Chapter 16: Phantom Battle in the Glim Forest
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON
Otherwise enjoy!
The day after their Gym Battle against Bea and earning themselves the Ghost Badge, Ash and Gallade soon found themselves in Glimwood Tangle, a dark forest that was located between Stow-on-Side and Ballonlea, and the route they needed to take to reach their next destination to earn their fifth Gym Badge.
"I wonder how does anyone ever go through this forest?" Gallade questioned, looking around the barely lit woods around them.
"I mean its is called Glimwood Tangle, so I guess that makes sense." Ash responded, while looking around to see if they could find an exit route.
The pair soon continued their way through the forest, only to find out that they were lost quicker than they could even find an exit, as Ash decided to take a look at the map on his Rotom Phone, trying to figure out which way they needed to go to reach Ballonlea.
"Even after looking at the map, it's still difficult to find our way around." Ash mumbled in confusion.
Confused as to why Ash had said that, Gallade decided to take a peek over his shoulder to notice that even with the map in hand, the location shown to them were mostly filled with black background and a small red dot signalling their position, which in turn was in the middle of the entire forest.
Figuring that they should try to see which path would get them out of the forest, Ash soon took a step forward noticing too late that the foothold in front of his feet was a small slope, as amnesiac Trainer quickly slid off the slope he was on as he crashed onto the floor with a small crash.
"Reil!" Gallade called out, as he rushed to his location.
"I'm fine, Gallade!" Ash responded back, as he took a look around at his surrounding.
As he took a look around his location, Ash quickly noticed a bunch of glowing green and pink mushrooms as well as some large mushrooms glowing yellow, Gallade soon joined his Trainer's side as he leaped down the slope that Ash had fallen off earlier.
"This place seems to be brighter from where we first came in from." Gallade remarked, noticing the change in the scenery.
"Think if we follow the mushrooms, we'll reach Ballonlea by nightfall?" Ash asked his partner, who shrugged his shoulders.
"Who's to say? If we're lucky we'd be there in three hours." The Blade Pokémon responded nonchalantly.
With no other choice but to continue onwards, Ash and Gallade soon followed the path marked by a bunch of glowing mushrooms, as the pair continued their aimless journey through Glimwood Tangle, in hopes of reaching Ballonlea by nightfall.
Meanwhile at Hulbury where a boat was docked, Paul soon got up from where he was sitting before making his way to the boat's exit with Electivire by his side, as he turned around to face the sailor who had brought him from Sinnoh to Galar.
"Thank you very much for the journey." He said with a bow of gratitude.
"No problem, kid. If it's about the Galar Region, you might want to explore the bigger cities." The sailor told the Sinnoh native, who nodded his head.
As Paul walked away from the docks, the Sinnoh native quickly looked at the sky before sighing loudly, as he knew that Galar was a region bigger than Sinnoh, before looking at the front with a determined look.
"We'll find Ash no matter what and bring him back." Paul told his Pokémon, who nodded his head.
"You better be here in Galar, Ash. Everyone is waiting to see you." He thought to himself.
Deciding that he had spent enough time loitering around the harbour, Paul decided to leave the area to start his search for his missing rival, as Electivire followed him from behind as the two of them decided to explore the new environment they were in before starting their search for their missing rival.
Back at Ash's location, Gallade was in the midst of confronting three small pink imp-like Pokémon who were being led by a slightly larger magenta version of themselves, as Ash took out his Rotom Phone to check out who the larger Pokémon was.
"Morgrem, the Devious Pokémon, Dark and Fairy Type. Morgrem is a cunning Pokémon who likes to use dirty tricks to gain the upper hand in battles, like Impidimp, Morgrem feeds off the negative emotions who it lures into its territory." Ash's Rotom Phone detailed out.
After Rotom's description of Morgrem, the Devious Pokémon charged at Gallade with its hands extending out a ghostly shaped claw, as Ash looked at his partner before issuing his own command.
"Brick Break!" Ash commanded.
In response to Morgrem's attack, Gallade's fists glowed in an intense white light as the Blade Pokémon charged at the Devious Pokémon, before clashing his fists with Morgrem's shadow-like claw, only for both attacks to cancel each other out, as Gallade slid back to Ash's side.
"It's four against one, though Gallade has the experience, the type disadvantage is still a problem." He thought to himself, as Dark Types were immune to Psychic and Ghost Type attack are not that effective against Dark Types.
