Pokemon: Friends to the End
Chapter 72: Crossing Paths
Pikachu, Piplup and Eevee were singing happily as they walked along a path.
"Piplup piplup piplup."Piplup sang.
"Pika pika pikachu."Pikachu sang.
"Eevee eevee eevee."Eevee sang.
"Piplup piplup pip..."Piplup sang tiredly and stopped walking to rub his tummy.
"Piplup, are you okay?"Dawn asked.
Piplup sweat dropped when his stomach began to rumble.
"Hey, your hungry aren't you?"Ash asked.
Piplup nodded. "Piplup."
"Well since is almost lunch time, maybe we should find a close pokemon center?"Denise suggested.
"I know there is a pokemon center ahead, so let's move asap."Brock remarked as he walked ahead.
"Alright."Ash said with a smile.
The pallet town trainer began to follow Brock with Pikachu.
"Piplup, come on."Dawn commented.
Piplup sighed sadly in response.
Denise bend down and handed a gold poffin to the Penguin Pokemon.
"Here that would keep your stomach from rubbling too much."She chuckled.
Piplup ate the poffin and his cheeks turned pink which meant he liked the taste.
"Eevee eevee!"Eevee begged.
Denise giggled. "Of course, I got one for you too, Eevee."
She handed Eevee a blue poffin and the normal type happily ate it.
Denise, Eevee and Piplup then began to follow Brock, Ash and Dawn.
The heroes and the three pokemon gasped in awe when they reached the edge of the forest and come out to the edge of a picturesque lake with the Pokémon Center on the shore nearby.
In the Pokemon Center...
The heroes settled down to have lunch together.
Denise then served a small plate that held a pear charlotte on the table.
"What do you get there, Denise?"Brock asked.
"Hey that's your special pear charlotte cake isn't?"Dawn said with a smile.
"Yep the one and only."Denise responded kindly.
"Looks good."Ash commented.
The pallet town trainer reached out his hand to take the cake, but Denise slapped his hand away.
"Ow!"Ash cried out in pain.
"Hey, this pear charlotte is for all of us to share with."Denise reminded with a frown.
Ash chuckled sheepishly.
Denise cut the charlotte cake into small pieces causing her twin sister, Ash and Brock to each take a piece to eat.
"So what do you think?"Denise asked.
"Delicious!"Dawn, Ash and Brock answered in unison.
Denise smiled at their complement.
Suddenly dark clouds appeared in the sky making the atmosphere go dark.
"Huh?"Ash said in confusion. "What's going on?"
The heroes go to check the windows only to see a large storm brewed and a bolt of lightning strike outside.
Piplup jumped into Dawn's arms while Eevee hid behind Denise's legs in fear.
"That is one big storm."Denise commented.
"It was so nice just a minute ago."Dawn admitted.
"Wow, the weather changed really fast."Ash said.
Nurse Joy walked up to them.
"I hope it doesn't affect the Dustox Crossing."She stated. "What would they do?"
"Nurse Joy, I haven't have the foggiest idea what the Dustox would be affected of..."Brock flirted. "But I know what affects me, it's you-"
Then Croagunk poison jabbed the pokemon breeder causing him to drop on the floor.
"And others..."Brock muttered.
Croagunk dragged Brock away while the three trainers laughed nervously.
Ash looked at Nurse Joy.
"What's the Dustox Crossing you were talking about?"He asked.
"Pika?"Pikachu said.
Brock went up to his friends.
"It certainly peaks my interest."He remarked.
"Wow, you were quick."Dawn admitted.
Denise and Eevee sweat dropped at the breeder.
"Every year, during this time, in a full moon, the Dustox create a golden archway over the lake."Nurse Joy explained.
"Wow, a golden archway sounds so romantic."Dawn remarked.
"Sounds like a moment of love."Denise chuckled.
Eevee nodded with a smile. "Eevee."
"Okay, but why do they do that?"Ash asked.
"After the Dustox fall in love, they fly to the flower fields of Mt Coronet and start families."Nurse Joy explained. "But it's the bright reflection of the full moon on the lake that attracts them there, I hope the weather clears..."
Brock went next to Nurse Joy to try and flirt with Nurse Joy again but Croagunk stopped him from doing so.
Then Austin rushed into the pokemon center.
"Nurse Joy!"He called out.
"Austin, what is it?"Nurse Joy asked.
"Some of the trees on the lake have been struck by lightning and the water is overflowing."Austin replied.
