Chapter 2
"Are you sure that signpost was right?" Pikachu asked as they carried on the road to Cherrygrove City. "We can usually do 10km in a day and yet we don't seem to be anywhere near the place."
"I mean, we can only go off what it said on the sign can't we?" Ash asked looking around him "but you're not wrong. Do you think the path split off and we didn't realise it?"
"That's a possibility" Pi replied, "we were having a rather heavy conversation."
"I'm still right you know," Ash said as he looked around him absentmindedly before pulling out his Pokégear "you do not use ketchup in a Spaghetti Bolognese!"
"Yes, you do!" Pikachu said outraged by Ash's statement "ketchup goes with everything."
"You use passata and tinned plum tomatoes, and sometimes tomato puree but ketchup does not belong in a Bolognese!" Ash said looking at his map and shaking his head "we're miles out. Cherrygrove City is 50km from New Bark Town, someone has been messing with that sign. Not only that but how the hell did we come this way? It's not even on the bloody map but there's clearly a dirt road leading somewhere. I don't think we have much of a choice but to either go back or carry onwards and see where it leads us."
"We're already a month behind schedule" Pikachu said, "can we not just fly there?"
"I mean, we could but we've been flying a lot lately" Ash said as he placed his Pokégear back into his bag and carrying on down the dirt path "I agree that we're behind schedule though, but I also don't want to rush through Johto, after all we all voted to take our time."
"Yeah true" Pikachu said, "I wonder where this way leads given it's clearly a path and it must lead somewhere, right?"
"Only one way to find out" Ash said as they carried on in amiable silence. As they walked forwards, they path led them under the canopy of trees making the place much cooler, strangely though there was very little noise. "You'd think we'd have seen some Pokémon by now, but we've seen nothing for miles now."
Before Pikachu could respond though Ash stopped and raised his hand indicating silence. Quietly he and Pikachu crept forwards and the path opened up to a huge lagoon, with only bits of sunlight being allowed through onto the water. And while that was beautiful it was nothing on the creature that was asleep on a rock. It was icy blue, with silver white ribbons lying flat on its back and a dark blue mane. As it slept Ash had a good look at it and saw it was a lot smaller than the counterpart he had seen in the Orange Islands, at around three feet high and 6 feet in length. As if by thought alone another huge spike of aura came from the west and Ash had to hold in his exclamation as a much bigger Pokémon came bounding across the lake and landed gracefully next to the smaller one. This one was around 6 feet tall and about eight feet long, a pale blue with a purple mane and white ribbons coming from its side flowing in a non-existent wind.
Looking around furtively the Pokémon spotted Ash and Pikachu standing still before nudging the smaller one awake. Yawning it awoke and looked around before it too spotted, they had an audience, yelped and fell off the side of the rock into the water creating a huge splash. Ash couldn't help himself and burst into laughter before slowly walking forwards and stopping twenty feet away. Before he could say anything though his aura told him to prepare himself and he conjured a blue dome around himself before seconds later a geyser of water splashed harmlessly against it. It was shock more than anything that stopped the attack, just who was this man who could stop her attack like that?
"Yeah, you might not want to do that sweetheart" Suicune said to her daughter "I don't think mother will be too happy at you attacking her Chosen One."
"He's the Chosen One?" she yelped jumping back onto the rock to get a better look at Ash "Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure" Suicune replied with humour.
"He's your owner?" her daughter asked.
"No" Ash said interrupting them and walking on the water to them, something he'd long since mastered "I'm her protector, but I do not own her, nor will I ever own her. Is she your daughter?" he asked the older Suicune gaining a nod in reply. "Your mother was being hunted the first time we spoke and asked me to do something to help her, something I was more than happy to do, which was to capture her so no one else can. I do not carry your mother's Pokéball with me, it's safe in a secure place but should she want me to I will happily release her. You know, you're the second baby Legendary I've met, and both of you have been shiny Pokémon. What are the odds of that?"
"Who was the other?" the baby asked, "and what's a shiny Pokémon?"
"You are one" Ash said as he turned around and released his Gyarados onto the lagoon, something which earned a frightened squeal from the baby who quickly hid behind her mother. Gyarados looked around confused before spotting the two Legendaries looking back "Gyarados won't hurt you" Ash said as he beckoned her forward, lowering her massive head to be petted on her crown "but like you she is a shiny Pokémon, her species is usually blue but as you can see, she is a very beautiful red. You are normally the same colour as your mother but you're not. Now there is nothing wrong with being a different colour than normal, it doesn't make you any stronger or even any better than any other Pokémon, all it means is you're a rare colour. Now top that off with you being a Legendary Pokémon it means you're twice as rare."
"Which is why we're training out of the way of humans" Suicune said nodding at Ash's explanation "how did you find us?"
"Actually, we got lost" Pikachu interrupted "we were having a debate, which Ash was losing and ended up taking the wrong path to Cherrygrove City."
"I was not losing it at all" Ash retorted looking at Pikachu "You have no idea how to cook so what would you know about making Spaghetti Bolognese?"
"I know enough to know you put tomato ketchup in it." Pikachu replied.
"No, you do not" Ash said shaking his head "you would put it in because you're addicted to the stuff but the rest of know better. Anyway, as Pikachu said we took the wrong path, found out far too long after taking said wrong path and just wondered where we'd end up. I must say this place is beautiful, is this your home?"
"Outside of Burned Tower, yes" Suicune replied "it's the safest place for me to train my daughter of her role in this world."
"Out of curiosity why do you have a daughter?" Ash asked, "I mean, I know other Legendaries have them, but I've never heard of the three Johto Beasts having them."
"We were all gifted them around eighteen months ago now" Suicune said not seeing any reason not to "I was concerned for my freedom at the time and informed mother Arceus, and she agreed to create another set of Beasts should any of us be captured so they could continue our work. We saw you not long afterwards and your help has been very valuable as Eusine has become very frustrated at every ball he throws when he thinks I'm unaware of him bouncing off me."
