Chapter 42:
Into the Anthell
Amatree Town
"Syrentide, Hyper Voice!" Serena called.
"Frosulo, Protect! And Raptorch, get behind him!" Ash replied.
As Syrentide let out a sonic scream, Frosulo formed a green energy barrier around himself and his partner, blocking the incoming destructive soundwaves.
"Now, Coatlith, fly over them and use Dragon Rage!" Serena ordered.
As Ash's Pokemon dealt with the Hyper Voice, Serena's second Pokemon floated above them, blue and purple flames spilling from her beak-like mouth, before unleashing them in the form of a torrent above them.
"Counter with Flamethrower, Raptorch!" Ash quickly ordered.
"Ra, rap!" Raptorch said, taking out a deep breath and releasing a stream of orange and yellow flames.
The two blazing attacks met in the middle, struggling against each other, but failing to overcome the other, before both attacks exhausted their power and were snuffed out.
Ash had spent the previous day training with Serena and Clemont. And today, after getting up and having breakfast, Ash dashed towards the Gym once again only to find it closed for the second time in a row, much to his disappointment. So all that was left to do was return to the Pokemon Center and continue training on the battleground next to it.
After all, sooner or later, Tiko would get back.
"Well done, guys!" Ash congratulated his Pokemon, before smirking at his opponent. "Nice try Serena, but you aren't going to catch me off guard so easily!"
"I was only warming up. Let's see if you can-" Serena was saying, before being interrupted by a crackling noise.
Suddenly, Frosulo's body started to glow with a bright, bluish white light. There was a noise of something shattering, as the ice chrysalis that made his body broke into tiny ice pieces, as the evolving Pokemon rose into the air, growing a bigger body, with three legs growing on each of his sides, and four wings on his back.
"Fro, fros!" the newly evolved Pokemon said, as blue glittering dust fell with the flap of his wings.
Frosulo's new form was a large, moth-like Pokemon, with a white furry body with a blue underbelly, six legs, also covered in white fur ending in three short claws, a furry collar also white with light orange tips, and four wings that appeared to be made of ice, with fuzzy orange trimming.
"Amazing! Frosulo just evolved!" Serena said, admiring the new Pokemon.
"Whoa, it's so beautiful!" Bonnie, who was sitting on a bench, squealed. Pikachu, sitting next to her, rubbed his ears and shot her an annoyed stare.
"Yeah! Okay, let's see..." Ash said, as he scanned his new Pokemon with his Pokedex.
"Frosthra, the Frost Moth Pokemon, Frosulo's evolution, and Colarva's final form. Bug/Ice. They leave a shimmering trail of ice crystals behind them as they fly. They are prized in many regions for their rarity and beauty." The Pokedex explained.
"No wonder those Team Omega jerks had several Colarva to sell, if this is their final form," Ash said, taking a look at Frosthra, who was now flying around Serena's Pokemon.
"Seems like all the training you were able to get before the Gym opened was a blessing in disguise," Serena pointed out.
"Yeah! I can't wait to see what Frosthra can do now! And no better place for that than a Gym Battle-oof!" Ash was interrupted by Frosthra tackling him into a six armed hug, leaving him covered in frost bites.
"Fro, frosthra!" he happily chirped.
"That might not be the best idea," Clemont, also sitting on the same bench as Bonnie, interceded. "From what I could hear, Tiko is a Fire-type specialist. A Bug and Ice-type like Frosthra might not be the best choice of Pokemon."
"Oh come on, you know type advantage isn't everything," Ash retorted, as he gently pushed Frosthra.
"Maybe you should listen to Clemont, Ash. Tandorian Gym Leaders have proved to be very strong and skilled, and Tiko is among the strongest," Serena reminded him. "You'd do good not to underestimate him."
Remembering his losses to Maria and Vaeryn, Ash begrudgingly acquiesced. "Alright, no Frosthra then..."
"Fros?" Frosthra asked, before lowering his head in sorrow. "Froooooo..."
"Hey, don't be so glum, buddy. There will be more Gym Battles," Ash reassured him. "I promise I will use you in the next one. What do you say?"
"Thra," Frosthra nodded,now visibly happier.
"Say, it's past noon. How about if we go to the Center's cafeteria, have some lunch, and then go to the gym to see if Tiko's back?" Ash suggested.
"Sounds like a plan," Serena agreed, with Clemont and Bonnie both nodding.
…
A few minutes later, the group was at the Center's cafeteria, where they were enjoying a nice meal while they talked among themselves. Though, the topic at hand was inevitably what was on everybody's minds, Ash's imminent battle against Tiko.
"So, we've been training a lot, but so far you haven't told us what Pokemon you are going to use against Tiko," Clemont pointed out.
"Well, you've told me I shouldn't use Frosthra or Metalyx, so that doesn't leave me with too many options," Ash replied.
"You should choose Greninja! You haven't used him since Davern, and since he's a Water-type he should do well against Tiko, right?" Bonnie suggested.
Ash took a look at Greninja, calmly eating his food alongside the rest of their Pokemon. It was true that he hadn't used Greninja in a while, given that he wanted to use his newest Pokemon better; not just to give them a chance to prove themselves, but also to prove that he didn't need to rely on his veteran Pokemon to tackle the challenges of a new region.
Still, his Tandorian Pokemon had grown a lot since he caught them: all of them had evolved at least once, Raptorch being the only exception, and that was because he was his most recent capture, and all of them had proved their worth multiple times. So maybe Ash could go back to use Greninja more regularly. He was sure the frog would appreciate seeing some action after staying on the sidelines recently.
Suddenly, something happened that snapped Ash out of his thoughts: the rest of the people in the cafeteria began to murmur among each other, get up and walk to the lobby, from which an increasingly louder buzz of a crowd came from.
"What's going on over there?" Clemont asked, looking to the door that led to the lobby.
"Maybe Tiko is back from the Anthell and people are giving him a welcome?" Bonnie suggested.
"Yeah, I'm sure it's that!" Ash said, with the same energy as a kid who was told Christmas came early this year. "I'm going to challenge him to a Gym Battle right now!"
"Ash, wait!" he heard Serena say. "Tiko might not be in condition to fight you!"
Oh well, Ash could wait. But he at least wanted to make Tiko know that there was a challenger waiting for him.
And indeed, once Ash got to the lobby, he saw a large crowd of people standing around someone or something Ash couldn't see, murmuring among themselves. The Pallet Town native pushed past the crowd in order to get to Tiko.
But what he saw wasn't the Gym Leader, but the Center's Nurse Joy, who was holding a badly beaten Palij.
