It kept on yelling, but then pointed to the sun, then at the bush, and then to a smaller Beedrill right beside it. It then finally ended with it pointing right at Bolt. Melody thought for a moment, seemed to tell the Wild Pokemon to wait, and looked to Sparks again.
"This Beedrill say Luxio attack small Beedrill at a bush this morning! Now they think he attack them again!" Melody called out.
"What?!" Bolt yelled.
"What." Sparks said as he looked toward his brother in annoyance. "Bolt, what did you do?" Sparks asked.
Bolt swallowed the rest of the berry. "When I was running after you, about at noon, I fought a Beedrill by a berry bush." Bolt then stood up. "But that attacked me first, so don't point your paw at me!"
Sparks smirked a little, it wasn't much that he got to see Bolt like this, all panicked, and really, guilty. He then called out to Melody again.
"Was it because Bolt took a berry?" Sparks said.
Melody smiled a little too, but continued to speak toward the bees. Finally, the smaller Beedrill, started to talk, more calmly compared to the others, and went on for a minute or two.
Melody looked toward the Beedrill, and seemed to be thanking the bee. She looked at Sparks. "Small Beedrill says that was their bush, thought Bolt was stealing from them."
Sparks smiled, knowing that they were getting somewhere, and went toward Melody. "Okay, tell them that we're- or he's sorry. I'm going to grab something."
Bolt looked at Sparks and his fur went white when Sparks hopped on Melody and went into Bolt's bag. Bolt feared that Sparks was going to find his compass Gator had given him. Bolt felt some energy come back to him as he saw his little brother's head inside his bag, and quickly started to make his way to Melody.
"Sparks, what do you think you're doing?" He asked, trying to hide his sense of panic.
Sparks, thankfully, closed the bag, but revealing several berries that Bolt had picked. "Ending what you started." He replied firmly as he jumped down from Melody. "Ask them if these are theirs." Sparks told Melody.
Bolt let out a small sigh. "Well, better the berries, than the compass." He thought to himself.
He then looked toward Melody and all of the Bug types, and could fully believe that everything seemed all figured out. He didn't think it would happen, but Sparks' plan somehow worked.
...
Bolt sighed. Okay, maybe not 'somehow.'
"I'm just scared for them alright?" A worried female Luxray told her husband.
The Raichu at her left just came towards her and gave her a soft hug. "Lina, I'm sure they're somewhere around town." Devin said to her. "Don't get so overworked about something you don't know."
"O-of course I should. And it's not only that, but it's the fact that I told Bolt to stay with Sparks that has me all worked up!" She exclaimed as she moved from Devin's arms and looked toward the kitchen.
The two Pokemon had just returned home from a trip. They were expecting to be greeted by their sons, but they had no type of fanfare when they came back. At first, they thought they might be in their rooms, but one look in inside, and they found that the doors weren't even closed.
"Out of all the days I had to say that; we had to not be here. Do you think Bolt got mad when he saw my note?" The Luxray said in a panic.
"Lina, calm down!" He said as he stood up. "Look, did we think our two boys would be home when we came back? Yes. But what's the worst thing that you think could have happened?" The Raichu asked.
The Luxray just took in a breath in, and looked down. "Oh, I don't know. I guess they would yell at each other and maybe even fight against each other?"
"Alright, those are good reasons, but that's nothing out of our reach, is it?"
The mother shock her head, which made the father smile. "Let's just wait until tonight-" Devin assured.
"But what about the one unfinished plate in-" Lina quickly pointed out.
"That was Sparks' plate, you know how excited he can get." Devin took in a breath. "I'm not saying that there's nothing wrong, but you may be over reacting to this. Like I said, just wait-"
*Knock*Knock*
Suddenly, they heard something at the door. The Luxray brushed herself off to try and look normal for the unexpected guest, while Devin went toward the door. The Raichu opened it to see a familiar Wingull at the door.
"Oh, hello. Can I help you?" Devin asked.
"Yes, are you Bolt the Luxio's parents?" The visitor questioned.
The parents looked at each other fearing the worst.
Devin turned his head back and asked, "Um...yes, is something wrong?"
"Nothing at all! I just wanted to tell you about a few small things. Do you know about that Lapras that broke out from Gator's ship last night?"
