It's Pokéshipping day...so I tried to hurry and get this next chapter out. Enjoy.
_
Chapter 61
Misty's POV
Wow...that's all I can say about everything that happened yesterday. We saw every legendary Pokémon involved in the Sinnoh Time-Space legend, met Arceus, the most powerful Pokémon in the world by far, went back in time, changed history, almost died in the process...after all that, I could use a break. Funny thing is I'm probably not gonna get one. As happy as I am being on the road again with Ash and the others, even it has its pros and cons. If I were back home in Cerulean, my life would be a bore: Battle challengers, feed the Pokémon, do paperwork, rinse and repeat the next day. It's boring, but at least it was safe. Of course I'm not saying I want to go back to the gym, that would be absolutely ludicrous, all I'm saying is I wish our lives weren't in mortal danger every other hour.
I mean really, I swear we've gotten into more trouble here in Sinnoh than all of our other adventures combined. At least that what it feels like. I just want a day of peace and quiet, one where I don't have to look over my shoulder and see if a legendary Pokémon is coming to use 'Hyper Beam' on me every five seconds. Actually, you know what I need? I need a day to just be alone with Ash, we haven't gone on an official date in a while it seems. You may think that being on the road with him twenty-four-seven is like being on a perpetual date, but dates...normal ones at least...don't consist of death-defying struggles or painful injuries. I want him to hold me close, tell me how much he loves me, which he does anyway, but it never seems to be in a romantic setting.
Alright, enough's enough. I'm not gonna stay here and just talk about what I want, I'm gonna find a way to make it happen! Right now we're in the middle of the woods on our way to Lilypad Town for Dawn's next contest...now normally I'd be doing everything I said I didn't want to do, looking over my shoulder and all, except replace "legendary Pokémon" with any bug-type. But I'm too focused on finding a way to get some alone time with my boyfriend. That's not such a horrible thing is it?
Normal POV
"Hey Brock, I'm getting kinda hungry, how much further until we can take a break?" Misty asked the spiky-haired breeder leading the way through the forest for them.
"You sure you're Misty?" Brock replied in amusement, "That sounds more like something Ash would say."
"I'm pretty darn sure I'm me Brock," the redhead's tone clearly communicated she wasn't joking, "All of my body parts make it perfectly obvious I am a female." Misty quickly diverted her attention to her boyfriend who was walking right in front of her, "And as for you Ash Ketchum, don't you start imagining any of those parts or I'm gonna have to perform a little impromptu brain surgery if you get my drift." she snarled.
Ash looked over his non-Pikachu shoulder and held his hands up in self-defense, "Geez Mist, I wasn't even paying attention to whatever you were saying! Don't take your anger out on me!" Ash knew he had a valid point, but that had never helped him much in the past so he wisely widened the gap between himself and his currently tweaked girlfriend. Deciding to change the subject, Ash spoke up once more, "Hey Brock, when's lunch? I'm starving!"
"Now that's Ash!" Brock laughed heartily much to Ash's confusion, "Alright, I guess here's as good a place as any to take a break." Brock began unloading his backpack and got out all his cooking equipment, which included a large grey stew pot. "Alright then, I need firewood to get started. Any volunteers?"
Without a moment's hesitation, Misty almost broke into a full-out sprint to grab Ash's hand and drag him into the forest, "Me and Ash'll take care of it! Be right back!"
"H-Hey wait! You guys aren't gonna..." Brock words died in his throat, why bother stating the obvious? It was pretty clear that the last thing on Misty's mind was finding firewood. "Oh forget it...Dawn, think you could take some of the Pokémon with you and find some firewood? I get the feeling that if we wait on Ash and Misty, we won't be eating until dinnertime."
Dawn rolled her eyes and nodded, "Honestly though," the coordinator's expression changed to a sympathetic one as she looked back towards where Ash and Misty had run off to, "I think they need a little time to themselves. After all the stuff we've gone through these past few days, they deserve to be able to relax a little."
Brock relinquished a small smile, "True that."
"Misty, slow down!" Ash had been caught completely off-guard by Misty's sudden burst of speed. Eventually the redhead did come to a stop once they put a substantial distance between themselves and the camp. "So what was all that ab-mmmm?!" Misty's sudden speed burst was nothing compared to the surprise Ash was on the receiving end of now. The water-trainer had turned around and in an instant had her arms wrapped tightly around Ash's neck as she gave the startled boy a kiss more passionate than anything they shared before.
All those pent-up feelings and emotions had been building inside of Misty like a 'Stockpile' move, and now after several days of not being able to truly be alone with Ash, Misty was unleashing it all in one powerful display of unbridled passion and love that would've caused someone like Brock to faint. After several moments of having her lips smashed up against Ash's, she finally came up for air with a content but loud sigh. "Sorry about that..." Misty said as she gulped in air, "But I just really needed to do that."
Ash couldn't help but let a goofy grin spread across his face, Pikachu however just rolled his eyes and hopped off Ash's shoulder to go do what they were supposed to do in the first place. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, because that was just...wow..." Ash chuckled, "But what's the occasion?"
"It's 'Misty-Wants-to-Be-Alone-With-Ash-Day', how's that?" Misty would've gone in for another kiss but she could see that Ash still hadn't caught all his breath yet, so she settled for just going in for another really tight hug, one where if she could, she would just melt into Ash's skin. As far as she was concerned, she just couldn't be close enough to him.
Ash managed to get his bearings and reciprocate the embrace, although something in the back of his mind was raising red flags. This sudden display of emotion wasn't random, something was bothering Misty and in turn that bothered him. "Uh Mist..." he said hesitantly, "Is something the matter?"
Misty looked up at him and smiled, "Not at all Ashy, everything's alright." she replied dismissively, "Everything's alright now anyway." she added in her head.
"Mist..." Ash was beginning to get a little nervous, he knew that there could potentially be serious consequences involved in rejecting the redhead's affections, but the current circumstances just didn't sit right with Ash...he needed to know what was really going on. Gently and slowly, Ash removed Misty's arms from around his neck, making sure to keep a firm grip on her hands however to try and convey the message that he wasn't upset or anything. "Normally I would love getting that hug, but something's not right here...come on, tell me what's bothering you."
Misty was already ready with another denial, but seeing the deep concern that Ash was showing in those chocolate-brown eyes of his...she just couldn't help herself. She backed down and dropped her hands to her sides, effectively cutting off the physical connection between them. With a loud sigh, she plopped down onto the grass and leaned against a large rock with Ash following her down soon after. "Ash...I'm really not sure how I'm gonna be able to explain this to you..."
"Try being honest about it."
Misty sighed again and looked up through the trees into the sky, "It's stupid really..." she began, "It just feels like we haven't had any time to ourselves in a long time...between the drama with Paul and that full battle between you two; our recent death-defying adventure into the past with that whole Arceus situation...I guess what I'm trying to say is..."
"You just wanna relax." Ash finished the sentence for her. Now he understood why Misty was so adamant about getting some time alone. She was tense. Now Ash felt perfectly fine about showing the frustrated water trainer some evidently much-needed affection. Scooting over so their hips were pressed together, Ash wrapped his arm around her shoulders and leaned her in close so that her head rested on his shoulders. Then as an added bonus he kissed her several times, gently and slowly on the top of her head.
Misty moaned with contentment under the shower of love Ash was giving her. Somehow, this tender display meant more to her than that steamy lip-lock she had ambushed him into just a few moments ago. Maybe it was because now his heart was in it? Whatever the reason, she was thoroughly enjoying the attention. "Ashy?" she cooed.
"Yeah?" his voice was muffled because he was currently in the process of kissing her head again.
"Could you...could you maybe...rub my shoulders a little? After all...I did give you a massage the other night." she looked up at him with pleading eyes and a little bit of a smiling pout on her lips. Not that she needed it of course.
