Lost in Pinwheel Forest
It had been a few days since Ash and his friends had faced off against Team Plasma and they were hopelessly lost, Chase had ran off the proper path and while Team Plasma had Zoroark to guide them out of the forest they had nothing of the sort. Ash didn't even have any of his Flying types on hand other than Farfetch'd who wasn't exactly a great flyer. Hilda had Pidove but the bird's eyesight was of little help since the forest was so dense.
"I swear we've passed that tree at least five times!" Hilda groaned.
"How can you tell? They all look the same to me." Cilan stated.
"It does feel like we've been walking in circles." Brock commented while Ash groaned.
"We're lost!"
"Times like these a Rotom Phone would come in handy." Hilda groaned out.
"A Rotom Phone, I have one of those!" Cilan piped up.
"You do?! Where is it?!" Ash excitedly asked.
Cilan reached into his pockets and felt around before quickly checking his bag as sweat began to pour down his face. "I-I think I left it back home on my dresser."
Hilda, Ash and Brock face faulted. It appeared the status quo remained, none of them had Rotom Phones.
"Too bad my Pokegear is out of service." Brock frowned. The company went bankrupt shortly after the debut of the Rotom Phones as they were entirely obsolete, Rotom and Poryphones did everything they did but performed better and had more features.
"I guess we'll keep walking around until we find the path." Ash shrugged. The others nodded and followed after him for a short while before Brock paused in place while casting a quick look around upon noticing there were only three of them.
"Hilda?" He called out, receiving no answer. He looked back towards the others only to find that they'd went on ahead without realizing they had fallen back. "Guys?" Brock called out once more, receiving no answer yet again. Brock shrugged before turning back to see if he could track down Hilda, it'd be easier finding the others if they were grouped together instead of being on their own.
Ash and Cilan had continued in the direction they were heading in, not realizing Hilda and Brock had fallen behind as there were several instances where the entire group had gone quiet from frustration. They only stopped when they couldn't advance any further as a giant lake stood directly in front of them. "Well it looks like this way is a bust," Cilan commented. "Let's go back and-Where'd Brock and Hilda go?"
"Huh?" Ash turned back and was shocked upon realizing that his friends weren't there. "They must have taken a wrong turn, let's go ba-ack!"
"Tym!" A group of adorable black and blue tadpole Pokémon leaped from the water and fired off Water Gun at Ash and Cilan causing them to quickly cover their faces with their arms.
"Who are those Pokémon?!" Ash grunted out as the water pushed against his arms.
"Tympole, they usually aren't so hostile though." Cilan stated while throwing a Pokeball forward. "Pansage use Seed Bomb!"
"Pansage!" A bundle of seeds burst out of Pansage's arms and were hastily thrown towards the Tympole, exploding against them and sending them flying back towards the water.
"Tympole..." Several of the Tympole sank into the water's depths as swirls filled their eyes. The remaining Tympole uttered out a cry before making a hasty retreat.
"Good job, Pansage!" Cilan praised.
"Pansage!" Pansage gave his trainer a thumbs up before jerking his attention back towards the lake as the water began bubbling.
"Something's coming!" Ash shouted out.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu flicked his tail, the electric mouse was about to spring forward to help out when a geyser of mud erupted from the depths. "Chaaaaa!" Pikachu cried out, falling backwards from Ash's shoulder and onto the ground as the mud pelted his face. He merely stunned and fully conscious as a large blue ovoid Pokémon burst out of the water before dropping in front of the group. Multiple blue bumps could be seen across the top half of his body while a large white colored tadpole tail could be seen attached to his rear, Ash had no idea what it was but based on its physical appearance and how it appeared after the Tympole he knew it had to be their evolution and likely the leader.
"Palpitoad the Vibration Pokémon, it lives in the water and on land. It uses its long, sticky tongue to immobilize its opponents."
"Pansage use Seed Bomb!" Cilan shouted out.
