Chapter 4: Noisy Forest
Morning had come and the two sisters were awake in their room getting ready to head to Symphony Town. "So, our first stop is going to be Symphony town?" Hibiki asked as she packed up everything while Melody watched.
"Yep. We could go to the Ice Biodome, but Symphonic Town is probably the safer option." Echo told Hibiki.
"Biodome?" Melody questioned.
"Alaria is a very technologically advanced region, thought it might not be that obvious because there isn't really a lot of technology out here in the more rural areas. A Biodome is a dome that is used to simulate certain environments, like deserts or frigid regions. The Ice Biodome to the north is an example of one as well as home to a gym." Echo told Melody.
"That brings up a question I've had actually. Where are you from, cause you don't seem to be from around here if you don't know what a Biodome is?" Hibiki questioned curiously.
"Despite what you might think, I am actually native to the Alaria Region, though I did live in the far secluded areas of the wilderness. I just didn't know that humans made those things." Melody said.
"Interesting, I didn't expect that response." Echo said.
"I would have stayed at my home in the wIlderness, but you already know how that went." Melody said, a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"If you want, after all is said and done, I could take you back to your home." Hibiki said with a big grin. Melody gave a small smile out of shock while Echo simply gave Hibiki a light smack on the head.
"No, even if we do become good trainers, you know mom would kill us if we did that." Echo told her sister. Hibiki gave a slight pouty face before she looked back to Melody and extended the Pokeball out to her. Melody simply pushed the button and entered the Pokeball herself, before Hibiki put it back on her belt.
"You know, I've been meaning to say this, but I'm still a bit confused why you helped out Melody in the first place. I mean, I know you really love helping others out and all, but I just don't get why Melody." Echo told her sister. Hibiki thought about that for a moment as they left the room and headed out of the Pokemon Center.
"Naturally, you're completely right and can read me like an open book. I'm not even sure why I helped Melody myself." Hibiki said as she stopped for a moment and got out Melody's Pokeball. Echo turned to look at Hibiki, who had a sad smile on her face. "Truth be told, when I saw her, I couldn't help but see my younger self in her at that moment." Hibiki said.
"... That I can understand." Echo said, a small smile as she reminisced on their past. Hibiki simply shook her head before they proceeded to go out into the Humming Forest.
As the two entered the Humming Forest, a perpetual humming was heard as they walked by some of the trees. "So this is the Humming Forest?" Hibiki said as she released Melody.
"Yep, normally kids who aren't trainers aren't allowed to go through here alone." Echo explained as she took out her Pokeball and called out Ralts.
"So, what exactly is the plan for our route currently?" Melody questioned.
"At the moment, we are planning on heading to Symphonic Town and taking on the Normal type Gym. Before either going up to the Fairy Tale Forest and the town there, or head down to Export City and Verdant Island." Hibiki explained as Echo ran ahead a bit. Hibiki brought out Venemy's Pokeball and let him out as well before looking around. "Now on the topic of Gyms, let me ask you a question, do you want to be a part of my team for those battles?" Hibiki asked Melody as they followed Echo.
"...I don't see why not. The reason I told you about that first rule is only because I don't want to be seen by a lot of people. As long as we can keep me a secret, I'm fine battling with you for anything." Melody responded nonchalantly. Hibiki simply nodded as they continued along the forest trail. After about an hour of travel, Echo and Hibiki had both trained their Pokemon a bit, with Melody watching from a distance, and catching a few temporary team members.
"Not bad sis, I think we're ready for the Symphony Gym." Echo said as she stretched.
"Agreed. By the way, do you know what this perpetual humming is? I've kind of been wondering about it ever since we got in." Hibiki responded.
"I honestly don't know, but if I had to guess, it's probably the various Pokemon moving throughout the Forest causing the humming." Echo told Hibiki. Melody simply closed her eyes and listened for a moment, letting a small smile appear on her face. Hibiki nodded at that and was going to say something when a revelation dawned on her.
"Hey Melody?" Hibiki called out.
"Yes?" Melody responded.
"I just remembered something that could be an issue for us." Hibiki said as she squeezed her nose. Echo was about to say something when Melody heard something unusual.