The group gasped in shock.
"Oh no!"Dawn responded.
The heroes rushed to the lakeside and saw the edge of the lake has been destroyed and the water was flooding out.
"Check out the lake."Ash stated.
"Pika..."Pikachu responded.
"It was so calm and pretty."Dawn said sadly.
"Now its all ruined."Denise commented with a small frown.
Piplup and Eevee looked at the view in sadness.
"Look there!"Brock said and pointed at a huge gap on the lake walls. "That's where all the water is flowing."
Austin sighed sadly. "And here, I wanted my Dustox to be in the crossing this year..."
"I'm sorry Austin."Nurse Joy apologised. "Things aren't looking too good."
"Yeah."Austin agreed and looked down.
Ash began to run forward.
"Where are you going?"Dawn asked.
"I'm going to go have a look!"Ash replied. "Maybe there's something we can do!"
"Ash wait!"Denise protested and began to run after the pallet town trainer.
Eevee followed after her trainer.
Then Dawn, Brock, Austin and Nurse Joy began to follow after their companions.
When they reached the water's edge they see Team Rocket piling rocks up to try to create a dam.
"Team Rocket?"Ash said in surprise.
"What are you doing here?"Dawn asked.
Team Rocket began to do their motto while piling rocks on the water's edge.
"Listen is that the sound of twerp that I hear?"
"Hard to tell with a rock in my ear!"
"Trust me!"
"It's them!"
"It would appear..."
"Cut it!"Jessie snapped and looked at the heroes."Our motto will just have to wait! Instead of letting moss grow on those backs of yours, how about lending us a hand stop this horrendous lake leak!?"
The four heroes looked at each other with unsure looks.
"We've got to!"Austin stated. "She gets it! If all the water floods out of the lake, the Dustox can't make their crossing! You want the Dustoxs to find their true love, don't you?"
He looked at Jessie.
"How about you?"Austin asked.
"Of course I do!"Jessie answered angrily. "Now are you in or out?"
"I think if we all work together, we might be able to stop the flooding."Nurse Joy suggested.
"Let's do it."Ash said.
"For all the Dustoxs."Dawn commented.
Austin, Brock, Denise, Pikachu, Piplup and Eevee nodded in agreement.
"Chimchar, Turtwig and Buizel, come on out!" Ash stated
Chimchar, Turtwig and Buizel came out of their pokeballs.
"Chimchar!"
"Turtwig!"
"Bui!"
"Grotle, Luxio, Kirlia, come out and help too!"Denise ordered.
Her pokeballs opened causing Grotle, Luxio and Kirlia to appear.
"Grotle!"
"Luxio!"
"Kirlia!"
"We need everyone's help!"Brock said.
Sudowoodo, Croagunk and Happiny came out of their pokeballs.
"This means the whole gang pitches in on this job!"Dawn admitted.
Ambipom, Pachirisu and Buneary appeared to help their friends.
"Of course, this means you!"Jessie stated.
Seviper and Wobbuffet appeared in the scene.
"Good!"James said. "Let us not forget Mime Jr and Carnivine!"
Carnivine came out with Mime Jr, but went to bite James head.
"There are not any rocks in my head!"James complained. "I'm referring to the rocks in the lake!"
Everyone began working together to dam the flow with Happiny carrying rocks much larger than itself while Kirlia used her psychic abilities to help her out.
"Next we need to spray some water on it and then freeze it, using Ice Beam."Nurse Joy explained.
"Buizel use Water Gun!"Ash ordered.
"You use Water Gun too, Eevee!"Denise ordered.
Buizel and Eevee fired Water Gun at the rocks.
"Piplup use Whirlpool, let's go!"Dawn ordered.
Piplup uses Whirlpool, hitting the water guns and soaking the rocks.
"Perfect!"Brock said with a smile. "They exaggerated the rocks!"
"Buneary use Ice Beam!"Dawn ordered.
Buneary uses Ice Beam to freeze the dam, finally stopping the flow.
"Awesome, the leak is plugged!"Austin remarked.
"We did it!"the heroes and Team Rocket cheered. "We did it!"
"The problem is the lake water won't refill quickly enough."Nurse Joy stated.
"Right."Brock agreed. "We're gonna need a lot more water to return this lake to normal."
"There is plenty of water up there."Nurse Joy said gesturing to the frozen snow. "One of the reasons that the Dustox Crossing happens in this time of year, is because the lake is at its most beautiful, filled with water from the melting snow."
