Chapter 66 – Wrangling at Paniola Ranch

Paniola Ranch, Akala Island, Alola region…

"There you are!" An evil grin spread across Blade's face and the Sneasel licked his lips in anticipation. "Not sleeping with the others, hey!"

Who Blade was referring to the was the large dinosaur like Pokémon that lay curled up underneath a tree nearby. It was hard to make out its exact appearance in the dark, while it was asleep, but it appeared to have a large, thick-set body, stubby legs, and a long neck.

"Seriously, what are we doing here," Hunter demanded. "Weren't we supposed to be looking for my parents."

"We are, we are," said Blade raising a claw to silence Hunter. "This is all part of the plan…Now. You see this Pokémon here is a called a Tropius. It's a fruit Pokémon. There's a few of them here on the ranch. The humans pick and sell the berries that grow on their necks."

Hunter frowned. "You told me that you were following Lucario's scent. Is Lucario around here. What does this Pokémon have to do with anything?"

"Like I said, all part of the plan," replied Blade. "Alright. I need you to use your focus blast attack on Tropius here!"

Blade stared at him incredulously. "What! You've got to be kidding me!"

"Dead serious. On my mark!"

Hunter folded his arms and raised his nose in the air. "No way!"

Blade sighed. "Fine, be that way!" He then picked up a rock that way laying on the ground and hurled hard it at Tropius. It hit the sleeping Pokémon in the side with a dull thud.

It had the desired effect. At once, Tropius raised its head and clambered to its feet with a loud cry of "Trooooop!" The ground shook as the fruit Pokémon stood up. It's head whipped around to towards Hunter and Blade, and it glared at them. "Tropius!"

"It was him," Blade quickly blurted out, pointing a claw at Hunter.

Hunter gaped at him. "What! You…"

"He's after your fruit, better get him," Blade said grinning before dashing away.

Hunter swallowed and looked up at Tropius. "Uhm hello Mr. Fruit Pokémon," he said stupidly. He raised his paws to try and show that he meant no harm. "I'll just be."

"TROPIUS…" Tropius rear, raising its two front feet in the air before shooting a barrage of spinning leaves at Hunter.

"That's razor leaf," the Riolu cried. He jumped as high as he could, spreading his legs to avoid being hit. The attack sailed under him, though he felt the wind against a…rather important part of his body…and winced.

But his troubles were only just beginning. No sooner had his feet landed back on the ground than Tropius charged at him. "Yahh…Oh Arceus no." Hunter turned tail and ran. He could hear Tropius charging after him, the ground vibrating with each footstep.

And then he felt something on the ground connect with his right foot paw, and his lost his balance. Hunter tripped, falling hard and painfully on his face. "Damnit Grass not," he grunted, forcing himself back up. Hunter then whipped around only to find Tropius standing right over him. "Ah crap!"

"That's right little bitch," Tropius growled. The Fruit Pokémon's voice was low but still feminine making Hunter guess that this Pokémon was female. "Thought you could sneak onto the ranch and steal fruit, did you?"

"N-no," gasped Hunter. "I-I-I…."

"What are you," Tropius continued. "A Team Skull Pokémon or a just a worthless stray. I guess it won't matter in a moment. Eat Leaf Storm Raichu balls!" Tropius raised her head and let out a cry of "TROOOOP," causing multiple leaves to gather around her and starting to glow green.

Hunter felt a wave of panic. "Shit gotta do something…FORCE PALM." Without really thinking about it, the threw himself forward at Tropius, striking her hard in the chest with his paw.

To his surprise it worked. Tropius gave a cry of pain and was sent skidding backwards through the grass. The leaves around her stopped glowing and fell back to the ground.

"Ha-ha, yes." Hunter couldn't help but do a little paw pump in the air. "Alright, time for focus blast." He put his paws together and fired a glowing blue orb at Tropius.

Unfortunately, the Fruit Pokémon was ready for it. To Hunter's surprise, it stretched out four huge palm leaves on her back. Hunter couldn't believe how large they were, almost the size of her entire body. As he watched, the leaves turned light blue and Tropius begun to flap them.

"Wait it that Air slash," exclaimed an amazed Hunter, his jaw hanging open as light blue glowing blades of energy shot from the wing like leaves. They collided with Focus Blast stopping the attack in its tracks. "Tropius is part flying type?"

No time to ponder this because Tropius came charging at him again, firing a stream of seeds at him from her mouth.

"Whoa." Hunter jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding being hit with the seeds, which started to sprout into little plants with vines as they hit the ground. "Vacuum Wave." He retaliated shooting a blue winds from his paw and hitting Tropius in the face.