"I hear something… it sounds like a scuffle." Melody said.
"Of course they would show up now." Hibiki sighed before running towards the disturbance. Echo and Melody followed Hibiki as she ran through the forest, Eventually they caught up to Hibiki, who was hiding behind some shrubbery. She motioned for them to kneel down and look ahead, which Echo did while Melody floated on Melody's head. In the clearing ahead of them, there were two people dressed in purple & blue outfits, which immediately looked familiar to the sisters, that looked to just be harassing some Pokemon.
"Right… I forgot about Team Noise." Echo whispered, cursing herself for forgetting about them.
"Team Noise?" Melody inquired.
"They're a bunch of troublemakers from Noise Town, home of the Poison Gym. They usually only do petty things and are annoying to gym challenges, but they have actually been stealing people's Pokemon and some other crimes more recently." Hibiki explained as she grabbed Venemy's Pokeball.
"And if I'm going to guess, when something gets known to them, that spreads like wildfire among other members?" Melody said. The two simply nodded as they saw the Team Noise Members call out their Pokemon, a Sparrow and a Sandile.
"Ok, I am not going to just sit down and let this happen." Hibiki said as she got ready to go out. Echo held her sister's arm for a moment, causing her to turn.
"Hey… you're not going at this alone." Echo told her sis with a smile. Hibiki simply nodded before motioning to Melody to stay put, which she begrudgingly agreed to. The two then walked out in the clearing, getting the attention of the two Team Noise Grunts.
"Well, well, what do we have here? A pair of newbie trainers?" the male grunt said.
"Yeah of course, what else did you expect?" Hibiki responded.
"A smartass aren't you? Well don't worry, we can sort that out nice and quick." the female grunt said a bit gleefully as her Spearow flew in front of her.
"We'll see about that." Echo said they called out their pokemon.
"Sandile, do me a favor and take care of that Ralts will you?" the male Grunt said nonchalantly as the Sandile waddled towards Ralts.
"Don't even think about it. Venemy, use Rollout!" Hibiki ordered. Venomy simply followed that order and charged at Sandile.
"Spearow, use Quick Attack." the female grunt ordered. Spearow immediately sped towards Venemy and knocked it back, causing it to cancel it's attack. Hibiki was shocked as she knew that Spearow could only learn that move through breeding.
"Looks like I underestimated your Pokemon caring skills, but that leaves me with a question. Why would you join team Noise rather than become a Pokemon Breeder?" Hibiki asked as Venemy recovered.
"And why should I tell you that?" the female grunt said smugly. Hibiki simply glared back as Venemy focused on the Spearow.
"And here I was thinking this would be simple. Ralts, do your best against Sandile for now." Echo sighed. Ralts simply nodded as he faced the sandile and the male grunt. Ralts immediately used Double Team and created five clones of itself.
"Sandile use Hone Claws and power yourself up." the male grunt said as Sandile got ready to attack. Echo observed the situation calmly and started to think of a strategy.
"Ralts, use Disarming Voice then Double Team once more!" Echo ordered. Ralts then opened its mouth before letting out a cry that hurt Sandile and all the clones splinted into three more copies.
"You really think that's going to work?" the male grunt said as Sandile moved towards the clones.
"Of course I do, Ralts, line up." Echo told Ralts. All the Ralts clones then lined up and moved around. The grunt simply just stared at Ralts before Sandile proceeded to use Sand Tomb on one set of clones.
"Ok, so what is that supposed to do again?" the grunt asked asanoth set went down. Echo simply smiled as Ralts used Disarming Voice again, causing Sandile to take more damage as it kept taking down the clones. "Ok, finish this up Sandile. Use Earthquake." the grunt ordered in an annoyed tone. Echo went wide eyes at that name as the ground around the clones shook and caused them all to disappear, covered by a cloud of smoke.
"Ralts!" Echo exclaimed, getting the attention of Hibiki. When the smoke cleared, there was no sign of Ralts anywhere, which made the grunt confused.
"Venemy, Rollout on Sandile now!" Hibiki said. Venemy nodded before turning to Sandile and doing as ordered. Spearow proceeded to move in to attack venemy when Echo smiled.