"Yes, we heard that from a bunch of our neighbors." Lina said in a worried tone. "Are you all alright?"
"Yes, it was like some sort of a Wild Pokémon revolution, but I can assure you that we're all fine, the ship was just fixed and has already started sailing." The bird takes a small breath. "I just came to tell you that your son was asked by Gator himself to deliver a small package to somewhere in Treasure Town."
"T-Treasure Town?!" Lina exclaimed.
The Wingull gulped at the sudden response. "Um...yes, but I can tell you he's 100% fine and should be back here with you by tomorrow."
Lina still didn't like the answer.
"W-wait!" She cried out.
"Yes?" The Wingull said.
"What is my son delivering? And who is it going to?" She said very worried tone.
The Wingull thought about saying something, like he doesn't know, but he looked at the mother and decided to answer her. "Some Berries to the Guild over there. That's all I know. I'm sorry if I'm bringing bad news."
"Nono, it's fine." Devin said, not fully liking the answer either. "Thank you for informing us about that. Hope you can get back to your ship."
"You're welcome, and I will." The Wingull said as he flew away.
Devin just closed the door and turned to his wife. "Well, that wasn't exactly what I thought was going to happen, but at least we have answers now."
Lina went from worried back to concerned in a heartbeat. "Dear, I think something's very wrong."
Devin raised an eyebrow. "Really? I mean, me too, but what exactly do you mean by 'very'?"
"Well, I find it weird that he only mentioned Bolt and not Sparks. And if that was true, then that means Bolt's out going across the island and Sparks is here all alone, even though I clearly told Bolt to spend more time with him!"
"It is weird why he just went out alone and there wasn't even a note telling us that. We'll need to address that to him when he gets back."
"And why didn't Sparks finish his food? And also, knowing him, he'd be here to welcome us back."
Devin thought back. "Ya, I guess that is strange."
The Luxray walked to a window, and went on. "And also, why would Gator ask Bolt to go all the way to Tresure Town if they were still going to fix the ship in the same day? I'm no expert, but if he did fix the ship, I wouldn't be surprised if Gator was already at Tresure Town just waiting for our son. And-"
She was about to continue, when Devin hugged her once again. He then whispered. "You know, I've always loved you for being the brains of our team back in the good old days. Seems like it's grown in perfectly with being a mother."
Lina let out a small smile, only to worry again. However, Devin quickly sees this. "We'll go around town to look for Sparks, and if we find him, we can ask him about Bolt, alright?"
"But what if we can't find him?" Lina said with her head down.
The Raichu went silent for a while, then let out a small chuckle. "Alright, now you got me worried. Could you just calm down a little for me?"
"Sorry." Lina said. "I guess I'm just worried about Bolt and Sparks' safety now."
The two Pokémon continued to brace each other for just a little bit longer, then finally stopped. They went together into their room and then got ready to leave their home.
"I'm sure Sparks is fine, trust me. He's probably playing with some Pokemon right now, having a good time."
Bolt jumped onto Melody's shell and laid down, as she started to move, and they finally continued on their way down the current.
After several minutes of back and forth between Sparks and all of the Beedrills they had finally resolved the problem and made a deal. Sparks gave the bugs all of their berries back, and even some extras due to Bolt carelessly, as Sparks put it, eating some of them.
In return, Bolt had to never attack another Beedrill in his life, unless he needed to of course. The worst part was when the Beedrill asked Melody about him, to which Sparks happily replied, 'I think he's learned his lesson.'
And the bad part about it was, as much as Bolt wanted to disagree with Sparks, he was...right. Bolt really was the one who got them into the mess, and he got his butt whooped for that.
He looked toward the cave, until it was finally out of sight. He then turned to Sparks, who was talking to himself while going through his bag.
"Alright, we got rid of a LOT of berries, but we should be at Treasure Town very soon, so that shouldn't matter at all."
Bolt felt relived when he heard the words: Treasure Town. "In just a little bit this crazy day will be over!" He thought as he looked at the now orange sky.
Bolt looked over to Sparks again, who was now coming towards Bolt with probably one last talk about Wild Pokémon to him. Bolt let out a small groan.
"Well, aren't you going to say it?" Sparks asked with a small grin as wide as his face.