"That prick is still at it?" Ash asked angrily "just wait until I see him."
"Yes" Suicune replied distastefully "however while I'm grateful that I'm unable to be captured having a child has raised another problem."
"Let me guess" Ash said, "if he realises why he cannot capture you, and somehow finds out about your daughter she'll become the new target?"
"Yes" Suicune said nodding her magnificent head "which is why we've been hiding here for the last few months."
Sighing Ash shook his head thinking over what he could do and only really coming to one conclusion "do you want me to give her the same deal I have with you?"
"As in catch her and let her roam free?" Suicune asked looking up sharply.
"Yes" Ash replied "I'll say this, you haven't and probably won't be the only Legendary I will ever catch, but I will never catch one without their permission and I will never use a Legendary in battle without their full cooperation. And should I catch one they will be let out to continue their role in this world, you're much too important to be caged in a Pokéball."
"You would really not use me?" the baby asked confused "I thought everyone hunted for powerful Pokémon."
"I already have powerful Pokémon" Ash said looking at her "my Gyarados could give your mother a run for her money in an all-out battle, my Pikachu could match Lord Raikou and my Charizard could match Lord Entei and that isn't a brag either. There is a reason I'm the youngest ever Pokémon League Champion and it's very much down to the effort they have put in over the last few years by being committed to being the best and improving every single day. So, no little one, I wouldn't use you. Using a Legendary Pokémon in battle only proves to me how weak you actually are by relying on the natural power a Legendary has rather than training to improve yourself and become a better trainer. So, no little one, I would not use you."
"Then yes please," Suicune said looking at her daughter "I would like the same protection given to her."
"Ok" Ash said recalling Gyarados and pulling out a blue ball from his backpack "I recently bought a few of these for water types. They're called a Net Ball and they're supposed to be very comfy for water types. Now little one, your instincts will tell you to escape when this hits you, but you must stop yourself from fighting too much or it won't work. I give you my word I will let you out as soon as you're caught, Ok?"
Nodding warily, she stepped in front of her mother and readied herself. Ash gently touched the ball to Suicune and dropped it as it a red light hit Suicune, and her aura was sucked into the Pokéball. Ash stepped back as it began to rock quite violently, for a good thirty seconds they watched on as the struggle continued until finally it stopped. Releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding in he picked up the ball and scanned it with his Pokédex.
"Suicune, Pokédex Number 245, The Legendary Aurora Pokémon. Suicune embodies the compassion of a pure spring of water. It runs across the land with gliding elegance. It has the power to purify dirty water. This Pokémon is female and has a Rash nature, and its unusual colouring suggests it has the shiny gene. It knows the moves Water Gun, Growl, Leer, Mist, Roar, Ice Beam and Extremespeed."
"That's actually quite good for one so young" Ash said as he pressed the button and the baby appeared, swaying as she did so. Shaking her head she re-orientated herself and looked around, spotted her mother and trotted over to her, nuzzling her as she did so.
"That was horrible" she said in a quiet voice.
"See" Pikachu said, "I keep telling people how horrible Pokéballs are but no one listens."
"Who have you told?" Ash asked looking at him "What people?"
"Well, there's you" Pikachu said, "and I know I've told your mum at some point."
"So just two people then" Ash said deadpanned.
"It's still more than one person" Pikachu said belligerently "which makes it people."
Ignoring Pikachu Ash placed Suicunes ball in his backpack before looking at the older Suicune and said "I'll keep her Pokéball on me until I can send it to join yours. I'll be travelling around Johto for the next year, and I'll be at Ecruteak in around three or four months so I may end up seeing you both again."
"Thank you Chosen One" Suicune said bowing her head "you've done me a great service this day, should you ever need my aid just ask and I will do what I can. We will be here for a few more moons yet but we will likely see you both at our birthplace when you pass through. Keep an eye out for my brothers, they may want to challenge you at some point."
"Noted" Ash said shouldering his pack "well, we need to be going, we have a schedule to keep and due to unforeseen circumstances, we are already five weeks behind." Releasing Charizard the lizard looked around stretching and yawning before realising they weren't alone. "we're not battling them" Ash said giving him a look, making him mutter under his breath "however Suicune has just said that Lord Entei has been looking to test you at some point, so you'll have to wait for then."
Nodding he lowered himself as Ash climbed on and Charizard took off, waving goodbye he instructed Charizard where to go "the path we're looking for is over in that direction, we're going back to where we split off from the main path, it shouldn't take long." Half an hour later Ash landed back at the signpost and got a marker out of his backpack, changing the 10km to 50km before heading back down the path again. Luckily this time he saw where they had separated from the main path and walked on. An hour later he looked up and saw the sun was starting to go down so he made camp for the night just off the side of the road, letting everyone know what had transpired and where they were headed.
"Cherrygrove City is just over that mountain ridge over there" Ash said pointing off into the distance "so we should be there in a few weeks, luckily it's the only mountain we have to go over for a while so the rest of the journey should be pretty easy."
"Why can't we just fly there?" Pikachu whinged "our feet hurt."
"How can they hurt?" Ash asked incredulously "you've not walked a single step of this journey so far."
"Yeah, but yours have and I feel like I need to speak up for them" Pikachu replied.
"You've been spending far too much time with Sneasel" Ash said pointing to the weasel who just looked up from his food confused "don't look at me like that, he wasn't like this until after we met you and now look at him."
"There's nothing wrong with him" Sneasel replied "he's learned well."
