[Pokémon] PMD: Naïve Amnesia

[EkaSwede]

Well, forumers, I'm a little nervous posting this, considering that the first PMD is rather old. But hey, I hope it will be enjoyable for you.

EDIT: Seeing as I actually have the first 34 chapters already written, I try to post them up as quick as possible. After all, for some inexplicible reason, it's harder to find a mistake in Words than it is in forum posting, so I constantly check for inconsistencies.

EDIT2: Deepest apologies for suddenly disappearing like a confident moron...

I would also, like a lot of you, appreciate constructive criticism about this average fiction.

Obligatory disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon in any way; this is but a generic piece of fiction.

Genre: General/Humour/Friendship
Rating: T (although rather insecure about it)
Summary: A kleptomaniac Charmander and a Machop with speech impediments are forced to form a Rescue Team so they can pay off a debt. A slightlty different take on the game.

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(Generic prologue)​

It all begun with a boy who had a dream, a dream in which he could be a known individual. He was known as playful at most times, yet very foolhardy. He imagined a lot of being another being, a being with strength superior to human.

However…

In another world, something terrible was about to happen. This event, an event that would bring mass destruction and devastation, was to be hindered by a certain someone.

An intervention had to occur to stop this foreseen destruction. This intervention would consist of a brave boy with many playful, innocent imaginations. This boy would undertake a quest to hinder this terrible event.

But something went wrong before the metamorphosis… something very, very wrong…

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"Chapter I: Be you my friend?"​

A Pokémon which had been sleeping against a tree slowly woke up. It sat up groggily and shook its head as if to remain consciousness faster. It felt a beating pain on its forehead as it put its grey hand on it.

"Grey?'" it thought slowly. It put its hand down on the grassy ground and looked at itself. Its entire body was grey, and it could see the ribs on its chest. It wiggled its toeless feet curiously, wondering why it had them.

"Finally awake, eh?" a voice called, "took you long enough."

It almost jumped to its feet in surprise, but it only resulted falling down on its rear end again. It looked at the direction from where the voice had come from. An orange lizard looked at it with curious blue eyes. It was about to freak out when it noticed something terrible.

"L-l-l-look out, Orange lizard thing!" it shouted, pointing at the lizard's tail, "Tail yours on fire is!"

The orange Pokémon peeked at its tail and shrugged. It then looked back at the sitting Pokémon oddly.

"You know, Machop, it's supposed to. If a Charmander's flame is put out, they die," said the Charmander, revealing both species of the Pokémon.

"Charomandor?" asked the Machop, not having heard that in its life. Charmander stomped forward once, its tail flaring up. Machop, however, didn't show any sign of fear.

"No, Char-Man-Der, dense-head!" it snapped.

"…eh… what?" Machop carefully asked, feeling a little uneasy.

Charmander sighed, putting one of its paws on its chin, tilting its head. "Oh, brother…"

"You brother mine are?" Machop then asked hopefully with a smile, only receiving a glare from Charmander.

"First off, I'm a girl! Secondly, speak clearly, since it's hard to understand what you say! Jeez!" she spat, letting loose of a puff of smoke. Machop just continued smiling.

"Then Orange lizard my girl-brother is?" Charmander was now close to popping a vein. She was clenching one of her paws hard enough to hear some cracks in the knuckles. "Why angry Orange lizard be? Be you troubled?"

"YES!" Charmander shouted right at the Pokémon as she punched the tree it was sitting by. Once again, Machop wasn't even fazed and continued to stare into Charmander's eyes with the same curious expression. "IT'S YOU! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?" she shouted again at it.

"Me not know where me is…" Machop muttered, finally looking down. "Me not know what me is."

Charmander looked at him, unable to say anything at first. She wondered if this Pokémon had strayed to far from home. But then, Fighting Pokémon where Fighting Pokémon: All brawls and no brain.

"Well, you're a Machop, and you're just outside Tiny Woods," she shortly answered, receiving a confused look from Machop. "Oh… not again," she muttered.

"What a Machop?" it asked curiously, smiling again. Charmander smacked her head with her paw in exasperation.

"Come here, there is a stream where you can see your reflection," she beckoned. Seeing as Machop just stared at her blankly, she sighed and grabbed a hold of its arms and pulled it up. "You're heavy," she stated. Machop glanced up at the sky and smiled goofily while he was dragged by the fire lizard.

When they came up to the stream, Machop's eyes lit up.

"Water, yay! Me thirsty!" it exclaimed jollily as it ran ahead of Charmander. She fortunately let go of the happy Pokémon and watched it jump in the water. The water splashed enough to make Charmander back off so she wouldn't get any water over her.

But Machop didn't resurface. Worried, Charmander ran to the water's edge to see if Machop was under the surface.

"Peek-a-boo!" it shouted as it suddenly popped out from the surface, as happy as ever. It guffawed when it saw Charmander jump back in sudden fright. Fortunately for Machop, the water level wasn't high where he was, which allowed him to pull the little prank. "Fun!" it shouted as it began drinking the fresh water.

When it was done it walked out of the water, and shook of the remaining water like a dog. "Much fun!" it added with a laugh. Charmander grew even more annoyed.

"Gah! Stop it! It's cold!" she yelled, cowering from the water droplets being flung at her. Machop turned to look at her. It tilted its head and raised an eyebrow (or whatever they have resembling eyebrows).

"Orange lizard… is small," it stated, now that it was standing up fully. She grumbled a little but then urged it to look in the stream. Machop stared blankly before getting down on all fours, looking in the river.

It looked in it for a while before it smiled. "Hello," it happily greeted. Charmander looked at the Pokémon oddly and walked up to it.

"That's you, Machop," she simply said. Machop looked at her and shook its head.

"No, no, silly lizard. Me is me, and he is he!" Machop looked back into the stream, and saw a greyish face with three disc like thingies on the top of its head. It also saw a pair of dark red eyes in the reflection, filled with joy.

"He is he?" inquired Charmander. "You mean that you're a guy?" Machop nodded. "Why didn't you say so?" she then asked him angrily.

"Silly lizard ask me not," he replied, still looking at his reflection.

She clenched her paws, having had enough being called lizard. "I have a name you know!" she snarled. Machop smiled and stood up, looking at her with the fearless, innocent eyes. That almost made her even angrier, why couldn't the darn creature get scared?

"My name's Flash," she said, mumbling cuss words under her breath.

"Good name," replied Machop. He rubbed his chin. "Me not have name, me forget." He hung his head sadly, showing that expression for once. "Me think it was something with L… L..."

The Charmander looked at the Machop with a little pity and cautiously walked up to him to comfort him. "Don't be sad, I can come up with a new name for you."

Machop lit up again. "Will you?" Flash nodded eagerly.

"Uh-huh, what about… hmm… Loopy?" she suggested. Machop smiled, but was confused.

"What Loopy mean?"

Flash scratched her head with her small claws. "Well, it means happy, yet funny, I think."

"Loopy?" he said to himself slowly. "Loopy…" Suddenly he started laughing out loud as he quickly stepped up to Flash, catching her in a tight hug. He lifted her up and danced around with her, still laughing.

"Oof! Down, Loopy, DOWN!" she yelled while she was being squeezed by the stronger Machop.

He immediately let go, still smiling. "Apologise, me too strong sometimes," he said lowly, flexing his arms a little.

"My ribs," muttered Flash, regaining her breath. "No more hugging, Loopy."

"Will try to not, but will forget," he replied obediently. She chuckled, despite the ache in her lungs after the hug. But this moment wouldn't go peacefully on though.

"THERE SHE IS!" one Pokémon yelled from a distance. It seemed like an angry looking pinkish dog.

"AFTER THE THIEF!" another one added. That one was much larger than the other, and was brownish.

Flash looked at Loopy and then suddenly darted off. The two chasing Pokémon soon ran by him, ignoring him completely. When he looked as the chasing Pokémon ran after Flash, he had seen that the big brown one was carrying a small Pokémon in its pouch.

And there he sat, completely clueless of what to. Why did Flash run away? What was a thief? And why was he just standing there?

"LOOPY!" he heard Flash call. Not having anything to do, he ran to where he heard the voice.

To be continued…

 

[EkaSwede]

"Chapter II: No hurt Flash!"​

Flash had run up to a dead end, or more exactly, she was at another part of the stream, where the two pursuers of hers blocked any way of escape. The two Pokémon, which consisted of a Snubbull and a Kangaskhan. Both looked rather angry.

"Gotcha!" snarled Kangaskhan, punching her paw in her other threateningly while her child in her pouch glared at Flash.

"Where's the stuff you stole, thief?" asked Snubbull, standing firmly with his arms crossed.

Flash gulped sheepishly before answering. "But I didn't take any-"

"You did, Flash, don't deny it," interjected Kangaskhan, "Snubbull saw you sneaking out with some items." Flash glared at the pinkish bulldog Pokémon, who briefly shudder. Kangaskhan stomped forward once to get Flash's attention. "Where is your loot?" she boomed.

Flash yelped as the big Pokémon bellowed at her. Of course she knew she used to accidentally steal things, but she didn't have them on her right now.

"B-b-but I don't have anything," she stuttered, lying unintentionally.

Kangaskhan stomped the ground again, hard enough to make the ground tremble a little. "LIAR!" she bellowed, "you have probably already sold the merchandise to your criminal contacts. And for that…" she raised a fist. She looked at Snubbull.

"We have to take you in," finished the bulldog Pokémon, stepping forward.

"But I don't want to live in captivity!" pleaded Flash, whom had gotten down on her knees. She was getting teary in her eyes.

Snubbull smiled, which was hardly noticeable due to its bulldoggish mouth. "Then we have to make sure you don't steal anymore," he said lowly. Both he and Kangaskhan approached Flash steadily, ready to fight.

Flash stood up and tried backing away, but as soon as her left foot touched the water she yelped. She turned and looked at the stream; if she fell in the water, she'd drown, but standing here would get her beat to a pulp anyway by those two Pokémon. She looked back at her would be attackers; there was no chance she'd take down a Pokémon that big!

Seeing no choice, she stood still, petrified with fear. Kangaskhan was right in front of her, and raised her fist to let loose a powerful punch. Flash cowered and covered her eyes.

The blow never came.

"Why Big thing want hurt Flash?" a voice asked. Flash recognized the messed up speech pattern.

She peeked through her paws, and saw Loopy the Machop in front of her, holding Kangaskhan's fist that would've stricken her. He seemed different now, though. Instead of his usual jolly attitude, he looked at the Kangaskhan angrily. His fist shook as he held off the opposing Pokémon's bigger paw.

Kangaskhan growled as she pulled back her paw in order to bring up the arrogant Machop so he'd be an easy target for her. Bad mistake

As Machop was pulled up, he readied a punch with his other fist and managed to punch Kangaskhan right before she did. He hit her hard in her right eye, causing her to drop him. He landed gracefully on the ground, flexing his muscles as he looked at the downed Pokémon.

"Me be strong," he proudly said, cracking a smile. He turned to face Snubbull, who seemed to feel uncomfortable. He slowly walked up to him, leering at the bulldog Pokémon.

Flash had been staring with awe at Loopy. He had knocked that Kangaskhan down all by himself. And he had done it for protecting her. She also felt guilty in a way.