"Your wish is my command." he replied affectionately, planting a tender kiss right between her eyes, earning another soft moan from Misty. He carefully shifted Misty forward a little and then placed himself directly behind her. Once he was sure he'd be comfortable in his seating position, he reached up and began to gently knead her shoulders, causing her to moan again, this time though it seemed to consist more of relief than anything else. "Wow Mist," he said sympathetically. "You really are stressed out, your muscles are really tight."
"Well...that's what happens when you're on edge for almost a week." she suddenly gasped in surprise when she felt Ash start to move lower down her back, "What are you doing?" she turned her head as far as she could to try and get a look at her boyfriend.
"Push against me Mist, I'm gonna see what I can do about this." Not sure what she was agreeing to, Misty hesitantly complied and offered resistance against Ash's touch so Ash could work. She gasped when she felt pops near her spine. "Oh man, this might take a while."
"What are you doing Ash?!" she almost screamed.
"I'm giving you a massage Mist, it's not just your shoulders, your whole back is in knots!" he replied, "Those pops you felt were my thumbs going up and over the lumps in your back that are your back muscles."
Misty wanted to keep being angry, but she couldn't get over the fact that Ash actually sounded like he knew what he was talking about. "You make it sound like you've done this sort of thing before." she said.
"That's because I have." Ash leaned back against his hands for a moment. "When I was seven, my mom taught me how to give a massage so I could give her one on days when she was really stressed out." Ash stood up for a moment, "Lay down on your stomach please." Misty arched an eyebrow at him, but she eventually complied, resting her head in her arms while he got on his knees so that he was straddling her from behind. A cheeky thought suddenly popped into his head, and he couldn't resist letting it out. "Now isn't this a sight?" he snickered.
Misty twisted her head around to glare at him, "Head out of the gutter Ketchum," she warned. "Just go about your business."
"Ok ok." Ash laughed and started working, immediately getting a gasp from Misty. "See, what you have to do is start from the spine and go out...you feel those lumps?"
"How can I not?!"
Ash chuckled at that, "Eventually, as I continue with this pattern, the lumps will start to flatten out." Misty suddenly arched her back in shock when Ash hit a particularly tight muscle, "That is...if you let them flatten out, you gotta relax Misty."
"Ok ok...relaxing now." Misty took a deep breath and exhaled, flattening her back once more so Ash could continue. She had to admit, as she got used to Ash's touch, the process was getting more and more relaxing and soothing all the time. "Ash Ketchum...Massage Master...actually sounds better than Pokémon Master if you ask me." she said whimsically.
"You would think that, that's why I didn't ask you." Ash replied teasingly. "Feel the lumps going down?"
"Actually I do! And come to think of it, I haven't felt this good in a long time."
"Works every time." Ash hummed, "Gotta admit though...it was kinda boring when I had to do this for my mom...somehow...doing it for you isn't boring."
"That's horrible Ash." she tried to sound disappointed, after all, the very idea that Ash would gripe whenever he had to massage his mother but he would voluntarily do it for her was something that shouldn't have been condoned...but on the other hand...Ash would gripe whenever he had to do it for his mother, but for her he was more than happy to offer his services...in her mind, that was Ash's way of saying how special she was to him, and she instantly became grateful that her face was hidden in her arms, as she was beginning to blush at the thought.
"I know," he said guiltily. "Next time I see Mom I'll be sure to treat her to a massage to make up for it. After all, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't know the first thing about massages." Finally, Ash sat back and admired his handiwork...even if it didn't look any different outwardly.
"Why are you stopping?" Misty asked, almost whining.
"You're done! No more lumps, you should be totally loose now." Ash got up and held out a hand to help his girlfriend up.
A little disappointed that the massage had ended, Misty accepted Ash's hand and rolled her shoulders a little and then twisted her torso back and forth to test it out. She was astonished to find that Ash's little procedure had worked wonders. "Wow Ash, I feel like a new woman!"
Ash blew on his knuckles and rubbed them against his chest, his ego couldn't help but be a little inflated whenever Misty paid him a compliment. "Better than anything you'd get at some stupid spa, am I right?" he asked smugly.
"Better than a professional?" Misty smirked, "Don't get ahead of yourself Ash, it's not like you trained for years and years like people who work at spas did." Ash seemed a little crestfallen at that, but Misty could easily remedy that. After all, she was extremely grateful for Ash's tender ministrations. Wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling up against him she smiled lovingly, "But I wouldn't want anyone else to touch me." That quickly brought Ash's spirits back up.
"So...I guess now we gotta go and look for that firewood now." Ash sighed in disappointment and was about to walk off into the forest to search for his objective, when he saw Pikachu coming towards them, pushing a pile of dry twigs and branches with his face. Ash rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled a little guiltily, "You know...I was wondering what happened to Pikachu."
"Pika pika pika chu." (Someone's gotta do it.) the electric-type said with a roll of his eyes.
"Thanks Pikachu, you're the best buddy a guy could have." Ash said gratefully, picking up the pile to relieve his Pokémon.
"I'd say you owe him Ash...maybe you should give Pikachu a massage too." Misty suggested.
"I'd rather not get zapped, thank you very much." Ash scoffed.
After a while, the couple returned to the campsite and found Brock filling the pot with water thanks to a 'Whirlpool' from Piplup. They endured the good-natured ribbing from their two travelling companions and moved on to other things. Ash called out Monferno who started the fire with a 'Flamethrower', and then the trainer quickly returned him, while Misty went over to chat with Dawn, who was just standing in the middle of the clearing with a seal-covered Pokéball in hand. "What are you up to Dawn?"
Dawn just smirked and looked at Misty with a gleam in her eye, "I'll show you!" With a dramatic twirl, Dawn tossed the Pokéball into the air, "Mamoswine! Spooootlight!" With a bright flash of swirling light, Mamoswine appeared and landed on the ground with a thud.
The noise got the attention of Ash and Brock, who were just about finished with the prep-work for lunch and now merely had to wait for the stew to come to a simmer. "Wow, is Mamoswine finally gonna compete in a contest?" Ash asked.
"Yep!" Dawn chirped, "But first the trick is to come up with a fancy move that'll allow Mamoswine to strut his stuff and charm the judges." Dawn then turned her attention to her enormous Pokémon, "Mamoswine, you ready to go?" Instead of agreeing, Mamoswine just turned his head away, much to Dawn's confusion, "Huh?"
The group sweat-dropped and chuckled a little, "Mamoswine's always Mamoswine." Ash said.
Dawn didn't let the dismissive expression of her Pokémon bother her, and instead got up closer to the Twin-Tusk Pokémon and placed a gentle hand onto his side. "See, in a contest we have to win battles, but we're also judged on how beautiful our moves are." At this, Mamoswine rolled his eyes to look at her, "So let's work hard and learn the flashiest contest moves that we can!" Mamoswine at last looked determined, as he charged forward towards a tree and rammed his tusks into it, causing the tree to shake and let loose several green leaves. "Ok...but that's not exactly what I meant..." Dawn said with a sweat-drop.
Mamoswine didn't even acknowledge Dawn's presence and began scratching the trunk of the tree with his tusks. "I don't think Mamoswine's in a 'flashy' sort of mood." Misty said with some amusement.
Dawn gave a little groan out of embarrassment, "Guess not."
"Maybe if you tried demonstrating a beautiful contest move, that would inspire Mamoswine, you know?" Brock suggested.