Ignoring him Ash stood up and washed their bowls in the nearby stream and got ready for bed. The next day they continued on, walking through the forest that their path was on, chatting aimlessly until suddenly Ash cut off what he was saying mid-sentence "what the hell happened here?" They had walked into a clearing and as far as the eye could see the trees were bare, not a single leaf could be seen on them, and several looked dead. Rushing over to them he ran his hands over the worst looking ones and breathed a sigh of relief "they're still alive Pi, but what the hell has happened here?"
"The Heracross happened" a voice said jumping down from a tree just off the path. A man dressed in a khaki outfit walked forwards. He was fairly tall with dark black hair, athletically built, brown eyes and very tanned. He walked over to a backpack with a huge axe hung through the middle and shouldered it before walking over to an alert ash. "Names Woodruff" the man said in a deep voice holding out his hand.
"Ash" Ash replied taking it and shaking it. His hands felt very rough, something he expected with a guy that clearly worked around trees "you mentioned Heracross?"
"Yes" Woodruff said looking around and shaking his head "they've stripped everything bare here for some reason, usually they're happy just to collect the nectar and sap from the trees for their home but over the last six weeks they've been swarming here taking the sap without care and storing it somewhere. I've had to break up so many fights between Heracross and the other inhabitants, most of which have moved on due to the dried up food source. Luckily my Butterfree and Venomoth are strong and quick and have been able to manage them but I don't know how long they'll be able to carry on living here."
"Why has their eating pattern changed so drastically?" Ash asked concerned as he pulled out his Pokégear and pressed a few buttons.
"Something has happened that I don't have information on just yet" Woodruff said looking irritated "I've tried to follow them back to their home but as soon as I get within forty feet we get attacked and I just can't risk my Pokémon's health."
"Hmm" Ash said as he looked around curiously "I might be able to help out with that." Twenty seconds later two Pokéballs appeared on his belt, and he called them out and released them. "Hello, you two, sadly this isn't a social call. As you can see the local Pokémon have stripped this clearing bare, we need your help."
As Bulbasaur and Venusaur took in their surroundings they gasped and moved over to the trees without waiting.
"Ash, what happened here?" Venusaur asked as his body glowed green, something that was mirrored by Bulbasaur. After a certain point the build-up halted and a wave of green was sent in every direction, going straight through Ash and Woodruff and hit every tree in the area, going through most of them, and within minutes small buds could be seen on the majority of the trees, some of which opened. Ash only found out a few months ago that what they were doing when working on his home was a variant of Grassy Terrain.
Explaining what happened Venusaur hummed but didn't say anything as they worked their magic on the trees. After twenty minutes both plant Pokémon stopped and opened their eyes, looking around to make sure they had done what they planned. Turning to Ash Venusaur walked over and said "No, something deeper has happened here. Pokémon have a deep connection with the areas they live in, and if they've suddenly decided to hoard their food it's because something has threatened that food source."
"Yes" Ash said translating for Woodruff "we knew that but as soon as Woodruff gets anywhere near them, he gets attacked, and so far he hasn't been able to find out what it is that's made the Heracross agitated."
"Well that's our first place to visit" Venusaur stated "we need to have a chat with the Heracross before they strip this bare again."
"I can take you all to them" Woodruff stated nodding. Ash recalled Bulbasaur and Venusaur, thanking them in the process before following down a dirt path. The journey only took around twenty minutes but Ash knew when they drew near as his aura warned him they were being watched as they passed through the forest.
"Be aware Pi" Ash muttered "we're being surrounded and I have no doubt the Heracross know we're here."
After a few minutes the forest ended and a huge tree came into view, it must have been easily 100 feet high, dripping with honey and sap and on seemingly every branch was a massive blue bug along with several other Pokémon that Ash hadn't seen before.
"Heracross, Pokédex Number 214, the Single Horn Pokémon. They gather in forests seeking the sweet sap of trees. It is completely clad in a steel-hard shell. It is proud of its horn, which it uses to fling foes.
Pineco, Pokédex Number 204, The Bagworm Pokémon. Pineco hangs from a tree branch and patiently waits for prey to come along. If the Pokémon is disturbed while eating by someone shaking its tree, it drops down to the ground and explodes with no warning.
Forretress. Pokédex Number 205, The Bagworm Pokémon and the evolved form of Pineco. Its entire body is shielded by a steel-hard shell. What lurks inside the armour is a total mystery. It remains immovably rooted to its tree. It scatters pieces of its hard shell to drive its enemies away."
"Wow" Ash said to Woodruff looking around "I can see why your two Pokémon would struggle."
"Yup" he said nodding looking concerned at the position they were in. He watched as Ash released the two plants and a huge hulking fighting type which took in their surroundings "they're over there Venusaur, but be aware, those buggers hanging off the branches will explode at the slightest thing, Machamp your role is to keep an eye out behind us to stop us being ambushed and keeping a path clear for escape should we need it."
Woodruff mirrored him and released his two bug Pokémon, informing them that this time they had help if it came to a confrontation.
"Get ready with Sleep Powders and Stun Spores" Ash muttered to Wooduff, "don't worry about myself or my Pokémon, we have a shit load of Cheri Berries and healing items and every one of us has trained to overcome sleep and paralysis. If I get hit, look in my bag for a tub labelled Lum Pokéblock and crumble it up and put it directly in my mouth, it will take effect after five minutes so don't worry if nothing happens immediately." Earning a nod Ash walked forwards behind his Venusaur who walked forwards flanked by Bulbasaur.