"Of course!"Ash admitted. "The snow!"
"Piplup use Whirlpool!"Dawn ordered.
"Buizel use Water Gun!"Ash ordered.
"Eevee use Water Gun as well!"Denise ordered.
Piplup, Buizel and Eevee fired their water attacks at the snow making it wet.
"Chimchar use Flamethrower to melt the snow!"Ash ordered.
Chimchar uses Flamethrower to melt the snow.
"Great work you guys!"Ash chuckled.
"Impressive as always."Denise agreed.
The lake was now filled with more water.
"For twerps, they're working hard!"Meowth remarked.
"Still I don't think that this will be enough water."Nurse Joy answered.
The two Dustoxs called out causing Team Rocket, Austin and Nurse Joy turn around seeing more water at the other side.
"Whoa look down there!"Austin said.
"The water that was overflowed by the lake is all down there."James commented.
"Then we need to get it all up here!"Meowth added.
"Hey, my Dustox can lift it up in the air with Confusion!"Austin admitted.
"And my Dustox can carry it all to the lake, using Whirlwind!"Jessie suggested.
"It sounds great in theory."James stated.
"So let's make it real!"Jessie said with a glare.
"Jessie's right."Austin agreed.
Austin and Jessie looked at their Dustoxs.
"Dustox, go for it!"Jessie encouraged.
"You too, Dustox!"Austin added.
The two Dustoxs prepared to do their work.
"Dustox use Confusion!"Austin ordered.
The shiny Dustox used Confusion to lift the water in the air.
"Dustox use Whirlwind!"Jessie ordered.
Dustox uses her wings to blow some wind.
The wind blew the controlled water into the lake.
"It's working!"Jessie remarked.
"You can do it!"Austin stated.
Later that Evening...
When the lake was finished, it began to glow orange.
The heroes and Team Rocket smiled at the view that they were seeing.
"We did it, the lake is like what it was."Austin said with a smile.
"Yeah."Jessie agreed and looked at her Dustox. "Dustox, you two were amazing."
"You can say that again."Austin commented.
Eevee, Piplup and Pikachu smiled at each other.
Afterwards...
When the sun settled down and night time rose, the two Dustoxs began to fly across the lake.
"Wow, the moon and lake are beautiful."Dawn admitted.
Piplup nodded. "Piplup."
"The conditions are just perfect."Austin commented.
"It looks like we'll be seeing another Dustox Crossing this year as well."Nurse Joy said.
Then Dustox flies back to Jessie.
"Dustox?"Jessie asked in confusion.
Dustox landed on Jessie's shoulder.
"Its time to say goodbye."Jessie reminded.
Dustox refused to leave but Jessie dropped her pokeball on the ground and then stepped on it, crushing it fully releasing Dustox.
"Jessie?!"James and Meowth said in shock.
"Don't worry about me!"Jessie cried angrily. "Just go now!"
Dustox looked at her former trainer sadly and flew to the shiny Dustox.
"Dustox, my dear...go fall in love!"Jessie admitted with a smile. "Do it with all your heart! Do it for both of us!"
"Bye, Dustox!"James said.
"You be happy!"Meowth remarked.
The Dustoxs form the golden arch and start to fly away.
Eevee gasped happily as her eyes twinkled at the sight.
"The golden archway...it's so beautiful."Dawn stated in amazement.
"Right over the mountain."Ash added.
"For their new life."Denise said softly.
"And the archway leads all the way to the Dustox flower field."Austin commented.
"Where they'll live and be happy."Nurse Joy admitted.
"Your right, I know your right."Dawn answered.
"Piplup!"Piplup agreed.
"Goodbye, friend."Austin responded quietly.
"I love you, goodbye."Jessie whispered.
The heroes and Team Rocket watched as all the Dustoxs flew away while forming the golden arch in the night sky.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter
Denise's Team:
Grotle (Male): Solar Beam, Heavy Slam, Razor Leaf and Bite
Eevee (Female): Water Gun, Shadow Ball, Attract and Thunder
Luxio (Male): Spark, Night Slash, Wild Charge and Ice Fang
Kirlia (Female): Psychic, Double Team, Magical Leaf and Confusion
Hoothoot (Male): Silver Wind, Reflect, Aerial Ace and Supersonic
Drifloon (Female): Ominous Wind, Thunderbolt, Will-O-Wisp and Astonish