"Back off!" snarled Snubbull as he bared his lower jaw teeth at Loopy in an attempt to threaten him. But Loopy just continued his calm, annoyingly carefree approach towards the Pokémon. "Eh-heh heh, nice Machop," he stuttered, backing slightly off himself.

"Me is nice," replied Loopy, smiling as he kept walking. But his smile turned into an angry frown. "But me no nice when mean things hurt Flash want," he then lowly said, raising a clenched fist.

Snubbull whimpered as he, in panic, leapt at the Machop, preparing to bite him. Machop swiftly sidestepped and sent a short upper right under the bulldog Pokémon's jaw. He followed up with a hard Low Kick, striking his opponent's crotch.

The air was knocked out of Snubbull as he fell to the ground, clutching his groin. Machop towered over the lying Pokémon as he brought up his hand, readying a Karate Chop.

Machop brought his palm down powerfully, but miscalculated the target and missed, toppling over. Fortunately for him, though, was that his head accidentally knocked Snubbull's, knocking him out.

He stood up, a little dizzy. He looked down at the defeated Pokémon and held his arms up in victory. "Me wins! Me be very strong!" he performed a small, but ridiculous victory dance, but then rubbed his head. "Maybe me must practise Karate Chop more… still clumsy."

Flash walked up to him, bursting with happiness and impression. "Loopy, that was awesome!" she commended, clapping her claws. "You beat them up like nothing! You're a great fighter!"

Loopy put his hands on his hip proudly, posing a little. "Me know. Very strong, says me!" he said rather goofily as he laughed afterwards. He then put his hands down, looking at her with inquisitive eyes. "Why mean Pokémon want you hurt?" he asked.

Flash's happiness faltered a bit, she tried to tell him but she couldn't. She briefly looked away from him. "They're after me because…" She stopped, staring at the large shadow which was looming over both Loopy and her.

Loopy just looked at the big shadow and turned around to see that Kangaskhan was back up. She had a black eye after the punch Loopy had given her, and she seemed mad as hell. Before Loopy knew it, the enraged Kangaskhan had him grabbed by the neck, and was slowly hauled up to her eyelevel.

"So," she began, snarling and baring her teeth at the Machop. Machop wasn't even close to intimidated; he just looked back at her calmly. "It appears that you are her new bodyguard? Not good enough, I must say." She dodged a punch from Loopy as she held her arm outstretched. She turned to Flash, glaring at her.

"Your father must be ashamed of you, Flash," she said, "being such a two-bit thief all the time." Loopy was flailing with his arms and legs, trying to break free. But this time it was too much in Kangaskhan's favour. "Well? How do you want it?" she asked, tightening her grip around Loopy's neck. "Either you tell me where the goods is, or-"

"Urgh, what be a thief?" Loopy coughed, try now to pry himself off Kangaskhan's grip. The Parent Pokémon looked at him oddly and loosened the grip.

"Come again?" she inquired.

"Me not understand, what be thief?" he asked again. Kangaskhan kept looking at him, not fully understanding. Flash however, thought she knew what he meant.

"He wonders what a thief is," she carefully said. "Loopy, a thief is-"

"I can explain that to him myself!" snapped Kangaskhan, sending a brief glare at her. She then looked at Loopy, tightening her grip. He responded by hammering his fists at her wrist repeatedly. That made her let go of him, and he fell down in his rear end.

"Mean, brown bully," muttered Loopy, shaking his fist at Kangaskhan. He slowly stood up, rubbing his neck. "Brown bully has strong grip."

He swiftly dodged a swipe from Kangaskhan, who was now furious. She swiped at him again, this time making him back into Flash.

"Sorry," he muttered to her as he stood up, raising his fists.

"Machop are always full of energy, aren't they?" mused Kangaskhan as she calmed down. "Want to know what a thief is?" she then asked. Loopy lowered his fists, nodding.

"If big meanie no hurt Flash, me listen," he said. Kangaskhan chuckled at first.

"I'm Kangaskhan, and I presume you are this… Loopy which Flash called for, no?" she asked. Loopy nodded. "Back to the subject. A thief is someone that takes other Pokémon stuff to keep for oneself, it's bad and mean. Your friend is a thief, she took a lot of important goods I had stored in my bank," she explained sternly, looking a Loopy.

Loopy seemed confused. "What be subject?" he asked, scratching his head. Flash put her paw at her forehead and sighed.

"You imbecile!" growled Kangaskhan, "didn't you listen?" This made Loopy even more confused.

"What be imcebile?" he then asked, smiling hopefully. The Parent Pokémon roared and stomped the ground.

"Uh, Kangaskhan, don't use any complex words, he's like a newly hatched child when it comes to conversing," explained Flash. But Kangaskhan glared at her. The glare was losing its effect due to the larger Pokémon's black eye, though.

"SILENCE, YOU THIEF!" she roared back.

"Why Kangokhan yell loud?" asked Loopy, keeping his inquisitive stare at the big Pokémon. She glared at her, but she was somehow calmed by Loopy's calm fearless attitude.

"How could such a nice Machop like you wind up with someone like that?" She looked at Flash with disgust.

"She be nice, give me name!" replied Loopy jollily, glancing at Flash with a smile.

"She steals other's things to keep for herself! She takes them for own profit!" scolded Kangaskhan. Loopy looked at her, and then at Flash with disbelief.

"That be bad?" he asked with worry.

"Yes, it's bad to do such things," confirmed Kangaskhan. Loopy turned around and faced Flash.

"Flash no can be bad, Flash be nice, but why Flash steal?" he asked her, or himself. Flash was silent; she felt bad about this, and guilty. "Is true? That Flash steal?" he then asked her.

Flash gulped and slowly nodded. "…yes…" she slowly said, her body shaking. "I'm sorry," she added quietly.

Loopy walked up to her casually and lightly patted her back. "Might be okay if returning stealen stuff," he suggested. Flash looked up at him, dumbfounded by a for once intelligent remark.

"Ohh, my head…" muttered someone from afar. It was Snubbull who had regained his consciousness. "My groin… and my jaw…" He slowly got on his feet, only to stumble down again. Kangaskhan walked up to him to aid him.

"Poor little Snubbull," she cooed, helping him stand up. "No serious injuries for you, luckily."

"I hope you whacked that Machop and Charmander for me," said Snubbull, rubbing his jaw and forehead.

"I'm getting my merchandise back," assured Kangaskhan, "or mostly, am about to. I've talked that Machop so he on our side."

Back to Loopy and Flash, Flash still stared at him with guilt.

"I have the stuff not far from here, I'll just have to hope that it's still there." She received a hug from Loopy, not as hard as the first one he had given, but it was still pretty tight.

"Flash is so nice!" he exclaimed, hugging tighter.

"Gah! I said no hugging!"

He let go of her, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Sorry, me forget." She giggled a little at his expression. "Now let get stuff!" he suggested.

"That's more like it!" said Kangaskhan, sounding happy to get her goods back. Flash couldn't see any reason of why she shouldn't comply.

"This way…" she muttered.

They walked off to the path leading to a forest.

"I hope the stuff's still there…" she thought, imagining the consequences if they weren't.

To be continued…

 

[EkaSwede]

"Chapter III: Why Flash steal?"​

"It's over there," muttered Flash, who had led the three other Pokémon into a forest. She pointed at a large, hollow tree.

"Bring it here," demanded Kangaskhan coldly. Flash looked at her, scared, and walked up to the tree.

Snubbull was still angry with Loopy for what he had done to him. He snarled and bared his lower teeth. "Stupid Machop," he muttered. Loopy grinned and punched his fist in his other palm, sending a mischievous grin. Snubbull yelped and hid behind Kangaskhan.

"Me no hurt pinky doggy. If pinky doggy nice to Flash is, me to pinky doggy nice," he told Snubbull, flexing his muscles.

"Don't call me Pinky!" piped Snubbull from behind Kangaskhan: Loopy smiled at the sight. "I'm Snubbull!"

Loopy held both his hands up in a shrug. "Snublie be nice name," he said, having trouble pronouncing the name.

"Stop picking on Snubbull, you naughty Machop!" scolded Kangaskhan, to whom Loopy stuck his tongue out. Loopy then noticed the baby which was in Kangaskhan's pouch. He curiously walked up to it.

"Hello," he greeted, waving to it. The baby yelped and hid inside the pouch, wailing loudly inside. Kangaskhan swatted Loopy powerfully with her right claw, as Loopy had no time to dodge.

"Look what you did," she snarled, "now you scared my little baby!" She looked down at her pouch and opened it carefully, trying to comfort her baby slightly.

Loopy, however, jumped to his feet, staring at Kangaskhan. "Why hit me? Me tried be nice!" He rubbed his sore cheek. Before Kangaskhan could reply, Flash came back with the sack of various items she had taken out from the tree.

"Here it is," she lowly said to Kangaskhan and Snubbull. Kangaskhan finished cooing her baby and looked at the sack's contents with joy.

"Wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Snubbull, did you bring the list?" Snubbull leaped out from behind, holding a checklist in his paws and sporting a jolly face expression.

"Yes, ma'am!" he yapped, strutting over to the sack with Kangaskhan as he watched her empty it.

"Thank Mew for this!" Kangaskhan exclaimed, holding up a fine belt. "The Tight Belt is there, now Snorlax will be happy!" She continued going through the contents, "Let's see, two Friend bows, eight Pecha scarves, plenty of gummis… a lot of plain bows."

Meanwhile, Flash was tugging Loopy's arm. "Come on, let's bail," she whispered. She tried to pull him with her in vain as he stood firmly on ground.

"What be bail?" he almost loudly asked. Flash hushed him angrily.

"Shh! We must sneak away, Loopy," she whispered to him, looking over to Snubbull and Kangaskhan who had their attention towards the stolen goods. "They'll still take us in."

"But me no want," whined Loopy, still standing still while Flash tried pulling him with her.

"Look, Loopy, when I say we run, we run. I'll explain later. But first we need to sneak," she told him. Loopy looked at her with a confused face. She sighed in frustration, "Not again," she muttered.

"What be sneaking?" he asked her. She responded by forcing him to shut his mouth by putting her paw under it.

"We walk away quietly, and then run for all we got, okay?" she explained, earning a nod from Loopy. "Good, when I count to… I mean, when I say three, we run." Another nod from Loopy.

They silently snuck away from the two Pokémon who were checking that everything Flash had stolen was remaining. She was leading the progress with Loopy behind her, but she couldn't help looking at the other two every now and then.

"Okay," she said, preparing to make a run for it, "when I say three, we run."

"HEY!" roared Kangaskhan from a distance, "Where do you think you're going? There are still items missing on the list!" she yelled.

Flash looked at Loopy awkwardly, "Uhh, three!" she shouted as she took off. Loopy did just what he had been told to: to run when Flash said three.

"AFTER THEM!" bellowed Kangaskhan, about to run after the fleeing Pokémon, but Snubbull stepped in front of her.

"Ignore them, let's pack the stuff we have for now," he suggested, "At least we have the most vital stuff."

Admitting defeat, Kangaskhan sighed. "Even though, this still means I will owe many customers piles of Pokédollars. When I get those two in my claws next time, I'll-"

"Enough, let's just get what we have and head back to town," said Snubbull firmly. Kangaskhan grumbled as she helped her companion pack the stuff. "Snorlax is waiting for that belt, you know."