As soon as they began to walk forwards, they could see movement from around them but stayed focused, when they got within twenty feet of the tree several Pokémon dropped down from the tree landing heavily on the ground. Ash counted around 20 Heracross that hit the ground with the biggest one in the middle. They didn't even ask Ash to stop where he was before they flew forwards with their horns either glowing white or green. Immediately Venusaur and Bulbasaur shook their bulbs and scattered powder into the air, Ash seeing this conjured a blue film over his body protecting him from the worst and charged forwards to combat the attacking Pokémon. The next few minutes were a haze of attacks, blocks and dodges as Ash and his Pokémon battled the Heracross. The Heracross deemed Ash and Venusaur as the main targets and mainly attacked them, Bulbasuar seeing Venusaur being literally swarmed over liberally directed her Frenzy Plant vines trying to swat the offending Pokémon but found that her attacks were fairly ineffective against the hardened shells of the Heracross and became frustrated. After seeing Venusaur take a Megahorn to the face from several Heracross at once she made a decision and stopped attacking.
Ash was dealing with the leader and what must have been his second in command when a glowing light brought their attention from off to the left and could only stand in awe as eight Heracross went flying off Venusaur and smashed into the surrounding trees as they were hit with a huge Solarbeam. Ash quickly took advantage of the lull in attacks and smashed a glowing fist into the leader sending him sprawling before quickly conjuring another aura shield as he felt yellow powder come from behind his head and over the top of him hitting the two Pokémon causing them to wince as they became paralysed.
"Stand down" a livid voice shouted causing Ash to look over as out of the glowing light a larger than usual Ivysaur walked forwards with her plant glowing again as she was charging another Solarbeam. "I will not ask again before I get truly angry."
Amazingly the rest stopped what they were doing as they looked around and saw at least fourteen of their number were either out for the count or trying to move through paralysis.
"Now" Ivysaur said still sounding angry "can we talk civilly, or should I attack again?"
"We can talk" came an angry voice from in front of Ash. Struggling to stand but doing so the lead Heracross tried to walk forward before wincing and going down to one knee "we yield."
"Good" she said before closing her eyes and releasing the beam into the air and sighing. Walking over to the Heracross she let out a vine and laid it on the Heracross and started glowing green again, this time using Synthesis healing not only herself but the Heracross too. "Now, explain yourself."
"What do you want to know?" he asked looking around concerned at the state of his army and family.
"Why are you attacking us? Why did you strip the grove dry of all the food and prevent other Pokémon from being able to feed?" Ash asked standing by Ivysaur's side.
"It's the Pinsir" Heracross said looking at Ash who translated for Woodruff "they've been coming over to our side of the river and stealing our food, so we've had to take measures to ensure we don't starve."
"And in doing so you've driven off every other Pokémon in the area" Ash said shaking his head.
"I don't care about them" Heracross said defiantly "my job is to ensure the survival of my swarm and I have done just that. We're not putting any of it back, and the Pokémon we want around us are around us."
"Why haven't you done something about the Pinsir then?" Ivysaur asked.
"We drove them off" another Heracross said from behind the leader "that's all we needed to do. We're not going to waste energy going over to their side of the river, leaving our side unprotected for every Pokémon in the area to ravage our food supply."
"I can understand that" Ivysaur said nodding "but it still leaves us with the problem of the area being damaged by you guys. We've managed to stop the rot on the trees, as you guys destroyed that clearing with what you did but that is only a temporary fix as we're not going to be around longer than we need to."
"Maybe we should have a look at what's causing the reason for the Pinsir straying from their territory" Venusaur said walking forwards "after all that's what seemingly started the issue."
"I think your Venusaur is correct" Woodruff said, "we need to find that swarm and see what's going on."
"We'll be back when we find out" Ash said to Heracross "hopefully it won't take long."
"My two sons will go with you" Heracross replied nodding to the one that talked and another who was standing against the tree.
"Very well" Ash said "but be warned, if they attack us we will not hesitate to put them in their place, I'm already behind schedule and this is putting me further behind."
Recalling Venusaur and Ivysaur he walked back to the path followed by the two Heracross, his Machamp and Woodruff.
"You know the area better than I do, what's the deal with the Pinsir?" Ash asked.
"Well across the canyon, that's about a ten-minute walk down this path is the territory of a Pinsir and his Swarm" Woodruff supplied "he's been the leader for about twenty years now and has the scars to prove it but he's always been reasonable when I come into his territory and lets me get on with my job. He's never done this before, and he's never let his swarm get out of hand either. The fact he's invading Heracross' territory for food is very concerning."
"When did you last see it?" Ash asked.
"Oh, it's been over a year now" Woodruff said, "my job requires me to travel over half of the eastern side of Johto, so I've not been around here for a while."
As they were talking a canyon came into view that had a very rickety bridge, with many bits missing, going across it. Recalling his Pokémon Ash carefully picked his way over and thankfully managed to reach the other side.
"The bridge wasn't like that last time either" Woodruff said looking concerned and taking out his Pokégear and ringing a number. Walking off to the side he spoke urgently for a good few minutes before hanging up and walking back over. "There's a team coming out to fix the bridge as soon as they can, this bridge is the only one for several miles so it's very important it be reconstructed. I wonder what happened to it."
"We happened to it" the bigger Heracross said "we did this to prevent the Pinsir getting across as it's the main access to our home."
"That makes sense" Ash said as they continued on "not great for trainers though, is it?"
"They aren't our concern" The Heracross replied sounding slightly wary as he kept up conversation with his brother. The further along the path they went the more wary his voice became and the more halted his mutterings became.
Ash put up his hand suddenly halting them all as he scanned the area around him. "we're being surrounded" he whispered calling out Sneasel and Machamp "keep an eye out, in the trees." Walking onwards he came out of the forested area and gasped in shock as before him the forest just stopped altogether. In front of him for at least three hundred meters were trees flattened, uprooted, chopped down to stumps and some even burned to husks.
"What the bloody hell happened here?" Woodruff said managing to find his voice as he laid a hand on one of the trees "who dared do this?" he asked looking around as if looking for inspiration. Almost as if called by name, just off to the right around thirty Pokémon came stalking forwards looking murderous.