"Magneton, come forth!" Ash called out, throwing the Magnet Pokémon's Poké Ball into the air.
The Poké Ball soon burst open to reveal the Magnet Pokémon, as the Electric and Steel Type float next to Gallade, joining its friend in battling the trio of Impidimp and Morgrem, right as the three Impidimp fired a beam of dark energy at the duo, with Ash looking at Magneton.
"Thunderbolt!" He ordered.
Obeying its Trainer, Magneton fired off three simultaneous bolts of electricity, as each bolt crashed with one beam of darkness, creating a small explosion upon collision, with Morgrem's shadow dashing out of the smoke with its right fist spiralling in a green energy, as it charged at Magneton from within the smoke.
"Gallade!" Ash called to his partner.
The Blade Pokémon quickly teleported in front of Magneton as he seized Morgrem's hand with his own, before slamming his elbow into the abdomen of the Devious Pokémon, sending the Dark and Fairy Type back to its group of friends with a loud crash.
"Do you guys want to continue?" Gallade questioned the group of Pokémon, with a rather stern voice.
Knowing that they can't win against their current opponents, Morgrem and its gang of Impidimp decided to flee the scene, as the four Pokémon ran towards a large batch of glowing green mushrooms, disappearing from sight in an instant by mixing themselves into the environment.
After making sure that their opponents were gone from view, Ash breathed a sigh of relief before slumping onto the floor in relaxation, with Gallade and Magneton joining him by his side, as Ash looked up at the rather gloomy sky due to the high trees.
"I didn't think even Pokémon knows how to use deceit." Ash blurted out, amazed at how they fell for the trick.
"I guess that's what we get for being too careless, huh?" The Blade Pokémon responded.
Ash quickly fished out his Rotom Phone once again to check the time of the day, as he didn't have the time to check it during the confrontation with Morgrem and its gang of Impidimp, and upon a closer inspection, Ash noticed that they were very well deep into the afternoon, having wasted a good amount of time fighting the gang of Dark Type Pokémon.
"Gallade, mind getting the rest of the gang out of their Poké Balls? I'm going to have Magneton help me prepare the things for lunch." Ash said in a requesting tone, as the Blade Pokémon nodded his head.
As Ash was setting up the tri-stand which he would be using to hold the pot to make curry, Gallade was slowly pressing the buttons on each of Ash's remaining Poké Ball to let their friends out for air an possibly lunch, as Ash looked into his bag to find a few ingredients that he would need to be lacking, taking out only two packets of spaghetti, two Chesto Berries and a single Leppa Berry.
"What's the matter, Reil?" Gallade questioned, catching his Trainer's attention.
"It appears that we lack a few things to actually start cooking, and from what we have, we're lacking in firewood to start a fire, Chesto Berries, Sitrus Berries and Leppa Berries." Ash answered, scratching his own head at how he had forgotten to buy their supplies.
"Cor!" Corviknight screeched out, making Ash turn his head to his Pokemon.
The Raven Pokémon quickly did a gesture by clapping his right wing into his chest, same with the rest of his Pokémon, making Ash smile as even without the translation from Gallade about their words, he knew fully well that they wanted to help him prepare lunch.
"That would be great, thank you guys." Ash responded with gratitude.
Immediately after his response, Ash's Pokémon quickly dashed and flew off into different directions to search for the ingredients Ash needed to use to make lunch, with Gallade and Bisharp staying behind to help with the table preparation, as the two Pokémon were busy setting up the tables, with Ash setting up the stand with the pot on it.
It wasn't long before Corviknight returned with Magneton, with the latter carrying a few branches which they can use to start a fire, as the Raven Pokemon dropped the branches underneath the pot, right before Magneton decided to light it up with a few sparks of electricity, causing the branches to spark in flames.
"Thanks, you two, now take a break while I get the food ready." Ash thanked his two Pokémon, who went off to relax nearby.
As Ash was preparing the spices for the curry he was going to make, Metang and Aggron soon returned from their expedition, with the Iron Armor Pokémon holding onto a good amount of berries of different varieties, as with Metang who was controlling its batch of berry variety with Psychic.
The two Pokémon soon laid the stack of berries beside Ash on a nearby table, before putting them together in their own respective names through visuals, as Ash turned his head to face his latest returning Pokémon.
"Thank you, guys, now go and join the rest and take a break, food will be done shortly." Ash told Aggron and Metang who nodded, as the two Pokémon marched off to join their friends.
