Aurea rounds up whoever is willing to fight while Hilda makes peace with her oldest friend. However, the Seventh Squadron are no slouches either.

Unfezant - Detect, Air Slash, Roost & Sky Attack

Chapter 4: Wildfire

The adult male Unfezant appreciated the high altitude of his nest greatly. As the leader of his flock, it allowed him to hear anything loud and potentially dangerous in his neck of the woods. It also made for a peaceful place to roost with the freshest air that the sea of trees before him could offer him.

Unfezant had only just started to stretch his wings with a yawn and sat down to Roost his power back to one hundred percent when...

[DAD, WAKE UP!]

The Proud Pokemon squawked awake with his eyes wide open and his legs springing up. The pink wattle on his face waved its ribbons menacingly in response to any and all threat. When he saw the tiny Pidove responsible for the disturbance, Unfezant made a stern frown that made his son gulp immediately.

[Oh... you were... resting,] the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon sheepishly realized, touching down in the nest. He felt terribly smaller before his father.

[This better be good, son,] Unfezant warned, holding his head up high and mighty. [If Hilda's stuck up another tree, she can find her way down herself.] He was often unaware of his own dad jokes.

Pidove sunk his head into his neck tensely. He was so busy worrying about Hilda that he forgot how his father could be rather uptight as flock leader. The Proud Pokemon often made everyone else's business his business if he felt that it was a disturbance to the peace. So of course, Hilda wasn't exactly his favorite human.

[Out with it, son!] Unfezant squawked. [What's the tomboy gotten into this time?]

Pidove plucked up courage to speak up to his father and minimize Hilda's involvement. [Thieves have just stole the Pokemon from the Junipers,] he reported, his chest puffed up like he was one of his father's Tranquill on patrol. [They've also taken Hilda's starter Pokemon, an Oshawott.]

[What in tarnation are poachers wan' with us?] Unfezant questioned incredulously. [They got any of our own?]

[Not yet, dad, but they're camped out at the cell cabin,] Pidove went on. [I know you have... mixed feelings about Hilda but-]

["But" nothing, son!] Unfezant declared, snapping out of his drowsiness. [I ain't lettin' no crooks squat in my neck o' the woods.]

The Proud Pokemon flapped his wings to go into an immediate hover, nearly blowing a bracing Pidove away in the kicked up draft. The Tiny Pigeon Pokemon caught the breeze in opening his wings and steadied himself.

[Shouldn't we sound the alarm?] Pidove asked, already following his father.

[And send the forest into a tizzy?] Unfezant asked rhetorically while already hovering on ahead. [Best we assest the sitch first, son.]

A strong flap of his wings allowed the Proud Pokemon to surge on ahead and leave Pidove. The Tiny Pigeon Pokemon began to charge up his Quick Attack if only to hopefully keep up with father.

[Thanks for waiting up...] Pidove sighed irately while he picked up speed.

Aurea Juniper had often had to get her hands literally dirty to complete her research. One project involving the origins of Trubbish, actual trash brought to life by chemical waste before cleaner energy sources were enforced more. One takeaway that made it into the Pokedex was how long a victim of their poison burps were comatose.

It was one week, two hours, five minutes and fifty seven seconds.

The reason it came to Aurea's mind was that holding Hilda's socks forced her appreciate the stench of Trubbish all the more. Even keeping it at arm's length didn't help period. It didn't help that it took her longer than expected to reach southwest just past the laboratory. The trees at least became less dense thankfully.

"Dad, please remind Hilda to change her socks more," Aurea groaned, turning her head away as far as she could. "Just because she can talk to Pokemon doesn't mean she should stink like them."

"You take what you can get," Cedric reassured on the X-Transceiver, the reception marginally improved. "Have any Pokemon responded to Hilda's, erm, Sweet Scent?"

Aurea looked around at the trees and on the ground. There were indeed Pokemon that were staring at directly at her and visibly sniffing the potent odor she had. However, most from Patrat to Pidove kept their distance whether they recognized the very familiarized face of Aurea Juniper.

"Just bunch of weird looks that I can't exactly blame," Aurea answered in discomfort. "I think Hilda's foot odor might be a new type of Repel."

"Let's not call the Battle Company so soon," Cedric chortled. "Remember, a good Professor waits until-"

The elder Juniper's wisdom of the ages was cut off when Aurea took what could only be described as a cannonball to her spine. Nearly all the wind was knocked out of her before she hit the ground face first and felt her tiny assailant bouncing on her bruised back.

"-inspiration strikes..." was all Aurea could hear from her stupefied father.

[Hilda! Hilda! Hilda!]

Said "inspiration" was a Lillipup bouncing up and down on the pounced Professor's back, barking shrilly yet excitedly. Aurea managed to push up off the ground even with the back pain and quickly recognized who had given her the local greeting.