"Pansa-Pan!" Pansage screeched out as a flat brown fish Pokémon slammed down on top of him.
"Stunfisk!" The fish cried out.
"There's two of them?!" Ash exclaimed from shock while quickly scanning the new Pokémon with his Pokedex.
"Stunfisk the Trap Pokémon, it conceals itself in the mud of the seashore. Then it waits. When prey touch it, it delivers a jolt of electricity."
"Ash, you take on Palpitoad. I got Stunfisk!" Cilan shouted out. He needed another Pokémon and Stunfisk felt like the right choice for his Connoisseur journey.
"Alright, Snivy I choose you!" Ash shouted while throwing a ball into the air. Pikachu uttered out a grunt of disgust as he wiped the mud off his face.
"Snivy!" Snivy raised her head upwards in a smug fashion as she burst out onto the field.
"Magical Leaf!" Ash shouted out.
"Snivy!" Snivy cried out while flinging multiple glowing green leaves from her body. The leaves flew across the mud and pelted Palpitoad, raking across his body as he cried out in pain.
Palpitoad took a deep breath before firing a geyser of mud at Snivy, knocking her off her feet. "Sni." Snivy launched herself back into place with Vine Whip and awaited her trainer's orders.
"Vine Whip!" Cilan shouted out.
"Pan!" Vines burst from Pansage's side and smacked against Stunfisk. The fish shook it off before sending off a small dose of electricity from his body, giving Pansage an electrical shock. "Pansage!"
"Vine Whip!" Ash shouted out.
"Sni!" Vines burst from Snivy's side and smacked against Palpitoad, knocking him onto his back. Palpitoad's legs flailed about for a few seconds before he sprang back to his feet.
"Palpitoad!" Purple acid hurled from his throat and pelted Snivy causing her to utter a groan of disgust.
"Snivy..."
"Seed Bomb!"
"Pansage!" Giant seeds burst from Pansage's arms and were quickly sent flying across the mud, exploding against Stunfisk's face.
"Stun..." Stunfisk collapsed on the spot as swirls filled his eyes.
"Magical Leaf!"
"Sni!" Snivy fired off a flurry of glowing green leaves towards Palpitoad. Palpitoad cried out as the sharp leaves raked across his skin, the blob teetered back and forth before collapsing to his backside as swirls formed within his eyes.
"Alright, now for the Pokeball!" Ash shouted, throwing his Pokeball right as Cilan threw his. Both Pokeballs flew towards their target before opening up, absorbing their respective targets in a beam of red light before the balls hit the floor. The Pokeballs shook back and forth before chiming out to signal their capture, excitement shined upon both boys as they picked up the Pokeballs. "Alright, we caught Palpitoad!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
"Sni!" Pikachu and Snivy posed alongside their trainer.
"Welcome to the team, Stunfisk. The two of us will create some exciting battling flavors, I'm sure!"
"Pansage!"
"Tym..." The Tympole silently rose to the surface and eyed the two before vanishing beneath the depths, now that their leader and enforcer were both captured they had no need to bother them anymore.
Hilda was lagging a bit behind the others as they continued through the forest, she wasn't as athletic so her body wasn't as used to moving around for extended periods of time like the others. She stopped for a second to catch her breath when a strange sensation overcame her, her vision went black for a brief second before lightening back up as a pair of footsteps could be heard.
"Guys?!" She turned around, expecting to see Ash or the others only to find herself face to face with her brother. Dressed precisely how he was dressed during his fight against Alder seven years ago, the only thing different was the fact that he was his current height.
"Zach?!" Hilda excitedly raced towards him, excitement flickered in her eyes as she held out her arms for him. "You're back!"
The sound of a Pokeball enlarging could be heard shortly before a Lucario burst out.
"Carrrr!" The Lucario growled out, holding out his arms in a protective stance as he protected his trainer.
"Lucario!" Hilda was about to give the hug to him instead when she suddenly paused in place. "Wait a second... you're not Zach! Lucario's claustrophobic!"