Ash looked at the Parrot Pokemon in confusion for a couple seconds, before he looked at the blue haired nurse and asked: "Nurse Joy? Who's that Pokemon? What happened to it?"
"Don't you know, kid?" a man to his right said. "That's one of Tiko's Palij!"
"What?" Ash asked.
"Yes. I've treated it many times. I would recognize it anywhere," Nurse Joy confirmed.
"Pa...pali..." the Fire Parrot Pokemon squawked.
"But... where is Tiko? Isn't he back?" Ash asked, as worry began to creep up his spine.
"I don't know... only this Palij came. There's no news of Tiko or his other Pokemon," Nurse Joy admitted.
People around him began to murmur in worry, wondering what might have been of their strong and beloved Gym Leader.
"Ash! What's going on?" Clemont asked, as he, Serena and Bonnie pushed past the crowd as well.
"Clemont! I need you to fetch the PST right now!" Ash quickly told him.
"The PST? But why-"
"No time to explain, go get it!" Ash insisted.
Thankfully Clemont didn't argue and went to get the translating device.
"Ash, what's going on? What's with that Pokemon?" Serena asked.
"Nurse Joy says that's Tiko's Palij," Ash said, and the honey blonde gasped. "It came to the Center alone and badly beaten. There's no news of what happened to Tiko."
"Oh no! Ash... you don't think that Tiko..." Serena began, unable to finish that sentence.
"That's why I asked Clemont to go get the PST. Ah, Nurse Joy, wait!" Ash said, as her Aromatisse and Miasmedic helpers gently put the Palij on a stretcher.
"I'm sorry, but I need to treat this Pokemon as soon as possible," Nurse Joy replied.
"No! I mean, I have a device made by Professor Cypress that can translate what a Pokemon says!" Ash shouted, making the nurse shoot him an incredulous look. "If we use it on Palij, we can ask him what happened with Tiko!"
And just that moment, Clemont returned with the PST in hand.
"Very well. You have a couple minutes before I take it inside," the nurse said.
Clemont handed the device to Ash, who moved the microphone close to the Palij.
"Hey pal, we need to know what happened to your trainer. Where is Tiko? Is he still at the Anthell? Is he okay?" Ash asked.
"Pa... palij, pa, pal..." Palij painfully squawked. [The bugs... they ambushed us... and overwhelmed us... Tiko sent me here... to ask for help... before the bugs got to him...]
The translated tale drew a collective gasp of horror as people began to murmur among themselves, this time louder than before.
"No!"
"There's no way those bugs took down Tiko!"
"What are we going to do now?"
"Tiko was our strongest trainer! If the Anthell claimed him, what can we do?"
The crowd continued to murmur and discuss among themselves what they could do, as despair kept getting larger and larger.
"I will go to the Anthell to get him back," Ash stated.
The crowd's buzzing was brought to a screeching halt, as everybody looked at Ash as if he had grown a second head. But Ash didn't budge.
"Come on kid, you can't be serious! That place is extremely dangerous!" a woman stated. "If Tiko has been taken down by that horde of insects..."
"Then he will be waiting for somebody to rescue him. And if not me, then who? Because I don't see anybody else volunteering," Ash stated. "Plus, I'm not defenseless. I have a team of very strong Pokemon that can help me navigate that place."
"Ash, are you really sure about that?" Serena asked. "I agree with what you said but... shouldn't we call the Rangers instead?"
"By the time they get here it may be too late," Ash said. And judging by their looks, Serena and Clemont knew he was right. "Plus it's not just Tiko. Tiko went to the Anthell to begin with to rescue some people who disappeared there. They need our help too."
"In that case, I'll go with you. That place is a maze and you might get lost. With Luxray, navigating that place and finding Tiko and the other victims will be much easier," Clemont said, even if Ash could tell a kilometer away that the idea of going to the Anthell terrified him.
"I'll go with you too. The more we are, the better," Serena offered, and Ash smiled at her in gratitude.
"Given that Dedenne has been there before-" Bonnie began, before Clemont interrupted her.
"Oh no, you aren't coming, Bonnie! That place is too dangerous for somebody as young as you!" Clemont replied. Bonnie wanted to protest, but the Lumiose Gym Leader wouldn't let her. "I can't keep an eye on you while we're in that nightmarish place. You'll stay at the Pokemon Center and wait for us to return, understood?"
Bonnie clenched her fist and pouted, but didn't protest. "...fine. But you better come back, you hear me?"
"Don't worry Bonnie, it'll take more than a few wild Bug-type Pokemon to bring your brother down. Especially if he has Serena and I to watch his back," Ash reassured the lemon blonde. "Alright, no time to waste! To the Anthell!"
…
Roughly an hour later, after leaving Amatree and returning to the Baykal Forest, Ash, Serena and Clemont where in front of the same tunnel entrance they had run from the first time they had stumbled into the aptly named Anthell. Thankfully, this time around no angry troop of apes tried to attack them in revenge for a past slight.
The trio of teens stood immobile in front of the entrance, looking at the cobwebs hanging from the roof and the pitch-black darkness that hid both danger and horrors within it.
"So... shall we go inside?" Serena asked, as she nervously played with the hem of her skirt.
"Yeah," Ash said, as his hand went to his belt. "Take a couple of Pokemon out first. Raptorch, Frosthra, I choose you."
"Right. Sylveon, Delphox, come out," Serena said.
"Luxray, Quilladin, go," Clemont said.
The six Pokemon materialized in front of their trainers, all six of them facing the entrance to the dark tunnel.
"Clemont, have Luxray lead the way," Ash told the lemon blond.
Clemont nodded, before grabbing the PST and switching it on. "Luxray, we're about to head into the Anthell. We're looking for several people who have disappeared inside. I need you to find them."
"Lu, luxray!" Luxray nodded. [It shall be done, boss. Follow me!]
With Luxray at the lead, the group of humans and Pokemon entered the dreaded insect lair. There was no need for Clemont to pull out the Heliolisk Lantern since the flames of Raptorch's tail and Delphox's ignited wand provided enough light for them to see where they were going.
So far, they haven't encountered any enemies, but they did hear the pitter-patter of small legs crawling from one place to another, reminding the group that they weren't alone and that they were being watched. All of them agreed that if the bugs hadn't attacked them just yet it was because they hadn't gathered enough numbers to mount an attack.
But it wouldn't take long until they did.
"Lux, ray!" Luxray said, as he took a briskier pace, turning a corner. [I found something!]
Following the Gleam Eyes Pokemon, the group entered a small empty chamber with several silk cocoons of varying sides inside it.
Taking a step forward, Ash grabbed a small cocoon and ripped it open, revealing an unconscious Mankey inside it.
"A Mankey...?" Serena asked.
Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder, and lightly slapped the Mankey in order to wake it up. Once it did, the confused primate looked around, before letting out a short screech and running away. Meanwhile, Clemont and Serena ripped open other cocoons: one of them had a Chicoatl, the other had a bunch of berries.
Then Ash opened the last one, and it was another chimp-like Pokemon with brown fur, a furry green collar of leaves, who was wearing what looked like a Tiki Mask.
"Tikiki, the Tiki Mask Pokemon. Grass. It hides its true face behind a wooden mask. They will often convene in order to dance elaborate dances." The Pokedex explained once it scanned the unconscious Pokemon.
"What... what is this place?" Serena asked.
"One of their food stockpiles, it seems," Clemont grimly noted.
Serena grimaced. "Food stockpile?" She repeated.
"I knew they said that the bugs here were ravenous, but I never imagined Pokemon starving so much that they'd eat other Pokemon,," Ash said, as he shook the Chicoatl to wake it up. Once it did, the confused Green Chick Pokemon looked around, before running away, scared.
"And the people who have disappeared..." Serena began shaking the Tikiki awake. "You don't think that they... that they..." she couldn't even bring herself to finish that thought.
"I don't know, but we should assume the worst," Ash said, inspecting the cocoons. "No Tiko or other people inside these cocoons, though."
Clemont gulped loudly. "Let's hope they just moved them somewhere else and they haven't been turned into some insect's meal just yet."
Luxray led them through the eerily empty tunnels to another chamber, also filled with silk cocoons. Some had berries on them, while others had Pokemon. This time, they found a pair of Chicoatl, a Primeape, and a Hagoop. They left the berries there and woke up the Pokemon, who quickly scurried away once they regained consciousness.
"Come on, we have to keep going. We still haven't found any of the-"
"Lu, luxray!" Luxray warned, as he took on a fighting stance. [Watch out! A horde of enemies incoming!]
As soon as Luxray say those words (and the PST finished translated them) the tunnel they were in began to rumble as the sound of thousands of legs coming towards them could be hear louder and louder, until a veritable wall of bugs threatened to engulf them, their buzzing and clicking cries echoing through the tunnels.
[Intruders, stop the intruders!]
[The Queen is hungry! Bring more food to the Queen!]
[Protect our home from the invaders! Don't let them steal the Queen's food!]
[More food for the Queen!]
Ash felt tempted to switch the PST off so they couldn't hear the unnerving battle cries of the army of bugs, and knew that his friends and the Pokemon felt the same.
"Everybody, attack!" Ash ordered.
And attack they did.
Raptorch roasted with a Flamethrower a horde of Tricwe that approached them from the left side.
Frosthra swiped with a well aimed Shadow Claw at a pair of Smore that tried to drop on Ash from the ceiling.
Quilladin used his own body to block a Bubble Beam aimed at Delphox, his arms crossed protectively in front of his face, before bombarding the offending Sponaree with a Pin Missile.
The aforementioned Delphox used Psybeam to counter a Shockwave from a large, six legged yellow furry Pokemon that no one had seen before.
"Harylect, the Shock Spider Pokemon, and Tricwe's evolution. Bug/Electric. They gather near sources of electricity and therefore are drawn to human dwellings and power plants. They can plug their antennae into a wall socket to recharge." A quick scan from the Pokedex provided that bit of information.
The battle continued as Ash commanded Frosthra to use Powder Snow to freeze a bunch of Smore and Tricwe that were getting close, but when the Frost Moth Pokemon beat her wings in order to produce a frozen gust of wind, the intensity of the resulting attack was much higher than that of Powder Snow, not only freezing the targets, but covering the wall and floor of the tunnel in solid ice.
"Hey look, Frosthra just learned Blizzard!" Clemont pointed out.
"Yes! Well done, Frosthra!" Ash congratulated the ice moth.
"Fro, fros!" Frosthra smiled earnestly at the praise. [Aw thanks! In this form, I feel like I can push myself like never before!]
Though thankfully he didn't abandon the fight to give Ash one his signature freezing hugs.
A Firoke and a Harylect shot an Fire Spin and a Thunderbolt, which were stopped by Sylveon's Protect. Using Sylveon as cover, Luxray bombarded the two attacking insects with a barrage of golden stars.
A Harylect and a Tricwe fired a Shockwave and a Thundershock, respectively, at Sylveon, attacking from a flank. Fortunately, Raptorch managed to jump in the way and shield the Intertwining Pokemon with his body, letting the electric attacks harmlessly crash into his body, before smacking them with a powerful Brick Break.
"Raptorch, watch out!" Ash warned.
Unfortunately, the warning came too late, as Raptorch was blasted by two Bubble Beams and a single Water gun being fired by a trio of Sponaree. The three super effective attacks blasted the Fire Dino Pokemon against a wall.
"Raptorch!" Ash cried.
Before the three Sponge Pokemon could attack even further, Luxray slammed into them with a Wild Charge, sending them flying in an explosion of yellow sparks.
Unfortunately, despite Luxray's save, the attack had left Raptorch too weak to continue fighting.
"Raptorch, return!" Ash said, grinding his teeth in anger, before picking another pokeball. "Aveden, I choose you!"
"Av, aveden!" Aveden cawed. [I'm ready to fight, sensei!]
Though, the moment Aveden said that, a Harylect leaped at him, its jaws crackling with electricity. Thankfully, before the Thunder Fang could hit, said Harylect was blasted away by Delphox's Hidden Power.
"Ave!" Aveden. [Thank you, miss!]
"Del, delphox, pho!" Delphox replied. [No need to! You can return the favor by blowing away these disgusting creeps, though!]
"I have a better idea! Everybody, cover your ears!" Ash warned. "Aveden, Sing!"
Everybody did as Ash warned, while Aveden began to sign as loudly as he could. Thankfully, the echo of the tunnels helped to carry his voice. Ethereal musical notes started to appear around the tunnels, as the Anthell inhabitants started to feel drowsy.
"This is our chance! Attack now, all at once!" Ash commanded.
He didn't need to tell them twice. Streams of fire, blades of compressed air, sharp stingers, freezing winds, electric blasts and golden stars all rained upon the half asleep swarm of bugs, violently blasting them backwards, knocking many of them out cold.
And upon seeing their inability to stop the outsiders and the damage they were taking, the group of bugs dispersed and scurried away, running through the different tunnels that formed the Anthell.
Despite the victory, there was no celebration, as they knew that this was only one battle of many that would come. Though there would be one cause for a brief celebration as a crackling sound was heard, followed by Aveden's body glowing bluish white.
"Aveden?" Ash asked.