"Hello... Lilly..." she grunted after spitting out dirt.

Aurea felt marginally better upon hearing a series of low toned barks. Harry the Herdier quickly rushed in and leaped over the Professor while snatching Lilly by the nape of her neck. He placed his surprised little sister down on the ground right in front of Aurea.

[Lilly...] Harry sternly reprimanded.

[But I smelled Hilda,] Lilly whimpered, baby-doll eyes and everything.

[But did you see Hilda?] Harry pointed out, motioning his head towards a recovering Aurea.

Lilly looked to find the Professor standing back up steadily and wincing in pain while rubbing her back. It took a second for her to realize that the taller woman with the wavy orange-brown hair and lab coat was not, to her further surprise, Hilda.

[Maybe... it's the latest fashion?] Lilly earnestly suggested with her brand of cluelessness. [Human dress-ups are weird.]

Harry sighed in beleaguerment. [It's Professor Juniper,] he finally cut to the chase. [Hilda's guardian.]

[Oh!] Lilly realized before her mistake finally sunk in. [Oooooo...]

Aurea, all the while, stood back up after finishing a few gulps of Fresh Water and felt the pain to her back subside.

"Everything under control?" Cedric fretfully asked, hurting for a proper view. "What just happened?"

An angered Aurea was about to give out some choice words about the whole situation. However, a remorseful Lilly came over with such wide eyes of sorrow and whimpers that immediately quelled most of the Professor's frustration.

Aurea sighed in a paternal, her frown melting into a slight grin. "Let's just say Hilda's little friend has been working on her Tackles," she confessed, kneeling down to forgive Lilly with a pet on the head. "Just don't tell her the lure actually worked for the sake of her ego."

"Heh, I remember my first meet-cute with Lily." Cedric laughed knowingly. "My spine still feels like paste."

The Lillipup panted while wagging her tail affectionately when Harry trotted over and brought over the stinky socks in his teeth. Aurea saw the worry in the Herdier's eyes when he set it down and barked inquisitively, reminding her exactly what she was here.

Even Lilly's smile turned back into a serious frown when she saw the socks up close. She remembered how Hilda had been very keen about her little signaling systems in case something had gone wrong.

"I don't need to talk to Pokemon to know what you're worried about," Aurea solemnly guessed, standing back up. "There's a lot to catch you up on..."

Over the logs and past the thinning trees. Hilda knew the directions to Watcher's family den by heart after years and was faster about it thanks to some considerable motivation this particular day. She even went so far as to jump over two at the risk of tripping.

However, Hilda had just hopped over the third log when she saw a mumbling Watchog eying a bush for fresh Oran Berries and being very particular. A Watchog with a summer straw hat tied to her head, one that the young lady remember buying.

Hilda stopped to pant and let a smile grow on her face. "Miss Hog!" she exclaimed in a rare spell of delight.

The female Watchog snapped out of her hyperfixation to find Hilda rushing over with a happy wave. [Hilda, mah child!] Miss Hog grinned. [Yerra a sight f' sore eyes!]

She met Hilda in the middle by scurrying up and hugging her across the waist. The rookie happily returned it with a pat on the head.

[Where's t' time gone, honestly?] Miss Hog giggled motherly, looking Hilda up and down. [Ah still remember when y' barely reach my shoulders.]

"Back when you tanned my hide good," Hilda snickered back. "Man, I was such a brat back then."

[Whaddaya mean 'was'?] Miss Hog sassed back. [Now where's that l'il Oshawott of your's.] Hilda's smile dimming down escaped her initially. [Imma pinch his cheeks so good-]

"That's... actually what I was coming to see you about," Hilda uneasily transitioned, remembering that time was uncertain. "Do you know where Watcher is?"

Miss Hog's sweet demeanor shifted to sour in seconds. [T'at troublemaking son of mine's doing his time,] she declared with tight folding her arms. [Follow me so he can face the music or whatever y'all humans call it.]

Simon sat himself up straight to stretch out his back after doing a full read-out on the twentieth Joltik in their haul. Bianca had always been on his case about his bad posture that even he was catching himself slouch more than he was willing to admit it. The small stool that they had to sit at didn't help matters.

"Now I know where the budget didn't go into," he muttered, filing away his scan report. "Sammy, how's shield integrity?" He grabbed a piece of chocolate to keep his sugar buzz going and swallowed just before realizing her didn't get an answer. "Sam?"

Simon turned around to his annoyance but hardly any disappointment. Right behind him, Sammy was bopping to whatever new Anime she'd become obsessed with while typing on what was clearly a web browser. Simon stood up and strolled over to her desk to discover that, indeed, she was typing up a Tumblr draft about Blorbo from her shows.