"Great idea!" Dawn replied with a snap of her fingers, "Hey Piplup, help us out 'kay?" Piplup happily chirped his agreement. Now Dawn turned her attention back to Mamoswine who was still scratching against the large tree. "Hey Mamoswine, turn around and watch us for a second please?" Mamoswine did, and then Dawn called her move. "Piplup, use 'Bubblebeam'!" Piplup leaped up above Dawn and fired into the air, and the bubbles from his attack starting swirling in the air, much to Mamoswine's well-hidden awe. Finally the bubbles popped just as Piplup landed on Dawn's head. "See? Don't you think contest moves are pretty Mamoswine?" Mamoswine narrowed his eyes at Dawn before looking away dismissively, much to Piplup's chagrin. Dawn however wasn't fazed, this was just part of who Mamoswine had become after evolving, so she was mentally prepared for his attempts at having a poor attitude. "Hey, why don't you try using a move too?" Mamoswine opened one eye to look at her. Dawn took that cue and gently patted the Twin-Tusk Pokémon's side, "And don't worry, your moves are really pretty so you have every reason to be confident, 'kay?" Mamoswine's nose twitched, and that was all the confirmation Dawn needed. "Alright then!"
"I gotta say, I'm impressed with how well Dawn's handling the Mamoswine situation." Misty said quietly enough so Dawn couldn't hear.
"Yeah, she's taking it all in stride and working through issues as they come, she's come a long way." Brock added.
Now that Dawn had Mamoswine's attention, she called out a move. "Ok Mamoswine, let's start things off by using 'Ice Shard' towards the sky!" After a moment's hesitation, Mamoswine acknowledged and fired the chunk of ice into the air. "Now shatter that ball of ice with your tusks!" Mamoswine blinked in surprise for a moment, but he followed through and destroyed the falling 'Ice Shard' with his left tusk, causing it to fall in tiny pieces like snowflakes around the Twin-Tusk Pokémon. "Wow! That was beautiful Mamoswine!"
"I gotta say, that was a really good move for a first attempt!" Brock said.
"Yeah, a keeper for sure!" Ash added just as Riolu popped out of his Pokéball. Ash laughed when he saw the Emanation Pokémon's excited expression, "I think Riolu wants to see that move again Dawn!"
Dawn nodded with amusement and turned back to Mamoswine, "Whaddya say Mamoswine? Should we give Riolu a show?" The sparkles in Mamoswine's eyes were all the confirmation Dawn needed. "Alright then! Let's do that move again, only this time do a little twirl before you shatter that ice! That'll break the ice into smaller pieces and it'll look prettier!" Mamoswine didn't need any persuasion this time, as he fired the shard into the air and leaped up with agility the teens didn't know was possible for the giant. Spinning in the air with the intent of destroying the ice, Mamoswine unfortunately missed his target and wound up shattering the ice with his head, much to Dawn's horror as her hand made its way in front of her mouth when she gasped. To make matters worse, two larger pieces of the ice got stuck in Mamoswine's nostrils just before the Twin-Tusk Pokémon fell on his back.
"Oooh...that's gotta hurt." Misty groaned.
Dawn ran up to her large Pokémon with concern written all over her face. "Mamoswine, are you ok?" Mamoswine managed to flip back onto his feet, with the two ice chunks still sticking out of his nose. The sight worried Dawn, however Piplup thought it was hilarious as he suddenly burst into laughter. "It's not funny Piplup!" Dawn scolded. Piplup couldn't help himself though and just kept laughing.
"Hey come on Piplup, it's not funny!" Ash then heard a soft snort next to his shoulder, and he realized that even Pikachu was holding back laughter, "Wha? You too Pikachu?" Then Ash looked down and spotted Riolu, he too was laughing at Mamoswine's misfortune. "Et tu Riolu?" he said disapprovingly, his hands on his hips as he bent down to loom over Riolu. That got Riolu to flinch and stop laughing as he looked back and gave a remorseful frown to his scowling trainer.
This whole time Mamoswine was getting more and more irritated, as he gave a forceful snort and that shot the ice out of his nose, only to have them bounce off a tree and come flying back at his head, giving the Twin-Tusk Pokémon a sizeable lump. This only got Piplup to laugh even harder, and even Pikachu couldn't hold back anymore as he too burst out into laughter, which got Riolu to laugh again as well despite Ash's scolding. Enraged, Mamoswine stomped the ground and started chasing after the three Pokémon who were laughing at him. "I think we need a mediator here." Misty launched a Pokéball, and Gyarados emerged right in front of the angered ground/ice-type, effectively stopping him in his tracks.
Not in the mood for a fight with the water/flying-type, Mamoswine turned towards the forest and disappeared into the trees. "Huh? Mamoswine, come back!" Dawn removed Piplup from her head and took off after the Twin-Tusk Pokémon, leaving Piplup behind.
"Pikachu, Riolu, Piplup, how could you be so mean to poor Mamoswine while he was trying to learn something new? Your friends never laughed at you when you messed up a new move." Misty scolded, wagging her finger at the three in disapproval. All three Pokémon looked down remorsefully, they knew they messed up. Returning Gyarados to his Pokéball, Misty turned to Ash. "Watch these three will you? I'm going after Dawn."
Ash nodded, "Sure thing Mist." Ash watched Misty disappear into the forest, then turned back to the three frowning Pokémon. "Ok, you three know you messed up, so the right thing to do would be to apologize when Mamoswine shows up right?" They nodded solemnly. "Then that's what you'll do. Sulking won't help, so when Misty and Dawn get back with Mamoswine, you'll apologize, and everything can go back to normal."
"As normal as things get for us that is." Brock commented. Ash couldn't help but laugh.
"Mamoswine! Where are you?" Dawn so far hadn't had any luck in locating her demoralized Pokémon, "How can I lose something that big?" she said to herself. She then heard her name being called, and she turned around to see Misty jogging up to her, "I can't find him Misty!"
Misty looked around where they were standing, and her eyes caught onto something big and brown. "Um...did you look over there yet?" She pointed towards a particular spot through the trees.
"No, why?" Dawn looked towards where Misty was pointing, and sure enough there was a big brown blob of fur with a tail sticking out the end. Dawn couldn't help but giggle a little. "I think we're a little too big to hide there." The two girls walked up to Mamoswine, who was looking down at the ground despondently. Dawn made a move to stroke Mamoswine's fur, "I was looking for you." Mamoswine pulled away stubbornly and turned his face away from her. She wasn't fazed however. "Come on, let's go back...you know...I've got a poffin waiting for you." she said enticingly. The offer of a poffin was more than enough to get Mamoswine's attention, he'd never turn away a chance at one of Dawn's signature treats, as he nuzzled his face against her, "Ok ok," she laughed as the fur tickled her face, "I'll give you the poffin as soon as we get back to camp."
"When all else fails." Misty shook her head with an amused smile on her face. But then she noted Mamoswine's suddenly intense expression. "Hey, what's the matter with Mamoswine?"
"Mamoswine, what's wrong?" Dawn asked. Mamoswine simply growled as he stared deep into the forest. "Is something in there?"
"We could go investigate...but the guys might get worried." Misty pointed out.
Speaking of the guys, they were already getting worried. Brock had already put out the fire and set the table, and the fact that they weren't back yet was sending up more red flags in Ash's mind. "They've been in there a long time..." he said almost to himself. "Brock, I'm going after them. Come on you three!" Ash, Pikachu, Riolu, and Piplup made a move to enter the forest after their friends, but he was stopped by a young woman who showed up seemingly out of nowhere. "Hey, what's the big idea?!"
"You need to stop right there!" the forest-green haired woman exclaimed, her arms outstretched to create a barricade.
Of course, the barricade was quickly broken down by a love-stricken Brock with hearts for eyes. "Stop here?! Great!" Brock ran up to the young lady and grabbed her hand, immediately earning an annoyed sweat-drop from her. "The problem is my heart can't be stopped, and nothing can stop the love that dwells within it!" Right on cue, Croagunk jabbed him. "Except maybe that..." Brock crumpled to the ground and was dragged away by the poison frog.
Having since recovered from Brock's come-on, the woman introduced herself. "The name is Verona and I'm the local Forest Ranger in charge, and no one is allowed to enter this forest with a Pokémon." she said.