The Bliss Bird Pokemon started to grow in size as it changed, briefly illuminating the tunnel as the process took place. Once the light vanished, they could see the new Pokemon Aveden had evolved into.
"Sple!" he cawed.
Ash quickly took his Pokedex to know more about Aveden's new form..
"Splendifowl, the Paradise Bird Pokemon, Aveden's evolution, and Birbie's final form. Normal/Flying. Its spectacular plumage makes it a frequent target of poachers. However, due to the heavy feathers, it's not a great flyer." The Pokedex explained.
Splendifowl was a fairly large bird, at least tripling his size upon evolving. His body was still navy blue, and kept the same light blue mark on his belly, except that there was another red mark under it. He now had a long, yellow crest that ran down his back and went down his white tail.
"Wow! It's so beautiful!" Serena couldn't help but say in admiration.
"Sple, splendifowl, sple!" Splendifowl happily cawed. [I know! I'm so fabulous! Just wait until Syrentide sees me!]
"I'm very happy with your evolution, Splendifowl. Unfortunately, we will have to celebrate it later. We still haven't found Tiko nor any of the missing people," Ash reminded.
"Lu, luxray, ra!" Luxray warned once again. [I'm seeing some cocooned humans! They're far away, on a lower level!]
"Well done, Luxray! Lead the way!" Clemont praised the Gleam Eyes Pokemon.
They expected the lower levels of the Anthell to be even darker, but much to their surprise, it was the opposite, as many bioluminescent mushrooms grew on these tunnels, providing some light that, even if it gave the place an even more eerie feel, it at least helped with visibility.
Even if they had defeated the first wave of insects, the Anthell still had plenty more to throw at them, as they found no shortage of Bug-type Pokemon getting in the way, throwing themselves at them in an attempt to hinder their progress, while many of them also coming from behind. And as they descended towards the Anthell's lower levels, the number of bugs did nothing but increase.
[Protect the hive!]
[The Queen must not be harmed!]
[Food! More food for the Queen!]
"Who is this queen they keep talking about...?" Clemont wondered.
"We can care about that later! Focus on the battle!" Ash told his bespectacled friend.
Clemont didn't argue and began directing his Pokemon. Quilladin countered a Poison Jab from a Harylect with an Iron Head, sending the Shock Spider Pokemon tumbling backwards, while Luxray took down a pair of Sponaree and several Sponee with Wild Charge like a bowling ball knocking down a group of pins.
Splendifowl countered a pair of Incinerate from a pair of Firoke with Gust, while Frosthra covered him with Protect from the Shockwave of a nearby Harylect.
Delphox continued to roast with Flamethrower scores of Sponee and Tricwe trying to get close by crawling through the walls, while Sylveon pushed a pair of Tricwe away with Fairy Wind.
Quilladin used his Vine Whip to wrap a Sponaree and launch it against a pair of Smore, but that left him wide open for a Firoke's X-Scissor. The attack pushed Quilladin away from the group, before a Smore and a Sponee latched onto his body and sunk their jaws, glowing with a greenish-yellow light, into his flesh, likely using Leech Life.
"Qui, qui, quilla!" Quilladin screamed, as he weakly trashed around, trying to get rid of the bugs. [Help! Help! Please get them away from me!]
"Quilladin!" Clemont shouted, as he grabbed another pokeball. "Eletux, use Aqua Jet on that Firoke! Luxray, Swift on the Pokemon latching onto Quilladin, quickly!"
"Ele, ele!" [Worry not, leave it to me!] the playful Hippocampus Pokemon cried, before coating himself in water and slamming into the Smoking Ant Pokemon with the force of a missile.
"Lux! Lux-RAY!" [It will be done! Hang on Quilladin!] Luxray cried as he waved his tail, releasing a flurry of golden stars that homed onto the pair of Bug-types sucking his life out, while leaving Quilladin untouched.
Once Quilladin was free, Luxray quickly went to check on his fallen comrade, followed by Clemont.
"Qui...!" he cried. [It hurts...]
"You've done enough, Quilladin. Take some rest," Clemont gently said, as he recalled his mid-stage Grass-type starter.
"We're almost done with those here, but I'm hearing more of those bugs coming from some of the tunnels we left behind!" Serena warned.
"Then we should better block the entrances of those tunnels as we advance!" Ash decided, as he ran towards the closets of such entrances. "Frosthra, create an ice barrier here with Blizzard!"
"Fro, frosthra!" Frosthra enthusiastically replied. [One ice barrier coming in!]
Frosthra began to flap his wings, blowing a powerful and extremely cold wind. Solid ice began to build around the floor, walls and ice, quickly closing in, until it formed a barrier that completely plugged the tunnel.
"Good. That should keep them busy for a few minutes, at the very least," Ash deduced, before looking at Clemont. "Clemont, ask Luxray how much until we get to the chamber where the cocooned humans are being kept!"
Ash asked the question loud enough that Clemont didn't need to relay it. Luxray looked into the same direction he had seen the cocooned victims before, and switched to X-ray vision. He opened his eyes widely in surprise.
"Lu, ray, luxray lu!" Luxray said in a rather agitated voice. [Some of the insects are moving the humans to another chamber! They must know that we're here to rescue them!]
They continued their trek through the Anthell, battling hordes of bugs that seemed to have no end. From time to time, their Pokemon would create a barrier to plug the tunnels in order to keep the bugs coming from behind and to keep them busy for some time. Aside from the humans, Clemont also asked Luxray to direct them towards other food stockpiles with cocooned Pokemon that they could free, which quickly ran away to the Anthell's exit once liberated.
As they pressed on, the tunnel started to become progressively wider, allowing them more room to battle.
"I think there's enough space to send a third Pokemon," Ash said, a pokeball already in hand. "Dunsparce, I choose you!"
"Good idea! Come out, Syrentide!" Serena said, sending her Water and Fairy-type.
"Nucleon, go!" Clemont said, as the pure Nuclear-type materialized next to him.
"Lux, luxray, ray-lux!" Luxray warned once again, his eyes glowing red. [I'm seeing the cocooned humans! They're bringing them to a gigantic chamber!]
"We need to save them as soon as possible! Come on guys, keep pushing forward!" Ash urged.
As they rushed ahead, they continued fighting their way through the hordes of insects. Dunsparce cleared the way of a group of Tricwe and Smore with a well aimed Rollout, while Splendifowl blew away a Sponaree and a pair of Sponee with Gust.
Delphox tried to slow down the bugs by erecting a wall of flames between the enemy and her friends, but it was quickly put out by the Sponaree and Sponee's Water Gun and Bubble Beam. Stll, it kept the insects distracted enough for Eletux to fry them with a well placed Thunderbolt.
