Chapter 84: Forest Infestation
With Ash's latest Area Boss battle ending in victory for him he and Nikki's next stop was the Pokémon Center where Ash's Pokémon needed some much needed TLC. While they waited for the Pokémon's checkup to conclude Ash and Nikki talked about the battle.
"Man, that as my toughest battle to date," Ash commented. "And to think I'm only half way through with the challenge."
"And it won't get any easier from here," Nikki stated. "The battles are only going to get more difficult from here on out. I certainly hope you're not thinking about backing out now."
"Not a chance, though I am going to have to think about how I approach these battles," Ash said. "The battle against Lesley showed me that brute force won't win me every battle. I need to use a bit of strategy as well." Right then a chaime went off inside the Center, letting Ash know his Pokémon were ready for him. They approached the front desk, where Nurse Joy was waiting with a tray containing Ash's Poké Balls.
"Everyone is back to full health," she announced. He thanked her and, after collecting his Poké Balls, made his way to the videophones so he could call Professor Oak to swap out some members. When all was said and done his team consisted of Pikachu, Arcanine, Meganium, Croconaw, Swellow and Muk. Nikki also decided to make a change, swapping Swablu for Chatot.
"We ready?" Nikki inquired.
"Almost," Ash replied. "We still need a destination." Nikki took out her Pokécomm and pulled up the map function.
"Let's see… there's a town just to the west of here," she reported.
"Then let's head there," Ash suggested. With their destination now set Ash and Nikki left the Pokémon Center and headed towards the west.
Once they left the Valley of the Iron Fist the scenery changed. Gone were the tall cliffs of the valley, replaced by lush green fields and various fruit and berry trees. For Ash and Nikki this was a most welcoming change. As they continued on the number of trees began to grow. Eventually they found themselves in the middle of a dense forest. It was so thick that it almost blocked out the sun in some areas.
"We should watch where we're going. Don't want to trip over anything," Ash said.
"I'll grab my flashlight to help us see better," Nikki said. She rummaged around in her bag for a bit before pulling out her flashlight. With a bit more light it was easier for them to navigate the forest. As they walked deeper into the forest they noticed that they hadn't seen any Pokémon anywhere.
"It's strange that there aren't any Pokémon around, don't you think," Nikki commented.
"It is," Ash agreed. "I wonder what's up." They kept walking, wondering when they'd see a Pokémon of any kind. Eventually they came to a clearing where the sun was shining down, illuminating the area to the point where Nikki was allowed to give her flashlight a break.
"Well this is a welcome change of scenery," Nikki said.
"Yeah. We can actually see the scenery," Ash added.
"(That's not the only thing different,)" Pikachu pointed out. Along with the sun-lit scenery before them the area seemed to be teeming with Pokémon now.
"I guess this is where they all were," Ash assumed. As they looked around Nikki noticed something about all the Pokémon.
"Is it just me or are all the Pokémon here Bug types," she inquired. Ash took a moment to really look at the Pokémon in the clearing.
"You're right. They are all Bug types," he confirmed. Every kind of Bug type Pokémon, from Weedle to Burmy and everything in between were crawling all over the clearing. Eventually Ash's eyes landed on a Caterpie crawling up one of the trees. Seeing the small Bug type brought back memories of his old friend. Nikki soon noticed the faraway look in his eyes.
"Ash, you okay?" she asked, snapping him out of his trance.
"Huh? You say something?" Ash wondered.
"You were staring at that Caterpie for so long I was just wondering if you were okay," Nikki explained.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine," he told her. "I was just thinking back to the first Pokémon I ever caught."
"Let me guess, it was a Caterpie," Nikki guessed.
"It was, though he didn't stay that way for long. He evolved into a Butterfree the next day," Ash said. "Man, we had some adventures together."
"Do you still have him?" Nikki asked.
"I don't. He fell in love with a female Butterfree, so I let him go to be with her," Ash answered. "I often find myself wondering what he's up to."
