Part XCIII: Back to Lumiose City

"What's that?" Misty asked as they made their way down the path and through a patch of woods towards Lumiose City.

It was two days after the Odyssey Village Contest and Ash, Misty, May, and Serena were on their way back to Lumiose City for Ash's gym battle with Clemont. They'd already called Clemont the day before from the Pokémon Center and confirmed the battle for three days' time as he was free then and it gave Ash some time to finish preparing for a challenging battle. He already knew who he was going to use but it was going to be tough, so he had to be fully ready for it.

After the Contest they'd stayed in Odyssey Village as Ash had a battle with Emily's friend Adam who they had met during the Contest the day after the Contest. Serena's mother had arrived that day as well for an upcoming Rhyhorn race, so Serena and May had spent the day with her talking about the Contest and how well she'd done in her debut. It had been a good debut as she'd reached the final only to loss to Emily who was going to be a favorite on the circuit this year so a really good first attempt.

Misty had stayed back to watch the battle as Ash got practice in for his Riolu and assessed Adam's skill, concluding that he had potential and recommending he challenge the Kalos gyms as a way to further his training, which he agreed to do. Misty had had a nice chat with Emily during the battle though she didn't get to talk about the Contest win much due to the battle and its aftermath.

After that they'd gone their separate ways. Emily and Adam had headed to Santalune City so that Adam could register for the Kalos League and see if he could challenge Viola before she left again while the usual crew spent one more night in Odyssey Village before heading back to Lumiose City in the morning. Misty knew that they'd meet Emily again and that she'd be a good rival for Serena on the circuit this year as she'd push the blonde to be better after beating her.

That was how they'd ended up on this path when Misty had noticed something odd in the middle of the path before them. It was a dirty looking Pokémon that was trying and failing to eat what looked like a berry. It was hard to make it out as it was covered in dirt, but they could make out a black ears and patches of yellow in its body.

While Misty had little experience with Kalos Pokémon, she was sure that it was a Helioptile based on its coloration though it looked smaller than the one they'd seen with Alexa in Santalune City. Instantly Misty's heart went out to it as it looked hungry and couldn't seem to eat the berry it had.

"It looks like a Helioptile." May said narrowing her eyes at it. "But that's smaller than any I've seen, and they aren't native to this area if I recall."

"They're not?" Misty asked confused.

"No, they're usually found in the southwest of the region." May said shaking her head. "I saw a colony of them there last year when I had to go to Ambrette Town for a promotional event as Ambrette is hosting a Contest this year. There's a cave to the east of the town and they're often found in and around that cave. They're not often found in this part of Kalos but then again I've not spent much time in this area so I can't fully confirm that."

"It looks like it is struggling with something." Serena said a concern in her voice. "And May's right, they aren't native here as this is the first one I've seen here."

Misty looked closer as they neared it and noticed that it was a yellow berry with green rings on it. She'd seen that berry before and knew precisely what it was. It explained why the Helioptile was struggling with it.

"It's trying to eat and Aspear Berry." Misty said. "No wonder it's struggling."

"If it's a berry then it should be easy to eat." Serena said confused. "Right?"

"Aspear Berries have a really tough shell thing." Misty explained. "Ash and I had a pie made from them in Sinnoh once, but it is hard to make which is why we know about it. An old lady there was great at baking, but her Pikachu couldn't break the berry to make it useful in the pie. Her Pikachu was so loyal that it ran off to figure out how to break the berry. It ended up evolving into a Raichu and learning a new move to have the power to break it."

"Sounds like a dedicated Pokémon." May said. "And just the kinda thing you run into when traveling with Ash."

"It was an interesting day for sure." Misty said. "And the pie was amazing once it was made."

"It looks hungry." Ash said sadly and he could empathize with the Helioptile, he hated being hungry. "We should do something to help it."

"I have an idea." Misty said as a thought came to her, something that had been in her mind since seeing the poor Pokémon struggling with the berry. "Ash, May, Serena, set up camp on the side of the path for lunch and a break. I'll deal with Helioptile. It is better if only one of us works with it. It looks a little skittish for some reason so best I do this alone."

"What are you going to do?" May asked as Ash instantly began to move and set up trusting that Misty knew what she was doing.

"Only bug types can resist my normal poffins." Misty said with a grin. "So, I'm going to use them to break the ice and care for this Helioptile."

"Come on, leave Misty to it." Ash said as he began setting up things for lunch. "She's got this, and I could use a hand."

The other girls just nodded and decided to leave Misty to it as they went to assist Ash. It seemed she knew what she was doing so they left her to it and began helping set up lunch.