While his Pokémon were relaxing nearby, Ash was busy cutting up the berries Aggron and Metang had brought back, while boiling the spaghetti in a smaller bot beside the large pot of curry, as he swiftly chopped up several Chesto Berries, Sitrus Berries and Leppa Berries, before throwing them into the pot of curry, creating a sweet aroma from the dish he was making.
The aroma which flew through the dimly lit forest soon flowed into the nose of Corviknight and Bisharp, as the two Pokémon made their way to their Trainer, with sparkling eyes while drooling from their mouths, right before being dragged away by Gallade and Aggron who dragged Bisharp and Corviknight respectively to the table to wait for their Trainer to serve them their food, as Ash soon went to his Pokémon before putting down fives bowls of spaghetti covered in curry, as he placed a large battery in front of Magneton, knowing that the Magnet Pokémon feeds off electric current.
The group quickly begin their meal as everyone, but Corviknight and Bisharp slowly ate their food, with the Raven and Sword Blade Pokémon quickly finishing their bowl before looking at Ash as if asking for a second round, causing the amnesiac Trainer to chuckle lightly at how much they liked their food, as he retrieved their bowl before going to fill in seconds.
While he was filling up the bowls for Corviknight and Bisharp, Ash quickly noticed a group of Pokémon who were attracted to their location by the aroma that was seeping out from the pot of curry, as the Trainer let loose a gentle smile as he gazed at the group of peeking Pokémon.
"There's no need to be shy, come over and join us if you like, there's more than enough to go around." Ash told them, before putting down a larger bowl of curry covered spaghetti.
As he left the food for the Wild Pokémon to dine, he went back to the table where his two Pokémon were waiting before putting down their bowls for them to eat, as he turns his head to see that the group of Pokémon had shifted from the large tree to the bowl, while watching the group of Pokémon eat.
"You really have a big heart, Reil, you know that?" Gallade pointed out, aiming the fork in his hand at Ash's direction.
"You think so? I don't think sharing your food is that big of a deal." He responded, causing Gallade to chuckle slightly.
"May be, but few Pokémon in the wild thinks that way you know?" The Blade Pokémon retorted nonchalantly, before going back to his meal.
The group than continued to eat their food, and it wasn't long until they were done eating after a few hours, as Ash had noticed that the group of different Pokémon had just gotten larger, only to return to the wild as a few of them wave to Ash as if to thank him for the food they had just been served.
"I guess it's also not a bad thing to not rush our Gym Challenge, huh?" Ash mumbled to himself, realising that if he had rushed to reach Ballonlea, he wouldn't have been able to bond with his own but other Pokémon as well.
The group soon helped Ash out by keeping the table and pot, with Magneton lifting the large pot using the magnet on its body, as it slotted them into the bag right as the pot was joined by the tri-stand packed by Aggron, and soon followed by the foldable table by the joined effort of Gallade and Bisharp, while Ash was packing up the remaining ingredients with Metang and Corviknight, as the group was done in matters of minutes with Ash carrying the loaded backpack on his back.
"Thanks everyone for the help, now return and take a good rest." Ash thanked his Pokémon, before taking out their Poké Ball to recalled everyone but Gallade.
The duo soon continued their way through Glimwood Tangle once more, this time more energized after having a hearty meal, as they slowly walked through the forest by following the path marked by the green glowing mushrooms, but as they were walking blindly through the forest, the air around the two of them suddenly got colder, making Ash shiver a little at the sudden reduction of temperature.
"Is it just me or has it gotten colder all of a sudden?" Gallade questioned, feeling the chills around his body.
"If you're feeling the same thing, then I guess I'm not hallucinating." Ash answered, feeling that the air around them has just gotten colder.
As they proceed deeper and deeper into the fog, Ash and Gallade soon felt that the air around them has gotten a little warmer, but the visibility in front of them has gotten worser as the two decided to hold onto each other to not get separated from one another, before proceeding deeper into the fog that had suddenly appeared before them.
Though, the deeper they went into the fog, the duo found that the exit through the fog was nowhere in sight, filling them both with worry if the fog around them was real or a trick made by a Pokémon, but as they continued to walk, Ash could see four familiar looking silhouettes being confronted by two larger black silhouettes, as he quickly made his way to the figures in the fog.