"I'm sure he's happy and thinking of you too," Nikki said. The two of them stood there in silence for a bit before Nikki came up with an idea.
"Why don't we look for some Pokémon to catch," she suggested. "I'm sure we'll find some good ones here."
"That's not a bad idea," Ash commented. With a plan in place the two of them began looking around for some Pokémon to catch. Nothing seemed to catch their eye until Ash spotted one that resembled a scorpion.
"What's that one?" he wondered as he took out his Pokécomm.
Name: Skorupi
Species: The Scorpion Pokémon
Pokécomm Entry: It burrows under the sand to lie in wait for prey. Its tail claws can inject its prey with a savage poison.
"That one could be strong," he commented. Nikki followed his gaze and saw the Skorupi.
"You thinking about catching him?" she inquired.
"Yeah," Ash answered. He stepped forward, a Poké Ball in hand. The other Pokémon, aware of what was about to happen, all took cover. The Skorupi, however, seemed eager to battle as he turned to face Ash.
"When this is all said and done you'll be mine, Skorupi!" Ash declared.
"(We'll see about that,)" the Skorupi replied.
"Swellow, I choose you!" Ash shouted, sending out his Swallow Pokémon. The two combatants each stared at the other, waiting to see who would make the first move.
"Use Wing Attack!" Ash instructed. Swellow dove down towards the Skorupi, his wings giving off a white glow. The Skorupi, however, was able to dodge the attack and fired off a volley of green-colored needles from his claws as Swellow passed by.
"Watch it! That's Pin Missile!" Nikki warned. Thankfully Swellow was able to dodge the attack, but this left the two of them at a stalemate.
"Let's try something faster! Quick Attack!" Ash said. Swellow did as he was instructed and went with a high speed attack, charging in with a Quick Attack. Right before making contact, however, the Skorupi flashed a rather frightening face as Swellow, forcing him to abandon his attack. The Scorpion Pokémon took the opportunity to then slash at Swellow with purple claws, knocking the Swallow Pokémon to the ground.
"Skorupi used Scary Face to slow Swellow down and then hit him with Cross Poison," Nikki commented. "Man, this Skorupi has a lot of tricks." Skorupi's attack left Swellow a bit dazed as he was having a bit of difficulty getting back up. Skorupi noticed this and charged forward, his mouth opened wide.
"That looks like a Bite attack!" Nikki shouted.
"Look out, Swellow!" Ash warned. The Flying type looked up in time to see the Skorupi coming in with his Bite attack. With one powerful flap of his wings Swellow was airborne, dodging the attack completely.
"Good job! Now let's confuse him with your Double Team!" Using his superior speed Swellow began creating copies of himself all around Skorupi. Soon the Scorpion Pokémon found himself surrounded by copies of Swellow. He looked around nervously, unable to find the real Swellow among the copies.
"Alright, now use Aerial Ace!" Ash called. Immediately all the Swellow dove towards the Skorupi. In response the Scorpion Pokémon fired a volley of Pin Missile at the incoming Pokémon, hoping to hit the real Swellow. Unfortunately for him all he hit was the copies, missing the real Swellow who was attacking from his right. The super-effective attack knocked the Skorupi into the air as Swellow passed.
"Now double back and use Quick Attack!" Ash instructed. Managing to keep up his impressive speed Swellow doubled back and struck Skorupi with a Quick Attack. The two consecutive attacks left the Scorpion Pokémon dazed and weak, ripe for capture.
"My turn! Go, Poké Ball!" Ash shouted, throwing an empty Poké Ball at the downed Skorupi. The ball made contact and drew the downed Pokémon inside. All that was left to do was wait as Skorupi tried to break free. Moments later the familiar 'ping' of a successful capture reverberated through the air.
"Yes! We caught Skorupi!" Ash cheered. Seconds later the ball vanished as Skorupi was transferred to Professor Oak's lab. With the battle now over Ash went to praise Swellow.
"Thank you, Swellow. You were amazing," he praised.