Misty pulled out her poffin case and slowly, cautiously, approached the Helioptile who was so focused on trying and failing to open the berry it had that it didn't notice her approaching it. As she reached it, she crouched down a respectful distance and opened her poffin case making sure that her heart was open to the Pokémon, so it knew that she wasn't a threat to it.

"You won't open that." Misty said in a soft, kind voice startling the Helioptile who leapt back and hugged the berry close to its chest. "Those berries are tough; you need a strong physical move to break it open."

Helioptile was clearly hungry and skittish. Misty wasn't certain what had happened to it, but something must have as it was warry and likely fearful of everything. May had said it was out of its natural habitat so that might be it. It probably couldn't find the food it liked due to that, or it wasn't adapted to scavenge in the woods, and was thus really hungry. Add in that it looked small for its species and it probably had had some struggles living here.

"Here, have one of these." Misty said taking out a poffin and holding it in the flat of her palm and extending it to Helioptile. "They are good and easy to eat."

"Piplup." Piplup said with a smile from her head adding his own support to the delicious poffins his human made and resisting the urge to go for one because he could tell that Misty was helping this Pokémon out. "Pip, Piplup."

Slowly, cautiously, Helioptile inched closer to Misty who didn't move and just kept smiling at it as it neared her. Then, quickly, it snatched the pink treat out of her hand with one of its forepaws, the other still holding the berry, and backed away to where it had started. It sniffed it and then, after a moment's hesitation, popped it in its mouth and chewed.

Instantly Helioptile was amazed by how good the treat the kind girl had just given him was. He had been in these woods since his hatching and had learned many things in that time. He learned that he was not native to these parts as he never saw another of his kind here, so he had no idea how he's ended up here. He also knew that none of the other Pokémon here wanted to help him likely because he was alien to them. He'd been forced to forage on his own and hadn't found much that he could eat.

He'd learned to be careful and fearful of others as they would try and take his food and he wasn't good at defending himself against the predominately grass, bug, and poison types that inhabited the area. That was why he was always careful with his food and tried to eat where he could see an attack on his food coming. However, the berry he'd found, the first bit of food he'd had in a few days, had been too tough for him and he was hungry.

Then this kind human had showed up and gave him some food. He could feel in her heart that she was kind and the odd-looking Pokémon on her head that he'd never seen before had vouched for her and the food. Still, he was a careful Pokémon, so he looked at her warily even after eating the food.

"Do you want another?" Misty asked Helioptile putting another of the things in her palm. "I have plenty and can always make more so please, take it."

Helioptile nodded and slowly made his way back to her and took it. This time though he didn't retreat as far as he had before to eat the second treat. He didn't know what they were, but he knew he liked them, and they made him feel good in a way he couldn't quite place.

"That's it, they are good aren't they." Misty said and Helioptile nodded at her. "You've had it rough out here haven't you."

Helioptile wasn't sure what she was saying but he could tell that she was concerned for him, so he nodded again. She was nice and he wanted more of her food if she was offering it.

"If you want, I could clean you up a little." Misty said softly. "You look like you could use some care."

"Piplup." Piplup added helpfully showing off his coat of feathers to it. "Pip, Piplup."

Helioptile thought about it for a moment. He was dirty and he could use some cleaning, he just hadn't been able to do so for a while as whenever he tried the water types in the streams attacked him. Perhaps he could let this human clean him and see how good she was at caring for him.

If she were good, then maybe he would see if she was strong as well. He'd heard that humans brought out the best in Pokémon so perhaps this human could do that for him. Of course, food and grooming were not enough, she had to prove herself as someone who could make him stronger. The food was good, it was time to see if she could groom him as well.

Helioptile nodded and Misty smiled. She slowly got up and moved to the side of the path and sat down on the grass there so that they weren't in the middle of the path. Helioptile slowly made his way to her and hopped in her lap, getting a third of the treats for it that he happily ate.

Misty just pulled out a small grooming kit she used for Vulpix, her stuff for Piplup was for avian based Pokémon and Helioptile was clearly a mammalian Pokémon so Vulpix's kit was better for it and set to work. As soon as she started, Misty lost herself in her work as she brushed and cleaned up Helioptile as best she could, careful to go with the fur and to adapt to how it was different from grooming Vulpix.

It took a while, but Misty didn't mind as she steadily worked on Helioptile. She was so in the zone that she didn't think of food or what the others were doing. She was just helping out this Pokémon who clearly needed some love and care.

