So, I've been getting a lot if PMs from people who are offering to work with me and do art for me. And while I appreciate the offers, I need to make something clear right here: I will not be paying anyone to do anything. I'm sorry, but I just don't feel comfortable giving money to people I don't know on the Internet. So if you need me to pay you to do something, I'm sorry, but I can't accept.


We rejoin our heroes in Redfox Town, where they prepare to make their way through the Misty Jungle, in order to arrive at their next destination.

The group stood before the entrance to the Misty Jungle, which towered above them all. "So, this is Misty Jungle?" said Ash.

"You betcha," said RotomDex, as he pulled up a map of the jungle. It's said to be hundreds of years old, and it was declared a national park in order to preserve the beauty of both the wildlife and the landscape within it.

"Sounds awesome!" said Ash. "I can't wait to get in there!"

"Hey, guys!" said a voice, and the group turned to see Olga running up to them. "Wait up!"

"Hey, Olga," said Vernon. "You ready to go?"

"Of course I am," said Olga.

"Thanks again for offering to be our guide through here," said Serena.

"Of course!" said Olga. "My grandmother took me through this place all the time as a kid. I know it like the back of my hand. And I can show you all the best places to check out."

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Ash. "Let's go!"


Who's that Pokémon?

Although it's carrying its baby, it is swift on its feet. It intimidates its opponents with fierce jabs.


The group walked through a dense jungle, with mist floating high in the sky. The trees around them were as tall as buildings, and they could see some little Pokémon running about: a Komola napping in the trees, some Ariados dangling from the branches, some Jumjoey hopping around, and some Butterfrees flying between the trees.

"Man, look at all the Pokémon!" said Ash. " I wish I could catch them all!"

"Well, try not to," said Olga. "Remember, as a national park, catching the Pokémon around here is strictly prohibited."

Serena could feel something bump into her legs. She looked down to see a pair of Wombites playing with each other, one brushing up against her leg.

"Aw, aren't you guys the cutest things," she said.

Suddenly, the group saw something else running out in front of them. It was a Doduo, but not like any they'd ever seen. It was taller, lime green, but had hardly any feathers, instead some leaves covering its body and sticking out of the top of its head.

"Whoa!" said Ash. "Is that a regional variant?"

RotomDex scanned it and said, "Doduo. Ralian Form. The Emu Pokémon. A Grass and Flying Type. Living in greener areas drove Doduo to change into this form. It can camouflage itself in plant life, but if spotted, it can run away at up to thirty miles per hour. Evolves into Dodemu at level 31."

"So cool!" said Ash.

"If you think that's cool, I got the best place to show you," said Olga.


"Whoa! This so cool!" said Ash. Everyone was looking at a giant waterfall taller than a building, with streams of water flooding down a steep incline, spreading out in different directions.

"We call this the Misty Waterfall!" said Olga. "It's been here for over a thousand years."

"It's so pretty!" said Serena. She looked down and saw all the little Pokémon playing in the water down below.

"My grandmother used to always take me up here when I was young," said Olga. "She said it was a good place to collect oneself."

"I can see why," said Vernon, as RotomDex snapped some pictures. "It's so relaxing, listening to this water trickle."

Suddenly, they heard growling, but then Ash clutched his stomach. "Oh, I guess I'm getting a little hungry."

"Oh, well that's okay," said Olga. "Why don't we stop for lunch?"


It's Kangaskhan!


Everyone had to sit down on a picnic cloth, as they all chowed down some sandwiches. Their Pokémon were out too, all eating a bunch of PokéPuffs.

"Mmm!" this is really good, Serena!" said Olga.

"Thanks!" said Serena. "I whipped them up late last night."

Everyone seemed to be just finishing up, and they began to clean up. "Well, I guess we should keep going, huh?" said Olga.

"Hey, what's the rush?" said Ash. "You know, maybe now's a good time for me and my Pokémon to get some practice in."

"Oh, really?" said Olga. "Well, okay, but be careful not to roast anything."

"I won't," said Ash as he turned to his Pokémon. "What do you say? Wanna get some practice in?" His Pokémon jumped up, ready for battle.

"Hmm, well, if he's going to practice, I probably should too," said Serena. She walked over to her Pokémon and said, "What do you guys think? Shall we do some practicing here?"

Her Pokémon seemed excited, except for Quokkawatt for some reason. It was looking down at its bowl of food, not really looking at Serena.

"Huh?" said Serena. "What's the matter, Quokkawatt?" Quokkawatt still would not face her, so she held its face in her hand to make it look at her. "Hey, it's okay. Come on, let's get some practice going, okay?"