Upon arrival, Ash could see that the same Morgrem and its gang of Impidimp were being confront ed by the two same unknown dog-like Pokémon he had encountered months ago in the Wild Area, as the blue Pokémon took a step forward in intimidation, causing the four Pokémon to cower back in fear at the menacing look on their faces.
"What's going on, Reil?!" Gallade shouted through the fog, as he ran towards his Trainer.
"I don't know what's going on, but it seems that the Morgrem we met before is in trouble!" Ash shouted in response, before taking out two of his Poké Ball.
"Aggron, Metang, come forth!" Ash called out, throwing two of his Poké Balls out into the open.
The device soon burst open to reveal his two Steel Type Pokémon, as Aggron stood in front of the magenta coloured Pokémon, whist Metang appeared from his Poké Ball in front of the blue Pokémon, only for the two unknown Pokémon to unleash a loud battle howl, causing them to glow in a red right, and to Ash's knowledge, the red light could only mean that they have strengthened themselves for battle.
After strengthening themselves, the magenta Pokémon immediately charged at Aggron with its body sparking in a huge amount of electricity, whist the blue Pokémon leaped into the air before turning its tail into a sword, as it did a somersault in the air before driving its tail down upon Metang from the sky, as Ash waved his hand to command his Pokémon.
"Aggron, Iron Defense! Metang, Gyro Ball!" Ash commanded.
At Ash's command, Aggron quickly strengthened his body by turning his entire body into steel as the magenta Pokémon slammed its entire being into Aggron, though despite the Iron Armor Pokémon's defensive power, the unknown Pokémon was still able to push Aggron backwards shocking Ash at how powerful said Pokémon was.
Whist on Metang's end, the Iron Claw Pokémon's hands glowed in a silver light as it started to spin towards the blue Pokémon like a ball, clashing its attack with the blue Pokémon's makeshift blade, only for the unknown Pokémon to easily overpower the Iron Claw Pokémon as said Pokémon quickly send Metang to the floor after clashing.
"Metang, you alright?!" Ash called out in concern.
"Tang!" Metang roared out, as it flew back into the air.
Both unknown Pokémon quickly leaped back to where they were initially, as Aggron shook his entire body to make sure he wasn't harmed badly, as Metang flew back to his side to prepare themselves once again for the next attack they were going to face.
Gallade soon joined Ash's side after navigating through the thick fog that obstructed his vision, as the magenta Pokémon gave a loud determined howl, as the field started to shine brightly with a scorching heat passing through the field, causing Ash and Gallade to sweat as a bright sun appeared across the fog, and immediately after creating the scorching hot sun, the blue Pokémon's tail immediately glowed in a green light as a small blade was created.
Almost immediately the small green blade appeared on its tail, the blue Pokémon quickly spun in a circle as the green blade enlarged in a large amount of energy, before it swept across the field as the attack send both Aggron and Metang flying back to Ash as both Steel Type Pokémon crashed beside Ash shocking the amnesiac Trainer, as he quickly returned to reality of what just happened.
"Aggron, Metang!" Ash yelled out.
As soon as Ash looked at their conditions, both Pokémon were quickly knocked out by the blue Pokémon after a single swing, as he quickly took out their Poké Ball from his pocket before recalling both his fallen Pokémon, only for Ash to take out another two Poké Ball from his pocket before enlarging them in his hands.
"Magneton, Bisharp, come forth!" He called out.
Both Poké Ball immediately burst open to reveal both he Magnet and Sword Blade Pokémon, as both Pokémon took up a battle stance against their opponents, as both unknown Pokémon stood their ground with a rather calm look.
"Magneton, Thunderbolt! Bisharp, Night Slash!" Ash commanded.
Magneton quickly discharged six waves of electricity from its magnet-like body as Bisharp created a pair of blade made of darkness energy as both Pokémon targeted the blue Pokémon, only for the magenta Pokémon to appear before its partner as both attacks collided with its body creating a large cloud of smoke, with Bisharp leaping out of the smoke back to Magenton's side.
As the smoke slowly dissipate into the wind, a shining object can be seen within, as the cloud cleared to reveal that the magenta Pokémon had hardened its mane to protect its partner, only for the blue Pokémon to leap into the air to fire off several blades made of wind at its adversaries, forcing Bisharp to swings his Night Slash to deflect the blade, whist Magneton split apart to evade the attack.