Then, another crackling noise, as Eletux's body glowed with a blueish-white light, and started to grow and change.
"Another evolution?" Serena asked.
Once the transformation was over, there stood a proud Electruxo. He shot a taunting look at Luxray, and while the Gleam Eyes Pokemon appeared to be unamused, he smirked back at the newly evolved Water and Electric-type.
"With all these fighting we're doing, it's not rare that some of our Pokemon might end up evolving," Clemont said, pushing his glasses up.
"And there's still a lot of fighting left to do. Come on!" Ash urged.
As Ash and his friends broke into the chamber, they were met by a veritable army of insects of all six kinds of Pokemon they had seen so far, filling the chamber with a loud cacophony of screeches, buzzes and clicking noises. Behind them were four cocoons that, judging by their shape, were clearly ensnared humans.
"There are so many of them..." Serena said, somewhat fearfully, as she looked at the swarm of angry Bug-types, daring them to make a move.
"No matter how many of them there are, we will fight them! We can't leave Tiko and the others here!" Ash stated.
"Pi-pika!" Pikachu agreed.
"I'll attack first, you guys follow my lead!" Ash began, as he took a step forward. "Splendifowl, clear a path with Gust! Dunsparce, bombard them with Ancient Power! And Frosthra-"
However, before Ash could issue the last order, something happened. Suddenly, the clattering of jaws and buzzing noises filling the air came to a halt, replaced by a deafening silence. The bugs began to look around, nervous and even fearful, before they broke their formation and scurried away in every direction. Some of them even ran past the trainers and their Pokemon, almost as if they weren't even there. After a couple seconds, the chamber was completely empty.
"What... what happened?" Clemont asked, as he looked back, seeing the last of the fleeing Bug-types disappearing behind a nearby tunnel. "Why did they run away? Because I have the feeling that we didn't scare them that much..."
"We can worry about that later. Let's take advantage of that to get the people out of those cocoons!" Ash stated.
"Yes!" Both Clemont and Serena said.
Each of them quickly went to tear the cocoons trapping one of the people. The one Ash opened had a middle aged bald man with a mustache. Clemont's had a brown haired woman in her thirties, while Serena's had a redheaded girl not that older than them.
Ash went to release the last victim of their cocoon: a dark skinned man with short hair styled in cornrows, wearing nothing but a red skirt.
"Ughh..." unlike the other three, the man in question began to groan as his body stirred. "Where... where I...UGH!"
The man tried to get up, but he was so weak he fell on his butt.
"Easy there," Ash warned, helping the man to sit down. "It's okay. You're safe now."
"I... I see..." the man groggily replied.
"You're Tiko, right?" Ash asked.
The man nodded. "How do... do you... know me? I don't... I don't remember meeting... you..."
"The pokeballs on your skirt and the Keystone on your necklace," Ash pointed out.
"Very... clever. Where I am?" the man, Tiko finally managed to articulate.
"In the Anthell," Serena replied.
This seemed to help wake the man up. "In the Anthell?" he repeated. "Just... but... how long have I... how were you able to reach this place? Where are all the bugs?" he looked at them incredulously. "Did you defeat all of them?"
"That's the funny part, we were about to fight a gigantic group of bugs guarding this place when they suddenly ran away for some reason," Ash explained. "Anyway, can you walk? Because we better not risk our luck by staying here longer than we need. Those bugs might change their minds and come back-"
THOOM!
Everybody heard a loud noise coming from below that made the ground shake a little.
"What... what was that?" Clemont asked.
"You said... the bugs ran away?" Tiko said, blinking a little. Then, he began to look around the massive chamber, and as if realizing something, his eyes grew wide with shock. "We need to leave right now! We're in grave danger!"
THOOM!
Another pulse that made the ground tremble.
"Why? What's going on?" Ash asked.
"We can't leave just now! These people are still unconscious!" Serena pointed at the other three victims.
THOOM!
This time, the quake was more intense.
"Does it have to do with these strange seismic pulses?" Clemont asked.
THOOM!
"Too late. She's already here," Tiko said with the tone of somebody who had accepted he was doomed.
"She? Who is she?" Ash asked.
The answer came in the form of the ground of the chamber exploding, raising a cloud of smoke and sending chunks of earth and rock everywhere, followed by the shape of something gigantic emerging from it.
"SKREEEEEEEEEE! SKREEEEEEEE!" a deafening screech echoed through the chamber.
This appeared to be a Pokemon, as the PST caught the loud noise and translated it:
[OUTSIDERS! YOU DARE BREAK INTO MY HIVE, ATTACK MY SERVANTS, AND DEFILE THE ROYAL CHAMBER WITH YOUR PRESENCE!? YOUR DEATHS SHALL BE SLOW AND PAINFUL!]
When the cloud of dust settled, they could finally see what had come from underground, and all three of them, even Ash, paled at the sight before them. Even the Pokemon cried in horror. Some like Luxray or Delphox held their ground, but others like Frosthra or Sylveon whimpered while taking a step back.
"DUNSPARCE!?" Dunsparce loudly asked. [JUST WHAT THE *BLEEP* IS THAT!?]
It was another Bug-type Pokemon, except this one was so massive, she completely blocked the chamber's only exit by standing in front of it. Her body was dark brown, eight meters long and extremely fat. She had a mane of hair running down her back split into several sections, each colored red, yellow and blue, thee pair of legs, one pair red, other yellow and other blue, and three pair of Yanma-like translucent blue wings on her back, but they were so small in comparison to her body that it was unlikely she could use them to fly. Lastly, her head had six red eyes and a pair of red antennae with yellow fluff.
"The Seikamater, the Queen of the Anthell," Tiko explained,
"Seikamater...?" Ash asked, quickly pulling his Pokedex, hoping it would give him something useful about the giant, bloated bug.
"Seikamater, the Insect Queen Pokemon. Bug/Normal. This Legendary Pokemon is the Queen of all bugs in Tandor. She lurks deep within the Anthell, sleeping for years in between broods." The Pokedex explained.
"Le-Legendary!?" Serena repeated, her voice cracking with terror.
Ash was disappointed upon seeing no more data, before quickly pocketing the device away. Then again, if this was a Legendary Pokemon, then no wonder there was very little information about her.
"Ash... what are we going to do?" Serena asked, unable to take her eyes off of the monstrous Bug and Normal-type.
"Because I don't think she'll let us go if we just ask her nicely," Clemont said.
"It isn't obvious? We do what we've been doing since we came to this place: fight!" Ash said, as he leveled a glare full of resolve at the enemy in front of him.