"But why not?" Ash asked.
Back in the forest, the two girls and Mamoswine were about to find out exactly why not. "Hey, did you hear that?" Misty whispered.
Another moment revealed a rustling above them. "Sounds like something's in the trees." Dawn replied just as quietly. A much louder rustle got their attention, and they saw a wild Pokémon swinging from tree branch to tree branch in their direction. "Looks like whatever was making that noise just found us." The creature landed on a tree branch almost directly above them. "What is that?" Dawn pulled out her Pokédex to scan it.
"Tangrowth, the Vine Pokémon, and the evolved form of Tangela. Tangrowth captures its prey by extending its arms, which are made of vines." the Pokédex chirped.
"So that's a Tangrowth?" Dawn said. Just then, Tangrowth extended its arms and fired two red lasers out of its hands, which Mamoswine was just barely able to dodge with an instinctive jump back. "What was that for?!" Dawn shouted. Not happy with the attack, Mamoswine reared back and then launched an 'Ice Shard' that Tangrowth was easily able to dodge by jumping out of the tree. "Hey come on Mamoswine, no fighting!" Dawn then turned her attention to Tangrowth. "You too Tangrowth!"
Neither Pokémon took Dawn's words into consideration, as they both fired off attacks at the same time. Mamoswine's 'Ice Shard' and Tangrowth's 'Bullet Seed' collided, causing a bright flash of light that forced the humans to shield their eyes. "You didn't really think you could convince them to just stop did you?!" Misty shouted incredulously.
"I was hoping!" Right then, Mamoswine surged ahead with a 'Take Down' attack, but again Tangrowth easily dodged by latching on to a nearby tree branch. "Looks like we have no choice but to defend ourselves!" Dawn exclaimed.
"My thoughts exactly!" Misty pulled a Pokéball off her belt and threw it, "Misty calls Gyarados!" Once Gyarados emerged, he flanked Mamoswine and used his superior height to glare directly at the now slightly unnerved Tangrowth. "Use 'Hyper Beam'!" Gyarados charged the orange beam, and Tangrowth's eyes widened in fear and it quickly leaped away to a different tree branch.
With Tangrowth on the run, Dawn made her move. "Let's help them out Mamoswine! Use 'Ancient Power'!" Mamoswine briefly glowed white, and the energy seemed to peel off of the Twin-Tusk's Pokémon and accumulated at the end of his tusks. Finally Mamoswine fired, and the attack destroyed the branch Tangrowth was hanging on, but in the process it allowed Tangrowth to leap down and unleash a 'Poison Jab' onto Mamoswine's face. "Oh no, Mamoswine!"
Once the attack stunned Mamoswine, Tangrowth decided to try and retreat by swinging from tree branch to tree branch, realizing that this match was too much for it to handle alone. "I don't think so! Gyarados, 'Hydro Pump'!" Gyarados blasted at the retreating form of Tangrowth, and managed to hit his target, soaking Tangrowth and changing the Pokémon's trajectory so that it missed the next tree branch and instead did a face-plant on the ground. "Now we've got 'im!" Both Gyarados and Mamoswine began charging towards the grass-type, but suddenly Tangrowth leaped back to its feet and fired two beams out of its hands. "Uh oh! 'Protect' Gyarados, quick!" Unfortunately, Gyarados couldn't get the barrier up in time, and both Pokémon were hit by the beams.
When Tangrowth was finished with its attack, both Mamoswine and Gyarados seemed to go limp from exhaustion. "What just happened?!" Dawn exclaimed worriedly.
"I dunno, but it looks like Tangrowth's coming for more!" Misty was about to reach for another Pokéball when she noticed the odd demeanor Tangrowth was approaching them with. Instead of hostility, it seemed to be...skipping towards the two Pokémon. Once it got close enough, it bent down and placed an object in front of both Gyarados and Mamoswine, then it waved goodbye and disappeared into the forest again, swinging from branch to branch. "That didn't just happen." Misty said in disbelief, shaking her head. "First it attacks us, then it tries to become friends with us? And it's not like it was a prank like with Snover, that thing seemed like it was trying to hurt us."
While Misty was in the middle of speaking, Dawn went to examine the items Tangrowth had left behind. She bent down and picked one of them up, gasping when she realized what she was holding. "I think these are Sitrus Berries!" she said, "But...why would it leave these?" Dawn's train of thought was derailed when Mamoswine started sniffing at what was in her hand. With no warning, Mamoswine took both the berry and Dawn's hand into his mouth, much to Dawn's very audible shock as she shrieked and then fell to the ground once she got free. Almost immediately, Mamoswine's strength was restored and the ground/ice-type got up and glared in the direction Tangrowth had gone in.
"Now I'm really confused." Misty said as she fed Gyarados the other Sitrus Berry. "It attacked us, drained the strength of our Pokémon, then left us berries to give the strength back?" Gyarados got up and roared with rage once the effects of the berry kicked in. "All I can think of is that Tangrowth just used us as training dummies."
"Could be...but...since when does a wild Pokémon challenge trainers to a battle for no apparent reason?" At that moment, Mamoswine snorted forcefully and charged into the forest to chase after Tangrowth. "Mamoswine no! Come back!" Dawn had no choice but to go after the Twin-Tusk Pokémon, Misty and Gyarados right on her heels.
Back at the campsite, which Brock had since cleaned up, Ash and Brock were getting an explanation from Verona the Forest Ranger, and what they heard, they didn't like one bit. "Wha?!" Ash blurted, "So there's a Tangrowth living in that forest that would drain all my Pokémon's power?"
"It's true!" Verona replied, "And apparently, the larger the Pokémon, the more determined it is!"
"I don't get why though." Brock said almost to himself. "What possible reason would a wild Pokémon have to just attack any trainers who come by with Pokémon?"
"That's exactly the riddle I'm trying to solve." Verona explained with a perplexed frown, "But until I do I can't let anyone into the forest due to the risks of Tangrowth possibly draining more Pokémon."
At this, Ash's determined scowl returned, "Look, I'm sorry Verona, but we can't accept that! We've got two friends who wandered into that forest with their Pokémon and we've gotta help them!"
Verona gasped at this news, "Well why didn't you say so?!" she exclaimed in concern, "Follow me, we've got to find them before Tangrowth gets the chance to drain their Pokémon!" Verona turned to run into the forest, with Ash, Brock, and the Pokémon following close behind.
"How about I bring out the aerial search party?" Ash suggested as they ran, holding three shrunken Pokéballs in his hand.
"Good idea except for one thing." Verona replied, "The foliage in this forest is much too thick, your Pokémon wouldn't be able to see anything from up there anyway."
Ash growled and put the balls back on his belt. "Maybe I should just go look by myself." Unfortunately, Riolu had caught on to Ash's feelings, and quickly decided to follow that implied notion. The little Emanation Pokémon took a sharp right turn and went on his own mission to find his mommy and auntie, with Ash completely oblivious to his absence.
After a moment or two however, Brock managed to notice that Riolu was missing. "Um...Ash...someone's missing."
"Huh?" Ash looked down and noticed that Riolu was no longer running in front of him. "Aw man, not again." Ash face-palmed.
"Your Riolu's wandered off? That's bad, splitting up would be a terrible idea and now with two targets to search for..." Verona never got a chance to finish her sentence.
"Relax, I've got this." Ash took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused solely on his aura, using it to search for a match somewhere in the forest. After a moment of searching, Ash opened his eyes and pointed Southeast. "Riolu's in that direction, come on!" This time Ash took the lead, and Brock and Verona followed him.
"How on earth does he know where his Riolu went?" Verona asked.