"You humans!" the one at the centre of the swarm said halting from Ash around twenty meters away "not content with destroying our forest, you come back with two of our enemy amongst your number as bold as you like!" as she spoke her voice became louder and louder until she finished with a roar and as one the Pokémon charged forwards. Ash quickly released Venusaur and Ivysaur again as they fought a pitched battle, trying to calm the opposition down. Ash lost count the number of times he had to dodge out of the way of the Pinsirs as they liberally used Vicegrip and Guillotine, something Ivysaur had fallen victim to. Ash had just dealt with one Pinsir when he looked around and saw the younger Heracross surrounded by three Pinsir who had him in their Vicegrips and were trying to pull him limb from limb, quite literally it seemed. Jumping forwards Ash smashed an aura infused fist into the one with Heracross' wing in its grip and sent it flying before jumping on top of one who had its leg in its pincers and pummelling it to the ground. Thankfully Ash created enough of a diversion that Heracross was released and managed to land a well placed Megahorn to the chest of the Pinsir sending it the way of its brethren.
Ash looked around at the carnage and felt his blood boil at the sight of so many Pokémon knocked out, bleeding or with broken limbs. Gathering his aura into his fist he let it build before slamming it into the ground sending a huge shockwave through the area, sending everyone sprawling. Stalking forwards to the main area of the battle Ash shouted "Enough! This has gone on long enough. We were not here to fight you, but we will finish it should we need to."
Evidently the leader of the Pinsir had come to the same conclusion after seeing what happened to half of her swarm and walked forwards, still with a visible tic on her head.
"You have some audacity human to come back here after what your kind caused" she said to Ash.
"I have nothing to do with this" Ash said pointing his hands to the deforested area "and if I was around when this happened, I'd have been furious. I am furious, in fact I'm bloody livid but that does not mean you can attack any human you see pass by."
"You have no right to comment on anything here human" she replied angrily. "Just look around at what your kind have done. They didn't care what damage they did as they ploughed through our home, taking everything they could and laughing in our faces at how little we could do to prevent it. We lost count of the number of machines that took our home for their own gain, we even lost our leader who was killed trying to rescue some of our own from being captured."
"What did they look like?" Ash asked concerned.
"It doesn't matter what they looked like" she replied, "all I know is that they talked about a resurgence and that some of our numbers could help bolster their team."
"Team Rocket?" Ash asked, "was it Team Rocket, did they wear black with a big red-letter R on their tops."
"They did" another voice said as another Pinsir limped forwards, this one was clearly a lot older than the others due to how many scars he had on his body "That name seems very familiar, but as our new leader says, it matters little."
"It matters to me" Ash said turning to Woodruff and translating for him. When Ash mentioned the death of the old leader Woodruff took a seat on a stump and bowed his head.
"I knew that Pinsir from a baby" he muttered looking up at Ash, oblivious to the rest of the Pokémon listening in "he was always headstrong, but he was confident without being cocky. He was an incredible leader and although I couldn't understand him, whenever we talked he seemed genuinely interested in what I was doing when I checked on the health of the forest. I will mourn him."
"As will our leader" the elder Heracross said coming forwards "we are sorry for your loss. I can see now why you came across to our side of the forest. I will let my father know what has happened and why you invaded our territory. Hopefully we can come to some sort of agreement and end this feud."
"I will do what I can" Ash said as he took his Pokégear out and snapped a few pictures off "my mentor is part of an organisation that deals with replenishing deforested areas due to human interference. Hopefully soon we can fix the damage done here."
"I will talk to my organisation" Woodruff said looking around "if we can clear this area of the damage, we can hopefully restart the forest for the next generation to enjoy."
"Very well" Pinsir said "it doesn't change the fact we're without food for as long as this area is destroyed though."
"Oh, we can try and sort that out" Woodruff said as he looked around "as long as you cooperate with us and not attack us or drift into the Heracross' territory then we'll help as much as possible."
"And no destroying the bridge again, the League don't look too kindly on Pokémon randomly attacking trainers without cause, they're not the ones that did this, that would be Team Rocket who we'll handle" Ash said gaining reluctant nods from the Pinsir and the Heracross "come on, we'll leave you in the hands of Woodruff while we take you two back" he said to the Heracross "we'll probably only be an hour or so Woodruff, we have to pass through here anyway on the way to Cherrygrove City."
The trek back was done in silence for Pikachu and Ash who were going over what had just happened in their heads. The two Heracross had flown forwards eager to get back and were seemingly arguing about something, but Ash ignored it, it wasn't his business what brothers argue about. Getting back to the Heracross tree Ash informed the leader what had happened and what the resolution was going to be for both sides which satisfied the leader.
"We will mourn their leader's death, he was a friend" Heracross said "and we will do as asked, for now. But we won't hold back should they renege on their end of the deal, and we will not answer to humans given their role in this."
"All we ask is that you work alongside the ones that come to help the area" Ash said nodding "anyway we must be off now, we have a schedule to keep."
"Before you go, we owe you our thanks and a debt we can never repay" Heracross said sounding serious "my sons told me you saved my youngests life, from being torn apart by the Pinsir. My son would like to travel with you as thanks."
"He doesn't need to" Ash said before being cut off.
"He has been asking to travel for a while" Heracross said "and this is the perfect opportunity for him. Please, consider it."
"Hang on" Ash said walking over to the Pokémon in question "before you decide I want to make a few things clear. We are a family, we do not go rogue and sort issues out alone, we talk about our issues together as one. We will be putting ourselves into situations that we have no right being in and it will involve some of us being seriously injured or possibly dying. There are things that I cannot tell you about until you become my Pokémon that is crucial to the continuation of the world, so I think you should seriously consider what you want to do. I will say though that my home is an incredible place, surrounded by forests and Pokémon who live there untouched by any trainer, that are studied by people for the continuation of endangered species of plants and Pokémon. I think you'd love it there."