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While the two Pokémon were running, Loopy tended to overtake Flash every now and then. Since Flash was the one who was supposed to lead them, Loopy slowed down every now and then.

"Flash slow!" he told her while running.

"Excuse me for not having long legs like you!" she shot back, sounding tired. The Machop just smiled and ran ahead again for show. "You're mean!" she then yelled at him. But she suddenly tripped due to a wrong step. She fell face first on the ground, skidding a short distance. Loopy stopped instantly, skidding on his feet a little.

"Be Flash okay?" he asked her with concern, walking towards her. She slowly got up, staggering. "Want me carry Flash?" he suggested.

Flash shook her head. "I'm okay," she muttered, looking over her shoulder. "They aren't following us. Good."

"Why we run?" he wondered. Flash looked at him, feeling a little guilty.

"Well, I noticed some stuff were missing in there, and-"

"Flash use stuff for self?" he interrupted, "How could Flash?" He clenched his fists, turning a little hostile all of a sudden.

"Take it easy, Loopy, I didn't-"

"Me no like bad Pokémon," he said, stepping towards Flash slowly.

"Loopy! I didn't use anything for myself! Someone must've raided the storage!" she protested. Loopy stopped, looking at her disbelievingly. "Please, Loopy," she pleaded, "I'm a kleptomaniac, I steal stuff without knowing. I don't even need the things I steal, so I stash it." Loopy stood still, and then put his hands on his head, as if having a headache.

"Ugh… me confused…" he muttered. Flash carefully walked up to him.

"Hey, Loopy, let's go inside the forest," she softly suggested, pointing at some dark clouds. "Those clouds might hold a lot of rain, so we better get some shelter." Loopy nodded confusedly, still going through a lot of thinking inside his head.

They walked into the forest, and sat down under some trees which were close to each other.

"Where now?" asked Loopy, now having let go of the hard thinking. He looked around himself curiously.

"We're in Tiny Woods, a nice little forest to hang out in," she told him, smiling back at him. But her smile faltered, "but most Pokémon around here has started to act weird, so I'll have to hope we don't get attacked." Question marks seemed to form over Loopy's head, but his face then lit up with happiness.

"Worry no!" cheered Loopy, "Me be strong, and me guard Flash from meanies!" he exclaimed proudly.

Flash giggled at him, "Thanks, that is nice of you. I wished I could breathe fire so I'd be of some help though," she mused. She stood up and inhaled deeply. She then exhaled a big cloud of white smoke, wheezing afterwards. "Nope, not yet…"

Loopy laughed lightly at the sight. "Fun cloud! But if Flash train much, Flash breath fire. Promise!" he said wisely. Flash was actually surprised at that, that Loopy could say such a sense-making thing. But then, Fighting Pokémon were very devoted to training. "Me tired," he then muttered, yawning.

"Yeah, I'm tired too," agreed Flash, "I hope these trees are enough shelter for the rain," she told herself. "Hey, Loopy, do…" She stopped, Loopy had fallen asleep sitting by the tree. He snored lightly. "Aww," she cooed, finding it cute that he had fallen asleep so quickly.

Loopy then fell down from his sitting position, landing on the ground hard. But he kept sleeping.

"Ouch," she muttered, grimacing. She was tired herself after the long running, but she curled up and slowly fell asleep as well.

To be continued…

 

[EkaSwede]

"Chapter IV: Help! Me be scared!"​

​

The sky had darkened and it was raining heavily. Thunderbolts were striking from afar and it generated many flashes followed up with loud rumbles afterwards. Not much rain made way through the forest, as the tree shielded the two Pokémon sleeping underneath.

Or… one Pokémon sleeping to be exact. Loopy wasn't sleeping, he was shaking. He cowered for each flash and rumble in fear. He carefully crept up to Flash.

"Flash, wake up," he said first, shaking her cautiously. "Flash, me scared! Wake up!" he shouted, shaking her wildly.

She snapped at him angrily, almost half awake. "What do you want?" she growled, glaring at him. Loopy looked around him sheepishly, shivering.

"Me scared of booming. Sudden light in sky be scary!" he whined. Flash looked at him annoyingly.

"Don't worry, it'll be over soon. Lemme sleep!" she grumbled, going back to her curled up position. Loopy whined and shook her again.

"No leave me!" he piped, starting to cry. "Me scared!" He lifted her up from her position and hugged her tightly in fear.

Flash tried to break free from the tight hold, especially since Loopy was a little wet which caused her to feel much colder. "Get off me!" she yelled, but he held on for dear life. She managed to pull out one of her arms from the grip, and used it to push back Loopy's face.

A lightning bolt struck down not far from them with a loud bang, followed with rumble that caused them both shake. Loopy screamed in panic, crying even more. "HELP!" he wailed, tears pouring down his cheeks.

Flash calmed down, despite her ribs being almost crushed, and used her free paw to put on Loopy's back. "Calm down, Loopy, calm down!" she yelled at him, rubbing his back. He kept crying, still shivering. He looked at her, his eyes shimmered through the tears.

"Danger boom things, me scared," he whined again, calming slightly down. He loosened the grip a little, and Flash responded by using her other paw to hug him back.

"We'll be fine, don't worry," she assured softly, comforting him. Loopy dug his head in her belly, snuggling a little. "I'm here with you, Loopy, there's nothing to be-"

CRACK! BOOM! Another lightning bolt struck a tree just ten metres from them, it started burning wildly after it had been divided into two.

"Holy mother of Zapdos!" she screamed in shock, startled out of her mind by the sudden, loud lightning strike. It took a few seconds for her to settle down.

But sadly, Loopy didn't. He screamed like mad, hugging tighter and wailing louder. "NO LEAVE ME!!"

Flash hushed him softly, and told him everything was going to be alright. She was surprised that the Machop was afraid of something, but it also relieved her that he wasn't too stupid to be scared. She hugged him again to comfort him, and he breathed slower.

The tree, which had been struck, fell down on the ground not far from them, burning. Luckily, the damp ground prevented amajority of the flames from spreading, and the raining helped some too. Soon enough, it was reduced to glowing embers.

"Hey, Loopy, I have an idea!" she suggested cheerfully. He looked at her with frightened eyes. "Let's go over to that fallen tree, it's warm and nice there. I feel a little cold." She tried to stand up while Loopy clung onto her, but fell down due to the added weight. "Ugh! You're really clingy, you know that?"

"Wh-what b-be clingy?" he stuttered in reply, shivering. Before Flash could answer that, he said, "Me no want go there, light in sky go boom!" He hugged her tighter.

"Look, Loopy, get off me before you break my ribs! Lightning never strikes at the same spot twice, it's a general rule. It's one hundred percent safe to be there, and it's warm too!" she said firmly, keeping a stern look at the frightened Machop.

He seemed hesitant at first, glancing over to the fallen, glowing tree. He let go of her and stood up. "Me do that," he said with determination in his voice.

Flash smiled and grabbed his hand, walking over to the tree. They sat down in front of it, and warmed their cold bodies. Another flash of lightning, followed up with a rumble some seconds later. Loopy winced, and moved closer to Flash.

"Don't worry," she assured, "the thunderstorm's moving away from us." She stroked his head lightly to calm him down.

"Glowing tree is warm!" exclaimed Loopy jollily, yawning afterwards, "but me tired." Soon after that, he fell asleep on Flash, and the poor Charmander was too tired as well to try lifting him off her.

"Oof, stupid Machop, wake up!" she shouted, but he slept too deep already. Loopy turned over in his sleep so he was sleeping right over her. "Ah, crap. I can't sleep like this," she muttered, trying to push herself up in vain.

The raining stopped, which pleased Flash a little. Unable to sleep, she spent the time staring at the low, dark clouds that were mocing away. As time went by, she could spot a star after another as the sky was unveiled from the clouds.

"I wonder where he comes from. I've never seen him in town, so he could theoretically be from Mt. Discipline," she thought, looking at him. She noticed something funny he was doing. "What the? Is he… aww, how cute, he's sucking his thumb in his sleep." She giggled a little at the sight, but then thought of something that concerned her.

"He has a mind of a very young child, having speech problems and all… none of his kind have been sighted in this area. It's apparent to me that he has lost his memory, so I should take him to town… he won't be able to get there himself, the poor child, he needs guidance."

Soon after that, Flash finally fell asleep, being way too tired.

-----​

Flash woke up slowly, she was still a little drowsy, but it was apparently morning. She sat up and yawned, stretching her arms. She then rubbed her eyes before she looked around herself. She noticed that Loopy wasn't on top of her.

"Flash awake?" someone called. She looked at the direction the voice had come from with tired eyes. She saw Loopy shadowboxing in front of a tree. "Flash sleep much!" he said happily, throwing punches at the tree, hard enough not to cause the tree to fall down.

"It's not easy to sleep when a thumb sucker who weights a ton sleeps on me!" she snapped, shaking one of her claws at him. Loopy just laughed.

"No be angry. Is nice day, good for training!" he burst out, flexing his arms. He walked up to the fallen tree (which had stopped glowing from embers) and examined it. He walked over to the tip and looked at it curiously. He then laughed and grabbed the tip, having it upwards with both hands. He put it on his shoulders and used it as a weight as he lifted it up and down repeatedly.

Flash sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fighting Pokémon…" she muttered under her breath, "always showing off…" She walked over to another tree, sitting down and rested against it. When she looked up at the trees, she could see some brown, rough looking birds at the branches.

"Hey, Spearow!" she called, they looked at her curiously, and one of them flew down to her landing in front of her. "Could you do me a favour?" she asked.

"What?" the bird asked, folding its wings.

"Could you fly over to my house and check if it's safe to go there," she requested. Spearow rolled its eyes, sighing.

"Yeah, yeah… whatever."

"Hey, I saved you from that Pidgeotto, remember?" she added, getting impatient.

"You and your spy requests... try getting me at least something in compensation, please?" it told her, spreading its wings.

"I'll do my best," she promised. Spearow beat its wings fast and took off into the sky, the others following.

Loopy was still training with the tree, but he now let go off it. He flexed his muscles, and started examining the tree. He walked up to the middle of the tree and lifted his right hand, trying a Karate Chop. He brought it down with all might at the tree, and when it made impact…

Nothing happened.

Loopy withdrew his hand and clutched it in pain. "Me hand! Hurt much!" he wailed, looking at his beat red hand. He blew some air on it so it would hurt less.

Flash got to her feet and walked to Loopy. "Poor Loopy," she cooed. Loopy tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his hand as he looked at Flash.

"Who be bird Flash talk to?" he asked, wanting to get on another track of subjects. Flash stopped walking and scratched the back of her neck.

"That was just a friend of mine, Spearow. I helped her out two months ago, and she's really nice. Her flock is a little sceptical about me, but they respect me to a degree." Loopy looked at her understandingly, actually getting something for once. "It's always nice to have a flock of Spearow on one's side, don't you think?" she claimed.

"Be good, me thinks! But now, Flash train must!" he exclaimed happily, grabbing a hold of Flash's paw. She resisted, but Loopy was too strong. He dragged her to the tree and pointed at it. "Lift tree until arms tired feel. Good training!" he commanded. Flash glared at him.