"Alright, Charmor, use Flame Wheel!" Ash cried. Charmor rolled forward wreathed in flames, straight towards Koaleaf. "Now Koaleaf, counter with Leaf Blade!" Koaleaf's arms turned to blades, and it swiped at Charmor to knock it off balance. "Nice one!" Off to the side, though, Olga was watching the training session closely for some reason.

Meanwhile, Serena and her Pokémon were using their best moves. Braixen was utilizing Hidden Power, which burst in midair, Lunoth was using Silver Wind, and Quokkawatt was using Disharge.

"Okay, you guys," said Serena. "Let's try using those moves together. Braixen, Lunoth, I want you to use Silver Wind and Hidden Power at each other." The two Pokémon fired their moves towards each other, with them seemingly about to collide in midair.

"Ack!" said Serena, as she stumbled back. She looked at Quokkawatt and said, "What happened, Quokkawatt? You didn't do anything."

"Now, Quokkawatt, use Discharge to make them burst!" Serena said. Quokkawatt charged up its electricty, but then, suddenly, its electricity fizzled out. Before anyone could react, Silver Wind and Hidden Power collided, and the result was everyone being blown back.

"Ack!" said Serena. She looked at Quokkawatt and said, "What happened, Quokkawatt? You didn't do anything."

Quokkawatt wasn't quite looking at her, as it was actually thinking back on the Pageant the other day. It still remembered slipping out of Lunoth's grip and zapping everyone. It didn't feel too keen on electrifying everything again.

"Hey, Quokkawatt," Serena said, patting its head. "You can do it. Let's just try it again."

The Pokémon got back into position, and Quokkawatt tried to psyche itself up. Lunoth and Braixen prepared their attacks, Quokkawatt readied its electricity. This time, when the attacks were released, Quokkawatt unleashed its electricity. Unfortunately, this time, it worked too well. The electricity went everywhere, and everyone got charred.

"Yeowch!" Serena cried. "Quokkawatt, what are you doing?!" Quokkawatt saw Braixen and Lunoth shooting him looks, and it covered its face in embarrassment.

"Y-you know what? Maybe we should take a small break," said Serena. Slowly, she started to walk away.

"Okay, Platide, use Scald!" Ash said. Platide spat some red-hot water at Koaleaf, but Ash quickly said, "Koaleaf, slice through it with Leaf Blade!" Koaleaf slashed through the water, and it disappeared into steam.

"Good job, you guys," said Ash.

"Heh, you guys are really in synch, aren't you?" came Serena's voice. Ash turned to see her walking up to him.

"Oh, yeah," said Ash. "You have to get to know your Pokémon and find what they're good at, then take advantage of that."

"Yeah, it's too bad," said Serena. "I just can't seem to do that with Quokkawatt."

Unbeknownst to anyone, Quokkawatt could hear them, and began listening closer. "We just can't get into synch. I try everything, but nothing works. I mean, we already blew it at the Pageant before. What if we can't get it right?"

Quokkawatt felt sad upon hearing that. Every since the end of that Pageant it couldn't help but think about how it had let Serena down. It hung its head and ran off into a bush. Shocked, Lunoth went after it, while Braixen ran up to Serena.

"C'mon, Serena, don't be like that," said Ash. "Quokkawatt is trying its best for you."

Serena looked down, but then gave Ash a small smile and said, "Yeah, you're right. I know that. I guess I'm just frustrated with myself rather than Quokkawatt. I'm its Trainer so I'm responsible for it."

"I say just be patient. You guys won't perfect anything overnight," said Ash. "Just work on finding what Quokkawatt is good at. Then you can find a routine that will be perfect for it."

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Serena, before she suddenly felt something pulling on her sleeve. She turned to see Braixen. "Huh? What is it, Braixen?"

"Braixen, Brai!"


Quokkawatt was moping in the bushes, Serena's words echoing in its head. Was it really this useless to Serena? It tried its best, but it just couldn't seem to help Serena pull off her performances. Maybe... maybe It and Serena just weren't meant to work together.

"Lu? Lu?" Quokkawatt turned its head to see Lunoth flying up to it. It seemed to be trying to ask it what was going on. However, Quokkawatt didn't want to look at it. It slowly walked away, but then it stumbled upon something. Half-buried in the ground, it saw some round, blueish thing. Curious, Quokkawatt tried to dig it out, and it gasped upon seeing that it was a Pokémon Egg. It looked at it in awe.