'Trop." Tropius whimpered, wheeling backwards in pain.

"SNEA…" Suddenly, a black creature leapt from out of the darkness landing on Tropius' back. Hunter watched, in bewilderment as it slid down Tropius' neck and grabbed onto her head, putting its claws over her eyes. "Guess who…."

"Get off me, dick licker," Tropius squawked in a high-pitched voice.

"Hey Riolu," Hunter heard Blade shout. "Give them a taste of their own medicine."

"I said get off, you little fuck." Tropius thrashed about trying to dislodge Blade from her head, the Sneasel holding on for dear life.

When Hunter didn't do anything, save for staring incredulously at the scene unfolding before him, Blade added, "USE COPYCAT."

"Right…Copy-Cat!" Hunter surrounded himself in a blue light, as he focused his mind's eye on the last move Tropius has used. He then lent forward, opened his maw, and fired from it a number of glowing green seeds.

They struck Tropius in the right flank where, from the moment they made contact with her body, they sprouted vines that wrapped around and ensnared Tropius. "Ahh fuck!" Tropius thrashed, trying to break and get free of the vines, but quickly there were too many of them.

Blade finally let go of her head and jumped backwards away from here. "Phew that was close," he breathed, patting Hunter on the back. "Why'd you leave me hanging there."

"ME," cried Hunter indignantly. "What the fuck Blade! Why in the name of Reshiram's balls did you set HER on me." He gestured to Tropius, who was still struggling against Leech Seed, letting out a string of profanities as she did.

"Fuck you, you pair of little shits. You wait until Turtonator gets his claws on you. He'll fuck both of you up."

"It was a two-mon effort to bring her down," explained Blade. "I needed you to distract her, so I could grab her. I also needed you to copycat her Leech Seed attack."

Hunter coxed his head. "Wait, you knew she had Leech Seed. Do you know this Pokémon? And that still doesn't explain WHY you attacked her in the first place."

"You'll see, you'll see," said Blade, flashing that cocky grin at Hunter again. "Nice battling by the way. You handled yourself far better than Ashachu would have. Even if I hadn't have jumped in, you would won that no question."

"I would have preferred not to have been attacked by an angry Tropius in the first place," grumped Hunter, folding his paws.

"Let me out of these things you pair of cocksuckers," Tropius continued to scream. "I swear when I get free, I'm going to put a Solar Beam up your asses."

"Oh, shut up," Blade retorted. "Unless you want a fucking Ice Beam to keep you still."

"Wait! You knew Ice Beam this entire time," gasped Hunter. "Then why in the distortion world did you need me to Copycat Leech Seed!"

Blade didn't answer. Instead, he continued addressing Tropius. "Now, Hunter and I need to get to the North side of the island. And you're going to take us there. Understand."

"Eat shit Raichu-ball," Tropius spat. "I hope you swallow a Drampa turd!"

Blade gave a long sigh. "I thought you might say something like that. So, I thought I'd give you some incentive." He took a step froward towards Tropius, tilted his head back and whispered something that Hunter couldn't hear.

"Oruro." Hunter tiled his head curiously, wondering what Blade had said.

Whatever it was it clearly had an impact on Tropius, as a horrified expression crossed her face. "You little brat. You wouldn't fucking dare."

"Oh, I would," said Blade that ever so annoying grin returning to his face. "Unless you co-operate. Now, as I said. Hunter and I need to get somewhere, and you are going to fly us there. And I don't want any funny business, understood…"

Tropius gritted her teeth, and looked over her shoulder, clearing looking at something Hunter couldn't see.

"Little too late to call for your humans to help you now," taunted Blade. "You know what I said."

"Alright fine," said Tropius huffily. "Where are you going."

"We'll tell you once we get in the air," Blade replied.

Tropius sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine! But don't think I'm just going to keep flying. I expect to be back here by sun-up."

"That's not a problem," said Blade. "We're not going to be leaving the island. Now don't move."

"What are you?"

"SNEASEL."

Tropius suddenly flinched, shutting her eyes tightly as Blade threw himself at her, slashing in every direction with his claws. But the claws never made contact with her body, instead breaking the vines ensnaring her body. Tropius opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Better," asked Blade, and when she didn't respond, "Alright then. Let's get going."

Without a word Tropius sank to her knees, permitting Blade to take a hold of her neck, and pulled himself up onto her back. He then extended his paw offering to help Hunter climb up. Hunter scanned his eyes over Tropius' body. He was used to riding either Hydreigon or Hirosaki, but Tropius was taller and larger than them.

Not a problem. Hunter simple sank to his knees then launched himself into the air in one graceful leap. In landed on his feet in the middle of her back. "Olu," he barked triumphantly.