"Ash has the ability to sense his Riolu's aura with his own, I don't fully understand it myself, and don't bother asking Ash because he knows less than I do." Brock replied with an amused chuckle. Verona simply chuckled back and went back to focusing on keeping up with the zigzagging Pokémon Trainer. After a few minutes, the sound of battle was heard through the trees, "Sounds like Riolu got himself into trouble again." Brock commented.
Ash grunted and burst into the scene. "Riolu!" When Ash arrived, he saw Riolu in a scuffle with an enraged Ursaring. The large bear charged and fired a 'Hyper Beam', but Riolu managed to dodge with a determined leap. "Whoa, nice dodge." Ash said in awe. He then witnessed Riolu shift gears from defense to offense as he unleashed a 'Quick Attack' and then a 'Force Palm' immediately after. "Pretty impressive."
By this time, Brock and Verona had caught up with Ash. "Maybe Ash, but take a look at Riolu." Brock said grimly. Ash did, and the trainer gasped in realization. "Riolu's getting more tired from dodging and attacking so much than Ursaring is from taking his hits."
"Your Riolu's very determined," Verona complimented, "But unfortunately it just doesn't seem strong enough yet to do any lasting damage."
"I gotta help him!" Just before Ash could get into the fray though, two beams of red energy came from opposite directions of each other and struck both Riolu and Ursaring. "What the?!" When the beams dissipated, both Riolu and Ursaring crumpled to the ground in a heap. "Riolu!" Ash ran up to his now exhausted Pokémon and picked him up into his arms. At the same time, a berry emerged from the bushes next to both Pokémon, and Ursaring quickly ate it and gained his strength back. "Back off Ursaring, you have no idea what you'll be getting into if you challenge us again!" Luckily for Ash, or Ursaring depending on point of view, the bear had no interest in continuing the battle and disappeared into the forest.
Meanwhile, Verona was examining the berry that had seemingly come from nowhere. "Wait a minute, the reports said that for some reason whenever it drains a Pokémon of its power, Tangrowth always leaves a berry!"
"And from the looks of it, it's a Sitrus Berry!" Brock took the berry from Verona and offered it to Riolu, who wearily took a bite and almost instantly was brought back to his normal hyperactive self. "Now you need to behave and stay with us ok? No more running off alone." Riolu nodded and hopped out of Ash's arms to join the other Pokémon.
"What bothers me though..." Verona said thoughtfully, getting the attention of the two other trainers, "Those beams came from opposite directions...could there be more than one Tangrowth in this forest draining Pokémon?"
"If there is, it makes finding Misty and Dawn even more important! Come on, we gotta keep going!" Ash rushed back into the labyrinth of a forest, with Brock and Verona trying their best to keep up with him. "Don't worry Misty, Dawn, I'll find you guys!"
"Dawn, if we don't turn back soon, the guys are gonna come looking for us." Misty said, having since returned Gyarados to his Pokéball for a much-needed rest.
"I know Misty." Dawn took a deep breath and walked up to her Twin-Tusk Pokémon, who was still determined to find that Tangrowth and give it a beating it would remember forever. "Mamoswine...we really should head back...I'm sure everyone's worried." Mamoswine turned away and mumbled dismissively. "Remember it's a wild Pokémon, I'm sure it's out of the forest by now." Mamoswine stubbornly shook his head.
"I gotta admit," Misty thought to herself. "Dawn's been handling Mamoswine pretty darn well so far."
"STOP BEING SUCH A BRAT! I TOLD YOU TO GIVE IT UP THIS INSTANT!"
"Whoops, spoke too soon."
"Fine!" Dawn spat, "Then do whatever you want, as for me, I'm heading back!" Dawn turned her back on Mamoswine and walked right past a stunned water-trainer without even acknowledging her presence. But after a few determined stomps, Dawn stopped and turned to see if Mamoswine was following her, and was discouraged to find that Mamoswine had decided to abandon her and go after Tangrowth. "Aww man! Wait Mamoswine! Don't leave!" It was too late, Mamoswine had once again disappeared into the forest.
"Call me crazy, but I think you might still have a little work to do on that one." Misty said with a sympathetic smile.
Dawn slouched and gave a small smile in return to the taller girl, "What am I gonna do Misty? I thought we had already dealt with this."
Misty placed a comforting hand on the coordinator's shoulder, "It isn't an overnight thing Dawn, sometimes certain Pokémon take longer than others to really come around." then a thought occurred to the redhead. "Then again, some Pokémon never really reach the ideal stage a trainer may want."
Dawn looked up at Misty in horror, "What? Never?!"
"What I mean is...take a look at Ash."
"Ash? What does Ash have to do with this? He's already dealt with his issues."
"Exactly my point. You would never accuse Charizard of being disloyal would you?"
"No, but I still don't see where you're going with this."
Misty sighed and frowned slightly. "Dawn, I know you two were friends when he was still a Swinub, and even when he evolved into Piloswine he was affectionate towards you for a while, that was the leftover Swinub in him." Misty felt a pang in her heart when she saw how sad Dawn was becoming. "The truth is Dawn, your little Swinub may very well be gone forever, but that doesn't mean Mamoswine doesn't care about you...he just...shows it differently than he used to. Even Charizard was affectionate when he was a little Charmander, but now his personality is different. And even though Charizard doesn't show love, I don't think Ash has one Pokémon besides Pikachu himself, who is more loyal than Charizard. That could be what you have now in Mamoswine."
Dawn suddenly found her pink boots to be very interesting as she looked down to avoid looking at her redheaded friend. As much as she hated to admit it, everything she had heard made perfect sense. "But Misty..." she whimpered. "How can I just let go like that?"
"There is no how Dawn, you just make the adjustment. You were doing really well up until that last little blowup you had just now. Mamoswine still loves you Dawn, he's just not gonna be as open about showing it anymore. Just be patient, eventually, Mamoswine will come around and who knows? Maybe he will go back to being affectionate, that's the mystery of Pokémon."
Dawn looked up at Misty and gave her a sad smile, "Thank you Misty."
"No problem. Now come on, we gotta go find Mamoswine before it starts getting dark!"
"Yeah you're right, wonder how long we've been gone?"
"The sun's going down." Ash grumbled to himself. "Misty! Dawn! Mamoswine! Someone answer me!"
"I wonder where they could've gotten off to." Brock scratched his chin.
"We have to hurry, if it takes too much longer we'll be searching blind." Verona said with concern.
Ash didn't need that reminder, his worry for his friends was growing by the second. "Riolu," Ash got the attention of the Emanation Pokémon, "Could you use your aura to try and find Misty?" Riolu's ears drooped and he frowned at his father figure. "What's the matter?"
"Pika pika Pikapi." (He can't Ash.)
"Whaddya mean he can't?"
"Pi pi pika chu, pika chu pi pika." (He tried already, his aura isn't strong enough.) Of course Pikachu was referring to when Riolu had tried to locate Misty back during their adventure into the past. He was strong enough to find Ash's aura, but finding an independent person was still too much for the little fighting-type to handle.
Ash exhaled forcefully through his mouth, he wasn't frustrated with Riolu, but he was getting annoyed that they had had no luck for a couple of hours now and he was running out of options. "I think we need a little help right about now." Ash took a Pokéball of his belt, "A grass-type might do the trick. Now, Grotle! I choose you!" Grotle emerged, but was immediately forced to leap back as two lasers appeared from above them. "What the?!" Looking up in the tree, the group gasped when they saw a figure standing on a branch. "Tangrowth!"
"Verona...is that the Tangrowth you were telling us about?" Brock asked.
"That's right, be careful not to let it drain your Pokémon's power." Verona replied.
Tangrowth fired again, and Grotle barely managed to avoid the attack again. "Tangrowth just used 'Absorb'!" Brock exclaimed.
