Chapter 21: Scorbunny's Quest

"Alright, that's another one!"

Goh was out on Route 6 on a catching spree. So far he'd caught a Pidgey, a Rattata, and an Abra.

"If my luck keeps up, I'll have caught all the species on the route before lunch! Great job, buddy.!"

"Scorbunny!"

"Now let's see, who's next?"

Just then, some bushes nearby rustled, and out popped a Vulpix, which promptly ignored the two of them and trotted over to a nearby bush to eat some berries.

"Woah, a Vulpix! Let's see what the Pokedex has to say about it."

"Vulpix, the Fox Pokemon. While young, it has six gorgeous tails. When it grows, several new tails are sprouted."

"Sweet, I always wanted one! Now's my chance!"

"Ninnnnetalesssss."

Goh gulped, turning around to see a very large, very angry Ninetales staring him down.

"Oh, hi, you must be the mother. I wasn't going to catch her, I promise. See, the thing is…Scorbunny, use Ember!"

Scorbunny, eager for more battling, ran up and opened his mouth, ready to launch a flurry of small flames…

Only for one measly little spark to come out, falling to the ground unimpressed. Ninetales just rolled her eyes and swatted him away with one of her tails, sending him flying into a tree.

"Scorbunny!"

While Goh tended to his partner, Ninetales picked up her child and left fuming. Luckily, Scorbunny wasn't hurt too badly, but his pride had suffered a bad hit.

"Scorbunny, are you okay?"

"Bunny."

"Don't worry, pal, it happens. Come on, what say we call it a day and head back to the lab? I'll have the chefs in the kitchen whip up some tasty Pokeblock."

Scorbunny smiled, but still felt rather sad by his lack of progress.

When they got to the lab, they found it surprisingly quiet. Lillie was reading a book, while Chloe was working on some schoolwork, but Ash was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Ash?"

"He's on the phone with Professor Oak. Something about wanting to transfer some of his Pokemon from back home to the Park here or something."

"Cool, thanks."

Goh wandered off to find his friend. Scorbunny stayed behind, flopping down onto a couch beside Lillie. Sensing something was the matter, Lillie decided to try and cheer him up.

"Hey there, little fella. Is something wrong?"

"Bunny."

"Oh, you don't want to talk about it, huh?"

"Scorbunny."

"Well, don't worry about it! I'm sure your day will pick up!"

Scorbunny smiled, letting Lillie scratch his ears while Chloe gave him a bite of her sandwich.

"Scorbunny!"

"You're welcome, cutie. Now why don't you catch up with Goh."
Scorbunny smiled, and quickly hopped off to find his partner. Lillie smiled, before returning to her book.

In the main lab, Ash was on the phone with Professor Oak.

"That's the last of them! Thanks Professor Oak."

"Not a problem, Ash. Are you sure you don't want to send any others over?"
"No, I don't want to take up too much room in the Park area. Besides, I doubt Professor Cerise has quite enough room for a herd of Tauros."
Professor Oak chuckled.

"No, I suppose not. Well, I best be off. Professor Elm just shared an article about the different rates at which Pokemon Eggs hatch that I'm dying to read."

"Got it. Tell Mom I said hi!"

"Will do!"

Ash hung up the phone, just in time for Goh to enter the room.

"Hey Goh, how was the catching spree?"

"It could've gone better."

And so Goh described the incident with the Ninetales, just in time for Scorbunny to join them. Ash stroked his chin in thought.

"Hmm, looks like Scorbunny needs to learn how to use some fire type moves."

"We've tried, but he can't seem to get the hang of it."

"Maybe what he needs is a good tutor. Come with me, I just transferred some of my Pokemon over from Professor Oak's lab."

The two of them walked over to the park area. Goh gasped in shock when he saw how many new Pokemon there were. There had to be at least a dozen, maybe more. A Donphan rolled around the grasslands, all of the regional birds were flying around the air, and a bunch of water types were relaxing along the shore of the river.