"But I can't-" Loopy ignored her and grabbed a hold of the tree, lifting it up. He then tossed the top right at Flash, who couldn't hold so she ended up pinned under it. She flailed around with her feet wildly as she screamed in pain. Loopy realised his mistake and quickly lifted the tree off her. She jumped up and scratched him on his face.

"YOU STUPID MACHOP!" she roared at him, her tail flame flaring up wildly. "I'M A FIRE POKÉMON, I DON'T LIFT WEIGHTS!!!" She was throwing a fit and stamped the ground. Loopy looked sad as he rubbed his scratched cheek.

"Me sorry," he lowly apologized, "me not know." He looked down in guilt. Flash looked at him.

"Damn! Why must he be so nice all the time? It's almost impossible to stay angry with him!" she thought, walking up to Loopy. "It's okay… you meant well after all," she softly said. Loopy's lit up with happiness as he spread out his arms, attempting a hug. Flash suspected that and quickly ducked, which caused Loopy to hug the air.

"I told you, Loopy, no hugging!" she reminded, backing away. Loopy scratched the back of his neck, sighing with a smile.

"Me forget… again, but me still hug Flash!" he burst out with a laugh as he started to chase Flash. They ran around the forest, and the faster Machop was gaining on her. She knew she couldn't keep this up forever, so she stopped and used her tail to trip him. It worked, and Loopy fell head over heels to the ground. "Will you calm down now?" she asked him, panting.

He nodded, slowly getting up. "What we now do?" he asked.

"We could go home to me, but we should wait until Spearow returns from her mission," she suggested. When she received a confused look from him, she added: "I asked her to check if it was safe at my home, in case any Pokémon was going to attack me when I got there." He gave her a look of affirmation.

"But will Flash soon train?" he then asked her eagerly. She winced at the word.

"Umm, maybe, if I get to train my way," she mumbled. Loopy got happy.

But before they would begin their training, they heard a cry from the woods. "Help, help! Anyone?"

A Butterfree came out, flapping its wings madly.

"Oh thank Mew I found you!" she uttered, sounding female. Flash and Loopy looked at her.

"What happened?" she asked.

"What make odd birdie with big eyes-" Loopy started.

"Shut up!" snapped Flash back.

"My child, my Caterpie fell down in a fissure in the forest! I can't go down there as weird acting, hostile Pokémon are down there! And I fear that Pokémon Pidgey will find him soon. Can you help me?" she pleaded. Flash looked at her hesitantly.

"But aren't there Rescue-"

"We help!" said Loopy dutifully, thumbing his chest proudly. Flash almost glared at him.

"Thank you," the Butterfree thanked, "Come with me, and I'll show you where he fell down!"

"But…" protested Flash, watching Butterfree and Loopy run/fly off. "Oh, brother… stupid, Loopy. Now I have to get some lousy Caterpie. Meh… it'll take time before Spearow returns, so why not. I need some training after all," she thought, starting to run after the other two. "Hey, wait up!"

To be continued…

 

[EkaSwede]

"Chapter V: We Caterpie Rescue! Fun!"​

The three Pokémon stood right by a small fissure which had opened up in the middle of the forest.

"Tiny Forest, no be tiny!" Loopy complained after he had followed the Butterfree. Flash lightly smacked his head.

"Pay attention!" she ordered, Loopy sighed.

"My baby fell down here, and I went to see if I could find him. But I was attacked by wild Pokémon down there. I don't know why they're so aggressive," explained the butterfly Pokémon.

Flash scratched her head. "Pokémon shouldn't even be down there in the first place," she muttered. She then glanced over to Butterfree. "Say, aren't there rescue teams who can do this instead?"

Butterfree nodded. "Yes, but it'll take time before any of them will get here. When I escaped out of the fissure, I saw a flock of Pidgey dive down, and I fear they'll find my baby soon. He is a good hider, though. But please, I beg of you, you must do this! I'll reward you if you can get him out of there safely!" she pleaded.

"Me go down," said Loopy, walking to the fissure.

"Hey, Loopy, be careful. It's probably slippery after the rain and-"

She abruptly stopped when she saw Loopy lose his footing when he tried to climb down.

"Opsie!" he yelled.

"LOOPY!" screamed Flash in worry. She heard a faint thud coming from the fissure. She ran up to the edge, and got down on her fours, peeking carefully down. "Are you all right?" she yelled down, receiving echoes.

"Me all right!" Loopy called back, "no long way fall, Flash come down!"

As Flash was about to climb down after Loopy, Butterfree flew to her. "Is he always like that?" Flash nodded. "Must be hard to keep an eye after him," she muttered in sympathy.

"Yeah," agreed Flash, "but he's strong, and… whoa, WHOAA!" she yelled as she, too, lost her footing, tumbling down to where the Machop had fallen. She landed on something soft, and it was a more muffled thud than the first one she had heard. "Hey, Loopy, where are you?" she called. Whatever she sat on moved, and she yelped in surprise.

"Flash be sit on me," he grumbled, throwing Flash off of him. He slowly stood up and rubbed his back, on which the Charmander had landed on.

"Sorry," she muttered, "but you have yourself to blame. You're too rash."

"Rash?" he asked in confusion.

Flash sighed as she was close to throwing a fit. "It's when you do things too fast without thinking of what bad can happen!" she snapped. "But, we should look for that Caterpie, mainly because those Pidgey will find him sooner or later… come on, Loopy." She beckoned him to follow.

"Me follow!" he exclaimed happily as he strutted after her. They walked through the dark, damp dungeon. Flash, who was in the lead, shuddered every now and then. "Flash scared?" he asked putting his hand on her shoulder.

"No, I'm not!" she quickly shot back, shrugging off his hand. "It's cold down here, and I don't like that. And besides, what if the ceiling crashes down on us?" She looked up at the ceiling worriedly, water droplets from the night's rain was dribbling down through the dirt ceiling.

Loopy gave Flash a slap on her back, but he was aware of his strength this time. "Then Flash be scared," he said with a laugh.

"Quit it!" she snapped, grumbling as she walked. She slowed down her pace as she looked around the dark cave. She suddenly stopped and stood completely still, and Loopy scratched his head in confusion. "Strange… Butterfree said she was attacked by hostile Pokémon, but I haven't seen any so far."

Loopy faked a laugh as he flexed his muscles. "Enemy be weak for me!" he burst out happily. Flash sighed and put her paw on her forehead.

"Let's just look for that damn Caterpie!" she barked, getting impatient. The last place she'd end up stuck in would be in a damp cave, so she wanted this mission to be done with as soon as possible.

"I'm afraid you won't find that little intruder…" a creepy voice hissed. Flash gasped as she looked around to see what had spoken. "…that intruder will soon be sacrificed to the great Groudon, and you will not… hey, HEY!" whatever yelled.

"Me found Catapi!" exclaimed Loopy proudly as he held a red worm-like bug in his hand. He held it by its tail, making sure he didn't get stung by the needles. The worm Pokémon wiggled angrily, and its yellow underside could be seen. Its black compound eyes, which had a yellow ring around them, were glaring angrily at the smiling Machop.

"Let go of me, fool!" it screeched, stinging Loopy's hand with the needle on its head.

"You moron, that's a Wurmple!" yelled Flash, worried as the Machop had been stung. Loopy threw the bug away, holding his hand afterwards. "Are you okay?" she proceeded to ask.

"Hand all right, no poison," he muttered. He glared at the Wurmple and snarled. "Non-Catapi will pay!"

"You…" the Wurmple hissed, "Get them!" it bellowed, which wasn't much of a bellow, since it was a bug. More Wurmple started to surround the Charmander and the Machop. They came from various directions, having hid in the darkness. Flash gulped as she edged closer to Loopy. "ATTACK!" it screeched.

Obeying the command, every Wurmple started to spray a white, sticky liquid at the two. A lot of the goo hit Flash and Loopy's chest respectively. They tried to scrape it off using their hands and paws, but it only made it worse. The Wurmple then aimed at their legs, tying them together. Flash and Loopy stood back to back, unable to do anything as the white goo was covering their legs, working its way up to their bodies.

The leader Wurmple crawled forward, avoiding the silk shots from the others. "Excellent, more sacrifice material for us," it said darkly, its compound eyes glistening with a red hue.

"I'll kill you, you worthless bugs!" Flash snarled, trying to break free from the hardening white goo. The Wurmple chuckled, looking deeply into her eyes.

"Really?" it asked, turning to its minions. "Silence her, please!" it ordered. Two of the attacking Wurmple aimed their attack right at her mouth, swiftly covering it with the goo.

"Loopy, help m-" was all she managed to cry out before her screams were muffled. Her arms were tightly bound to her body because of the sticky silk, and so was Loopy's.

Loopy stared at the attacking Wurmple. "Let go," he said lowly. The Wurmple who talked to Flash swiftly crawled over to Loopy.

"You can't break yourself free, my dear Machop, give up."

Loopy smirked as he tensed his muscles, using all of his strength. He managed to pull out his hands, but the gooey stuff pulled them back onto his body. He tried again, only to fail.

"Flash," he groaned, panting heavily, "me sorry, me no strong." He tried to break free, and he was just almost successful. He tried over and over again, trying harder for every time. The Wurmple cackled at his attempts to break free.

The white goo was now up at their chests, slowly making progress to their heads. Flash realized what was about to happen. Those Wurmple were about to encase them with their String Shot attack, and then use them for sacrifice. She was about to panic, seeing as Loopy wasn't able to break free.

Loopy finally found it hopeless, tears were trickling down his cheeks, and he had given up. Flash was still panicking, but he kept crying.

"Aww," cooed Wurmple, "hopeless, isn't it? I guess you were weak then, lazy Machop!"

Loopy glared at the Wurmple with teary eyes, gritting his teeth. "Me will focus. Me will make last attempt!" he growled. He focused all of his power in his body, and was glowing faintly white. He felt strength and courage return in his body. He then made a last attempt to break free, making more progress than he had before. Wurmple kept cackling, finding the attempt foolish.

The white stuff that covered most of Loopy then cracked apart. Wurmple stopped cackling and widened its compound eyes in fear. Loopy's arms finally broke free, and he immediately used them to punch the bug with all his might. Wurmple was thrown back a distance, colliding with one of its companions.

Loopy used the time to rip off the hardened stuff around him, and then turned around to get the stuff off of Flash. "Me sorry, Flash, but me needs punch shell," he shortly said as he punched her chest hard, causing a crack to spread out in the white stuff that covered her. He then ripped it off her, taking away piece by piece.

The Wurmple who had been shooting the strings had stopped in fear when they watched the Machop tear away the white layer. The leader of them glared at the two Pokémon. "Don't just stand there, fools, stop him!" it barked.

Most of the Wurmple charged towards Loopy, preparing to knock him down. Loopy turned around, having a look of murder in his eyes. That look stopped some of the charging Pokémon, but those who were brave enough got a hard fist in their face.

After having knocked away three Wurmple, he ran up to the rest of them, kicking them hard with his Low Kick attack. They were sent flying onto the rock walls, and soon, it was only the leader of them left standing.

"You… you won't stop me!" the leader Wurmple growled, readying its tail for a Poison Sting. Flash tried to yell something at Loopy, but couldn't get the hardened stuff off her mouth. Loopy ignored that and charged towards the worm Pokémon. When he was in range, Wurmple shot forward with its tail to sting him, but Loopy was faster this time. He managed to grab the tail so the opposing Pokémon wouldn't be able to do anything.