"Nice," said Blade looking over his shoulder and grinning at Hunter. "Now, let's go. YEH HAW." He pressed his foot claws into Tropius' flank.

Tropius stretching out the four giant leaves on her back and started to flap them. Hunter felt a jolt beneath his feet, causing him to fall over so he was lying on his stomach in the middle of her back. He glanced over the side and gasped as they rose up into the sky.

Hunter repositioned himself, sitting bolt upright so he could get a better view. The wind whipped his face as they climbed higher and higher. Below he could just make out, visible in the light of the moon, the outline of a large house – presumably Paniola Ranch's homestead. Then the road, trees, and the side of Wela Volcano…

Higher and higher still, and Hunter could see a small town, the light still on in the mushroom shaped Pokémon Centre. Beyond that more trees and eventually the outline of Hea Hea City, it's buildings all lit up, and finally the ocean.

Impressive as it all was, it didn't solve Hunter's problem or answer his question. He tapped Blade on the shoulder and shouted over the wind and shouted over the wind, "Blade. Are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"Hee hee. You'll see, you'll see… Alright Banana Butt, I need you to come in over the forest, nice and low and slow as you can go. Got it." Blade lent forward, tapping at the base of Tropius' neck with his claw and whispered to her.

Tropius responded with a grunt, but she did as Blade instructed. As Hunter watched, they looped around, flying back over the ranch and towards the dark sea of trees that was the lush jungle. The roof of the canopy came closer and closer, until they were gliding right over the treetops

"Alright then, keep your eyes open," shouted Blade, before whispering to Tropius, "We're looking for some human kid and a tall blue Pokémon. Shouldn't be had to find here."

"Hey, wait a minute," barked Hunter, starting to feel somewhat duped. "Are we up here to look for my parents. You told me you had Lucario's scent."

Blade glanced over his shoulder at Hunter and winked at him. There was absolutely no shame in that irritating smug grin. "Yeah, about that…I did have it. Then I lost it. But don't worry. Your trainer usually sends a flying Pokémon to come find you when you get lost. No reason we can't do the same."

Hunter folded his arms and scowled at him. "You never knew where they were at all did you. You're just making this up as you go along!" The feeling of being trapped alone in the dark was starting to return, manifesting as a painful lump in his chest.

He wasn't sure whether he could trust the Sneasel sitting in front of him. Blade seemed to sense how he was feeling, as he leaned back and patted Hunter on the side with his claw. "I promise you; we'll find them. It's not a big island, they can't have gone far. We just needed the arial advantaged. Admit it, if I'd told you my plan from the start, you would never have gone along with it."

Hunter let out a little indignant snort, that could have been interpreted either way. It was true – he would never have gone along with any of this if he'd know what Blade was going to do. And it raised the question of what exactly Blade might also have planned for him. Did Blade have a plan or was he simply spiriting him along.

If Blade did have a plan however, it was, as can sometimes happened to even the best laid of plans, about to go spectacularly wrong. As a gap appeared in the canopy below, and they glided over a small pond, they heard a great roaring sound from behind.

It wasn't a cry or a growl or any sound that, at least as far as Hunter thought, was capable of being made by a Pokémon. No, it was like a steady constant whooshing sound, like an engine. Certainly not one Hunter had heard, even having lived among humans all his life…

"What the," cried out Blade. "Humans don't fly planes this low, do they!"

"That doesn't sound like any plane I've ever heard," Hunter replied, though his words were lost as the sound grew louder and louder, until…

WHOOSH!

It passed directly above them, leaving a golden trial of flames behind it. The…thing…was so large and moving so quickly that it's shockwave threatened to knock Tropius out of the sky. The fruit Pokémon had to beat her leafy wings hard to keep them airborne.

Hunter closed his eyes as it passed over. Tropius' body seemed to vibrate beneath him. Without thinking about it, he reached forward and grabbed hold of Blade, gripping the Sneasel's dark fur with his paw.

He felt Blade jerk under him at the unexpected touch – although that could have been him having a similar reaction to Hunter to the thing that had just flown over head. "Holy Shit!" The Sneasel cried. "What the fuck is that?"

The shockwave passed as quickly as it had come, with Tropius managing to stay in the air. Once the shaking had stopped and the motion felt more ordinary, Hunter opened his eyes. In the distance he could see the…whatever the flying thing was.

It kind of looked like a rocket, triangular shaped with a pointy nose cone and a wide base, from where the steak of fire emanated. As Hunter watched it turned in a great arch and came shooting back towards them.

"Oh SHIT," Blade cried again. "Tropius get us out of here!"