"Quick Grotle, use 'Razor Leaf'!" Grotle fired, but Tangrowth easily dodged the attack and jumped from tree to tree, "Oh man, that thing's faster than it looks...but where is it now?" Ash then spotted Tangrowth hurtling towards Grotle from above the tree. "To the left! 'Energy Ball'!" Grotle acknowledged and fired the attack, but Tangrowth once again was able to dodge.
"Croagunk, let's go!" This time Brock sent out the poison-frog on purpose, and Croagunk emerged in front of Grotle right when Tangrowth used 'Absorb' again. "Croagunk, no!" Croagunk had been caught in the blast, and Tangrowth relaxed when it saw it had succeeded. It was about to give Croagunk a berry when it realized much to its surprise that Croagunk had not been affected that much.
"But how?" Verona wondered, then she gasped. "That's right! 'Absorb' is a grass-type move, and Croagunk is part poison-type which gives it resistance against grass-type attacks!"
Croagunk didn't react beyond firing a 'Poison Sting' at Tangrowth, who merely leaped back up into the tree and fired 'Absorb' again, this time it hit its original target, which was Grotle. "Grotle, no!" Usually Grotle would have some resistance as well due to being a grass-type, but after failing once, Tangrowth put even more effort into its attack, making up the difference. Grotle fell off his feet and sighed in sudden exhaustion.
"Croagunk, watch out!" Brock shouted. After watching Grotle get drained, Croagunk had been caught off guard as Tangrowth fired 'Absorb' once more, and this time Croagunk couldn't hang on as he fell to his back. "Oh man, Croagunk."
"That does it! Pikachu, use 'Thunderbolt'!" Ash shouted in rage. Pikachu responded to the call and blasted a furious electricity burst at Tangrowth, who once again dodged the attack. Flying through the trees around them, Tangrowth dropped down two Sitrus Berries and started swinging away.
"Tangrowth wait! Don't go!" Verona called out. It was no use, Tangrowth was not coming back. "Tangrowth..."
"How's Grotle doing Ash?" Brock asked as he fed the Sitrus Berry to the now suddenly alert Croagunk.
"Grotle'll be fine." Ash reassured, kneeling down to give the berry to his tired grass-type. "Here Grotle, eat this, it'll get you back on your feet." Surprisingly though, Grotle refused the berry. "Huh?" Ash then remembered Grotle's unique way of healing, "Oh yeah, you could always just use 'Synthesis', go ahead Grotle!" Fighting back to his feet, the bushes on Grotle's back began to glow as Grotle absorbed the slowly fading sunlight. After a few moments, Grotle grinned as his power fully restored itself. "Awesome, feeling better than ever I bet."
Allowing herself a small smirk as she watched the Pokémon and trainer interact, Verona crossed her arms and went deep into thought. "I'd really like to know why that Tangrowth insists on draining so many Pokémon of their power."
"Brock, could Tangrowth just be trying to heal itself?" Ash suggested.
"I doubt it, if that was the case it could just eat a Sitrus Berry."
"And according to the reports and what we've just seen, Tangrowth certainly has no shortage of those." Verona added.
Suddenly Grotle cried out, startling the human trio. "Grotle, did you pick up on Tangrowth's scent?" Ash asked. Grotle nodded. "Great! Maybe if we find Tangrowth, we'll find Misty and Dawn too!"
"Then let's go!" Verona exclaimed.
Speaking of the two girls, they were still looking for Mamoswine. "Can't believe this happened again!" Dawn sighed in exasperation, "Mamoswine is huge! How many places can he possibly hide?!"
Misty then spotted yet another big brown blob of fur, "Well, there's right there."
Dawn looked where Misty was looking, and she put both hands over her mouth to try and stifle a laugh. "Oh dear, it's kind of hard to hide that caboose." Dawn walked over to the hidden Pokémon and patted its rear-end. "Mamoswine!" she said in a sing-song voice, "You'll never guess who's here!" Dawn cheerful disposition quickly changed however when the figure stood up and turned around with an enraged roar, revealing itself as an Ursaring. "Y-You're not Mamoswine!" Dawn turned and ran screaming at the top of her lungs with Misty not far behind.
"Hang on! I'll send out some help!" Misty reached for a Pokéball, but when a sudden 'Hyper Beam' narrowly missed her, she tripped up and lost the Pokéball, knocking down Dawn in the process. "Help!"
Just before Ursaring could finish off the two cowering humans, out of nowhere Mamoswine came from behind them and pounded Ursaring with a 'Take Down' attack, immediately sending Ursaring running as it was sick and tired of being bothered by trainers and their Pokémon for one day. Dawn got up and watched Ursaring run, feeling a sense of gratefulness welling up inside her. Hands clasped in happiness, she looked up at her and Misty's savior. "Wow, thanks so much Mamoswine!"
Mamoswine didn't respond though, and just simply walked off again, much to Dawn's dismay. "Dawn, remember what we talked about." Misty reminded.
Dawn nodded and put on a determined expression as she hurried to catch up with the ground/ice-type. "Wait up Mamoswine!" She got side by side with the giant Pokémon and looked up at him, "Are you still looking for that Tangrowth?" Mamoswine just grunted, "I know you really hate to lose Mamoswine, and that must've made you really upset." Mamoswine just grunted again, "You know, I hate losing too, so that means we're actually a lot alike!" Mamoswine stopped and looked down at the coordinator, "Alright...I'll help you look for Tangrowth, ok?" Mamoswine didn't react at first, but eventually he nodded in thanks.
"Looks like we're in this for the long haul then huh?" Misty caught up with the younger girl and her Pokémon.
"That's right, we're gonna keep looking until we find Tangrowth!" Dawn replied determinedly.
"Great...just one thing."
"What's that?"
"The sun's gone down."
Dawn looked back up and noticed that the sun had been replaced by the moon, "Oh wow...we've been gone for a long time."
"I hope Ash and Brock are ok, they must be worried sick about us by now." Misty sighed.
"And it's gotten really dark...it's starting to look like we'll be spending the night again Mamoswine." Dawn patted her large Pokémon's side. Then Mamoswine sniffed the ground intently, "What's wrong?" Dawn asked. The blue-haired girl shrieked when Mamoswine suddenly used his tusk to throw her onto his back, and together they took off running deeper into the forest.
"Hey wait for me!" Realizing she wouldn't be able to keep up on foot, Misty grabbed the Pokéball she had previously dropped and tossed it, and once again Gyarados emerged and gave a roar, and the redhead quickly leaped onto the dragon's back. "After them Gyarados!" Gyarados roared once more, and they went after the other duo.
"Mamoswine, you think Tangrowth's close by?" Dawn asked. Mamoswine acknowledged with a determined grunt. Dawn suddenly gasped when she noticed something up ahead. "Look at the Forest Pokémon!" Despite the fact that a Bellsprout, Cherrim, Seedot, and Shroomish were all blocking Mamoswine's path, the ice/ground-type refused to slow down, "They're not gonna let us through Mamoswine!" Mamoswine just didn't care, however it wouldn't be his choice to make. Cherrim and Seedot leaped up and fired 'Magical Leaf' and 'Bullet Seed' respectively, stopping the Twin-Tusk Pokémon in his tracks. Immediately after, Bellsprout and Shroomish launched red beams of energy at Mamoswine, and his energy got sapped once again. "That's the move that Tangrowth used!"
By this time, Misty and Gyarados had caught up, just in time to see Mamoswine collapse. "What happened Dawn?!" Misty then looked forward and saw four apologetic looking Pokémon giving a Sitrus Berry to the Twin-Tusk Pokémon, "A Sitrus Berry? They drained Mamoswine's power?"
"Yeah! They...waah!" Dawn was cut off by Mamoswine suddenly getting up and rushing forward, much to the shock of the small collection of grass-types. After chasing them for a few moments, Mamoswine stopped when he reached a super tall tree that dwarfed all the others in the forest, "Wow...what a gigantic tree!"