The magenta Pokémon soon charged at Bisharp with body clad in electricity while its partner leaped into the air with its tail turning into a sword, as it swung it down upon the Arm Blade Pokémon while Ash waved his hand to order the Magnet Pokémon from where he stood.
"Magneton, quick use Reflect!" He ordered loudly.
The Magnet Pokémon quickly flew in front of Bisharp before erecting a rainbow rectangular barrier, with the Psychic Type defensive wall successfully stopping the magenta Pokémon in its tracks, though it was unfortunately broken when the blue Pokémon's tail made contact with the barrier, forcing Bisharp to carry Magneton to flee, barely managing to evade the attack aimed at him.
"Not only are these two strong, even their teamwork is solid." Ash muttered.
The blue Pokémon immediately leaped back to the magenta Pokémon, as both Pokémon immediately got ready for another round of attack, as Bisharp got back to Ash's side with Magneton floating above him, both sides stared at one another for a while right before the blue Pokémon leaped into the air as its tail burst out a large amount of green energy, as it turns into a large blade of green energy at the same time the blue Pokémon swung it down at its targets.
"Bisharp, Iron Defense! Magneton, cover Bisharp with Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded.
Bisharp immediately hardened his entire body by turning it into steel, as Magneton split itself into three before surrounding the Sword Blade Pokémon in a cage of electricity, but before the blue Pokémon's attack could even reach the two of them, the magenta Pokémon was the first to run into Magneton's Thunderbolt cage, using itself as an obstacle for the blue Pokémon to get closer.
In the midst where the magenta Pokémon was keeping Mangeton's Thunderbolt at bay, the blue Pokémon landed and leaped off its partner's back, as it swung its attack down on Bisharp, sending the Dark and Steel Type Pokémon crashing into a wall, but much to Ash's horror, the blue Pokémon who was mid-air quickly spun in a circle, sending all three of Magneton's body crashing to the floor, as the trio of Mangetmite's combined back into a single Magneton.
"Bisharp, Mangeton, return!" Ash recalled, quickly taking out his Poké Ball to recall his Pokémon.
As Ash kept his Poké Ball back into his pocket, the blue and magenta Pokémon quickly returned back to their side of the field, as the blue Pokémon let loose a loud howl, causing the fog around them to thicken, obstructing most of their vision as the fog covered their entire being, showing only half of their bodies each.
"Corviknight, come forth!" Ash called out, throwing his last Poké Ball into the field.
As his Poké Ball burst open to reveal the Raven Pokémon, Gallade too leaped into the field to join his friend's side, as the Blade Pokémon took up a battle stance against their adversaries, but because the fog's density had gotten thicker, it was now much harder for both Pokémon to swiftly locate their opponents within it.
"Gallade, Psycho Cut!" Ash commanded.
Gallade's arm quickly gathered up a significant amount of psychic energy, as they transformed into a blade of psychic energy on his arms, right as the Blade Pokémon fired off two blades of psychic energy into the fog, while hearing the sound of something clashing with his attack, as the blue Pokémon leaped out of the fog with its tail turned into a sword, as Ash looked at Corviknight from where he stood.
"Hurricane!" He ordered loudly.
The Raven Pokémon quickly flapped his wings at the blue Pokémon, causing a giant hurricane to appear, as the force of the storm started to carry and soon threw the blue Pokémon back into the dense fog, where the silhouette of it landed perfectly on the floor, though it was impossible for Ash to tell if it was even hurt to begin with.
Almost immediately after the blue Pokémon was thrown back into the fog, the magenta Pokémon quickly dashed out with its body bursting in electricity, only for Gallade to leap into the air to avoid the attack since he couldn't fly like Corviknight could.
"Brick Break!" Ash ordered.
Upon hearing his command, Gallade's first immediately glow brightly in a white light as he smashed his right hand against the magenta Pokémon, as the unknown Pokémon stared at its opponent before throwing Gallade off its body with ease just by spinning its body in a circle, as the Psychic and Fighting Type Pokémon landed back on the floor.
"Corviknight, Steel Wing!" Ash told the Raven Pokémon.
As soon as Corviknight heard Ash's order, the Flying and Steel Type Pokémon's wings immediately turned into steel, but before he could even dive at the magenta Pokémon, the blue Pokémon quickly appeared above the Raven Pokémon with its tail bursting out a green blade made of energy, before swinging it down on the Flying and Steel Type Pokémon, sending Corviknight onto the ground hard.