Tropius however was not fast enough to react, and within seconds, the creature was upon them. Hunter flinched as it came closer, convinced there was going to be a collision. Instead over the rocket came to a stop, before righting itself up before them.

Whatever this thing was, it wasn't a Pokémon. It couldn't possibly be any living creature. It was vaguely humanoid in shape, but that was the end of the resemblance. It has a small, white head with a tiny mouth and a skinny neck with three segments. On top of its head is a grey structure resembling a hat with long, flowing hair underneath.

The hair reaches midway down its body and is rimmed with bright blue. The "hat" has two small blue dots and four white spikes arranged in an X-shape. These spikes resemble decorative hair sticks. On the very top of its hat is a long grey horn similar to a drill bit. It has large, disembodied grey arms that resemble bamboo stalks.

At the end of each arm was a ring of bright blue, fin-like projections, and a collection of eight smaller, black bamboo shoots. Each smaller stalk has a bright blue ring with a small line extending back up the stalk. Its main body is conical and resembles a dress with four overlapping layers.

The shortest and outermost layer is the shortest and appears metallic, while the inner layers are each a lighter shade of green, progressively longer, and seem to be cloth or plant material. Underneath all the layers is a white body with a light grey crisscross pattern covering it and a bright blue ring along the base.

Below the dress is what appears to be a collection of eight black bamboo stalks. On the bottom of each stalk is a bright blue ring with a small line extending back up the stalk

"What in the distortion world is that!" cried Blade, raising his claw in disbelief. "Looks like beanstalk fucked the space shuttle." His voice was scornful and sarcastic, but it was masking how the Sneasel really felt.

Hunter could feel him trembling under his paws and could sense the fear in the waves of aura emanating from him. Hunter understood how he was feeling because he felt exactly the same way. What was this thing and what was doing here? Was it alive or was it a machine?

He glanced down at its base and the…there was no other word for it. This thing had jets like a rocket, that were keeping it airborne. But at the same time, it looked organic, especially with that creepy little mouth.

"Come on then," Blade continued to shout. "Who are you, you ugly fucker."

"Uhm…Blade I'm not sure antagonizing it is a good idea."

"Ha." Blade let out a breathless laugh. "Hunty, I don't think it can understa…"

He was cut off as the thing opened its tiny mouth and uttered a single word… "St-Stargate!"

"W-what," yipped Hunter.

Blade frowned. 'Did you say."

"Celesteela fly here because Celesteela senses here was stargate. Yet Celesteela come here and find you furry ones. Your furry ones have aura like stargate! Celesteela is curious."

"The fuck," growled Blade incuriously. "Hunty, fruity. Either of you go any idea what's going on here."

"W-who are you," said Hunter despite himself. Every instinct in his body was telling him to get away from this thing. To tell Tropius (or to tell Blade to command Tropius) to fly away. And yet at the same time he was curious about this creature. What it was and where it came from, and he wanted to hear it talk more.

"Celesteela. This is Celesteela."

It slowly dawned on Hunter what it meant by Celesteela! "Wait. Is Celesteela your name? Is that what you're called? Are you one of the Ultra Beasts?"

"Furry one speaks truth, this is Celesteela," the creature replied.

"W-where do you come from? What's a Stargate?"

"Celesteela come from world far away, but Celesteela's world is dying. The blinding one has stolen the light. Celesteela flee here, falling through stargate. Celesteela must find Blinding one."

"What?" Blinding One! Stealing the light. That sounded vaguely familiar. Where had Hunter heard that before? But he had no opportunity to dwell on that, as Celesteela's next words turned the situation on its head.

"Celesteela requires nourishment. Been long time since Celesteela has ingested nutrition. Celesteela can feed on the furry ones. Celesteela shall drink furry one's blood!"

It opened its tiny maw as widely as it could, until it formed a small O in the middle of its, otherwise featureless, face. As Blade, Hunter and Tropius watched, particles of energy started to gather forming a small orb. It was going to attack. Hyper Beam or Flash Cannon.

"Oh FUCK," Shouted Blade.

"Blade!" cried Hunter, squeezing him a little tighter.

"TROPIUS, Fly…Giddy-up!"

Tropius flapped the leaves hard, to pull away from Celesteela. She turned and flew upwards trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and the Celesteela as she could. She wasn't fast enough…

There was a whooshing sound from behind as Celesteela fired, whatever attack it was using at them. The attack only just grazed Tropius' wing and right flank, but that was enough to cause her to lose her balance.

Hunter felt a jerk from his tail as he was thrown forward, and subsequently found himself hurtling through the air, Team Rocket Blast off style. The words around him became a dark spinning vortex. He closed his eyes, yet again, and thought no more…