Misty finally caught them once more, "Ok, this whole running off thing needs to stop now!" her eyes then caught the same thing Dawn and Mamoswine were staring at, "Whoa...that tree is enormous!" Just then, a figure slowly emerged from a hole in the tree's trunk, "It's Tangrowth!"
Behind Tangrowth popped out the other four Pokémon who Mamoswine had just chased off, "So all those Pokémon are your friends." Dawn slid off Mamoswine's back, just in time for Mamoswine to take a few challenging steps forward. But instead of making a move to battle, Tangrowth just shook its head despondently. Unshaken by Tangrowth's apathy towards a fight, Mamoswine stomped the ground forcefully, causing it to rumble around the area, "Mamoswine, can't you see that Tangrowth doesn't wanna battle with you?" Mamoswine ignored Dawn's words and took a few more steps forward, frightening the smaller Pokémon who Tangrowth had just ushered behind it. "Mamoswine, stop it!"
Gyarados was about to make a move to intervene, but Misty stopped the water dragon with a shake of her head, "This is something Dawn and Mamoswine need to work out on their own, we can't get in the way every time Mamoswine starts getting out of control or she'll never learn how to handle him." Gyarados relaxed a bit, but remained on guard nevertheless.
After a few tense moments of staring at each other, Mamoswine finally turned away and grunted dismissively, giving in to Dawn's wishes to drop the issue. Dawn exhaled with relief and put a hand on her chest, "Thank goodness, I'm so glad that's over with."
"Misty! Dawn!"
The two girls turned around and spotted Ash, Brock, and another woman dressed in a Forest Ranger uniform running towards them. Needless to say, Misty was ecstatic to see Ash again as she rushed to meet him in a tight embrace, "You found us!"
Ash pulled back a little to look into Misty's viridian-green eyes. "Thanks to Grotle, he picked up Tangrowth's scent and we figured that's where you'd be!"
"And it looks like he was right! It's Tangrowth!" Verona exclaimed.
"Who's she?" Dawn asked, having since been reunited with Piplup who was now in her arms.
"See, her name's Verona and she's a Forest Ranger." Brock explained.
"Yeah, she's been trying to help us find you." Ash added.
"Thank you!" Dawn exclaimed gratefully, "Sorry for causing you any trouble."
Verona's attention was momentarily taken off of Tangrowth as she looked over her own shoulder to smile at the teens, "Don't worry, I'm just glad you're both alright!"
"So what's with the huge tree?" Ash asked.
Verona looked back to the tree and explained, "This tree actually watches over and protects the forest. It's over a thousand years old and its roots are spread out deeply for miles and miles!" Suddenly the moon came out from behind a cloud, and Tangrowth motioned for the group to follow it. Curious as to what was going on, they obliged and followed Tangrowth as it circled the giant tree, and they gasped in horror when they saw what Tangrowth had stopped in front of, "Oh no!"
"The tree's been split into two!" Dawn gasped.
"It must've been struck by lightning the other day! This is terrible!" Verona said in concern, "That poor tree won't make it at this rate!"
"What?! But if this tree dies, won't the entire forest go with it?!" Brock realized.
"It's like the Tree of Beginning..." Ash said to himself.
He did not however say it quietly enough. "Don't you dare Ash Ketchum!" Misty growled at him, explicitly remembering the story Ash had told her a while before the Wallace Cup had started, "You're not gonna try and sacrifice yourself for this, it isn't even the same situation!"
Since he was there when the event took place, Brock remembered the story as well. "I don't think he'll have to, take a look at what Tangrowth is doing." Tangrowth fired beams at the tree, only this time they were green instead of red. "That's a move! It's called 'Growth'!"
"Of course! Now that I see what's going on here, it all makes sense!" Verona realized, "Tangrowth was going around draining Pokémon of their power so it could use that power to save this tree!"
Soon the other four Pokémon joined Tangrowth in using 'Growth' on the tree, "Now I get it!" Ash exclaimed suddenly, "It must've been those four that drained the power from Riolu and that Ursaring we ran into earlier!"
"You ran into that Ursaring too?!" Misty was about to pry further, but her attention was captured by the weary sighs of Tangrowth, Bellsprout, Shroomish, and Seedot, "Looks like they don't have enough power to get the job done..."
"Isn't there something we can do?" Dawn wondered aloud.
Verona chose that moment to speak up, "Tangrowth, I'd like to help you!" Tangrowth replied with curiosity. "You see, I want to save this tree and protect the forest just like you do!" Tangrowth eagerly accepted the Forest Ranger's assistance, "Tangrowth, thank you." Verona gasped suddenly however when a strange machine appeared behind Tangrowth and the other four Pokémon, "What is that thing?!"
The machine had a vacuum nozzle in the front, and its powerful suction grabbed onto Tangrowth who was now holding the four smaller grass-types protectively in its arms. "Of course, it just figures!" Misty hissed.
Jessie: "Don't you know great when you see it?"
James: "Of course to know great, you must be it!"
Meowth: "And great you don't fake!"
"Team Rocket! What are you doing out here?!" Ash growled.
"Give those Pokémon back right now!" Dawn added.
"Sticky fingers!" Jessie and James taunted.
"Yeah! And we're holdin' tight ta dese Pokémon 'cause we got our brand new Mega Serious Suction Vacuum Mark Two!" Meowth cackled.
"That's what you think! Gyarados, unleash 'Hyper Beam'!" Following Misty's command, Gyarados blasted at the tank, but the attack didn't do much at all. "Impossible!"
"Not at all! We've devised a way to repel your twerpy attacks so we're ready for anything you can throw at us!" Jessie guffawed.
"Let's try taking them head on! Mamoswine, use 'Take Down'!" Mamoswine rumbled forward to attack, but in some bizarre twist of fate, history seemed to repeat itself as Mamoswine merely hit the machine with a loud thud, not making any headway at all just like when it was a Swinub trying to attack Team Rocket on Fullmoon Island.
"Ooh, that kinda tickles." Jessie snickered.
"Ya see? Da skin on dis baby's three times as absorbent, dig?" Meowth screeched.
"That's three times the power to clean up a mess like you!" James added.
"Hang on guys, let's see how confident they are once Charizard joins this battle!" Ash was about to reach for a Pokéball when Dawn grabbed his wrist to stop him.
"Thanks anyway Ash, and you too Misty, but you just leave this to Mamoswine and me!" Dawn said determinedly. Understanding why Dawn wanted to handle the problem solo, Misty nodded and stepped back, "Ok Mamoswine, 'Take Down' again!" Mamoswine surged ahead and struck the tank once more with the same result.
"Give it a rest." Jessie scoffed.
James nose-thumbed the group to add insult, "After all, our armor is currently ten times thicker than before!"
Meowth however was starting to get a little nervous, "I'd like ta know where you get your stats!"
Meowth's sudden apprehension was not lost on Dawn, "They must be weakening! Come on Mamoswine, you can do it! Focus all of your power on one point on that thing!" Mamoswine started exerting energy, and his tusks began to glow yellow as bright neon orbs began swirling around his tusks. "Whoa, what's that?"
"That's 'Hidden Power'!" Brock explained.
"Awesome! Mamoswine just learned 'Hidden Power'! Ok then, go for it!" Mamoswine fired, and the orbs pounded on the shell of Team Rocket's vehicle.
"Silly twerps!" Jessie suddenly heard cracking noises, and the woman groaned nervously, "Uh oh..."
"I could've sworn the armor's a hundred times thicker than before..." James gulped.
Meowth just screeched, "Three times you dope! Dial it down!"
Once the damage had been done, the vacuum lost power and Tangrowth was able to clear the area. "Now's our chance! Mamoswine, use 'Hidden Power' and send them blasting off!" Mamoswine acknowledged and struck the same area once again, and this time the tank exploded and ejected Team Rocket.