"A forest you say?" the leader asked coming over "and we could live freely?"
"No" Ash said immediately "the forest is nowhere near big enough to accommodate all of you and I will not relocate any Pokémon that will take over half of my forest. For starters you will irritate the Royal Pidgeot clan that enforce the privacy of my home, not only that but we have hundreds of forest dwellers who will not take kindly to their homes being invaded and taken from them. I can maybe accommodate a couple of you but that's pretty much it."
"We are happy here" Heracross said after a few moments "thank you for being up front with us."
"I would still like to come along with you" the younger Heracross said "I saw how you fought; I want to join you."
"Ok" Ash said taking out a Pokéball and placing it on the ground "it's your decision."
Walking forwards Heracross touched his horn to the ball and was sucked inside where it rocked briefly before stopping. Ash picked it up and smiled, he couldn't wait to start training in the morning. "He'll be well looked after; you have my word." Ash said to the leader who nodded and walked back to his tree.
The trip back to Woodruff didn't take too long and after giving him his personal email and number Ash said goodbye to him and the Pinsir who were starting to move the trees. "The Heracross will be here in the morning to give you guys a hand moving everything" Ash said "but only as long as the trees are here. Once you've sorted the good trees from the ones that are dead, they will not come back to this side of the canyon."
An hour later Ash set back off down the path, knackered from the day they had all had. "I told you we should have just flown to Cherrygrove City" Pikachu said breaking the silence causing Ash to chuckle. That evening he introduced everyone to Heracross and Ivysaur, who Ash thanked for her help before he sent them back home the next day. She didn't like being away from the grounds of Ash's home for very long and Ash was very conscious of how she'd spent thirty years of her life living in a sewer, so he didn't press her on it.
The next day they were wandering down the path and came across a signpost on a mountain pass that read "Cherrygrove City 35km."
"Do you think that one is accurate this time?" Pikachu asked rhetorically.
"Yeah, that one makes more sense" Ash said laughing. As he was about to carry on responding they had to dive out of the way as a rock came tumbling down the side of the ravine, carrying on as it smashed into some trees down below. "Well, that was a close one, what the hell caused that?"
Just as he was asking the strangest thing Ash had seen in a while happened, three Donphan came rolling past him being chased by a fourth that halted around a hundred yards from where they were sat and before Ash could ask what was going on the three began spinning in place and they smashed into the mountain, boring into it causing more rocks to rain down from the impact. The fourth Donphan however was rolling around smashing into the rocks that were raining down. It didn't manage to get them all, it got most of the large ones but Ash still had to scramble out of the way of the debris.
"Ok that's enough" came a voice from the path. A lady ran up to the four Donphan and stroked their heads, looked around and began scooping up a lot of the rocks. "you guys are amazing" she said, "just look at all the Amberite you've gathered, we'll easily be able to get that order sorted out for the weekend."
"Hey" Ash said getting up off the floor "what the hell is going on? You nearly killed me!"
"Oh" she said looking at Ash with concern "I'm so sorry about that. We didn't know there was anyone up here. My Donphan are finding Amberite for me, I make jewellery out of it, and I send it to various places, and they sell it on. We managed to find this spot yesterday, but it had a flash rainstorm last night, so we had to wait for it to dry out a bit." Opening up her bag she pulled out several items that were different colours, uncut gemstones and a few rocks, one of which Ash immediately recognised.
"It can't be" he said gently taking the rock from the lady's hand and holding it up, gently taking the dirt from it until it broke apart and inside was a marble, clear with a yellow flame like tendril with a red flash running through it. Activating his aura, it glowed briefly indicating to Ash that it was the real deal.
"Hey" she said, "you can't just take that, that's my marble."
"How much?" Ash said looking at her. "How much for this?"
"Why?" she asked, "is it valuable? I've seen a few of these but I've never actually been told what they are."
"Not really" Ash said "but it is rare, to a collector that is. What you have here is what's known as a Mega-stone. It's used by trainers to further evolve their Pokémon in battle, but it has a drawback, it's a temporary thing, it requires a complete bond with your Pokémon to activate and is useless without a Key-stone" pulling out his Pikachu keychain "it requires both of those and a bond to do so."
"Oh" she said handling the Pikachu chain before looking up at Ash and blushing when she realised how close she was to the tall handsome man "so how much are they actually worth?"
"Honestly?" Ash said "I only have a vague idea. I was given the two I have as a gift for helping a professor, so I never bought mine, but I've seen some these go for up to $40,000 Pokédollars each depending on which Pokémon they evolve. So, I'll offer you $30,000 for this one."
"$30,000?" she asked shocked by the number "I've never heard someone say that so casually."
"I have the money" Ash said shrugging his shoulders "I don't think I have the Pokémon just yet though."
"Feels like my light ball only slightly different" Pikachu said sniffing it.
"Well that narrows it down considerably" Ash said answering his partner "if it feels like your light ball then it stands to reason it goes with an electric Pokémon and there are very few that are known to evolve further than usual."
"Oh?" the lady asked, "which ones?"
"Off the top of my head?" Ash asked earning a nod "Ampharos or Manectric are the only two known so far, and given we're in Johto I'd say this is Ampharosite."
"That's good to know" she said frowning "so all these years I've been sending these off to various jewellers I've been ripped off? Well, that stops today, at least for these anyway."
"I'll tell you what" Ash said pulling out his card with his details on it "if you find anymore, email that address and I'll buy them from you full price."
"You're the Kanto Champion?" she exclaimed "I knew I'd seen you before somewhere. You have a deal Mr Ketchum. And as for this I'll take the offer."
"Good" Ash said taking out his Pokégear and transferring the funds over to her bank account "thank you, I'm sure I'll find someone who can put this to good use."
"You spent $30,000 on something you might not use?" she asked shocked.