When she was done, Misty looked at Helioptile but didn't pick it up as it was still a wild Pokémon. It looked a lot better and its fur was starting to shine. It could use a bath to finish the job but that was not something Misty had on hand so she'd done the best she could. Bonnie could have done a better job, that girl was a natural at this, but Misty was still proud of her work.

"There you go." Misty said to Helioptile as it hopped out of her lap and looked itself over its eyes wide at the change. "Much better and you should be full but those poffins are technically treats even if they are good for your appearance. You need to eat some proper food."

Helioptile had never felt better. He was cleaner than he had been in a long time and he was almost full though he did feel like he should eat something more substantive than what the girl had given him. Still, he was happy and clearly this human was a really good one. He would now test her to see if she could make him stronger.

He wasn't sure how to initiate it as he'd never really encountered a human before, but he had a feeling that if he made a bit of a seen and showed off some power, she'd understand what he wanted. With a bark, he scampered a few feet away before turning to face her as he sent enough electricity through his body to spark lightly and show that he was up for a battle. It also prepared him for the battle but that was something she'd have to deal with if she fought him.

"You want a fight?" Misty asked and Helioptile nodded. "And if I win, would you join me?"

Helioptile barked again and nodded happily, glad she'd understood what he wanted. Misty just smiled at the idea. This hadn't been her plan when she'd helped the Pokémon out but how could she refuse her chance to catch her first Kalos Pokémon.

Misty got up and instantly Piplup leapt of her head and got ready for the battle it. She sighed, Piplup was strong but his ego was so big he often forgot that some matchups were not advantageous to him. Unlike Ash's Pokémon, Piplup didn't have anything to counter a disadvantage like the one he was currently facing.

"Piplup, Helioptile is an electric type so not a good matchup for you." Misty said kindly pulling out a Poke Ball. "Sit this one out so you don't get hurt. Next time I need a Pokémon to battle I'll use you; I promise."

"Piplup." Piplup tried to protest but he knew that Misty was right and walked away his head low. "Piplup."

"Thank you." Misty said as she tossed out the ball and glad that Piplup was understanding this time. "Vulpix, spotlight!"

The ball burst open and her Fox Pokémon appeared before her with bark of his own. He was ready for whatever Misty needed him for and as he looked at the excited Pokémon opposite him, he got the feeling that this was a wild Pokémon that he was going to battle.

It clearly wanted to join Misty but wanted to see if she was worth it. Well, Vulpix could help prove that Misty knew what she was doing with Pokémon and then welcome a new teammate, whatever it was.

"Alright Vulpix, start this off with Ember." Misty said pointing out. "Be careful of the trees though."

Vulpix nodded as he sent out a blast of fire from his mouth at the same time that Helioptile sent out a bolt of electricity. The attacks missed each other and found their intended targets to interesting effects.

Vulpix wailed in pain from a Thunder Shock attack that was more powerful than it should have been though Vulpix didn't know that the sparking earlier had actually been a Charge attack that Helioptile had used to prepare for the battle and boost his Thunder Shock. At the same time though, the Ember hit Helioptile in the face and he wailed in pain as it also did more damage than usual due to his Dry Skin ability.

Misty wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew that fire was working well so she pressed her advantage with Vulpix's type. She had just the move to both do damage and avoid the problems with using fire type moves in a flammable area.

"Fire Spin." Misty ordered as Helioptile sparked again.

Vulpix opened his mouth and sent out a stream of flames that encircled a surprised Helioptile when it reached Helioptile and trapped it in a vortex of fire. Helioptile wailed in pain as the attack did a good bit of damage to him. This human was defiantly good, he was nearing his limit.

Misty didn't know this, but she knew she had the upper hand and she had just the move to win it. Banette had taught it to Vulpix back at the ranch and she was looking forward to using it as it wouldn't miss.

"Vulpix, Feint Attack." Misty said. "Dodge whatever it throws at you."

Vulpix ran forward as Helioptile sent out another Thunder Shock. However, this time Vulpix was ready it and sidestepped it as he closed in and then slammed into Helioptile with the sucker punch that was Feint attack.

Helioptile wailed and was thrown back. He wasn't fully out of it, but Misty knew that she had it this time or after the next triggering of the Fire Spin that was still active. Smiling she pulled out an empty Poke Ball and tossed it at Helioptile as it tried to get up.

The ball hit it in the side and bounced up before opening and sucking Helioptile into it in a stream of red light. It then fell to the ground and shook several times while the button flashed red. Then, after a few seconds, it chimed and fell still indicating a successful capture.

"Alright, I caught a Helioptile!" Misty yelled picking up the Poke Ball and striking an Ash like capture pose.