"SKREEEEEEEEEE!" the Seikamater screeched again. [FIGHT OR NOT, YOUR FATE CANNOT BE CHANGED! YOU'LL DIE FOR YOUR IMPUDENCE! YOUR CARCASSES WILL FEED ME AND MY YOUNG!]
"We'll see about that!" Ash defiantly replied, leveling the massive Insect Queen a glare full of resolve.
"Pika, chu!" Pikachu added with as much energy.
Electric sparks started to jump from Seikamater's antennae as if they were a taser, before firing a massive electric blast, likely a Thunder, at the raven haired boy.
"ASH!" Serena and Clemont screamed iun unison.
Thankfully, the attack never reached him, since despite his apparent fear, Frosthra threw himself between the attack and his trainer and blocked it with Protect. There was a booming noise as the electric blast crashed into the shield, before splitting into millions of yellow sparks that quickly disappeared.
"Well done Frosthra, now counter with Blizzard! Splendifowl, Air Cutter! Dunsparce, Ancient Power!" Ash shouted.
Seikamater was blasted by a powerful barrage of cold wind and sharp ice shards, a rain of golden rocks and blades of compressed air. The Insect Queen Pokemon let out a screech of agony as she tumbled backwards, before she exhaled a wide torrent of flames from her jaws.
"Syrentide, Hydro Pump!" Serena ordered.
"Help her with Water Gun, Electruxo!" Clemont added.
Both the Siren Pokemon and the Hippocampus Pokemon fired streams of water from their mouth, the former way larger than the later, at the incoming wall of flames. There was a sizzling noise followed by a cloud of steam as the two opposing elements clashed, but much to their horror, they realized that Seikamater's fire attack was overpowering their water ones, until the two Pokemon were engulfed by the flames.
"Syrentide!" Serena cried.
"Electruxo!" Clemont shouted as well.
Retribution came in the form of Delphox sending a Fire Blast and Nucleon firing a beam of radioactive power from his chest orb. Her big size and slow movements made Seikamater all but impossible to dodge the moves, which once again made her screech in pain and tumble back a little, but so far it didn't look like the damage was significant.
Once the flames of Seikamater's attack disappeared, Serena and Clemont could see much to their relief that Syrentide and Electruxo only had a few burns. Even if they weren't able to completely stop her attack, they had weakened it significantly.
"Tiko, you're a Gym Leader, aren't you going to help us?" Ash asked.
"I'd gladly help you fight her, but all my Pokemon are down for the count," the Gym Leader regretfully replied.
Seikamater proved to have a far wider arsenal than any Bug-type Pokemon had any right to have, as she began to form a large sphere of darkness in front of her face, before launching it at Syrentide and Electruxo.
"Splendifowl, intercept it!" Ash quickly ordered.
The Paradise Bird Pokemon quickly dived towards the giant Shadow Ball, blocking it with his body. However, no matter their size or power, no Ghost-type attack could harm a Normal-type pokemon like Splendifowl, and the sphere of darkness burst like a balloon once it exhausted all its energy trying to get past the insurmountable wall that was the blue bird.
"Sy, Syren!" Syrentide smiled and waved at him. [Nice save! I owe you one!]
Spelndifowl turned his head back at her and smiled. "Sple, fow-RAAAAAARK!" the bird squawked in pain as he was blasted by electricity.
"Splendifowl!" Ash yelled.
Unfortunately for the bird, the moment he let his feelings for Syrentide get the best of him gave Seikamater an opportunity to fry him with another Thunder. Needless to say, such a devastating attack knocked Splendifowl out cold, as he fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"Splendifowl!" Ash repeated again, as he ran towards the fallen bird. His feathers were disheveled and had many burn marks, but thankfully nothing a visit to the Pokemon Center couldn't fix. With a despondent sigh, Ash returned the defeated bird to his pokeball, and took another one. "It's okay, Splendifowl. Take a rest. Greninja, I choose you!"
As Splendifowl was absorbed into the capture device, Greninja was released to take his place. The Ninja Pokemon took a fighting stance, ready to battle, but his normally unflappable stoicism was shaken when he saw the kind of enemy they were facing.
"Ni-ninja!?" Greninja asked, blinking a couple times. [W-What is that!?]
"Pi, pikachu!" Pikachu replied. [Something big and ugly who wants to kill us all! Just hit her hard!]
"We need to go all out if we hope to defeat that Pokemon!" Serena said, holding her Mega Ring above her head, before touching it with her other hand. "Syrentide, let me help you bring out the potential that hides deep within you! Mega Evolve!"
Tendrils of light shot from both the Keystone and the Mega Stone, merging together forming a link between trainer and Pokemon. Syrentide's body glowed with a bright, blinding light as she transformed, revealing her new appearance once the light dimmed out, as the helix of the Mega Evolution briefly flashed in front of her.
"Whoa! You have Mega Evolution?" Tiko asked, marveling upon Syrentide's new form.
"All of us have it," Serena explained.
"Really? In that case we might have a better chance..." Tiko said, sounding more hopeful.
"Come on Greninja, let's do it! The only way we can defeat this enemy is TOGETHER!" Ash said, bringing his arms outwards before crossing them in front of him.
The Ninja Pokemon was engulfed by a spiraling torrent of water, which allowed everybody to see the Pokemon's silhouette as he transformed. Once the metamorphosis was complete, all the water compressed into a single Water Shuriken attached to Ash-Greninja's back.
"Hey, wait a minute! That Greninja! You're Ash Ketchum, are you?" Tiko said in realization. "I should have known! Sheldon told me that you'd come to my gym soon!"
"I'm glad you think of Ash so highly, but you'll excuse us for leaving the pleasantries for later," Serena quickly interceded, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead.
"Oh, right, of course!" Tiko said, as he began to crawl towards the furthest part of the chamber. "I'll make sure the unconscious victims aren't caught by a stray attack or something like that."
Seikamater attacked again, this time by spewing a massive deluge of water at them, an attack all of them identified as Hydro Pump.
"Frosthra, counter it with Blizzard!" Ash ordered. "Greninja, Ice Beam!"
"Syrentide, Hyper Voice, as loud as you can!" Serena added.
"Gre!" Greninja said, firing a freezing beam from his cupped, webbed hands.
"Fro, fro, fro, froooooo!" Frosthra began to flap his wings as fast as possible in order to make his Blizzard as strong as possible.
Frosthra's Blizzard and Greninja's Ice Beam were able to freeze part of the water Seikamater was spewing, but they didn't stop the attack. Fortunately, Syrentide's Pixilate-enhanced Hyper Voice managed to provide the extra power needed, as the two attacks together were able to stop the torrent of water.
"Luxray, Wild Charge! Nucleon, Quick Attack!" Clemont ordered, as Seikamater was now wide open.