The figure gritted his teeth as it and Lucario suddenly shapeshifted into N and Zoroark.
"Dark Pulse!" N shouted out in a rageful fashion.
"Zoroark!" A black-purple energy pulse shot out towards Hilda causing her to quickly dive to the floor.
"Eevee use Shadow Ball!" Hilda hastily shouted out.
"Eevoi!" Eevee burst from her ball and quickly fired off a ball of ghastly energy, blasting Zoroark back and knocking the wolf onto his backside. Hilda raised her brow as she certainly wasn't expecting Eevee to dish out a blow like that.
"Use Shadow Ball again!"
"Eevoi!" Eevee quickly fired off another ball of ghastly energy but Zoroark swiftly moved aside.
"Mystical Fire!" Hilda narrowed her eyes. She may not know a whole lot about Pokémon but something was definitely off here.
"Zoro!" Zoroark's mouth glowed bright orange as he prepared to fire off the attack.
"Dig!"
"Eevoi!" Eevee quickly burrowed beneath the ground before emerging beneath Zoroark only end up going right through him.
"What?!" Hilda exclaimed.
"Eevoi?!"
N smirked while flashing Hilda a mocking look. "Figure it out yet?"
"You're not N either, you're a Ghost type!" Hilda theorized that her vision going black for a brief second was the Ghost type using Hypnosis and that was all a dream.
N and Zoroark began cackling as they fused together, revealing the form of a Mismagius. Mismagius cackled as she prepared to blast Hilda with Mystical Fire.
"Shadow Ball!" Hilda shouted before grunting out as she felt weaker. She didn't know why though as Mismagius didn't appear to be draining her essence.
"Eevoi!" Eevee quickly fired off a ghastly energy ball, blowing Mismagius out of the sky.
"Mismag..." Mismagius began dropping towards the ground, not fully unconscious yet but Hilda reached down towards her belt was in reality and grasped at it. The sound of a Pokeball enlarging sounded within her ears as she tossed the ball forward.
"Go!" The ball spun through the air, opening up as it approached Mismagius before absorbing her in a beam of light. The ball dropped towards the floor and began shaking back and forth before chiming out to signal the capture shortly after hitting the floor.
Brock had stumbled across Hilda's unconscious form laying in a bush and quickly raced towards it before stopping in place as a strange noise could be heard.
"Litwick..." A white candle Pokémon could be seen leeching energy from Hilda's body while Hilda's body twitched and stirred.
"It's draining her life force!" Before coming to Unova, Brock was sure to study the most dangerous Pokémon just in case he needed to treat any injuries. Litwick was at the top of the list as the species was known to drain life force from unsuspecting trainers.
"Marshtomp use Hydro Pump!" Brock desperately shouted out while flinging the Pokeball forward.
"Marshtomp!" The Hoenn starter cried out. He took a deep breath before firing off a powerful water geyser, blasting Litwick and sending the candle flying across the field.
"Litwick..." The candle groaned out, sprawling onto his backside as swirls formed within his eyes.
Brock tapped his chin for a second before tossing a ball at Litwick. He may be a doctor but it was a good idea to expand his roster a bit and having a Ghost type could be an interesting experience. The ball whisked towards the unconscious candle and opened up, engulfing him in a beam of red light. The ball shook back and forth before chiming out to signal the capture right as another ball chimed out. Brock quickly looked to his side and noticed Hilda slowly raising from the bush.
"Hilda!"
"Brock?! I had this crazy nightmare, there was this Mismagius pretending to be Zach and N before I figured out that a Pokémon had to be behind all this. I managed to beat and catch it-Wait a second, does that mean I beat her in the real world too?"
Brock glanced towards the other ball before uttering out a chuckle as he nodded his head. "I suppose so."
"Pede."