"No-Catapi pay!" he roared as he slammed the worm Pokémon hard against the rock ground twice, finishing with a kick at its head, letting to of it. It fell down in a heap along with the others. He looked at the heap clenching his fists. He then got down on one knee, flexing his muscles in a happy way. "Me strong, no?" he burst out.

"Mmmh! Mmm-mmh!" cried Flash, unable to get the hardened silk off her mouth. Loopy glanced at her, and looked at himself. He saw some parts of his body still being covered with the hardened white stuff, so he scraped those fragments off. He walked up to her, looking at the hard silk that covered her mouth. He ripped it off in one pull.

"EEOOW!!" she yelled, holding her sore mouth. "That hurt!" she then continued, slapping Loopy's cheek, but he wasn't fazed at all. He just scratched his head absentmindedly.

Flash looked at him, feeling sorry already. "Sorry," she apologized as she scraped off some fragments from her body. "You really saved me… again. Thank you!" she burst out as she gave him a hug. Loopy looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Flash be welcome. Me learn to focus power!" he happily burst out. Flash just giggled at his excitement. "Flash battled no, must train!" he then told her. She frowned and pushed him away.

"But I couldn't do anything!" she protested, "I was still covered in that cocoon thingy! I was lucky they couldn't cover my tail though, the fire burned up the strings before they made contact."

"Ohh… my tiny li'l head…" someone whined. Loopy directly turned around and raised his fists.

"Want more?" he growled at the bug who had spoken, walking towards it slowly.

"No! No! I surrender!" the Wurmple wailed. It backed away weakly from the advancing Machop.

"What be surnder?" he asked, still glaring at the Wurmple as he kept advancing. He was right over it now, and raised a fist, but Flash managed to restrain him by grabbing his arm. "What Flash do? Evil No-Catapi trap us!"

"It meant that it is giving up!" she replied, holding Loopy's arm. She looked at Wurmple, "So you're surrendering, huh? Then tell me if Caterpie is all right!" she demanded. Wurmple nodded weakly. "Good, then take us to him, now!"

"O-of course… follow me," it lowly said, crawling away. Flash followed, and Loopy followed her.

-----

"Look!" cried Loopy, "Light!" Flash looked at him, irritated.

"Yeah, and?"

"Another crack! Shorter up way!" he said, clapping his hands. Flash grumbled, not liking Loopy outsmarting her.

Wurmple interrupted the two. "I'm afraid there's a problem."

Flash turned to the bug, eyes wide. "What?" she snarled.

"Caterpie's over there, but there are two ways getting there. The first is where we go, through this hole." Wurmple nodded towards a small hole which it probably used to crawl in. "But that's to tiny for you, I'm afraid. You'll have to cross the dangerous grounds to get Caterpie." It pointed at a very big puddle of water that covered the way to where Caterpie was held captive.

"Why not bring him here?" Flash suggested, crossing her arms. Wurmple shook its head.

"The poor chap's frightened. He only blabbers about his mommy all the time and he begins flailing madly if we approach."

Loopy started to march towards where Caterpie was held. "Come, Flash!" he beckoned happily. "We get Catapi and then climb up!"

Flash ran after him, but he was already in the puddle, and when she stepped in the water, she yelped. "Loopy!"

He turned to see her shivering. "What wrong?" he asked. She gestured him to come up to her, and he did so.

"I can't walk out there, I hate water!" she burst out when he was in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Charmander, but there's no other way to the Caterpie. But I'll go to him and tell him that he's free, and that you're coming to get him. He may, or may not listen though," Wurmple told them. It started to crawl into the hole. "And by the way," its voice echoed through the hole, "be careful crossing the waters, there might be some holes."

Flash sighed, crossing her arms. "Okay… I'm stumped," she muttered to herself. Something suddenly grabbed her from behind. "What the? Hey!" she yelled as she looked behind her. It was Loopy who lifted her up. He put her on his shoulders.

"Me idea have!" he burst out with excitement. "Flash sit me, while me walk Catapi to!" he explained, keeping a firm grip on her legs.

"So you mean that you'll carry me on your shoulders, so both you and I can cross, right?" she inquired.

"Uh-huh!" replied Loopy with a nod. "Be still, all go well." He started to march towards where Caterpie was again, and Flash actually laughed with him.

"Yehaw!" she exclaimed, "Here we come!" She looked at the light that shone on the ground, and she saw a suspicious shadow. She immediately looked up at the sky. 'Did I…? Nah, I'm seeing things,' she thought.

Loopy walked to the big puddle, and splashed the water as he walked. Flash lightly smacked his head in cue of telling him to walk more carefully. He sighed and kept walking, taking more careful steps in case there would be any of these holes Wurmple told them about.

"Half left," he told her, keeping an eye on the water. It had been pretty shallow all the way, the water had barely been over Loopy's knee level. However, next step he took, he sank down more than he had before, and it bubbled as the foot sank. He stopped.

Flash started to breathe faster as this happened, and tried clinging onto Loopy harder. The Machop managed to pull out his foot without any problems though, but he didn't like the fact that his left leg was covered in mud.

"Flash, tight hold, or Flash fall off," he quietly, yet calmly warned. He backtracked a little and tried another approach.

Flash started to shiver as she hugged tighter. "I don't this is a good idea, Loopy," she stuttered.

"Mommy? You there?" a young voice cried out. Flash assumed that that was Caterpie, and so did Loopy.

"We're coming to get ya, Caterpie!" cried Flash, "on the behalf of Butterfree!" Caterpie seemed to chirp with joy as he heard this.

"Yay! I'm gonna see Mommy again, whee!" he chirped.

However, something swooped over Flash's head, and she looked up to see what it was. A Pidgey. She immediately knew what was coming.

"Caterpie, look out!" she warned, but it was too late. She heard a cry from the bug she and Loopy was supposed to rescue. Loopy started to run towards where Caterpie was, but forgot to think about the hazards. This time, both feet stuck in the bottom, but it wasn't as deep as the first time. The bubbling discouraged him though.

"Flash," he said quickly, "me have new idea!"

"Spare me your ideas, Loopy," muttered Flash, staring down at the murky water.

Loopy ignored her and continued. "Me throw you at birdie, okay?" Flash looked at him as if he was joking.

"You can't be serious!" she snapped. Loopy grabbed her legs and balanced them so she wouldn't trip. He then tossed powerfully at the Pidgey who supposedly had grabbed the Caterpie in its talons. "WAAaaah!" she screamed as she flew right at the bird, colliding with it.

The impact caused Pidgey to drop Caterpie, and they all landed on dry ground. Flash's landing wasn't rough; she landed on the Pidgey, and Caterpie landed on her. She quickly put down the bug on the ground and jumped to her feet.

Pidgey glared at her while slowly getting up. "You're that Charmander!" it burst out, spreading its small wings.

"I'll show you, fat bird!" retaliated Flash as she lunged towards the bird, trying to scrathc it. Pidgey backed away, avoiding the attack, and escaped through the nearest fissure. "Heh, that was easy," she muttered.

She looked at Caterpie, who looked back at her. "My hero…" he whispered. "Is the Machop okay?" he then proceeded to ask

Flash gasped and realized that she had forgotten about Loopy. "Loopy!" she yelled, looking to where he was. She saw him chest deep in the water, slowly pulling himself away to the more shallow parts.

"Feel bottom, worry no!" he yelled back as he made his way to safer areas of the water.

Flash sighed in relief, but was still worried. "How will we get out of here?" she shouted. Loopy pointed at the opening right above him. "No, I mean, how will I get over this swamp?" Loopy didn't answer.

"Won't you help me get to Mommy?" asked Caterpie cautiously.

"Yes, I will, don't worry," assured Flash as she petted the bug a little. But she was worried herself; she couldn't get over this big puddle by herself, and Loopy would risk sinking too deep if he tried walking up to where she was. She started to shiver due to the thought that she'd have to live down here for the rest of her life.

She was interrupted in her thoughts when she heard flapping noises approach. She was certain that the Pidgey was coming back, but it wasn't alone this time.

A flock of birds swooped down through the opening, and it was led by a Pidgeotto. The bigger bird looked similar to her minions, but its feather were more coloured with red and yellow, and she had a red crest on her head.

"We finally meet again, Charmander," said Pidgeotto, landing in front of Flash. "And you brought us some food too, much appreciated. However, that is not enough for me to spare you, you'll pay for what you did to me that day!" She folded her wings while she stood on front of the scared Charmander, and her minions landed behind her.

"Leave the kid out of this!" Flash snarled. Pidgeotto cackled.

"You never cease to amuse me," she laughed, "But it's time we depart, you and I." With that, she spread out her wings and with a swift move, she had ascended and grabbed Flash's by her shoulder with her talons. One of the Pidgey grabbed Caterpie and followed his leader as she flew out of the cave.

"Hey," called a Pidgey to his leader, "there's a Machop down there! Should we get him?" he suggested.

"Leave him," advised Pidgeotto simply, "It's better that way."

"MOOMMYYY!!!" wailed Caterpie as he was taken away.

And then they flew out of the cave via the opening. Loopy just stared. He was alone… again.

"Loopy never give up! Loopy get them!" he cried out with determination as he ran for the nearest rock wall, scaling it as quickly as he could.

To be continued…

 

[EkaSwede]

"Chapter VI: Mean Birdies!"​

Loopy was almost at the ledge. Thanks to his strength in his arms, he could climb very fast. But when he grabbed the ledge, he accidentally grabbed a loose part of the ground and almost fell down. Luckily, he managed to grab onto a rock protruding from the wall before he sled down too far.

"Me no give up!" he growled as he began to climb up again. This time he made it all the way up. He lay down on the grass, and panted slightly. He wondered where those birds had gone, as he had lost sight of them as soon as they had left through the fissure he recently came up from.

He sat up and looked around. He started to shiver. He was alone in the forest and he didn't know a way out. He mentally slapped himself and stood up, flexing his muscles.

"Me knock forest down if me have to!" he said to himself, grinning at the thought. But Butterfree then arrived with a distressed look on her face.

"You found my baby?" she quickly asked, her wings flapping like mad. "Where's the Charmander?"

"We Catapi find…" Loopy started, scratching the back of his neck as he looked down in guilt. "But mean birdies take Flash and Catapi," he finished. Butterfree fell down on the ground, wailing.

"NOOOooo-ho-hooo! My baby! He's gone!" she cried, loud enough to make Loopy cover his ears.

"Buttfree worry no!" growled Loopy as he clenched a fist. "Birdies take Catapi no long ago. Catapi alive still!" he assured. Butterfree slowly stood up and fluttered her wings.

"I am ButtERfree and my baby's a CatERpie!" she yelled before breaking into tears again.

"Where birdies? Me no give up!" He punched a fist into his other hand. "Me get Cattep… Cate-erpie and Flash!" he told the crying Pokémon.

Butterfree got a hold of her senses and stopped crying. "I… I can show you where they have their nest… but be careful, they're many. I'll only show you the way, and you'll have to do the rest," she said lowly, sighing.

Loopy stared at first, and then blinked in confusion. "Be that yes?" he asked.

Butterfree grumbled before speaking. "Yes! Stop behaving like a fool!" she scolded. "Follow me."