Bolt looked at his brother and turned to face away from him, which just made the Pichu chuckle.
"Bolt, aren't you going to thank me and Melody for getting you out of trouble?"
Bolt sighed and looked down at his leg, then thought about where he'd be if it wasn't for Sparks.
"Alright, thanks." He said quietly.
"Huh?" Sparks said. "Couldn't hear you."
"You heard me say 'thanks' loud and clear, don't lie to me." Bolt scoffed at Sparks.
"And now do you actually get it?" Sparks asked, but Bolt tried to ignore the question. "What happened over there proves my point! That Wild Pokémon are really just Pokémon who can't talk! Because not only did the problem sound like something we could have back home, but we were also able to resolve the problem by talking to each other, like we do back at home."
Bolt got up. "Ya, but I'm sure that not every Wild Pokémon does that."
"Yes, you could be right, but it could just be because most Pokémon never give them the chance, like you, or they flat out ignore it, like Gator!" He stated with a smile.
Bolt groaned and sat back down. He...really didn't have any more facts to go against his brother!
Sparks was...right, AGAIN. Just how it's always been throughout his whole life! With the better grades and all of those books' Sparks had read.
Sparks saw small yellow sparks come up Bolt's legs as the Luxio thought. Bolt had never stood a chance against him in arguments ever since! Sparks was always the one who would tell on Bolt when he was doing something wrong, Sparks had always held him back. Bolt just wanted this to stop, he'd already learned his lesson!
Bolt stood up straight and faced Sparks. "Alright! I get it! You were right, I was wrong! Wild Pokémon are just like us and shouldn't be treated like her! Is that what you want me to say? Huh? Is it?!"
Bolt turned to see Melody, who just turned her head to the side to look at the argument. "Ya, and I bet that's what you wanted to hear too, right!?" He yelled at the turtle, to which she didn't respond.
Bolt then laid down, feeling very strange inside of him. But he looked to the side and saw Sparks with his ears down.
"Bolt..." He began. "Why do you hate me? I've never wanted you to be on your bad side. Even if we do share different views...we're still family, and...I want to fix our relationship, so can you tell me what's your reason?"
Bolt could feel tears of frustration begin in his eyes, but he held them back. "I just want to go home now, Sparks." Bolt sighed. "I've had a very, VERY rough day of running across the island looking for you, fighting bees, being poisoned, and frozen, while you've had the sweet luxuries of meeting more Pokémon and ridding on a shell."
Sparks looked down, being sad without an answer.
"And, yes." Bolt continued. "I still do plan on telling Mom and Dad what you did. So..." Bolt struggled to say something, but Sparks couldn't tell what it was. "It's up to them what happens with you." He finished.
"That's fair." Sparks softly replied.
Bolt looked at him brother one last time and then just decided to lay down and close his eyes again. Sparks just stood there in place for what could have been an hour, then he looked up toward the sky to see it getting darker and darker.
"We're almost at Treasure Town," He said as he looked at Bolt snoring. "I know it."
He slowly walked along the gray shell and went to the top of Melody's head. And once he got there, he started to see some lights in the distance. The turtle welcomed the weight on her head, however, she started to sense the amount of sadness in the Tiny Mouse Pokémon, and began to feel sad herself.
A drop of water fell on Melody's head. "Can you believe it's almost over?" Sparks started. "It feels like it's been months since I first met you and I said I was going to help you break out from Gator's ship. But in reality, it's only been two days since I've known you."
Melody held back her own tears. While the Pichu took a moment to sniff. "I may have had a lot of stress with trying to figure out how I was going break you out, with all of the risks I was taking, and when things didn't go as planned. But you've helped me a lot too when I needed it most."
"Like when I catch key." Melody said with a sad smile.
Sparks let out a small chuckle. "Ya, especially that." The two went silent for a few minutes before Sparks took in a deep breath.
"Melody, I've enjoyed every moment I've been with you. And no matter what anymon says, I regret nothing." He spoke out loud and clear, but had his voice crack at the end.
Melody noticed Sparks crack and spoke up. "Are you okay?"
Sparks took in a breath. "Ya, I'm just a little sad it's almost over."