"Venipede." A swarm of magenta colored centipedes came into view causing Brock and Hilda to jump back, fearing they'd stumbled into their territory but Brock soon realized their gaze was fixated directly ahead of where the Venipede were heading.
"Huh." Brock scratched his chin while fixating his gaze towards where the Venipede were heading. "That's strange."
"Where do you think they're going?" Hilda asked.
"I'm not sure but I suppose it won't hurt to find out, maybe it'll lead back to the others."
"Pede. Venipede." The Venipede horde eventually arrived at a clearing where Jessie, James and Meowth could be seen alongside Pierce and an older man. He appeared to be in his late fifties or early sixties as his hair was entirely white while signs of aging could be seen along his face and hands. He appeared to be a Team Rocket scientist based by the fact he was willingly helping them work their machines and wore the same lab coat that Dr. Namba wore.
"Venipede..."
"Emol..." A flying squirrel Pokémon could be seen amongst the Venipede horde along with a few Pikachu and a Blitzle.
"This is working just like I planned." The scientist clasped his hands together as the machine took gave out some readings. "The Meteorite fragment that you three stole from the museum turned out to be working just like I theorized!"
Jessie, James and Meowth uttered out gleeful shouts as they weren't used to praise from their fellow agents.
"Thank you sir!"
"Wobbuffet!" While Ash and everyone was focused on Team Plasma, the Rocket trio had casually slipped into the museum to take the meteorite fragment that Lenora had in storage. The only security the storage had was the manual kind and the guards were all focused on the Dragonite skull that Team Plasma had stolen.
"What's so special about this meteorite anyways?" Meowth asked.
"Pika..." Brock and Hilda heard the sounds of a Pikachu struggling and looked back to see Ash and Cilan had arrived.
"Team Rocket!" Ash growled out, theorizing that this must be another scheme to steal Pikachu. "Osha-" Brock quickly covered his mouth and shushed him.
"We don't know what they're doing!" Brock whispered.
"There's an old legend around here, one in which it's hard gathering all the facts as there's no official writings in stone anywhere about it." Dr. Zager stated.
"We believe that the leader of Team Plasma hoarded all the knowledge for years so that nobody could know what he's up to." Pierce spoke. "He's certainly old enough that he could stop it before it got backed up on the Pokeweb but we did find some records on an ancient meteorite that is said to contain a great and mysterious power, and this meteorite appears to be the right fit for said meteorite. There are definitely unusual readings coming off it and although this doesn't appear to be the right place, we're definitely getting closer to the true location. It might be the D-"
"Thunderbolt!" Ash had seen enough, whatever this mysterious meteorite was he couldn't just let Team Rocket get their hands on it.
"Pikachuuuu!" Pikachu shook his head, breaking free of the machine's hypnotic frequency before firing off an electrical bolt that promptly blew the machine up. Pierce and Zager quickly hit the deck while the Rocket Trio and Wobbuffet shouted out as electricity flowed through them.
"Don't just stand there you fools, get him!" Dr. Zager shouted.
Pierce silently stared at Ash, sizing him up while Jessie and James threw a set of Pokeballs into the air.
"Get them, Swoobat!"
"You too, Cofagrigus-Eeek!" James screamed out as the giant coffin shoved him inside. "Not me, go get them!" James hastily shouted while pointing towards the twerps.
"Cofa!"
"Pikachu use-"
"Attract!" Jessie swiftly shouted out.
"Swoobat!" Swoobat cooed out while performing a seductive pose.
"Chaaaaaa!" Pikachu's jaw dropped as hearts appeared in his eyes.
"Ugh." Ash clenched his fists. "This is so frustrating!"
"An easy work around would be if Pikachu found actual love." Brock stated while chucking a ball into the air. "Blissey!"
"Wait, Attract works like that?" Hilda asked.
"Yes, it's a little known fact." Brock stated. "The only other reason it won't work is if Pokémon don't swing that way."
"Huh." Ash recalled how Panpour didn't react to Snivy's Attract, one of those must be why it didn't work but he wasn't going to press the issue.