"Of course..." her twin brother muttered before getting up.

Sammy was just reaching the epic chorus of the song when the swift removal of one of her wireless earbuds throws off her groove. She swung around to find her very irate brother giving her an incredulous "What the actual hell" stare with his hands stretch out.

"For the record," Sammy began indignantly, stepping up to snatch her earbud back, "I was written an encoded message for any would be recruits in my fandom."

Simon knew better than to take her whinging seriously with a moan and a roll of his eyes. "Just tell me if you've helped restore the force-field already," he wearily asked, rubbing sweat off his irritated face.

"I finished that ages ago," Sammy retorted roughly before sitting back down at her laptop. "It's just a simple diversion of power from the generator." She opened up a window that visualized the energy flow to the shields. "Amateur hour really."

"That's barely ever ten percent for the cabin," Simon balked at the fluxuating graphs over his sister's shoulder. "You were suppose to help it regenerate slowly."

"So the air conditioning will conk out," Sammy rolled her eyes jealously. "Serves them right for saddling us with the grunt work." A few keyboard strokes diverted an addition three percent to Simon's beleaguerment. "Plus, I added a little more bounce to the force-field."

A loud WHAM sent ripples through the transparent dome while making Simon jump.

"See?" Sammy gloated, unfazed.

Unfezant caught himself with a steadied flap of his wings after what felt like a rubber wall forced him backwards. [Dagnabbit all,] the furious fowl exclaimed, still a touch dizzy. [Now who put t'at t'ere?]

[I did warn you about the force-field, dad,] Pidove panted upon catching up. [Remember?]

Unfezant felt embarrassed but shook his head in order to regaining his bearings. ['course y' did, son,] he assert, straightening his posture proudly. [Jus' feelin' it out so you wouldn't blunder into it.]

[Right...] Pidove groaned. [We should be able to break through it if we batter it enough.]

[Well, why didnja say so, son?] Unfezant exclaimed when he wasted no time in channeling his Flying-type Energy. [Battering bad eggs is my bread and butter.]

[Shouldn't we wait for Hilda?] Pidove insisted, flying in front of his father.

[Wait for what?!] Unfezant balked, flying above his son. [For that tomboy to muck it up as usual?] He made a strong flap of his wing to unleash a pair of energized air currents straight towards the campsite.

WHAM!

The sound of what he thought was thunder snapped Oshawott out of his sugar crash. He jumped in fright with a yelp from bad memories of Electric-type attacks and darted around for the incoming attack. The sight of the cage cooled his jets with a dismal reminder of reality until another crash of thunder gained his curiosity.

WHAM!

It was coming from outside.

Bright roused from his nap and rose his groggily head with his Patrat themed sleep mask. "Weatherman didn't say crud about a storm," he groaned in annoyance, stirring on the bed just behind the window.

WHAM!

"Urrrrrrrgh, it's not," Vanessa growled from her futon, not nearly caught up on her sleep. "Some birdbrain probably bashed itself into the force-field." She laid on her front with the pillow over her head to block the sound. "Again!"

WHAM!

Bright, still blinded, went so far as to turn on his earcom. "Contrary to popular belief, loud noises aren't ASMR," he yawned. "Some of us need sleep."

A frantic sounding Sammy didn't even get a word in before Bright carelessly tossed his com aside to snore most ironically.

Oshawott's eyes widened when he finally realized what that "thunder" was. The same noise that Pidove made when he attacked the force-field. In fact, he could make out the force-field's electrical barrier starting to short when he leaned in and looked through the window.

Had Hilda come for him?

Did Pidove really fly back to find her?

Did he dare hope?

Cheren and Bianca had been sleeping more lightly when the proverbial knocking at their door began. They didn't waste time rushing out of the cabin while equipping their Armor. Right out the gate, the shield was visible in its growing instability.

WHAM!

"Simon, Sammy!" Cheren cried out, rushing to the twins. "Status report now!"

Simon was hunched over Sammy while she desperately pounded her keyboard. "Some giant Unfezant's actually bombarding our defenses," he replied in exasperation. "They don't even have a Trainer, just... a really bad mood."

"How long can we hold out?" Bianca asked, desperately hoping for the best.

WHAM!

"We could lose stabilization any minute," Sammy cursed, gritting her teeth. "Ten tops unless our feathered friend tires out quickly."

"How are Bright and Vanessa sleep through this?" Simon honestly asked, glaring back at the cabin.

"It's a Castelian thing," Bianca wearily sighed.

Cheren had glanced up during Sammy's rundown to find the hovering Unfezant and found them panting after their consecutive series of Air Slash. Not wasting this opening, he took out his Personal Computer and selected the correct device from his inventory.

"Sammy, drop the shields flat!" the Seventh Squadron's leader commanded.