"(Happy to help,)" the Swallow Pokémon replied. After thanking him he recalled him to his Poké Ball.
"That was awesome," Nikki commented. "It's got me pumped to catch my own Bug type." Now that Ash had captured his Pokémon it was Nikki's turn to catch one. As she looked around her eyes landed on a lone Pokémon sitting on the ground with its back turned to them.
"Ooh, what's that one?" she wondered. She took out her Pokécomm and scanned the Pokémon.
Name: Volbeat
Species: The Firefly Pokémon
Pokécomm Entry: It emits light from its tail to communicate. It loves the sweet aroma given off by Illumise.
"I want that one," she said, readying a Poké Ball. She was about to throw it when Pikachu stopped her.
"(Hold on!)" he shouted, stopping Nikki in her tracks.
"Huh? What's wrong?" she asked.
"(Something doesn't seem right,)" the Mouse Pokémon said.
"What do you mean, buddy?" Ash inquired.
"(It may just be me but he seems… sad,)" Pikachu replied.
"(It's not just you,)" Buneary added. "(I'm getting that feeling too.)" Nikki didn't know whether they were right or not but she knew better than to doubt their instincts. She started walking towards the Volbeat. As she got closer she began to hear something. To her it almost sounded like crying. She knelt down next to him and looked at his face. The Volbeat was indeed crying, tears streaming down his face.
"They were right," she mused.
"(No one wants me…)" the Volbeat sobbed.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Nikki asked. The Volbeat didn't even turn to look at her as he responded.
"(I was part of a swarm of Volbeat and Illumise that called this forest home. Eventually it was time for us to move on, but before that we needed to pick a mate. Unfortunately there weren't enough Illumise for all the Volbeat, and I… I was the one who was left out,)" he explained, tears still falling. "(Now the others are gone, and I'm all alone.)" Nikki's heart went out to the lonely Pokémon. She couldn't imagine how it felt to be all alone like that.
"I'm sorry that happened to you, but you don't have to be alone," she told him.
"(I… I don't?)" the Volbeat asked, finally looking her way.
"No, you don't," she repeated. "You see, I'm a coordinator and I think you'd do good on my team." Upon hearing this hope filled the Volbeat's eyes.
"(A-Are you saying that… you want me?)" he asked.
"I am. I want you on my team," Nikki answered. For the first time in a while the Volbeat felt happiness as he flew up and hugged Nikki.
"(Oh thank you! Thank you! I'll be the best Pokémon I can be for you!)" he promised.
"I don't doubt that one bit," Nikki said, happy to have made him happy. She took out an empty Poké Ball and tapped him on the head. The ball didn't even shake as the Volbeat gladly allowed himself to be captured. Seconds after the 'ping' the ball was sent to Professor Redwood's lab.
"I'll see you soon, Volbeat," she said. As she stood back up Ash approached her.
"I think Volbeat will make a good Contest Pokémon," he commented.
"I'm sure he will too," Nikki agreed. The two trainers looked to the sky through the trees and saw it was getting a bit late in the day.
"I don't know about you but I want to get out of this forest before it gets too late," Nikki said.
"I'm with you on that," Ash said. With each of them having captured a Pokémon they continued on their way through the forest, hoping to make it out before dark. As they walked the trees began to thin out.
"I think we're getting close to the exit of the forest," Ash announced. They kept walking and soon found themselves back in open plains.
"Ah, it feels good to be back out n the open again," Nikki commented. By now the sun had cast an orange glow across the sky, indicating that night was fast approaching.
"Let's set up camp now and head out in the morning," Ash suggested.
"Good idea," Nikki agreed. "You get everything set up while I get us something to eat." Now that they were out of the forest and with nighttime quickly approaching the two of them got busy setting up their campsite.
A trek through a Bug-infested forest has landed Ash and Nikki each a new Pokémon. With their teams growing more and more each day how will they fare in their next challenges? Find out in the next chapter of Search for Power!
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