Jessie: "Are we blasting off faster or is it me?!"
James: "Yes! By a thousand!"
Meowth: "Will you stop cookin' da speed record books?!"
"Wobbu!"
"We're blasting off again!"
*Ping*
"Nice job Mamoswine, you were awesome!" Dawn rushed up and embraced the Twin-Tusk Pokémon's face, and Mamoswine made no moves to stop her, "And learning a brand new move, how awesome is that?"
"Hey Mist, did something happen while we were looking for you two out here?" Ash asked, curious as to why Dawn seemed so attentive all of a sudden.
"Let's just say Dawn had to finish making some adjustments to her training style with Mamoswine." Misty replied with a shrug.
"Are you alright everyone?" Verona knelt down in front of the four frightened grass-types in front of Tangrowth, and they all nodded in affirmation. Verona then stood to her full height to face Tangrowth, "And you Tangrowth?" Tangrowth smiled with his eyes, assuring the Forest Ranger they were all none worse for wear. "Excellent." Verona then turned to the teens, "I wanna thank you all for helping me with this mystery, we'll find a way to help this tree somehow, so you're all free to go."
"No way!" Dawn exclaimed, confusing the Forest Ranger, "We're gonna help you figure out how to help this tree! We didn't come all this way just to waste our efforts, right Mamoswine?" Mamoswine nodded.
Verona smiled and nodded, "Ok then, but it is very late, so let's at least get some sleep and we'll finish solving this puzzle in the morning."
Luckily for the group, Brock had already packed up their campsite before heading out to find the girls with Verona, so all they had to do was roll out their sleeping bags and they'd be good to go...except for one thing. "I will not allow a beautiful creature such as Verona to sleep in discomfort!" Brock's passion was quickly extinguished by a 'Poison Jab' from Croagunk, "I think...I'll do that...instead." Brock's crippled body hit the ground, and Croagunk dragged the breeder into his sleeping bag, where he would remain the rest of the night whether he liked it or not.
"As much as I enjoy watching Brock make a fool of himself," Misty rolled her eyes before turning her attention to the Forest Ranger, "He's right, it's not fair that we have sleeping bags and you don't."
Verona chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm used to these types of conditions, this won't be the first time I've spent the night out here while on a mission."
"It still isn't right." Ash insisted, "I'll sleep without a sleeping bag and Verona can have mine, we're about the same size." Ash was in fact a couple of inches shorter than Verona, but for one night he figured it would be just fine.
"No Ash, I'll go without a sleeping bag, I probably worried you almost to death today, you deserve a good night's rest." Misty cupped the trainer's face in her hands and tried to convince him with her viridian eyes. It might've worked too, had Dawn not spoken up.
"Can we skip to the part where you two just agree to compromise and share a sleeping bag? It's pretty obvious to everyone here that you'll eventually wind up getting to that conclusion anyway." Dawn rolled her own eyes and smirked knowingly with her hands on her hips.
"Who's everyone?" Both Ash and Misty asked.
"Me, Brock, and Verona...who did you think I meant?" Dawn tilted her head in confusion.
"Never mind." Ash sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled nervously, "Your call Mist...feel like sharing?" Misty didn't respond verbally, but that was just fine with Ash since the way she answered was much more pleasurable to him, "I'll uh...take that as a yes." Ash grinned as he tried to regain his composure after the sweet kiss the redhead had placed on his lips.
"Ohhh, so you two are boyfriend and girlfriend! No wonder Ash was so adamant about finding you!" Verona realized.
Misty perked an eyebrow at that, "Ash...did you cause trouble for Verona?"
"N-No..." Ash gulped, "What would make you think that?"
"The fact that you're sweating bullets all of a sudden! C'mon Ash, I understand you wanna protect me and all, that's actually very sweet of you, but I can take care of myself! You don't have to fly off the handle every time you don't know where I am!"
"Well excuse me for being worried about my girlfriend, maybe next time I should just take my dear old sweet time!"
"Did I say that? No! You're twisting my words!"
"No, I'm interpreting your words!"
"Then you interpreted them wrong you moron!"
"You're the moron!"
"Oh yeah?!"
"Yeah!"
Before things could escalate any further, Pikachu unleashed a 'Thundershock' that got the couple to quit quarreling. "Pika chu?" (Had enough?)
"Um...if it's going to cause problems between you two, I'd be fine without a sleeping bag." Verona was shocked at the sudden turn of events to say the least, Dawn however was not the least bit affected.
"Don't even worry about it, arguing is like their strange little way of saying how much they love each other." Dawn waved dismissively. She also chuckled to herself as she recalled a few months ago when she stated that she would probably never get used to their arguments, "Boy, things sure can change quickly."
"Well...if you say so." Verona wasn't convinced, but she graciously accepted the sleeping bag from the black-haired trainer...who was now also black-skinned thanks to the remaining ashes of the 'Thundershock'. "Might wanna get cleaned up before bed."
"Nah," Ash dusted himself off, as did Misty, "This kinda thing happens almost on a daily basis."
"Yeah, it's just the way we are, I know my Ashy would never leave me out in the wilderness all alone." Misty hugged her boyfriend and drew him in for a soft kiss, which he had no trouble reciprocating at all.
"Um...wow." Verona turned her back to the kissing couple and shook her head, "They're an interesting bunch, I'll say that much."
Simple goodnights were exchanged between the group, and just as planned, Ash and Misty shared a sleeping bag, spooned against each other which allowed Verona to get a good night's rest. Once the sun started rising however, the group was already up and about as Ash had gotten an idea. "Ok Grotle, we're counting on ya!" Grotle nodded and allowed Tangrowth to use 'Absorb' and drain his strength. Once the attack was finished, Grotle collapsed. "Ok, now use 'Synthesis'!" Grotle struggled back to his feet and absorbed the nutrients of the new sun, quickly recharging him. "Ok, again!"
"Hey that's a great idea!" Dawn exclaimed in approval, "This way Tangrowth can just keep absorbing power without having to worry about what happens to Grotle!"
"Yeah...but still, Grotle can only use 'Synthesis' so many times." Brock said grimly.
"Exactly, I mean...is Grotle gonna have to do this until Tangrowth manages to heal the tree? That could take days for all we know!" Misty added.
Upon hearing that, Mamoswine stepped up to Tangrowth and volunteered himself, much to Tangrowth's surprise. "Wow Mamoswine, you wanna offer up your power to help out too?" Mamoswine nodded and turned to Tangrowth, and the Twin-Tusk Pokémon groaned slightly as he felt his power leave him once more. Fortunately for Mamoswine, Tangrowth still had a large supply of Sitrus Berries at its disposal, and it quickly fed one to Mamoswine, who jumped back to his feet almost immediately. "Looks like those two are good friends now." Dawn smiled.
"Look everyone!" Verona suddenly exclaimed, getting everyone's attention, "I found the spot on the tree that contains all of its nutrients! So everyone use 'Growth' right here!" Tangrowth, Bellsprout, Seedot, Shroomish, and Cherrim all came around and fired at where Verona was pointing, and sure enough the tree started to re-grow itself. After a few more moments, the tree was back to normal. "The tree should be fine now!"
"Thanks to Tangrowth and the others." Ash said.
"So from now on Tangrowth," Verona said, turning back to the Vine Pokémon, "Let's protect the forest together." Tangrowth agreed whole-heartedly, it was definitely looking forward to having some help.
"And Mamoswine, let's you and I figure out a way to use that awesome 'Hidden Power' of yours in our next contest, 'kay?" Mamoswine nodded at the coordinator without hesitation, giving Dawn a boost in confidence which would hopefully carry all the way to Lilypad Town for her next contest.
_
A/N: Yes, even a lame episode like the Tangrowth one can be used to my advantage. Twist coming in the next chapter. Stay tuned