-----

Pidgeotto dropped her cargo on a plateau where her nest was. The rest of the Pidgey landed in various trees gathered around the plateau. Flash slowly got up on her feet, looking around herself. The plateau wasn't too high, so she wouldn't get badly hurt if she jumped down. But there was one major obstacle which prevented her from doing that.

Pidgeotto.

The bigger bird stood in front of her, appearing to be grinning.

"Now," the bird started, looking down at the Charmander scornfully, "with nothing to save you this time, you're mine."

"Oh yeah?" snapped Flash, her tail flame flaring up. "The Machop will come and help me out!"

Pidgeotto laughed a squawking laugh. "I see, you've found yourself a new bodyguard, hmm?" she inquired, "He won't find this place. It's just you, us and that little Caterpie who's history soon."

"You stay away from him, you creep!" Flash snarled. "Pick on someone your own size!"

Pidgeotto spread out her wings, glaring at Flash. "Like you, for instance?" she devilishly suggested. She quickly hopped forward and pinned Flash with her talons. "Keep the Caterpie alive until I'm finished with this lizard!" she commanded.

Flash struggled to break free, but Pidgeotto tightened her grip around her neck. Flash got desperate and tried to shoot an Ember at the bird. She inhaled and tried to spit out a fireball, but all that came out was white smoke.

Pidgeotto cackled. "Pathetic! You're miserable! How could you defeat me last time?" she asked, lowering her head so she was in front of Flash.

Flash tried to answer, but the bird tightened the grip even more, cutting off her air supply.

"You jumped me from behind! That's how!" She loosened the grip around Flash's throat and reared her head back, readying her beak to pinch the Charmander hard. She brought it down fiercely and struck Flash's chest, pinching it as hard as she could afterwards.

Flash screamed in pain, swatting the Pidgeotto with her paws. Pidgeotto cried as she let go of Flash. Enraged, the bird tossed away the Charmander and took flight, soaring over the Charmander.

Flash slowly got to her feet, clutching her aching chest. It was bleeding, but not much. She looked up at Pidgeotto.

"You're doomed," said the bird while she soared in a circle over Flash, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

Flash glared at the bird and let out of a roar, which sounded more like a young growl. Pidgeotto cackled.

"Cute…" With that, she dived at the Charmander, preparing to rake her with his talons. Flash barely dodged the attempt by rolling away, but she rolled too much, ending up at the plateau's ledge. She stopped dead and looked down.

'Hmm, maybe it is a little higher than I thought,' she thought, crawling away from the ledge. But she was suddenly struck on her back by Pidgeotto's sharp talons, and she was sent rolling towards another ledge. She staggered as she tried to stand up.

The bird fluttered her wings as she hovered triumphantly over the Charmander. "It's time for the finisher," she muttered as she began flapping her wings violently, creating a powerful gust.

Flash tried to fight against the powerful wind Pidgeotto whipped up, but she soon tripped and rolled off the plateau's ledge. She watched in horror as she fell towards the ground. 'Not much of a finisher…' she thought as she fell.

However, Pidgeotto suddenly appeared out of nowhere, ramming powerfully into Flash in a Quick Attack. Flash headed straight into the rock wall, and slowly sled down like a bug on a windshield. When she touched the ground, she slumped onto her stomach, breathing weakly.

Pidgeotto landed in front of her. "The tail's still burning… persistent little Charmander, they're all the same," she mused. Flash tried to stand up, but this time she was in too much pain. She felt Pidgeotto's left foot kick her over so she was lying on her back. The bird looked down at her. "So-" She was interrupted by one of the Pidgey.

"Leader! There's an intruder who's attacking our forces!" it informed. Pidgeotto looked at the smaller bird, sighing.

"Is the intruder a Machop?" she asked. Pidgey nodded. Pidgeotto looked at Flash, and then at Pidgey again. "Pull back our forces. Make it look like you're retreating."

"But-" objected Pidgey.

"Just do it!" snapped the leader bird. Pidgey looked down and took off. Pidgeotto looked at the other Pidgey. "The rest of you, get in position for ambush. We'll give that Machop a welcome he won't forget!" All of the Pidgey flew up and hid in the foliage of the trees.

Flash made another attempt of getting to her feet, but was pushed down by the bird's talon.

"You stay where you are, Charmander," she hissed. "So, you have started a cute little rescue team with that Machop friend of yours?" she then asked, lightly scratching Flash's chest with her talons.

"N-no…" replied Flash weakly.

"Really?" Pidgeotto grabbed Flash with her talon, tightening the grip slowly. "Then what was your errand in that cave?"

"Burn… in hell… you worthless… bird," coughed Flash. Pidgeotto lifted her talon and held it close to Flash's eye.

"Still the rude one? How rude will you be after one eye is gone, hmm?" She waved a claw over Flash's eye. "However," she then said, placing her talon on Flash's chest, "you will remain quiet while your friend arrives. We don't want you to warn him of my little scheme, do we?"

They both sat there, waiting for Loopy to come. It was dead silent, until some rustles were heard from some bushes. It was Loopy. He was a little bruised, but he was as energetic as ever.

"Mean bird!" he shouted, pointing at Pidgeotto. "Let go Flash!" he then demanded.

Pidgeotto pretended to look surprised. "Ah, my dear Machop, so you managed to hold off my troops?" she inquired. Loopy nodded, punching the air threateningly.

"Troop of mean bird be weak! Me angry when mean bird no Flash let go!" he burst out, shaking his fist at the bird, who cackled.

"Having speech impediments? I would like to see you mad," teased Pidgeotto, waiting patiently.

"L-Loopy! It's… Ack!" cried Flash before her air supply was cut off by Pidgeotto's tightening talon.

"LET FLASH GO!!" roared Loopy finally, raising his fists. "AND WHERE BE CATZE..CATAP…" He roared even louder this time. "WHERE BE CATE-ERPIE?!?" he once again roared. The roar almost echoed through the forest. He was panting after the screaming, looking fiercely into Pidgeotto's eyes.

The bird slowly shook her head. "Come get him then." She lowly said. That did it, Loopy glared at her ferociously and charged towards the bird. "…fool… Get him!" she screeched.

Loopy came to a halt when the hiding Pidgey revealed themselves. They came from all directions, surrounding Loopy in an instant. He punched one away, and backhanded another. He barely managed to kick a third, but was struck down by the forth which had come from above. He was knocked down as well as weighted down by the many Pidgey which attacked him.

"Argh! Me… no… give… up!" Loopy forced out, trying to fend off the attacking Pidgey. More and more Pidgey ganged up on him, scratching him with their talons and pinching him with their beaks. He shielded his face in a last attempt of defence, and realized that he was outnumbered.

"Fool!" repeated Pidgeotto, "coming into our territory like that… it's more than right that you pay your penalty… EOOW!" she screamed when Flash bit down on her toe. Flash had regained a little strength during this time, and accounting with that Pidgeotto had loosened her grip while she watched Loopy being tormented, Flash had grabbed the opportunity and bit down hard.

Nevertheless, the bite was hard enough for the bigger bird to let go of Flash, and upon doing that, the Charmander swiftly crawled to a safe distance. She then slowly got on her feet.

"You filthy lizard!" snarled Pidgeotto, now standing at one foot, since the other was in too much pain. Flash ignored her and ran for Loopy, scratching with her claws at the nearest Pidgey.

"Flash!" Loopy cried, shielding himself for all he was worth.

"Hang on!" screamed Flash as she scratched yet another Pidgey, but now they started o gang up on her. Some of them kicked sand in her eyes, blinding her temporarily. Instantly after that, she was knocked down from behind by more Pidgey.

This gave Loopy a chance of getting up, since most of the Pidgey which pinned him down went for Flash. He managed to throw a punch at one which was scratching his chest fiercely, and then grabbed another by its neck, tossing it away. He quickly scrambled to his feet and spotted Caterpie in a hollow tree.

He dashed towards the tree, and grabbed Caterpie. When he turned around, he saw two Pidgey flying towards him. He swiftly ducked and ran towards Flash, who was pinned down and being scratched by the talons of the Pidgey. He ran towards the birds, with Caterpie under his right arm.

"Catepie, be close," he told the bug. Caterpie shuddered and tried everything to stay on the Machop.

Tightening his grip around the bug, he used his left arm to punch away a Pidgey from Flash, and then utilized a Low Kick attack to kick away another one. He then reached down and grabbed a hold of her arm, pulling her up from the birds. He positioned her so she was leaning on his shoulder, while still holding the bug under his arm.

"Flash okay?" he asked, panting heavily. She weakly nodded. They were both very bruised, and bled from their chests. Loopy even found it hard to stand tall with Flash weighing him down.

The Pidgey gathered in a half circle around the three, and Pidgeotto was flying above them. "Such an energetic little Fighting Pokémon you are!" she snarled, glaring at Loopy. "I will personally take care of you, once and for all!" she added. Loopy returned the glare and carefully put down the two Pokémon. He raised his fists, keeping his glare at the Pidgeotto.

She screeched and dived towards him, just wanting to rip his throat out with her talons. Loopy answered her action by running towards her, and jumped up with his fist outstretched. Pidgeotto didn't see this coming and tried to stop her attack, but it was too late, Loopy landed a punch right at her throat instead, and that caused a knockout for her.

He landed gracefully on his feet, and ran back to Flash and Caterpie, picking them up. All the Pidgey stared at him with fear, as he had knocked down their leader with one single blow. After Loopy had picked them up, he ran.

To be continued…

 

[The Jewel of Life]

I love this- it's very creative! ~keep up the good work ^_^

 

[EkaSwede]

"Chapter VII: Go Flash house to!"​

​

Loopy carefully dropped Flash and Caterpie to the grassy ground after he had run away from the Pidgey flock. The birds hadn't followed, thanks to him having knocked out their leader in one single blow. He sat down, panting heavily. Caterpie hadn't suffered any form of violence, thankfully, but Flash and he had, as they were both bleeding a little.

"Be Flash okay?" he asked, panting in between his breaths. Flash was unconscious, which resulted her not answering. She was lying motionlessly on her side. Loopy laughed a bit and prodded her.

"Flash okay?" he asked, prodding again. She didn't respond. He gasped at that. He grabbed the Charmander and shook her violently, trying to wake her up. "Flash! No… no… NO!" he wailed, tears flowing down.

Caterpie slowly crept up to him, nuzzling his side.

"Um… M… Machop," the bug started, stuttering nervously. Loopy looked at him with teary eyes. "The tail is still burning, so she's alright," he assured. Loopy forced a smile, and petted Caterpie on his head, and then did the same on the unconscious Flash.

"You're awesome!" Caterpie burst out happily, earning a smile from Loopy.

"Me strong!" he boasted, letting Flash go so he could flex his muscles. Caterpie laughed.

"You showed those Pidgey," commended Caterpie, resting against Loopy's side. Soon after that, Butterfree arrived. "Mommy!" Caterpie cried, waddling over to his mother.

"My baby!" she cried back, landing in front of her son and used her wings to hug him. They both cried in happiness during the reunion. "You're safe!" she then added.

Loopy glanced at them and then looked at Flash. She was still unconscious. He tried to shake her to life, but Butterfree flew up to him.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Machop?" she asked him, he ignored her. "I said, is… oh…" She looked at the unconscious Charmander. She flew over to the Charmander and checked her injuries. "She'll be okay, Machop." He finally looked at her, and rubbed his stomach.