"Ralts, take care of Sparrow with Confusion!" Echo ordered. Sparrow then wobbled for a moment before flying into a tree revealing Ralts standing by it. Venemy then rammed into Sandile, knocking it out before it turned and attacked Spearow.
"How did that Ralts even get over there?" the male grunt asked as he recalled his Sandile.
"Simple, I made him move along with his clones. When I told them to line up, he made an extra clone while he hid so he could move away. Judging by the fact that your friend is a good breeder, safe to say that she helped some other Noise Members get some good moves both by breeding and possibly some Technical Machines." Echo explained smugly as Ralts waddled up to her. Hibiki simply gave her sis a thumbs up as Venemy rammed into Spearow, knocking it out.
"Spearow!" the female grunt said as she recalled her pokemon.
'Nice job Venemy." Hibiki said as she ran up to the group of local pokemon and rushed them away.
"Don't think you're done with us yet, go Mightyana!" the female grund said as she threw out another Pokeball and called her Pokemon.
"Yeah, go Seviper!" the male grunt said as both it and Mightyana appeared and snarled.
"... I have made a great error." Hibiki said as Venemy hid behind her. As the two Pokemon started to approach them, a song could be heard throughout the forest.
"Yes you have, now let me take care of these two alone." Hibiki heard in her head as she looked around for the source of the song. Eventually, she saw Melody casually sitting on a branch singing before standing and hopping onto the ground in front of Hibiki.
"Woah, a Shiny Meloetta. Must be the protector of this forest." the female grunt said.
"Melody, what are you doing?" Hibiki questioned mentally.
"I'm simply protecting my trainer, besides they don't know I'm your Pokemon. I also believe that you need to know exactly what my capabilities are if you do intend to use me in the gym challenge." Melody responded smugly. Hibiki thought for a moment on how to respond before realizing she was right and sighing.
"Listen Meloetta, as much as we appreciate you showing up, why don't you just run along and leave these bad trainers to us?" the male grunt said. Melody simply looked at the grunt before just sighing and getting into a combat stance. "Awe come on, you're just going to let us innocent be blamed for their mess?" the male grunt asked in a mocking tone before being elbows by his friend. Melody then swiftly used Confusion on Seviper, causing it to lunge at Melody.
"Alright then, we'll leave it to you." Hibiki told Melody before recalling Venemy and running behind a tree, Echo doing the same. Melody dodged the lunge and casually looked over at the Mightyena before dashing up to it and punching it, causing it to howl in some pain.
"Brick Break?! Looks like we got a unique one here." the female said as Mightyena dashed forward towards Melody. Meloetta gracefully dodged out of the way and looked at the two pokemon with a small look of pity.
"Apologies for what I'm about to do to you two, I'm only doing it because you're owners are assholes." Melody told them in a sympathetic tone. They both simply snarled at her before they continued to attack and Melody simply stood there.
"She seems a bit egotistical." Echo commented as they continued to watch the fight.
"Maybe, but there seems to be a method to it." Hibiki mentioned. Echo simply shrugged as they watched Melody dodge a bite from Seviper and hopped over the Mightyena. Echo then used Confusion once again on Seviper, but the Mightyena jumped in front of the attack.
"Well then, they're a bit more coordinated than I thought." Melody thought. The Seviper then dashed under the Mightyena and wrapped its tail around Melody, squeezing her. Melody then smiled for a moment before she began to sing a song. As Seviper moved to bite Melody, she glowed white briefly as her appearance changed. Seviper then struggled as Melody, now in her Pirouette form, forced her way out of the hold and grabbed it by the tail.
Mightyena then moved in for an attack before getting slammed as Melody swung Seviper around in a circle and tossed it towards the tree. Seviper was able to react in time to wrap around the tree, but was immediately hit with a Zen Headbutt by Melody, knocking it out. Melody then landed before looking over at the Mightyena and taunted at it. Mightyena simply charged at Melody as she closed her eyes in concentration, dodging the incoming attack she felt from the pokemon. She then kicked Mightyena with enough focus to send it through a tree, knocking it out.