The two Pokemon dashed forward, Luxray covered in a thick coat of lightning, Nucleon glowing with a bright green light as he left a trail of fading light of the same color, before leaping at the giant insect. Luxray smashed into her first, producing a blast of electricity that made her tumble backwards, followed by Nucleon's Atomizate-enhanced attack, pushing her back even further.
Letting out an angry, ear-piercing screech – that the PST didn't translate, meaning it was just a screech – Seikamater went onto the offensive again, this time with another Thunder.
"Delphox, repel it with Fire Blast!" Serena ordered.
"Dunsparce, help her with Ancient Power!" Ash added.
"Nucleon, Gamma Ray, now!" Clemont shouted.
Delphox aimed her wand at the incoming electric barrage, releasing a large wall of flame shaped like the kanji of fire, while Dunsparce threw a salvo of golden, glowing rocks that he summoned around him, and Nucleon once again fired a green energy beam from his small chest orb. The three attacks clashed against the monstrous Thunder, and even if they weren't able to overcome it, they were able to stop it on its tracks.
"Hey, I'm noticing something about Seikamater..." Ash said, looking at the royal bug's head, way above him. "All her attacks... they always come from either the head or the mouth.."
As if to prove Ash's theory right, Seikamater's antennae crackled with energy, this time orange instead of yellow, as energy particles of the same color began to gather and form into a growing orb of energy. Ash tensed up, immediately recognizing the attack, and given Clemont and Serena's reaction, so had they.
"Everybody, move! That's a Hyper Beam!" Clemont warned.
Before they had the chance to put up or even think in a defense, Seikamater fired the beam in a wide arc, forcing everybody to run away in any direction. The destructive beam of energy carved a furrow as it moved, and while all the humans and most Pokemon were able to dodge it, some of them weren't so lucky.
The first victim was Dunsparce, who wanted to avoid the beam by digging underground, but he didn't dig deep enough, and the energy stream caught him underground, blasting him into the air.
"PAAAAAAAARCE!" Dunsparce screamed as he fell.
"Dunsparce!" Ash cried.
And sadly for them, Dunsparce wouldn't be the first victim the Hyper Beam would claim.
"DEEEEEEL!" Delphox cried as she was caught by the blast, much to Serena, Sylveon and Syrentide's horror.
"CLEOOOO!" Nucleon screamed in pain as well, as he was unable to dodge the light of destruction.
"Delphox, no!" Serena shouted, as she rushed towards her fallen Pokemon.
"Nucleon!" Clemont yelled, also running towards his defeated Nuclear-type.
As Ash recalled Dunsparce and his friends did the same for their fallen Pokemon, Ash noticed that Seikamater took a step back, her body sagging, looking like she was feeling exhausted all of sudden. Ash had seen Hyper Beam enough times to know that a Pokemon that used it would need a few moments to recover before it could use another attack or even move, and Legendary or not Seikamater wasn't an exception.
It was now their chance to put an end to this.
"Frosthra, String Shot on Seikamater! Aim at her face!"
"Fro, fros!" Frosthra chirped, nodding. [Ohhhh, that's a good idea, sensei!]
Taking advantage of Seikamater's predicament, Frosthra flew close to the Insect Queen Pokemon's face and wasted no time firing sticky webbing from his mouth. He aimed for her eyes first, blinding her, then he tied her antennae, and lastly tied her jaws shut.
As the negative aftereffect of the Hyper Beam passed, Seikamater could move and attack again, but with her eyes disabled and her antennae and jaws stuck together, she had no way to attack. She trashed violently around as she attempted to remove the sticky substance from her face with her front legs, attempted being the key word since said legs were too short to reach.
"Everybody, attack now! This is our chance!" Ash urged his friends. "Frosthra, Signal Beam! Greninja, Water Shuriken!"
"Syrentide, Hydro Pump! Sylveon, Moonblast!" Serena ordered.
"Luxray, Swift! And Electruxo, Thunderbolt!" Clemont followed.
Seikamater was bombarded by a beam of bright light, a spinning water disk, a torrential stream of water, a pink and white energy missile, a loud lightning bolt and a barrage of golden stars. All attacks found their mark, exploding at different spots on Seikamater's body. It seemed that, between all the previous damage sustained across the battle, Seikamater had reached her limit, given that her four back legs gave in, her body collapsing on the ground.
It seemed that one of the attacks had destroyed the sticky threads wrapped around Seikamater's face, given that the wrapping had come undone and the Insect Queen Pokemon could see and screech again.
"SKREEEEEEEEEE! SKREEEEEEEEEE!" she screeched. Unlike her previous cries, this one wasn't filled with rage, but with fear and desperation. [SERVANTS, TO ME! YOUR QUEEN IS BEING ATTACKED! PROTECT YOUR QUEEN, PROTECT THE HIVE!]
And with that, Seikamater dug underground, abandoning the battle.
"We won?" Clemont asked, blinking a couple times, before breaking out a jubilant smile. "Yes, we did it! We took down that Legendary Pokemon!"
Unfortunately, Clemont's jubilation would prove to be short-lived, as Pikachu's ears perked up.
"Pi, pika, pikachu pi!" Pikachu warned, his tone gaining an edge of urgency. [The rest of the bugs are coming back! We need to move!]
"Guys, help me carry these people!" Tiko said from the further end of the chamber, as he tried to lift the half-cocooned body of the unconscious woman.
Wasting no time, they placed one of the bodies on Luxray's back, had Greninja carry another, and Ash and Clemont carried the third one. After that, they recalled all their inactive Pokemon to carry the unconscious people.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Ash said.
"Luxray, can you find the way back?" Clemont asked his strongest Pokemon.
"Lu, luxray, lux!" Luxray replied as he nodded. [I am, boss. Follow my lead!]
The group and their human cargo ran out of the chamber back into the vast network of tunnels. They would have spent many hours looking for the entrance in that maze, but thanks to Luxray's X-ray vision they knew what path they had to follow.
Soon, members of the Anthell's swarm appeared to stop them from leaving. Ash sent Metalynx, while Clemont sent Bunnelby and Serena sent Pangoro in order to face them. Their Queen's defeat had sent them into a frenzied state, and the PST wasn't even able to translate what their high pitched buzzes and screeches even meant anymore. Not that anything they had to say mattered.
Bunnelby smacked a pair of Smore away with a well timed Double Slap, while Pangoro's Thunder Punch sent a Sponaree careening backwards, and Metalynx's Iron Tail parried a X-Scissor from a bold Harylect, before delivering a Night Slash in return.