"Me hungry…" he muttered. Butterfree chirped.

"Then follow me! I know a great tree where plenty of apples grow." Butterfree motioned Loopy to follow, and he picked up Flash, carrying her with him.

-----

They arrived to a tree with many delicious looking, fresh, red apples hanging on the various branches. Loopy carefully put Flash down on the ground, and was somewhat relieved when he heard her breathing weakly.

"Flash, much apples, look!" he said hopefully, hoping that it would wake the Charmander up. She stayed unconscious.

Butterfree looked at her worriedly. "The tail flame seems weaker… let her lie down, and I'll get something as a thanks for saving my baby. Wait here!" she said as she darted away with Caterpie to get something to help Flash.

Loopy looked at Flash, and then at the tree. He hadn't quite registered what Butterfree had said, but he registered enough to know that he should let Flash lie down. He looked up at a fine red apple that was hanging on a branch. He started to climb up the tree and reached for the apple.

When he couldn't reach it, he jumped from his position and managed to grab the apple. Unfortunately, he was holding the apple with both hands, and that caused him to fall helplessly to the ground.

THUD!

He landed hard on his back, still clutching the apple.

"Ouch… apple be safe!" He laughed, sat up, and bit down on the apple. He chewed it happily, and swallowed a small piece. He took another bite of the apple and proceeded to chew it.

Soon the apple was reduced to a mere core, and Loopy threw it away carelessly over his shoulder. He looked up at the tree and went for another apple, hopefully with more success this time.

After his fourth apple he patted his stomach, most of his wounds had been healed thanks to them. He looked curiously up at the tree again, wondering if he should go for a fifth apple. He decided to get another apple, and climbed up the tree.

"I'm here again!" Butterfree cried out as she arrived. Loopy got surprised and fell down form the tree, landing on his rear end this time, and rolled over twice. "Oh… sorry, didn't mean to scare you," she apologised. Loopy rubbed his head a little.

"No worry. Happen much…" he muttered.

"Anyway, I believe this seed will help Flash to regain her senses. This is a Revive Seed." She showed him a faintly white glowing seed. She put it on Flash's head and she began glowing as well. When the glowing stopped, the seed became an original seed.

Flash slowly opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing her head.

"Aww… man, what a headache…" she groaned.

"Flash live!!" Loopy cried, rushing towards Flash with open arms.

"No, no! No hugs!" she managed to yell. Loopy stopped dead in his tracks.

"Me will not," he just said. He once again walked up to the nearest tree and climbed up, getting an apple in the progress. "Want apple?" he asked her, smiling. She nodded, and he promptly climbed down, handing her the apple.

"Thanks…" she muttered, still dizzy. She bit down on the apple and chewed it, looking at Loopy who smiled at her.

"Good Flash be well," he laughed, patting her lightly on her back.

Flash finished her apple and threw away the core. She sighed afterwards, rubbing her stomach.

"I'm full…" she muttered. Loopy guffawed.

"Already?" He poked her stomach. "Flash eat little!" He quickly ran to the tree, avoiding a claw swipe from Flash, and climbed up for another apple. He snatched another apple and ran up to the Charmander, stuffing the apple in her mouth.

"Mmrrph!" she cried, muffled due to the apple stuffed into her mouth. She managed to pull it out shortly and tossed it at Loopy. He just laughed and caught the apple. Flash rushed up to Loopy to scratch him, but was stopped by a laugh from Butterfree.

"You two are a riot!" she said in between of her laughs. Caterpie laughed along.

Flash stared at Butterfree, standing with her right paw raised to scratch at Loopy. The Machop stared as well.

"What be riot?" he asked, which only caused Butterfree and Caterpie to laugh more. Flash lowered her paw, sighing, and Loopy then caught her in a hug. She got angry and tried kicking her legs at him, but he held tight.

"Gah, Loopy! I told you… no hugs!" she coughed. Loopy promptly dropped her on the ground. She snarled at him before getting up, brushing off herself. "Anyway… Butterfree, what's the, eh, reward for getting Caterpie back to you?" she asked the Pokémon.

Butterfree rolled her eyes (or at least it appeared so, since she had compound eyes), "You did get that Revive Seed, but I could give you some Oran Berries as well."

"Oran Berries?" she exclaimed happily, "Gimme, gimme, gimme!" Butterfree tossed two bluish berries to the Charmander, who promptly put one of them in her mouth. "Ahh, an Oran Berry a day keeps the Chansey away!" she burst out, swallowing the berry.

"I hope you're going to share the other berry with that Machop, or you're just keeping the reward for yourself, Charmander," Butterfree sternly said. "He seems out of place, though." She watched him climb up the tree… again, grabbing another apple.

"Yeah… I'm going into town soon, so I'll see if someone there knows who he is." She looked over her shoulder, hearing something. "You know, my Spearow friends are headed this way, so I guess you need to leave. But don't worry, they're nice fellows," she told her. Butterfree nodded, and signalled Caterpie that they had to leave.

"I hope we meet again, Charmander!" Caterpie chirped as he followed his mother.

"You bet, kiddo!" she replied.

Soon after that, the Spearow flock arrived. The leader landed in front of her, folding her wings, while the rest of them perched on the branches around them.

"So," Flash started, looking up at the bird, "is it safe?"

"No one's there," replied Spearow promptly. "It's completely deserted, judging by the looks." She chuckled. "But I'd say it's safe, yes."

Flash looked at her Oran Berry, and then at Spearow. "Well, this is all I have," she muttered awkwardly, holding her berry in front of Spearow.

The bird cackled. "Don't worry, we agreed to do it for free this time." She then stared intensively at Flash. "But this is the last time we do it, do you understand?" she cleared up. Flash nodded. "Good," said Spearow as she suddenly took off, her flock following her.

Flash sighed, and wondered where Loopy had gone. He was sitting on a branch, eating his fifth apple. She knew that it'd be a waste to give him the berry, so she kept it for herself.

"Hey, Loopy!" she called. The Machop looked down at her, throwing the core over his shoulder. "Let's go to my place, we can sleep and train there, and maybe you might meet someone you know there!" she suggested. Loopy laughed and jumped down from the branch, landing hard on his feet.

"Fun!" he exclaimed happily.

"Then let's go!" They started walking out of the forest, heading for Flash's house.

-----​

They arrived to what looked like a shack, overgrown with various vines. There was also a mailbox. The shack itself was mostly made of rocks placed on top of each other, and the wooden roof was broken. The entrance was the only thing not broken, as it was just a hole in the rocks.

"Well, this is my home, Loopy," she declared. "Or, well, my hangout more likely."

Loopy stared at the place blankly, blinking twice. "Look fallen," he just said, scratching his head.

"So what? It was an abandoned rescue team base, so I settled down here. And by the way, it's dry inside!" she snapped. Loopy tilted his head in confusion, not having registered what she said. "Let's just go in, eh?" she suggested, tugging Loopy's arm.

They walked inside the shack. If it hadn't been for the two light sources, the entrance and the hole in the ceiling, it would've been completely dark. There was a pile of hay in a corner, which was Flash's bed, and it was located under the remaining parts of the ceiling, so she was safe from raindrops in case it rained.

"House small," noted Loopy, looking around himself. Flash sighed.

"Really? I never noticed that…" she sarcastically replied. The Machop put his hands on his hips proudly.

"Me notice," he said.

Flash rolled her eyes, "Anyway, until you find someone you know around here, you sleep over there." She pointed at the other corner, which was damper than her corner.

"Be okay!"

"Good!" said Flash, "then let's go outside. You probably want to train, don't you?" she inquired.

"Yes. Train be must! Flash train too!" he exclaimed as he rushed outside.

'So energetic,' she thought as she followed.

"Hello!" he greeted. But Flash knew it wasn't her he was greeting, he was greeting someone else. But she had already walked outside and spotted a large ca Pokémon with a red jewel on its forehead.

The Persian hissed at her, and Loopy just looked at it. Flash quickly turned around to hide inside, but ran right into a familiar brown Pokémon.

"Ah-HAH!" boomed Kangaskhan, quickly grabbing the Charmander. "I, and Persian, figured that you and that pesky Machop friend of yours would return here sooner or later. You will now face justice when-"

Kangaskhan was interrupted during her speech by a yowling from Persian. Loopy had punched the cat Pokémon and was now angry.

"Mean cat scare Flash. Shoo!" he growled. Persian quickly retaliated and pounced on him. Loopy wasn't quick enough to dodge, and was knocked down. The cat Pokémon put one of her claws close to his throat, warning him.

"No hasty movements now," she hissed. Loopy just glared at her, showing no signs of fear.

"Nevertheless," continued Kangaskhan, "you two are coming with us, we have an economical problem which needs to be solved as soon as possible," she explained. Her black eye Loopy had given her was still there. She held Flash tightly in her right claw, and walked over to Loopy, picking him up as well.

They then proceeded towards the town.

To be continued…

 

[EkaSwede]

"Chapter VIII: Team Rescue?"​

​

Flash and Loopy were inside Kangaskhan's bank, or more like the storage room. The cream coloured cat Pokémon, Persian, was guarding the single door which was the only way out, and Kangaskhan kept a keen eye on the two younger Pokémon. The room was rather dark with the only light source was a small window.

"What be-" asked Loopy, scratching his head. Flash cut him off, however.

"No way, I am not starting a rescue team!" she protested, stomping on the floor.

Kangaskhan rolled her eyes, sighing. "Well, you don't have any merits besides fighting, if that is a merit of yours, the only way for you to make any money to repay the missing items is to start a rescue team," she calmly replied. Flash growled lightly, and looked down.

"I don't want to!" snapped Flash.

Kangaskhan sighed again, shaking her head. "Aside from your urge to steal, you really do remind me of your father," she lowly said.

Flash glared at her. "Shut up, you bag of fat!" she snarled.

Kangaskhan responded with a roar as she took a step forward. Flash cowered while Loopy stepped in front of her.

"No harm Flash!" he cried out. Kangaskhan quickly swatted him away.

"That was for my eye," she snarled, turning her attention towards Flash again. "Now, you don't talk to me in that way, and I would really appreciate if you showed some respect at all."

Flash scoffed, turning away and crossing her arms. Kangaskhan promptly grabbed Flash's head and forced her to look at her. "Listen here, little Charmander, you are not refusing this! You have been nothing but bad business for me, and now you are going to pay for all the damages you've caused!" she bellowed.

"In hard cash or items!" added Persian with a purr.

Kangaskhan loosened her grip on Flash's face, smiling faintly. "It's the best solution, and you have a strong team mate." She looked at Loopy, who rubbed his cheek after the blow he had received. He glared at her, walking towards her. "What do you think of the idea, dear Machop?" she softly asked him. He scratched his head in confusion.

"What idea?" he asked, smiling goofily afterwards.

Kangaskhan dropped Flash in surprise, gawking at Loopy. "You haven't been listening, have you?"

"Me forget," said Loopy happily, grinning.

"I suggested that Charmander and you should form a rescue team," Kangaskhan shortly explained.

Loopy's face lit up in realization. "Ah, but… what be team rescue?" he then asked.

"I'll explain that to him later," said Flash, stepping in front of Loopy. Kangaskhan nodded, understanding.

"Very well, he'll surely like the idea."