"These are all your Pokemon?"

"Sure are, and I have a lot more back home. Hey, Infernape!"

Ash's Infernape left his spar with Infernape and ran over to Ash, tackling him in a big hug. Ash laughed and returned the hug.

"Missed you too, buddy. Listen, Scorbunny here is having trouble learning how to use his Fire Type moves. Think you can give him a hand?

Infernape nodded, bowing to Scorbunny, who returned the gesture. Ash then turned to Goh.

"So where do you want to start?"

"Hmm, we should probably start with Ember. It's a fairly easy beginning move for a fire type, and it's the one we've been trying to master for a while."

"Great! Infernape, think you can take it from here?"

Infernape nodded, and motioned for Scorbunny to follow him. Facing a dead tree. Infernape opened his mouth and let loose a series of embers, snapping a branch clean in half. He then stepped aside for Scorbunny to do the same. Taking a deep breath, Scorbunny tried to emulate the attack, only for a few small flames to come out and die almost instantly. Goh sighed wearily.

"We've got a long way to go."

But Infernape wouldn't let them get discouraged, and worked with Scorbunny for the rest of the day. By dinner, while he still quite hadn't gotten the hang of it, Goh and Infernape could sense that he was getting close.

"Alright Scorbunny, one last try! I've got a good feeling about this one!"

Scorbunny nodded, feeling confident this would be it. Opening his mouth, he took the deepest breath he could muster…

Only for a net to drop in from a freshly made hole in the roof, nabbing all of the Pokemon in one swoop. Ash and Goh growled, they knew all too well who that was.

"Team Rocket!"

The trio's signature laugh echoed down as the net began to rise.

"Give us back our Pokemon!"

"Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

"Pikachu, use ThunderBolt!"

"Ash, no! That could seriously hurt our Pokemon."

"Well, what do you suggest we do? We can't just let them get away!"

Goh scanned the net for any weak points. He saw a few loose strands near Scorbunny. If he could just manage to burn them away…

"Scorbunny, use Ember!"

Scorbunny hesitated, not sure if he could do it, but Goh wouldn't give up.

"You can do it, Scorbunny! I believe in you!"

"So do I! You can do it!"

"Pika!"

Encouraged by their words, Scorbunny took a deep breath and blew, sparks emanating from his mouth and burning away the net, freeing all of the Pokemon with the flying types catching those who couldn't fly and escorting them to the ground below.

"Yes, way to go Scorbunny!"

"Scorbunny!"

"Hey, we stole those Pokemon fair and square!"

"Yeah, so hand them over!"

"I don't think so! Scorbunny, use Ember on those rocks!"

"Pikachu, send them flying with Iron Tail!"

Scorbunny nodded, setting several large rocks ablaze with his ember before kicking them up into the air, which Pikachu then sent hurtling towards Team Rocket's balloon, pelting them with burning stone.

"Ow! Hey, watch it!"

"Meowth, do something!"

"Like what? I don't know Water Gun!"

One of the stones flew high enough to pop the balloon itself, sending the trio flying off into the distance.

"LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKETS BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, happy that the Pokemon were alright. Goh then turned to Scorbunny.

"That was awesome, Scorbunny!"

"Yeah, you really saved the day!"

Then, to everyone's surprise, Scorbunny began to glow and grow, becoming a Raboot.

"Raboot!

"Woah! You evolve, Scorbunny! High five!"

Raboot huffed, turning away from Goh, making him sad…

Only to let out a sly smile and do a backflip, meeting his hand with his foot. Goh smiled, and ruffled his partner's fur.

"Oh, you little prankster! You really had me!"

"Raboot!"

Just then, Chloe and Lillie burst into the room, looking worried.

"Are you guys okay? We heard the glass break, and then a lot of shouting, and…hey, where'd that Raboot come from?"

Ash and Goh laughed.

"Come on, we'll tell you all about it."