"...My god." the female grunt said in shock of seeing both their Pokemon get dealt with easily. Meloetta glared at the two grunts menacingly as they called their Pokemon back.
"We-We'll remember this!" the male grunt said as they left the clearing. Melody simply huffed as she sang her Relic Song once more and changed back to Aria Form.
"You both can come out now." Melody told the two as she floated in place. Hibiki and Echo silently walked forward, in awe of the display of power. "Before you say anything, might I suggest we head towards town?" Melody suggested. The two simply nodded as they proceeded to walk out of the grove the fight had taken place in.
The group walked in silence as they continued through the forest. "So… I take it that my strength left you both speechless?" Melody questioned.
"Of course it did. You were amazing back there. Still makes me wonder why you decided to join me though?" Hibiki commented. Melody then looked at Hibiki with a hint of shock on her face. "Look, as much as I appreciate you joining, I still don't know your reasons aside from needing to be safe from those captors. Even then, you seem to be a bit weak, so what's the deal?" Hibiki questioned.
"... He, you're pretty smart. Truth be told, those people managed to mess me up more than I like to admit. It was 3 on 1 against me, but I could still hold my own for a bit. But then they brought out some odd Pokemon and managed to exhaust me enough that my recovery is going slow even though I was attended by the Professor." Melody explained.
"Odd in what way?" Echo questioned.
"I don't know exactly, but they just didn't feel right. I can't really think of a better way to describe it at the moment." Melody said. Hibiki made a mental note of that as she looked at Melody.
"Still feel a bit exhausted then?" Hibiki asked. Melody simply responded with a nod that made Hibiki smile. "Must have been something strong then. I know you're only a Pokemon, mythical one for sure, but even still just a Pokemon." Hibiki told Melody.
"Huh, you're one of the first humans to treat me like a regular Pokemon rather than a rare, mythical one." Melody said, a small smile creeping on her face. Hibiki simply smiled as Echo nodded in approval of her sister's statement. "By the way Echo, have you noticed that Sewaddle on your backpack?" Melody pointed out. Echo stopped in her tracks and turned to Hibiki, who simply nodded as she saw the small Pokemon grasping onto Echo's backpack.
"How did we not notice that?" Hibiki questioned as Echo took off her backpack and looked at the Swaddle.
"Hey there little guy, you lost?" Echo said in a caring tone. The Seawaddle looked up at Echo with a happy look and the backpack was set down. Deciding to make this simple, Melody floated over and started to talk with the Pokemon. After about a minute, Melody looked at Echo.
"He says he's a curious type and saw us fighting those Team Noise Grunts. He wants to come along with us." Melody told Echo. Echo gave a quick glance to her sister who gave her a simple thumbs up before Echo carefully reached into her backpack and pulled out a Pokeball. Echo simply held it out to Swaddle, who stared at it for a moment before tapping the button and getting taken into it. After a few shakes, a click came from the Pokeball and Echo simply smiled happily.
"Happy for you sis, and a bit jealous. I always wanted to raise a Sewaddle and before you ask, no I'm not catching one right now." Hibiki said as she pat her sis on the shoulder.
"Yeah, that's fair. You also have Melody with you and this might just be me saying things, but there seems to be something interesting between you two." Echo said as she put the Pokeball away on her belt. The two looked at each other for a moment before looking away. "Either way, come on, we're at the edge of the forest." Echo told them. The two nodded as they all proceeded to walk out of the forest leaving it behind them. Meanwhile, two figures behind them watched the group get further away.
"So that's the Meloetta they're after?" the first voice asked.
"I would have to say so, a Meloetta with light blue hair. Not often you see one of those, but even rarer to see a starting trainer with one." the other voice said. The first figure nodded before looking towards the group and following them. "The Meloetta's trainer?" the second voice questioned, already knowing his friend's reasoning.
"Yep, something tells me that they'll be like you were back when we first met." The first voice said confidently.
"All right, I'll be heading back to Alaria City. Tell me what happens with her." the second voice said with a sigh as he activated a teleporter and was whisked away. The man who the first voice belonged to simply smiled as he fixed his glasses and proceeded to follow Hibiki, Echo, and Melody.