"Vulpix!" Vulpix said leaping up with her to join in.

Misty smiled at the ball in her hand before she turned back and saw Ash, May, and Serena all gaping at her. They were still on the side of the road with lunch served but ignored as their Pokémon all watched around them equally amazed at what had happened. Misty blushed at the attention as she made her way back to them, Piplup and Vulpix in her wake as her stomach growled.

"Sorry, I kinda ended up in my own zone didn't I." Misty said sheepishly as she reached them. "I was so focused on heling Helioptile out that I forget what else was going on."

"We weren't going to interrupt you." Ash said as Misty said down as her Pokémon went over to get served by May and Ash handed her a bowl of noodles spiced with Kalos spices they'd picked up in Odyssey Village. "It was incredibly what you were doing."

"Thanks." Misty said with a blush. "I just wanted to help Helioptile out. I wasn't expecting it to want to join me like that but I'm not complaining."

As if it knew they were talking about it, the Poke Ball that Misty had put away burst open and Helioptile appeared and made its way to Misty's shoulder smiling at everyone. He wanted to come out and meet the others he'd seen while his new human was grooming him. He could tell from the scents that the male was his human's mate and the other two were friends and possible rivals as they also seemed to also be into the male. There were also a lot of Pokémon around all looking at him curiously.

Helioptile got shy then and decided to hide behind Misty's head, peaking out to look at the other Pokémon. He recognized some of them, but others were completely new to him. They all seemed happy and well cared for so that was a good sign, but other than the ones who also belonged to Misty it would take time to warm to them.

"I guess it won't stay in its ball." Misty said with a sigh at dealing with that problem. "Do we have some food for it?"

"Pikachu." Pikachu said picking up his half empty bowl and making his way to Helioptile.

Pikachu had seen the Pokémon in the road and felt bad for it. He'd kept an eye on it as Misty cared for it and knew that it would join them in the end. He also knew that it was an electric type so his food was the best for it until they could get something more tailored to it. Plus, Pikachu was the de facto leader of the Pokémon as Ash's oldest, so it was his duty to welcome the new comer warmly.

"Helioptile?" Helioptile asked curiously as the unknown but clearly powerful electric type approached him.

"Pi, Pikachu." Pikachu said smiling and telling him that it was ok to eat it. "Pikachu."

"Go on Helioptile." Misty said with a smile. "That food is specially designed for electric types like yourself. Pikachu wants to share and be friends, they all do."

Helioptile could feel the truth in his trainer's words and this Pikachu clearly wanted to be friends. He got an air of authority and experience from the mouse-like Pokémon and decided to go for it. Leaping off Misty's shoulder and onto the blanket he sniffed the food and nibbled some of it. Smiling, Helioptile nodded, and Pikachu set the bowl down so they could share, sparking between each other in a silent conversation only electric types could have with one another.

"That's a great sight." Ash said with a smile. "All Pokémon should be friends and I think Helioptile will fit in just fine."

"As do I." Misty said with a smile as she began to eat her now cold noodles.

It would likely take some time as Helioptile appeared to have a shy and cautious nature, similar to Pinsir when Misty had caught her. Misty had helped Pinsir come out of her shell, well not literally, and she was now much more friendly with other Pokémon so she could do this with Helioptile. It was already looking good as Vulpix and Piplup came over to introduce themselves to it, Espeon having already been sent back to Professor Sycamore's lab welcoming a few of Misty's other Pokémon who were going to be based there while she was in Kalos.

After lunch, while the others cleaned and packed up, Misty took Helioptile into her arms to introduce it to the other Pokémon present that would be traveling with them. She also comforted him when he got nervous around some of the more threatening looking ones like Doublade, Rhyhorn and Tryantum who was out as there was space for her.

Misty knew that she'd be on clean up duty for a bit for missing set up and clean up, but it was a fair trade off. Helioptile had needed help and she had done that before being surprised by the challenge and catching it. She had a duty to make sure it was comfortable and fit in with the other Pokémon.

When all that was done, the others recalled their Pokémon and they set off for Lumiose City which they expected to arrive in by nightfall. Helioptile stayed out and rode on Misty's shoulder as they walked so that she could hold Ash's hand as well. She didn't mind as it was nice to have her new Kalos Pokémon out, hopefully the first of a good few here, as they returned to Lumiose City.

It had certainly been an interesting day, but they were all ready to get back to the city they had started in. They had to rest and prepare Ash for his coming battle with Clemont. None of them could wait to watch that. It was going to be memorable, and they knew it.