Suddenly though, it heard something coming. Out of the foliage came a weird-looking Pokémon. It looked like a plant, a tall, green stem with legs but with three leaves on its head, as well as two arms that looked like little green branches with three leaves each. Whatever it was, it looked angry. It saw Quokkawatt, and it pointed at the egg in its hands. "Poi!"

Quokkawatt released it wanted the egg, but it shook its head and refused. The plant Pokémon ran up to it and grabbed onto it, trying to wrestle the egg away from it. Suddenly, Lunoth shot a Signal Beam at the plant Pokémon, sending it flying away. It then grabbed Quokkawatt and flew away with it and the egg. The plant Pokémon quickly got up and ran after them.

It was at this point that the others had made their way into the brush, but they missed the fleeing Pokémon. "Quokkawatt?" called out Serena. "Quokkawatt, where did you go?"


The group was searching the entire jungle, but they couldn't find the lost Pokémon anywhere.

"Quokkawatt!" Serena ran around, desperately calling out for her Pokémon. "Quokkawatt, where are you!?"

"Hey, Serena, calm down!" said Olga. "It's going to be alright."

"No," said Serena. "It's gone 'cause it heard me say some bad things about it, and now it's gone. It thinks it's useless to me. Why did I say all that? Now it wants nothing to do with me."

"Hey, Serena," said Ash, "that's not true. Quokkawatt wouldn't just leave you like that, Serena. It knows you care about it."

Serena seemed unsure, but Ash grinned and said, "Trust me, we'll find Quokkawatt and you two can work it out."

Suddenly, the group heard a noise. There looked over to the brush where it came from, and walked over, but were surprised when they saw the plant Pokémon from before show up, and behind him, a big, burly, bearded man with muscular arms. The man was carrying a huge sack over his shoulders.

"Alright, so you say this Quokkawatt thing took off this way?" said the man. "Just wait till we get our hands on it," said the man. "I'll get that egg back from it if we have to pry it from its unmoving paws."

Serena gasped upon hearing that. Is he looking for Quokkawatt? she thought. Suddenly, she accidentally stepped on a twig, which snapped out loud. The man and the Pokémon suddenly looked their way.

"Uh oh," said Olga. "Time to go." The group tried to slip away, but suddenly, a pair of vines came in and grabbed Serena, pulled out into the open.

"Oof!" Serena looked up to see the plant Pokémon and its vines wrapped around her.

"Well, well, well," said the man. "Looks like we got ourselves a snoop!"

"Hey, let her go!" came Ash's voice. The others ran out to confront the man. "Just who do you think you are?"

"It's Earl, you little brat!" said the man. "Now what do you think you're doing out here?"

"We could ask you the same question, pal," said Vernon.

RotomDex looked at the plant Pokémon and scanned it, saying, "Toxivy, the Poison Ivy Pokémon. A Poison and Grass Type. Its leaves are coated in an oil that can cause severe irritation to people and Pokémon, which it uses to its advantage to escape from attackers. Does not evolve."

Serena struggled against the vines, but managed to grab her PokéBall and release Braixen, who quickly used Flamethrower to burn the vines, forcing Toxivy to let go.

"Hey, we heard you say you were looking for a Quokkawatt. Just what do you want with it?" she said.

"Huh? How much did you hear back there!?" Earl said. "Look, it's none of your business! It just has something I want."

"An egg?" said Olga. "We heard you say it had an egg."

Earl just growled. "I'm gonna need you folks to stay outta my way. Toxivy, use Power Whip!"

Toxivy jumped and extended its arms into whips trying to bat everyone away.

"Pikachu, stop it with Iron Tail!" Pikachu jumped up and batted the vines away with its tail.

"Jelloater!" Vernon threw his PokéBall.

"Froslass!" Olga said, throwing her PokéBall.

Everyone readied their attacks, but Earl had other plans. "Toxivy, use Poison Powder!" Toxivy spewed some purple dust from its mouth, but fortunately, everyone quickly backed up to get away from it. Unfortunately, when the dust settled, Earl and Toxivy were nowhere to be found.

"Grr, it was a trick!" said Vernon.

"Guys, he's after Quokkawatt," said Serena. "What are we going to do?"

"Relax, Serena," said Ash. He pulled out a PokéBall and threw it, and out came Humbeat. "We can find Quokkawatt and Lunoth first." He looked at Humbeat and said, "Think you can take a look in the sky?" Humbeat nodded and took off.

Vernon let out Umbat and told it, "Can you look for them too?" His Pokémon nodded and flew off.

Serena was stuck thinking, just what did Earl want with Quokkawatt? The way he was talking, he was clearly trying to hurt it. "Guys, I'm sorry, but I gotta find Quokkawatt now!"