"Snivy, I choose you!"
"Sni!" Snivy cried out as she burst onto the field alongside Blissey.
"Two can play this game, Attract!" Ash shouted while pointing towards Cofagrigus.
"Sni!" Snivy performed a seductive stance while winking towards her target.
"Cofa!" Hearts appeared in Cofagrigus' eyes.
"Shadow Ball!" James shouted out.
"Cofa!" Cofagrigus groaned while frozen in place.
"Magical Leaf!" Ash shouted out.
"Sni!" Snivy fired off a flurry of glowing green leaves towards her opponents, knocking the two off course.
"Coffa!"
"Swoo."
"Thunderbolt!" Brock shouted out.
"Bliss!" Electricity crackled around Blissey's body before firing off, giving both Cofagrigus and Swoobat an electrical shock.
"Gah!"
"Wobbfu!" Team Rocket shouted while they got caught in the blast. Zager quickly turned tail and ran off into the woods while Pierce uttered out a grunt, attaching a jetpack to his back before taking off into the air as the Rocket trio were sent blasting off.
"Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!"
"Wobbuffet!" The trio disappeared over the horizon while their machine laid in ruins. Hilda walked over and kicked around the rubble before frowning as she shook her head.
"There's no meteorite shard either."
"It's possible it was destroyed." Cilan theorized.
"Or one of their associates grabbed it while we weren't paying attention." Brock stated. They could still chase after Zager but he likely had no idea where he was going either, they couldn't afford to get even more lost than they already were.
"Whirlipede!" A purple bug that was curled up like a tire rolled up in front of the group, giving them all a look as a set of footsteps could be heard racing onto the scene.
"You lot, what the hell were you doing with that machine?" A man in his mid twenties raced up and got in front of them, a defensive look in his eyes as he looked the group over. He had a head of long messy brown hair and wore quite the fashionable outfit, an attire more fit for a fashion designer than a trainer. He wore a green dress shirt and quite the colorful pair of paints, multiple different colored lines were vertically along the legs while a red scarf could be seen around his neck. "It put the Bug and Electric types around here under some sort of trance."
"We didn't do anything!" Brock shouted out.
"It was all Team Rocket!" Ash shouted out.
"Who?" Burgh questioned while raising a brow.
"They're bad people who steal Pokémon." Cilan explained. "Hey Burgh."
"Cilan?" Burgh's stance instantly shifted and became more relaxed upon recognizing his fellow Gym Leader. "What brings you out here? Is Cress with you?"
"My brother's are still in Striaton City." Cilan stated.
"Aw." Disappointment was visible upon Burgh's face as he shifted his gaze towards the ground. "I miss him."
"Long distance relationship?" Brock theorized.
"Yes actually, how did you guess?" Cilan asked before sweating as Brock waved a finger at him.
"You forget that I'm the love doctor! I recognize the signs of love and attraction, even if it's between men!"
"Yet I'm the only one here that's had a date." Hilda snickered causing Brock to face fault.
"Ugh!" Croagunk burst out and laughed out at the burn Hilda dealt before proceeding to drag Brock away.
"What are you all doing here then?" Burgh asked. "Don't tell me it was all a coincidence."
Ash, Hilda and Cilan were silent causing Burgh to shake his head. "Figures. So what takes you off the path? You're all pretty far into the forest, don't you all know Pokémon are more hostile and primal out here?" Unova didn't have a lot of forests, what with them cutting down most of them to develop or expand cities such as Castelia, Black City, or to help build resorts like Undella Town. So those that dwelled within forests were quite protective of what they had and didn't appreciate humans stepping onto their turf.
"We kind of got lost trying to stop Team Plasma to steal the Dragonite Skull." Cilan sweated.
"I heard about that," Burgh held up a green Rotom Phone. "I was already here, painting another masterpiece when Lenora informed me of the situation. I tried looking around but I couldn't find any sign of them."