While their numbers grew with each passing moment, their collective fighting style was just as disorganized and chaotic as it had been before, meaning that the humans and their Pokemon didn't have that much trouble dealing with them. Still, with every foe they felled, their Pokemon grew a little more exhausted. If they didn't find the exit anytime soon...
But alas, luck was on their side.
"I feel an air current... we're close to one of the exits!" Serena said, the thought renewing her strength, if only temporarily.
"Yes! Right up ahead! I'm seeing it!" Tiko said.
As they run, a veritable tide of frenzied Bug-type Pokemon poured behind them, the angry swarm undeterred in its chase of the invaders.
"We can't run as fast while carrying someone! They're going to catch us!" Clemont panicked, as he constantly looked back, only to see the swarm closer and closer.
"Forget about them! Keep running! Focus on reaching the exit!" Ash urged him.
"Pi, pika!" Pikachu said, as he leaped out of Ash's shoulder. [Don't worry, leave them to me!"]
"Wait- Pikachu? What are you doing!?" Ash shouted, as he turned his head back and saw his starter Pokemon gathering electricity. "Pikachu, NO!"
"Pika...CHUUUUUUUUU!" Pikachu yelled, as he released a powerful Thunderbolt towards the coming swarm.
Pikachu's attack had knocked out multiple Bug-type at once, their unconscious bodies forming a partial plug that severely hindered the movement of the swarm. However, this maneuver didn't come without a cost, as the moment Pikachu landed on all four, his legs began to wobble as if they were made of jelly, before collapsing on the ground.
"Pika..." Pikachu weakly cried.
"Pikachu!" Ash said, dropping the legs of the unconscious person he was carrying, as he rushed back to pick up the electric mouse. Once he was with him, Ash put Pikachu on his shoulder before going back to help Clemont with the unconscious victim they were carrying. "Pikachu, why did you do that!? You're far from being fully recovered!"
Pikachu didn't say anything.
Pikachu's reckless action may have earned him his trainer's anger, but it did manage to buy the group enough time to reach the exit and leave the hellish bug lair.
"Syrentide, close the entrance of that tunnel with Ice Beam, quickly!" Serena said, sending her Water-type a second time.
"You too, Greninja!" Ash mimicked her.
The Siren and Ninja Pokemon fired twin beams of white, freezing power, and in a few seconds the entrance of the tunnel was plugged by a large block of ice.
"Well done!" Tiko said, patting the chunk of ice a couple times. "It looks solid enough. This should be able to buy us enough of a head start so that by the time the bugs destroy it we will be too far away for them to track us."
"Will they chase us outside of their lair?" Ash asked.
"Normally no, but with how they are right now... better not press our luck," Tiko said, scratching the back of his head, as he looked at the ice block with a hint of uneasiness. "Let's get going."
…
Thankfully, they only took a few minutes to wake up the other three people that had been kidnapped by the bugs. After that, they let several of their Pokemon out to act both as vanguards, to deter possible wild Pokemon eager to pick a fight from doing so – the attack of the Mankey and Primeape troop was still fresh in their minds – and to help them carry said people.
So far, they proved to be a good deterrent.
Coatlith also proved to be especially useful in that endeavor, as the Forest Lord (Lady?) Pokemon was able to carry three people with ease while hovering above them, relieving the smaller Pokemon of a big burden and keeping said people away from potential danger.
As they walked back to Amatree, Tiko explained to them the intricacies of the Anthell: normally, while territorial, the bugs of the Anthell tended to mind their own business as long as one stayed away from their lair. They simply collected the rapid growing berries from Baykal, which were more than enough to feed the entire hive, without driving other Pokemon to starvation.
The problem was the Seikamater, their queen. Seikamater spended most of the time hibernating, but once every couple years she wakes up to lay eggs, and then take control of the hive mind to send her workers into a food collecting frenzy. The Seikamater's hunger was so big that they collected every berry from the trees close to their lair, forcing other Pokemon to move away ("so that's why Quetzoral's memory of the Mankey and the Primeape's territory didn't match with what they claimed!" Ash said in realization).
The worst part, though, was that sometimes berries weren't enough, so the bugs also caught Pokemon and even people to feed their queen.
"Though, thanks to the spanking you guys gave her, I feel she'll be going back into hibernation soon, so we won't have to worry for another couple years. Or so I think. Scientists didn't have much a chance to study the Anthell and Seikamater, since the place is so dangerous." Tiko said. Then, he produced a transparent vial from a pocket on his skirt, filled with a thick, orange liquid. "However, this may put an end to it!"
"What's that?" Serena asked, taking a closer look at the vial.
"I believe this is no less than Seikamater's Royal Jelly!" Tiko proudly said. "I found it in a puddle while you guys were fighting the Seikamater. People in the past were able to gather some, but never more than a few drops at a time. But this whole vial will help us understand the Seikamater and her brood all that better!"
"Really? That's great!" Clemont cheered. "Not only did we save people and Pokemon today, but we've done a big service to science!"
"Yep! Once we get to Amatree, I'll be mailing this to a friend of mine who works at Professor Cypress' laboratory," Tiko said, pocketing the vial back. Then, he looked at Ash and with a huge smile, said: "And once my Pokemon are back in top shape, we'll have our Gym match. And honestly, after seeing you in action, I'm very eager to test you myself."
"Haha, yes!" Ash pumped his fist. "I can't wait to battle you either!"
And thus, while tired and bruised, the group made their way back to Amatree more reinvigorated than ever, not only for the heroic deed that they had accomplished a few hours ago, but for what was to come as well.
Author's Note: I think it was obvious that Ash and co. would return to the Anthell, wasn't it? But hey, the worst has already passed. The Anthell has been cleared and Tiko and the rest of the disappeared people are safe and sound! Yay!
Yeah, lots of evolutions here, with Frosthra, Splendifowl and Electruxo reaching their final forms. But hey, theay have been fighting a lot of Pokemon in a very short amount of time. Originally Frosthra was also going to evolve there, but three evolutions broke the fast paced action too often, so I moved it to an evolution during training (also to foreshadow that some Pokemon will evolve during training in the future).
I hope you enjoyed both the action filled trek through the Anthell (even if Ash and co. definitely did not) as well as the battle against the Seikamater. Garlikid aready showed that it could easily face two Mega Evolved Pokemon, and Seikamater upped the ante even more.
Thanks a lot to hirowriter, Lipeghoul, MegaSalamence64, Fox McCloude, MarcusDarkus87 and Brightnova169 for reviewing last chapter, and special thanks to Viroro-kun for betareading this chapter, retaking his role of the story's official beta after last chapter's absence.
Next time, Ash finally gets to face Tiko, and finds out why he's West Tandor's toughest leader (despite his less thán stellar performance in the Anthell). Until then, don't forget to drop a review!