As she suddenly ran off, Ash called after her. "Serena! Wait!"

"There's no time to wait!" said Serena. "If Earl wants my Pokémon, he has to deal with me!"

The group would have stopped her, but she was already long gone.


Quokkawatt and Lunoth were lost in the jungle. Quokkawatt was exhausted and set the egg down, as it tried to catch its breath. Lunoth flew down to sit beside it. They looked up and saw the massive trees around them, and all seemed quiet for once. Quokkawatt looked at the egg, and moved its paw over its shell.

"Quokkawatt! Lunoth!" a voice called out. The two Pokémon turned to see Serena suddenly running out of the brush. "Yes! I finally found you! Oh, I was so worried!" She quickly scooped her Pokémon up in her arms, hugging them tightly.

"Quokka?"

"Oh, Quokkawatt, why'd you run off on me like that? I was so worried something happened to you guys!" Serena slowly let go, and said, "I'm sorry, you guys. Listen, Quokkawat, I don't want you to go. You're my partner, and I... I'm sorry for complaining about you earlier."

Quokkawatt looked at her surprised, but Serena continued, "I mean it like that. I know I said I was struggling with you, but it wasn't your fault. You and I, we just gotta keep trying, and we gotta work together. But I want to perform with you. Because I know you want to make me proud."

Quokkawatt was surprised, butvtgen it smiled and cooed and jumped back into Serena's arms. "Aww, it's alright," said Serena. Lunoth looked at the scene before it, and it felt satisfied.

Suddenly, the bushes shook, and everyone looked over to see a pair of Lacerwarys walking out. They looked angry, and scratched the ground as if preparing to attack.

"Whoa, heads up, guys!" Serena said as her Pokémon got into fighting stances. The Lacerwarys charged forward outlined in white, preparing to use Acrobatics, but Serena's Pokémon dodged. Unfortunately, before they could counterattack, the Lacerwarys charged again, and managed to knock them about this time.

"Grr, those guys are fast!" Serena said. Then, she and her Pokémon gasped when she saw them standing next to the egg, eyeing it. "Hey, don't you even touch that thing!"

Quokkawatt growled, and it began stomping its feet. Suddenly, sand began flying from its feet and it scattered all over the faces of the Lacerwarys. Serena looked at it confused. Huh? Was that... Sand Attack?

The Lacerwarys were shaking their heads, tryingvto get the sand out of their eyes. Thinking quickly, Serena said, "Lunoth, quick! Dark Pulse!" Lunoth shot a beam of dark energy at the bird Pokémon, knocking them away. At this point, the Lacerwarys ran away.

"Nice job, you guys!" said Serena patting her Pokémon on the head. She then picked up the egg and presented it to Quokkawatt. "Did you guys find this egg?"

As Quokkawatt nodded, they heard a small noise. They looked up to see Humbeat and Umbat flying down from the sky.

"Oh, it's you guys!" said Serena. "Don't worry, everyone's safe." She looked back at her own Pokémon and said, "C'mon, let's go back to the others."


The others were all looking around the jungle. But they saw no sign of Serena, Quokkawatt, or Earl anywhere.

"Serena!" said Ash.

"Quokkawatt!" said Vernon.

"Ugh, we're never gonna find them!" Olga said.

Suddenly, they heard some trickling. They walked their way through the trees, and saw that they had made their way back to Misty Waterfall. "That's odd. How'd we wind up back here?" said Olga.

Suddenly, they heard another noise. They turned to see Earl and Toxivy behind them, but they were stuffing eggs into Earl's sack.

"Tox?" Toxivy said.

"Eh, forget it," said Earl. "We'll never catch that Quokkawatt. Let's just take the eggs we got and get outta here."

"I don't think so!" said Ash, as he ran up to Earl.

Earl just about jumped out of his skin as he turned to face Ash. "What? You guys again!"

"What do you think you're doing with all those eggs?" said Vernon.

"What do you think?" said Earl. "There are people on the black market who will buy the rarest of Pokémon Eggs. They want to have exotic Pokémon for underground rings."

"What?" said Ash. "Just what are they going to do with those Pokémon?"

"Don't know, don't care," said Earl. "I'm just here to get paid. Now, if you're smart..." Toxivy jumped in front of him, "...you'll kindly get out of my way."

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash said. Pikachu readied its attack, but Earl grinned, and Toxivy did not move.

"Ash, wait!" RotomDex said. But it was too late, Pikachu's tail connected, but Toxivy didn't seem fazed. However, Pikachu's body suddenly started to itch.