"Well two of them escaped by tree, the other two ran off on foot." Hilda spoke.
"By tree?! Well that explains why I couldn't find them." Burgh mused. "Well do you all want my help? I've been through this forest countless times and know it like the back of my own hand!"
"Yes please, I want to get to Castelia City so I can challenge you to a Gym Battle!" Ash eagerly exclaimed.
"Pi Pikachu!"
Burgh chuckled while giving Ash a light nod. "I'll be happy to accept as soon as I'm back in Castelia, I'm not going with you. Just guiding you back to the path." He gestured with his hand. "Now follow me and stick close, we don't want to get separated."
"My lord, where are you going?" N jumped up upon feeling a hand touch his arm. It was late in the evening and he'd decided to go out on a stroll around the castle to clear his head, he couldn't get the newfound information out of his head. The knight that served their cause was secretly and formerly one of the strongest trainers to come from Unova in recent years, he doubted that was the case now though as he hadn't been on the battle scene in seven years and didn't appear to have his former team with him.
"Restroom, I need to take a leak." N casually spoke causing the old man, another one of the Seven Sages known as Giallo, to leap back from surprise. "You're welcome to join me if you wish."
"Er-Of course, go on ahead my lord!" Giallo quickly walked away, feeling quite uncomfortable.
N smirked to himself, knowing that would get Giallo off his back. He took a quick look around to make sure that nobody was looking before heading for the stairs that led to Plasma Castle's lower levels which was off limits to most of Team Plasma save for a select few such as the Sages, Colress and Ghetsis. N carefully moved along the shadows before quickly freezing in place as a trio of ninja with long flowing white hair silently walked through the corridor. The ninja were heading towards the stairs, unaware of N's presence before he uttered out a cough as he'd held his breath for too long. The trio looked at each other and nodded before walking around the corridor, their eyes glancing around and taking in every single inch of the lower floors while sweat poured down N's face. The triad dwelled closer to N, their eyes narrowed as they approached his spot in the shadows.
"GAH!" A loud scream of pain could be heard further down the hall causing the triad to look that way before nodding at each other as they backed off from N's spot. N silently watched them leave before uttering out a sigh of relief, he couldn't believe that they didn't see him. The screams of pain continued as N ventured along the corridor before coming across the room the sounds from coming from. He carefully peered through the door's barred window and saw Zinzolin and his Eelektross standing before an individual as they tortured him.
"Again." Zinzolin cackled, gleefully rubbing his hands together.
"Eel!" Electricity crackled through the eel's body before expelling outwards towards the man they were torturing.
"Gah!" The man dropped to his knees and began breathing heavily. N peered closer to the window and narrowed his eyes, noticing the knight's armor sprawled out across the room. He then took in his appearance; he'd done a bit of research on Hilda's brother and it definitely looked like it could be him. Granted his hair was long and he now had facial hair, it didn't look like Team Plasma let him shower either as dirt could be seen caked up all over his body.
N tilted his head as he couldn't understand why he was being tortured, it wasn't like he had failed as every mission so far was a success. But Zinzolin's cackles soon woke him to the truth, Zinzolin wasn't doing this for a reason. He was doing it because he loved the thrill of torturing people! N suddenly collapsed to his rear, sweat poured from his head as he realized the hard truth that Ghetsis had been lying to him all along. Team Plasma wasn't looking for peace, they never were. Team Plasma was everything they were preaching against and more, there was nothing he could do on his own though. He was just one man. He slowly stood up to make his way out of the basement when he felt somebody drop down behind him. "Mmph!" N felt somebody grab his mouth and drag him further into the shadows, his muffled shout drowned out by the sound of the knight's torture and Zinzolin's sinister cackles.
I like Leavanny but I didn't want to give Ash too many captures, I felt like I needed to say it since it'll be asked sooner or later. I'm trying to give his new Pokémon time to shine before the old guard returns.