"Yes" he said nodding "we don't currently have an Elite Four and our stores of Mega Stones isn't fantastic so anything I can do to help out my fellow trainers can only be a positive. Anyway, it was nice meeting you…I'm sorry, I never did get your name."
"Rochelle" she said smiling at him "and it was nice to meet you too." whistling for her Donphan she turned around and walked back down the path. Ash just held up the marble to the sky and looked through it with his aura and smiled, he had something to look forward to seeing in the future.
A few days later Ash found himself standing at the edge of yet another forest contemplating whether he should have flown to Cherrygrove City.
"Don't say a word Pi" Ash said noticing Pikachu was about to comment. Pikachu abruptly closed his mouth as he heard Ash sigh and take out his Pokégear "luckily this forest is only a few kilometres deep and on the other side is a small city that we can rest in."
"So, what's up with this forest?" Pikachu asked after half an hour of walking down the path "it seems to be endless."
"For some reason our minds are being messed with" Ash said "or at least something is attempting to mess with them . What you're seeing around us isn't actually the thick dark forest that it seems to be, there's an incredibly powerful illusion being used to make it seem so. We're actually nearly halfway through so try and remain calm."
Ash was liberally using aura to combat the illusions and strangely he received a ping back, just off to the left of the path, around 200m ahead of him. "Well, well, well" he muttered as he walked off the path and headed in the direction. Soon enough he came to a tent and a small campfire, with two occupants chatting away around the fire.
"Fancy seeing you here" the man said standing up and shaking the offered hand.
"I was literally about to say the same thing Gary" Ash said laughing "hello to you too Umbreon, how are you doing?"
"Not bad" it replied "I could do with getting out of here though. This place is ridiculous for navigating."
"How come?" Pikachu asked while Ash translated for Gary.
"We were sent here to find a missing child who has just set out on their journey" Gary said "Lance is concerned that they've got lost or maybe something worse. They were last seen in this forest, the trainer rang their mum before coming in here, so we've been sent to find them and retrieve them, or what's left of them if the worst has happened."
"How long have they been lost?" Ash asked concerned looking around him and sending out his aura in every direction.
"About two weeks now" Gary said as he showed Ash a map he and Umbreon had been chatting about "the places with the red X are where we've already looked, we were having a break before setting out this way" he continued pointing at another place "something strange is happening with this forest though."
"Yeah," Ash said "your mind is being played with. There is something trying to play with our eyes, the forest is one big illusion, or the majority is at least. I have a suspicion as to what's causing it, but it better not be."
"What are you thinking?" Gary asked looking around concerned.
"Ghost or Psychic Pokémon" Ash said replying grimly "we've seen this before in various places. On an island in the Orange Islands a Psychic Pokémon's Hypnosis was being amplified causing trainers Pokémon to attack them. It turned out to be a Team Rocket cell causing issues, however we've just come from a forest that Team Rocket have been through in the last few months that they've completely destroyed along the way, so we know they're active again in Johto. Hopefully its not that level of seriousness but if you're going around Johto again Gary, be careful."
"Noted" he said looking back at the map "so my mind is being manipulated, is it?" closing his eyes he concentrated for a good thirty seconds before opening his eyes. Ash was startled to find his usual grey eyes were glowing slightly blue.
"You have aura?" Ash asked shocked.
"No" Gary said looking sheepish, digging into his bag, and pulling out something that Ash was very familiar with. Bursting out laughing he took the object from Gary and looked up at him, his eyes full of mirth.
"You bought my book?" he asked smiling.
"Yes" Gary said scratching the back of his head "I've always been envious of the relationship you have with your Pokémon and from the moment I set out on my journey with Squirtle I wished I could understand him. Well, when your book came out, I knew that a solution was within reach, but my envy and jealousy at you got in my way so I refused to get it. It was only after the Kanto League and the words you said to me that I realised I was being an idiot, so I bought it. I can't talk to my Pokémon fluently just yet, but I can get the gist of what they're saying a lot more and I've found the exercises to be great in shielding my mind from outside influence, gives me greater clarity when considering options etc which is why I've not got lost in this forest. I just forgot this morning to do the exercises, hence why I've just shielded my mind."
"Well thank you" Ash said handing back The Aura Within to Gary "one more person shielded from the psychic scum is always a plus. Anyway, I'll give you a hand finding this lad, we can cover twice as much ground that way and try and get him home safely. What's his name anyway?"
"George Wataru" Gary said putting the book away "yes, he's the great nephew of Lance or something, I think he's Clairs youngest brother, you know, the eighth gym leader in Johto."
"Oh, right ok" Ash said nodding as he pointed on the map "I'll go that way, we'll meet back here in a few hours. If you find him or I do, we'll come straight back here. I'll see you in a bit." Nodding Gary put the map away and set off in one direction while Ash went the other way. The going was frustrating as he had to walk through very rough terrain, the tree roots seemed to come alive on their own and more than once Ash found himself staring at an impenetrable wall of trees. An hour later Ash felt a presence just off to the side and decided he'd had enough. "Pi, Five O'clock, Thunderbolt."
Pikachu didn't even question why and launched the electrical attack in that direction. Pikachu stopped the attack as out of seemingly nowhere his attack hit and caused a mini explosion sending a now visible Haunter smashing into a tree. This had a few effects, the main one being the illusion lessened slightly and a few other ghosts made themselves visible. Calling out Sneasel and Heracross he waited for the inevitable and sure enough the ghosts came forwards as one and soon the area was filled with flashes of lights as the battle waged on. The ghosts had vastly underestimated their opponents and very quickly found out to their cost that Ash wasn't a new trainer with no experience in dealing with Ghost Pokémon and soon they were fleeing in every direction. Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked at his Pokémon who were only slightly winded and took out his Pokégear. Heracross was panting harshly though as he hadn't got used to Ash's training regimen yet, but he would. Ash quickly typed a message to Gary saying "Ghosts" and went to put it away when he received a reply back "Psychics too, I've just caught a Hoothoot that tried to ensnare my mind."