"Corviknight!" Ash called out in concern, as the Raven Pokémon shook its head in order to recover from the impact.
"Cor!" Ash was relieved when Corviknight was able to call back.
The sunlight that surrounded the field soon subsided causing the heat that was radiating across the field to disappear, turning the temperature back to normal as the chill of the fog returned to Ash's body, causing him to shiver a little at the coldness of the air.
"These two are tough, at this rate we won't hold." Ash mumbled out.
The magenta Pokémon soon unleashed a loud howl of its own, causing the fog to become denser, this time shrouding their entire being leaving behind only a silhouette of themselves within it, obstructing more of their opponent's vision.
"This fog is getting thicker, is it their doing?" Gallade mumbled out loudly.
"Considering this fog only thickens with each howl, my guess is yes." Ash responded, finding it weird on how the fog only thickens on their howls.
Gallade and Corviknight soon backed up in order to stay closer to Ash in case the two Pokémon tried anything against their Trainer, but before either Pokémon had any time to even react, the blue Pokémon leaped across all three of them, before landing behind Ash as the magenta Pokémon walked into view of the three of them.
Gallade and Corviknight quickly got to either side of Ash, as both Pokémon stared down at their opponent before unleashing a loud howl simultaneously, causing the fog around them to thicken even more as Ash's sight started to narrow as the amnesiac Trainer started to sway slightly, and as his vision got more and more narrow, the magenta Pokemon soon got beside the blue Pokemon as both of them started to walk away into the fog, as Ash collapsed onto the floor falling unconscious in the process.
Meanwhile in Hulbury, Paul was inside of the Pokemon Center having a call with a certain person, as the Sinnoh native stared intensely at the screen, with Electivire at his side as the young Trainer started to speak to the person he is talking to.
"I've only just entered the Galar Region, Professor Rowan." Paul told the Professor who nodded his head.
"I see that you have arrived safely, that is good news indeed." The Sinnoh Professor responded, glad that Paul has reached Galar's land safely.
"About how we're going to proceed to search for Ash, do you have anywhere in Galar where people might go?" Paul asked, only for Professor Rowan to shake his head.
"I'm afraid not, Paul, my apologies but you'll have to search the region by yourself." The Professor answered, as Paul shook his head.
"It's alright, but please tell the rest that I'm in Galar to search for Ash, then I'll be on my way." Paul responded as he bowed slightly before ending the call.
He than turned his head to the clock noticing that it's already late into the afternoon, and he would have less than half a day to even reach the next town, as he turned his head to Electivire who seemingly knew what his Trainer was going to say as the Thunderbolt Pokémon nodded his head.
"Guess we're staying in Hulbury for a while and begin our search proper tomorrow." He told his partner, before making his way to Nurse Joy.
As an unknown hour had passed, Ash continued to lay unconscious on the floor of the Glimwood Tangle, as a certain person was trying to get him to open his eyes by calling out shaking him continuously, accompanied by a Morgrem and a gang of Impidimp.
"What do you plan to do from now on?" An unknown voice asked as he laid unconscious on the floor.
"I think I'll stay home for a couple of months." A voice close to his own answered, but before he could hear more, another voice rang out.
"Re… Wake up!" A familiar voice called out, causing Ash's eyelid to move.
As the familiar voice called out to him even more, in combination to those in his dream, the familiar voice's calling soon became more dominant as Ash could make out what the voice was saying clearly, as it got even louder.
"Reil, wake up!" The voice shouted, causing Ash to jump awake.
As if to have just woken up from a nightmare, Ash clutched his head in his hand as cold sweat started to drip from his head, because while the dreams had gotten more and more frequent, he still wasn't sure who he was as he soon felt a pair of hands on his shoulders.
"You finally awake for real this time, Reil?" Lifting his head to see the source of the voice, Ash could see Marnie staring at him in the eye with a serious expression.
Looking around his vicinity, Ash noticed that he was not only surrounded by Gallade and Corviknight who had a worried look on their faces, as well as Marnie who for unknown reasons was with him and the gang of Pokemon consisting of a single Morgrem and three Impidimp whom he had saved, as Ash soon got up to a sitting position.
"Why are you here, Marnie?" Ash asked, causing Marnie to stare at him.
"Don't 'Why are you here' me, Reil." She responded, before continuing her statement.
"When I first entered the forest, these little fellas came to me as if they have just found a dead body, and after following them, I found you lying on the ground with your Pokémon." She told him.