"Are you-?" Sammy began to question before she turned towards the boss man, "-crazy?" Simon and Bianca join her in surprise when they see Cheren wield a red device tied to his wrist with a white handle for him to grip.

"X Attack: Electric, Activate!" he declared while inserting a yellow disc into his Wonder Launcher's slot. "Sammy, on my mark!" His arm was aimed at the Unfezant when they seemed to be raring for another go.

Now about to argue with a likely madman, Sammy typed away to flip the force-field's kill switch. "Pulling the plug..." she announced with apprehension, "...now!"

Unfezant and Pidove shared the same sense of surprise when the force-field just vanished as quickly as their wings flapped. The Proud Pokemon especially had just prepared yet another Air Slash but was left panting heavily from his cut off assault.

[Guess they found me too hot t' handle,] Unfezant proclaimed with a triumphant smirk.

[This seems... too easy,] Pidove suggested cautiously. [Why would they just dropped their protection like that?] He then noticed a shiny glint where Cheren was standing and found the Knight suited up while holding up a strange piece of wristwear.

It didn't take long for Pidove to see that it was being intentionally aimed. Right up towards them.

['cause they know when to fold 'em,] Unfezant proclaimed while flying down towards the campsite. [Not that I'll pull my punches-]

[Dad, LOOK OUT!]

Pidove's warning came in too late right after Cheren's Wonder Launcher fired a glowing yellow disc straight up towards his father. Unfezant was dumbfounded by the sight of something so unassuming until it struck him in the chest. The Proud Pokemon dropped like a rock when what felt like a compressed Thunderbolt burst all over him.

[NO!] Pidove cried while he dove after his father desperately.

"Sammy, restore defenses!" Cheren's voice called out. "Drain the generator if you have to."

Pidove recognized the head honcho's voice just in time to stop while his father hit the grass like a rock. He would've resumed his pursuit if the force-field didn't suddenly reappear around the campgrounds and soon turned invisible.

[Dad?!] Pidove cried while he desperately rammed the shield. [Dad, get out there!] He was too emotional to keep himself from bounce off of the invisible dome.

Unfezant tried to get back up faster but felt his body tense from electrical volts paralyzing his body by the nerve and slowing him down. He managed to get back up on his talons with a few light flaps of his wings and heaved his chest heavily.

[Try t'... sucker punch me... will ya?] the Proud Pokemon slurred from a slight headache. [No more Mister Friendly Feath- OW!] Unfezant was initially annoyed by what felt like a rock hitting him in the head but his frown soon gained shades of dread.

The rock was an Ultra Ball.

[Darn...] was all Unfezant could say before the Poke Ball opened up.

Pidove's heart sank deeper than ever. He could only look helplessly at his father being changed into red plasmic energy and sucked into the Ultra Ball. Only the sight of Cheren coming to collect came close to snapping him out of his cold shock.

[Gotta find Hilda...] Pidove repeatedly panted to himself, urging his wings to get him away. [Gotta find Hilda...]

Sammy let out the deepest breath she'd ever taken before leaning back in her chair, her head hanging listlessly. "Shields are back up," she groaned, lack of sleep starting to catch up with her. "Assuming that's the worst of it..."

"Looking like that..." Simon sighed, glancing up sympathetically towards the retreating Pidove. "Boss man sure knows how to get his point across..."

His eyes lowered towards Cheren who was just standing there, looking at the Ultra Ball with disgust. Thankfully, Bianca was saving him and Sammy the trouble by walking up to their leader from behind.

"You did what you had to," Bianca reassured, putting her right hand on Cheren's right shoulder. "We'll release him once we're ready to go."

Cheren still glared down at the Ultra Ball while clenching it in contempt. "I'm afraid you're making it sound too simple," he scoffed intently, adjusting his glasses for focus. "Get your Wonder Launcher ready, everybody."

Simon and Sammy snap out of their weariness on this note from the cold splash of surprise.

"It was just a wild Pokemon," Sammy put forth. "Most will be smart enough to go away."

"That's an order!" Cheren demanded while he made a beeline for the cabin. "Bianca, tell Bright and Vanessa that nap time over while I try to raise communications."

"If you say so..." Bianca gulped while following, a tough unnerved by her partner's sharpened gaze.

Cheren couldn't not think about it all while he closed in on the door. Hilda's talking to her Pokemon. The Pidove. And now the Unfezant. The former Trainer in him was screaming at him that there weren't the coincidences his fellow Knights took them for.

Something had to be done.

To Be Continued...

Once a trainer, always a trainer. Whether Cheren likes it or not, those instincts may be what helps him see his mission through.

Hilda had better hope that Watcher will be onboard to Rush To The Rescue.

Thank you for reading my fanfiction.

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