Cursing Ash carried on looking until twenty minutes later he started to walk back when his phone went off again. Looking at it he saw it was Gary who had messaged "found him, heading back to camp.". Relieved Ash made his way back to the camp, lit the fire and began to cook for them. He had just put the lid on the pot when Gary came into the clearing, with Blastoise at his side and a trainer on its back.
Standing up Ash walked over and gently prized the boy off Blastoise thanking him and laying him down on the floor next to the fire. Grabbing his bag, he looked through it and found a few bandages and some medicine and gently helped the boy. When he had done what he could he looked over at Gary and Blastoise and said, "He'll be ok, he's just severely dehydrated and in need of food." Looking at the lads belt he saw a single Pokéball and grabbed it, releasing the Pokémon and gasped at the condition it was in. The small Dratini was shivering, curled up with many bruises on it and a flash of yellow streaking across it's body every few seconds. Ash reacted immediately and grabbed a few berries from his bag and a Full Restore before force feeding the berries and recalling it, attaching the container to the ball and let it do its work.
"Thank you Blastoise" Ash said looking over at it with a quizzical eye. Taking out his Pokédex he scanned it getting the answer he wanted, rooted around in his bag before pulling out a tupperware box and grabbing a few Pokéblocks. "Here, these are for you." He said handing them to Blastoise who looked confused before smelling them, his face lighting up as he took in the smell and quickly began munching on them. Laughing Ash just sat back and chatted with Gary for the next few hours while the boy recovered. The next day they awoke and saw the boy was sitting against a tree, wrapped up in the blanket Ash had provided and sipping on some water.
"Good morning" Ash said "it's good to see you awake at last. Gary and I feared the worst."
"You're Gary Oak" he said wide-eyed "and you're Ash Ketchum. Why are you here?"
"We're here for you" Gary grunted around a cup of coffee, clearly not a morning person "Lance contacted me saying you hadn't phoned your mum in a week, and this was the last place you were seen. I found you in a part of the forest that was protected by psychic Pokémon whose territory you wandered into. You were lucky we found you when we did, as another few days and it would have been too late."
"Gary's not wrong" Ash said walking over to him and checking on him "you're still dehydrated but you should be well enough to leave here with Gary as long as you get some rest for at least a week when you get home."
"But my journey..." George said before being interrupted by Gary.
"Screw your journey, a week is not going to make a massive difference in your schedule but if you try and carry on without getting enough rest, you'll set yourself back even further."
"Do not argue" Ash said before he could reply again "both of us have a direct line to Lance and we won't be afraid to use it. You could have died! So, listen up and listen well to advice from people who have been in your exact position. Go home and rest up for a week, it'll fly by, and you'll be on your journey in no time."
George just sat in silence while Ash and Gary pottered around getting ready to leave. After an hour or so they stood him up and walked back to the path and headed towards Cherrygrove City.
"Where are you from George?" Ash asked looking at his Pokégear. They were only about ten minutes away from exiting the forest.
"I'm from Catalia City" he said.
Ash stopped and stared at him in confusion. "that's literally on the other side of this forest, right? Or a few days away at the most so why are you travelling the other way?"
"Well, I had to go and register with Professor Elm before I could start my journey" George said making Ash nod and continue walking "I've still not been able to register though as when I arrived there was police everywhere and Elm wasn't available. So, I went back home for a bit before setting out to meet the new Professor. That's when I got lost in the forest and you guys found me."
"Ah ok" Ash said "that makes sense. So, you've still not been able to register?"
"No" he said sighing "which means I'll have to travel back through here to go to New Bark Town."
"I'll help you out" Gary said as they exited the forest. "It'll only take an hour or so with Alakazam." Looking at George he stopped as he saw George made a noise, fell to his knees and started crying. Ash took pity on him and clapped his shoulder as he'd been in that position before, thinking he'd never leave an area that he nearly died in. Giving them a few minutes Ash looked around at the view, just on the horizon, at the bottom of the hill they were on were several buildings in what was clearly a small city. After a few minutes George stood up and composed himself "that's Floranda City, it's where a lot of the filmmakers complete the process of making movies."
"Ah right ok," Ash said "yeah, I don't have much interest in that. I've been in a few commercials, and it made me realise I have no interest in them."
"The money isn't bad though" Gary said laughing "I've just finished a few too and while they were tedious the money was worth it for what was only a few days of my time."
"I'll be honest, I don't know how much I got paid for the ones I was in" Ash said as they started walking down the path "I'm under contract so they didn't pay me for doing them as my contract gives me a percentage of the number of units sold so that's how it works for me. I just hate the fact you're there for a few days, and you're pushed and pulled all over the place, have to repeat the same line a thousand times and have to keep up the smiling energy all day. Yeah, they're not for me."
"The filmmaking process is much different though" George said as he began to tell them the ins and outs of what is done with the rushes for films, Foley work etc and it seemed to brighten the young lad's life, so they just let him talk. When they reached the City, they handed their Pokémon over and had dinner, George still chatting to the two about films. Receiving their Pokémon back from Nurse Joy they left the Pokémon centre, Gary releasing his Alakazam as he did.
"I'll take George to New Bark Town and then drop him back off here" Gary said as he said goodbye to Ash "no doubt I'll see you in a few months at the League?"
"Yeah, I think so" Ash said, "good luck on your training for the Elite Four, I'm actually quite excited to battle you when you reach me."
"Yeah, sadly it won't be for a few years yet but I will see you there" Gary said laughing before disappearing in a flash of purple light taking George with him. Smiling Ash picked up his backpack and headed back out again, hopefully they would reach Cherrygrove City soon.