"What happened? Why did'ya suddenly pass out here, in the middle of the woods?" She asked.
Before responding to Marnie's question, Ash started to look around the area to see that the fog has already cleared out and the two unknown Pokémon were nowhere to be found, as he turned his attention back to the Spikemuth native, as he shook his head.
"The only thing I remember is that Morgrem and its gang were in trouble, right before a thick fog filled the area with this two weird looking Pokémon." He answered, confusing Marnie.
"What were those Pokémon like, if you don't mind me asking?" She responded, causing Ash to think for a while to remember their shape from the fog.
"I think they were large dog-like Pokémon, one was blue and the other was red I think." He detailed out his description of the two Pokémon to Marnie.
Hearing his words, Marnie quickly looked through her Pokédex to try to find any matching description, but as she was scrolling halfway through her phone's Pokédex, Ash quickly raised one of his hands in a stoppage manner, preventing Marnie from searching any further.
"I tried using the Pokédex to scan the two Pokémon when I first met them but there weren't any results, that would also mean that these two Pokémon are either not discovered or aren't from here." Ash told Marnie.
"That being said, I'm sorry for stopping you during your journey." Ash added with an apologetic tone, causing Marnie to shake her head.
"Don't be, besides, what kind of friend would I be if I had just left you here?" She retorted.
Marnie's response caused Ash to smile brightly as he turned to both Gallade and Corviknight, who were still behind him even after he had woken up, and he couldn't help but feel guilty about worrying them ever since he had been knocked out for reasons unknown.
"Sorry for worrying you guys, and thanks for looking out for me when I was out like the light." Ash voiced out for everyone present to hear, not just to his Pokémon.
"We're just glad that you're fine." Gallade told his Trainer.
"That being said, what's your plan now, Reil? You gonna stay here a little longer to train?" Marnie asked the amnesiac Trainer, only for Ash to chuckle a little.
"Head to Ballonlea and challenge Opal to a Gym Battle, at least I was expecting to have a peaceful trip until this happened." Ash told her with a small laughter, while scratching his head.
Marnie was visibly surprised at Ash's outgoing nature, being able to stay positive despite having just ran into danger that could have put his life in crisis had she not arrived to help him, as the amnesiac Trainer looked at Marnie after just having turned to face the direction that would lead them out of the forest they were in.
"If you it's fine with you, would you like to join us, Marnie?" Ash suggested, causing Marnie to look at him.
"You sure you don't mind me tagging along?" She questioned, as Ash simply smiled at her.
"Travelling with a friend is always better than travelling alone, no?" The amnesiac Trainer responded, before extending his hand to Marnie.
Marnie simply sighed as she let out a soft chuckle before accepting his offer by clapping his hand with her own, as she walked past him a few steps before turning back to face him with her Morpeko in hand.
"Since you're kind enough to invite me to tag along, than don't mind if I do. So, don't just stand there will'ya, let's get going before the lights actually out." Marnie told Ash.
Ash and Marnie alongside their Pokémon soon bid Morgrem and his gang farewell, before continuing their way towards Ballonlea, where their next Gym Challenge battle awaits them, while conversing with one another about how they will handle Opal in a fight.
Meanwhile within the confines of a large underground facility or powerplant, a large sphere-like egg structure that was laid bare in the center of the room surrounded by several layers of glass and machines begin to glow brightly in a purple light, as a pair of red lines illuminated the darkness before dissipating, as the door to the facility opened to reveal Rose who stepped into the room with Oleana by his side as he stared at the egg-like structure from afar.
"The time isn't too far off, soon enough Galar will have all the energy it needs to stay flourished forever for the futures to come." Rose spoke out, as Oleana nodded her head.
"Indeed, Chairman. According to the analyzation of the other researchers, it won't be long until the birth of a new future." She told him, while reading the data collected by their man.
The data collected by the researchers made Rose smile, as he gazed at the giant sphere-like egg from where he stood, wondering what kind of power can be harnessed by the being inside of the sphere, before leaving the room, failing to notice a pair of red lines emitting from the sphere as he left, as the line darted around the room before disappearing.
And done! The next chapter will be the fight with Opal for the fifth Gym Badge, so stay tuned for more chapters to come!
A/N: I know months has passed but I AM BACK, hope you guys are still enjoying the story despite my absence.
As always R&R if you wish but please be nice to each other in the comments.
Otherwise,
PEACE!