"Huh? What happened?" said Ash.

"It's Toxivy's Ability," said RotomDex, "Rash Coat. When an opponent makes contact with it, it'll be stricken with a rash that'll eat away at its health over time."

"Heh, heh," said Earl. "You kids ain't gonna beat me. Just get outta my way and no one gets hurt."

"No way!" said Vernon, as he and Olga threw their PokéBalls, and out came Jelloater and Froslass. However, Toxivy leapt on top of Earl's sack.

"That's enough, kids," said Earl. "Now, you attack, you'll hurt the eggs." The heroes all looked at him and growled, wondering what to do.

Unbeknownst to anyone, they were being watched. Serena, Quokkawatt, Lunoth, Humbeat, and Umbat had arrived and were watching from behind a rock. "It's that guy again," said Serena. "And he's got a bunch of eggs. How do we stop him without hurting the eggs."

She heard some sparks, so she looked down at Quokkawatt, whose cheeks were sizzling with electricity. Grinning, she said, "Quokkawatt, if you wanna help, I have a plan. Can you work with me?" Quokkawatt looked at her and nodded.

"I've had enough," said Earl. "Toxivy, use Petal Blizzard." Toxicy stirred up a storm of petals, and the heroes had to move in order to dodge it. But once it cleared, Earl and Toxicy were already running away with the eggs."

"Hey!" said Olga.

"Not so fast," came a voice. Earl suddenly found Serena and Lunoth standing in his way.

"Another one? Grr, Toxivy, use Power Whip!"

Toxivy readied its whips, but Serena grinned as she yelled out, "Quokkawatt, now!"

Suddenly, a bunch of sand was dumped all over the sack. Before Earl and Toxivy could even react to it, tgey suddenly got blasted with electricity.

"Huh?" said Vernon. "What just happened?"

Earl and Toxivy fell down, dazed from the blast, but the sack seemed unharmed.

"Oh, I see," said RotomDex. "Quokkawatt used Sand Attack in the sack so it wouldn't be affected by the electricity."

"Aw, nice!" Ash said.

Toxivy was now sitting by itself, so Serena ordered her Pokémon to attack. Quokkawatt quickly used Sand Attack in Serena and Lunoth before it used Disharge, while Lunoth used Dark Pulse. The pummeling of the attacks knocking Toxivy out.

"No!" Earl said, recalling his Pokémon. "Grr, you'll never catch me!" He quickly rose up and tried to run.

Serena was about to give another command, but then she saw Quokkawatt glowing red. "Quokkawatt?"

The others were about to chase after Earl, but Ash suddenly stopped them. "Hang on, guys, looks like Quokkawatt has this."

Quokkawatt stomped on the ground until it launched stone shards from the ground. They hit Earl knocking him away as the sack fell to the ground.

"Wow," said RotomDex. "That was Stomping Tantrum!"

"Whoa, nice job, Quokkawatt!" Serena said, patting her pleased Pokémon on its head.

Earl tried to get up, but then he found himself face to face with all our heroes, all surrounding him with their Pokémon ready to attack. "Aw, phooey," he said.


Some time later, Earl was being loaded carried away by the authorities.

"Thanks for catching him for us," said Officer Jenny. "We've trying to catch them for a while."

"What going to happen to all the Pokémon eggs?" said Vernon.

"Don't worry," said Jenny. "We'll take them back to the Pokémon Center to take care of them before we can return them to the wild once they're ready."

"Quokka," said Quokkawatt, and everyone looked down to see it carrying the egg it found.

"Oh, right," said Serena. "Quokkawatt found another egg by itself." She knelt down to grab it, but suddenly, it glowed.

"Whoa, what was that?" said Serena.

"I think the egg is responding to you and to Quokkawatt, Serena," said Olga.

"What are you talking about?" said Serena.

"I think the egg is close to hatching," Olga explained. "But I think it's come to sense Quokkawatt's presence, and it likes it. And now it's doing the same for you."

Serena and Quokkawatt looked at the egg as Jenny said, "Maybe you guys should take the egg with you. I think you can take good care of it."

"Us?" said Serena. She looked at Quokkawatt. "What do you think?" Quokkawatt smiled and lifted the egg up, cheering. "Heh, guess that's that."

"Man, you guys really are in sync, aren't you?" Ash said.

"You bet," said Serena. "Just wait till the next Pageant. We'll win for sure."

After a brief adventure in Misty Jungle, Serena and Quokkawatt have come to a new understanding. And now, it seened they'll be nursing a new teammate. What will happen next? Stay tuned, as the journey continues!

TO BE CONTINUED...