Melody looked down. "W...well maybe we see each other again. I could swim to you-"
"N-no!" Sparks interrupted. "You shouldn't risk getting captured by Gator again by swimming back to my place! You should find your home and be with those who care about you!"
Melody turned her head to look at Bolt, who seemed to be sleeping. She knew she only had one more chance to get Sparks to come with her.
"But you care about me." She said. "And you can still help me."
Sparks looked at Melody as she continued. "You can stay with me and teach others to talk so that this does not happen again."
Sparks started to think, but then he was cut off by somemon. "ACHOO!" Bolt sneezed.
The two then stopped talking and looked at Bolt. The Luxio then looked at them back.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing." Sparks said.
Bolt then looked toward a grassy hill ahead of them and got an idea. "I...I think its time to go now."
The Lapras harshly stopped. "What!? Why?" She asked angrily.
"We're at Treasure Town now, me and Sparks can get off and walk the rest of the way, while you can just swim your way back to...wherever you need to go."
Bolt got up and jumped off the shell, landing on the shore. "You coming with me, Sparks?" He asked.
"No! He stay here a small longer!" The Lapras said. "Right Sparks?"
She waited for Sparks to agree with her, but found no answer. Then, right when she was about to ask Sparks again he jumped off her head and turned towards her.
"Look Melody," Sparks said with a tear in his eye. "There's no easy way to do this, so..." Sparks couldn't really say anything. "I...I hope we see each other again. Melody."
Sparks started to crack, not knowing if they'd ever see each other again. Bolt stood to the side, he wanted to go home ASAP, but he figured he could at least give them their last moment. As much as he didn't want to say...they were friends, at they should at least get to say one last good bye.
Melody's whole world stopped when Sparks said those words. She didn't want Sparks to leave her and get into trouble. She then gave a mean glare towards Bolt, then looked back at Sparks.
"B-but-"
"No, Melody. Please. I don't want you to get hurt!" He yelled.
Melody looked toward Sparks and saw all of his tears falling down. She then sighed. She really didn't want to do this, but she was given no choice.
"Sparks," She asked. "Want one more song?" The mouse rubbed his eyes and looked at her. "Y-ya. Okay."
Bolt started to get a bad feeling, and felt that the good byes were over. "Sparks, really? Now?" He asked.
"Let me sing." Melody ordered the Luxio.
"Ya, it's alright if she wants to do it. Trust me, it'll make us all feel better. She can actually sing really well." Sparks said feeling a little better. "It was peaceful, and made me feel much better."
Bolt looked at his brother, and then at the Lapras. He sighed. If Sparks really meant what he said about fixing things up, then this would be the first test.
"Alright, I guess if you can talk like us. Sure, why can't you sing." Bolt joked.
The Lapras leaned back and took a moment to think, which Bolt was a little worried about, but then she let out a soft voice.
Sparks smiled, and Bolt, once more felt surprised. It really did sound good, great even.
Bolt turned to his left to see Sparks with his wide relaxed smile, which made Bolt somewhat smile himself.
Never in his life had he heard something so...
His vison felt weird, but he knew he was alright. Sparks said that this song...
His legs felt weak.
...this song would make him feel...
Bolt fell onto his knees and his face brushed against the grass.
Better...
Bolt's eyes peeked open as he felt another sneeze coming up caused by the grass.
"A...A-CHOO!" He cried out. Wait, why was he laying down again? He was on his way to Treasure Town with Sparks...right?
Bolt tiredly turned to his left to see Sparks, only to find no mon there.
"Sparks?" He asked as he began to wake up.
He shot energy back inside him using electric as he quickly got up and looked around the empty hillside.
"Sparks? Sparks!? This isn't funny come out!" Bolt yelled only to find no answer.
He then turned to the water, when he suddenly remembered what he last remembered.
The Lapras was singing, and Bolt had fallen asleep. But then if he fell asleep, Sparks must have...
"Oh, no..." He realized. Without another thought, he dashed down the current and towards the sun.
That slimy Lapras used Sing and made him fall asleep. The nerve that Pokemon had.
Was Sparks in on that? No, he really did seem like he was going to leave her and come with Bolt.
"Gahh!" He yelled into the air. "If I was able to find that Lapras once, I can do it again."