"Be much fight when team rescue?" asked Loopy, flexing his muscles and boxing thin air afterwards.

"Why, yes," replied the brown Pokémon, nodding.

"Fun!" exclaimed Loopy clapping his hands happily.

"Okay then," started Kangaskhan, turning to Flash, "I'll give you the signup papers as we leave this storage, and you will send them to the local Board of Rescue Teams today!"

"…I understand…" muttered Flash.

"Good!" chirped Kangaskhan as she started rubbing her claws.

The two young Pokémon were led out of the storage, and Flash received a couple of papers. They then walked out of the bank.

The town was quite rural like, as it had just a few buildings not too close to each other, and none of them were particularly high either. Most of the local townspeople recognized Flash as she exited the bank, glancing at her in disgust. She ignored it and kept walking with Loopy to her house.

"What do you think she stole this time?" Flash heard one whisper to another. She did the usual and ignored it. Loopy didn't hear it though, he happily looked around himself.

They soon reached her home, and Loopy ran ahead and sat down by the door. Flash just stomped inside her house, putting the papers down on the single table inside. Loopy curiously peeked inside.

"What be team rescue, Flash?" he asked.

She sighed, and walked outside.

"Well, a rescue team is a group of Pokémon that helps out civilian Pokémon in need. It has been around for a couple of months, since the weird events started." Loopy nodded. "Most of the time there are needs for escorting various Pokémon, and then there is what we did to Caterpie."

"That fun!" exclaimed Loopy, raising his hands, "but no fun when mean bird attack!" He punched a fist into his other palm in anger.

"Don't worry, Loopy, the Spearow will keep them busy. But I hope they can hold them off long enough. But don't worry about that, let's go inside and fill out the papers so it's done," she suggested, going inside. Loopy followed.

Flash went through the papers, and found the signing one and started filling in the blanks with a feather dipped in ink. Loopy curiously looked on.

"Loopy, what should the name of our team be?" she asked him. "The names usually start with 'Team …' like, Team Shiftry for example," she added. He scratched his head, and then smiled.

"Team Me!" he exclaimed. Flash smacked her forehead.

"That's not exactly what I had in mind," she muttered.

"Team… uh… Flash?" he then hopefully suggested. Flash smirked.

"Well, since I did vote myself for the leader, it'd be fitting in a way, but it's too uncreative." There was more than that actually; she didn't want to have the team name called after her. The thought alone made her angry, but she didn't show it.

"Me know fine name! Team Young!"

Flash considered it for a while, but then shook her head. "Nah, it sounds we're too inexperienced, but I came up with a name. Team Brawl, you're pretty strong, and I have to rely on my claws until I learn how to breathe fire."

"Sound fine," agreed Loopy. "But me fight much, and me stronger than Flash be, why Flash leader?" he then proceeded to ask.

"Well, uh, no offence, but you're not really bright. So I figured it'd be best if I did the talking, and you the fighting," she told him. Loopy shrugged, accepting what she told him. She finished filling the blanks and wrote her name on the lower right corner of the last paper, and then handed the feather to Loopy. "Just write your name at the bottom, and it's done."

Loopy nodded and positioned the tip of the feather next to where Flash had written, but stopped.

"Me no know write," he said awkwardly. Flash grinned.

"Here, let me do it for you." she took the pen and write Loopy's name next to her name. She then put the feather in the bottle of ink. "…ops…" she whispered, but Loopy heard her.

"What wrong?"

"That was Kangaskhan's feather and ink… Crap! I did it again, Kangaskhan's going to kill me!" she whined. Loopy laughed.

"Worry no, give ink to Kashkhan, and she happy," he suggested, patting her back.

"No! I can't do that! She'll just yell at me!" she protested. Loopt grabbed her by the neck at that.

"Me no want Flash be bad! Why Flash be thiefy?" he growled, keeping a tight grip. Flash yelped as she tried to break free.

"But I hate it when they look at me as if I was some thief, I just don't want them to know!" she yelled. Loopy let go of her, scratching his head.

"Me confused," he groaned, holding his head as if having a headache.

Flash rubbed the back of her neck, and then stood tall. "You know what? Let's go to the post office so we can post these papers right away."

She walked out, and Loopy followed behind. Flash's house was by the outskirts of town, so there was a distance for them to walk. She looked up at the sky, there were a few thin grey clouds, and the sun was beginning to set.

"You like walking much?" she suddenly asked Loopy.

"Be light training, but walk train stamina. But little," he replied, shrugging.

Flash rolled her eyes, 'Fighting Pokémon…' she thought, grinning afterwards.

-----

They arrived at a building which was located in the centre of the town and was slightly bigger than Kangaskhan's bank and had a banner which read:

Pelipper's Post Office​

​

They went inside, only to find the building quite empty of Pokémon. It was pretty late, and even though it hadn't closed yet, most Pokémon were already done with their errands for the day. Flash walked up to the counter, where a clown like Pokémon with big hands, Mr Mime, stood. She smiled; Mr Mime was one of the few Pokémon in the town who didn't have anything against her.

"I'd like to send these to the Board of Rescue Teams," she requested. Mr Mime smiled and grabbed the letter (of which Flash had put the papers in a while ago) placed it nicely on a pile of letters which would be delivered to the same destination. "I can pay with this Oran Berry, if that's okay," she offered, holding up a familiar bluish berry.

"That'll do, but that's between you and me, alright?" he responded, snatching the berry. He then patted her head, giving her an encouraging smile. "It's nice that you finally decided to do something good, starting a rescue team and all."

Flash smirked. "Yeah, but I'm forced to do it, you know, I owe Kangaskhan a big deal of Pokédollars, so I'll probably only be doing this rescue team thing until the debt is paid," she countered.

"Do as you wish, Flash, you might find it exciting. You might be as good as your-"

Flash cut him off. "Don't," she warned, turning serious.

Mr Mime's smile faltered a bit. "Oh, sorry about that, I forgot," he apologized.

"Meh, it's okay."

Mr Mime smiled happily again, "So who will you do this with?" he asked.

"I'll do it with Loopy, the Machop over there." She pointed with her claw over her shoulder, where Loopy presumably was. "He's a little odd, you know. He speaks funny, and I don't know his whereabouts."

"Which Machop?" inquired Mr Mime. Flash stared at him as if he was an idiot and turned around to point at Loopy. Unfortunately, he wasn't there.

"Oh crap! Look, I gotta go find him before he winds up in any trouble, so bye!" she quickly said as she ran out of the post office.

But as soon as she was outside, she felt that she was holding something in her hand. She sighed when she saw what it was. The Oran Berry she gave to Mr Mime. She quickly ran inside again and tossed it to him, and then dashed outside again.

'Stupid Loopy!' she angrily thought while walking around the town, meeting scorning stares from most of the Pokémon she passed, 'where the hell has he walked off to?' She thought of the ink and feared that Loopy had snuck away to Kangaskhan's bank to give it back. He'd be in for a beating.

She ran as fast as she could to the bank, and when she arrived, she peeked inside the window. She saw Loopy showing Kangaskhan the bottle of ink, and Kangaskhan widening her eyes in anger. She slammed both of her brown paws on the counter, yelling at Loopy. The Machop tried explaining, but Kangaskhan picked him up and walked towards the door.

Flash figured that it would be best if she hid around the corner so the brown Pokémon would spot her. She heard the door being opened followed up with a thud, coming from Loopy as he landed on the ground after being literally thrown out.

"AND DON'T THINK ABOUT COMING HERE UNTIL THE DEBT IS PAID!!" Kangaskhan roared at Loopy before powerfully slamming the door shut.

Flash slowly peeked out of the corner to see Loopy sitting on the ground, rubbing his head. "Told you so!" she exclaimed, walking up to him. He jumped to his feet, brushing some of the dust off him.

"Me show mean Kashkhan!" he snarled, walking towards the door. Flash jumped in front of him.

"No, no, no. Don't do that, let's go home," she suggested. Loopy grunted and grabbed Flash, lifting her up. He turned around and put her down, and then walked to the door. He opened it, facing a glaring Kangaskhan who already was behind the counter, and lifted the door out of its hinges. He then threw it down on the floor with all his might and blew a raspberry at Kangaskhan.

The manager of the bank just stared at him blankly. The stare lasted for a half minute, and after that she snapped, jumping over the counter and charged at Loopy.

"Hmm, must go. Bye!" he chirped as he picked up Flash, carrying he over his shoulder, and ran as fast as he could. Kangaskhan stopped running, knowing that it'd be irresponsible to leave the bank like this.

-----

It was darker when Loopy arrived at Flash's house. He put her down and sat down, catching his breath.

"That be fun!" he said, panting heavily.

"Well, I guess we're officially banned from her bank for a lifetime or two." Loopy laughed. "Loopy, are you out of your mind?" she yelled at him. "You don't do such things, it's not nice!" she scolded. Loopy looked down.

"Kashkhan be mean. Me tried be nice," he muttered.

Flash settled down, patting Loopy's back, "Well, the look on her face when you smashed the door was priceless, though," she said in comfort. He grinned a little. "Let's go to sleep, it's getting dark.

They walked inside her house and Flash lied down on her pile of hay, carefully making her tail fire smaller as she lied down, and Loopy tried making a bed at his corner of the house.

Flash got up and tossed some hay to him. He smiled and tried building his own bed with little success, but he was satisfied with his accomplishment. He lay down and quickly fell asleep with his right thumb in his mouth.

Flash cooed lightly at the sight, and realized that she had a piece of cloth at another corner of the room. She picked it up and tucked Loopy in. She then walked to her bed, laying down to sleep.

To be continued…

 

[EkaSwede]

"Chapter IX: Preparations, eh?"​

​

The rays of the morning sun shone through the only window inside Flash's home. The rays hit her closed eyes, causing her to wake up. She groggily sat up on her pile of hay which was her bed and rubbed her eyes. She turned her tired eyes to see if Loopy was still asleep, but he wasn't there.

As if on cue, Loopy stepped through the doorway from outside with a huge smile.

"Beautiful morning it be today!" he burst out, scaring Flash enough so that she jumped off her bed and fell flat on her face. She quickly got up and faced the laughing Loopy.

"Don't do that!" she shouted, rubbing her nose. Loopy stopped laughing, but kept smiling.

"Flash be lazy," he said with a shrug, "come now, train!" he then eagerly suggested as he walked up to Flash and grabbed her arm, dragging her outside. Flash resisted at first but found it pointless to struggle against the stronger Pokémon.

When outside, Loopy let go of Flash's arm and walked up to a boulder, roughly a third his size, and picked it up with one hand, holding it straight over his head proudly. He looked at Flash, who immediately backed away.

"No, no, no, Loopy. You know I can't lift that, don't toss it at me!" she begged, ready to jump out of the way. Loopy grinned and bent down, picking up a pebble with his other hand.

"Flash start train from beginning," he told her as he tossed the pebble to Flash. She caught it without any effort and stared at it, dumbfounded.

"What?" she just asked, still staring at the pebble. "You mean I'm going to train with this tiny little stone?" Loopy nodded, having started to heave the boulder up and down with his arm, grinning. Aggravated, Flash threw the pebble right at Loopy's head. It just bounced off and he kept grinning.

"Maybe Flash want bigger stone?" he suggested, not taking his grin off his face. Flash stomped up to him and snarled. He just responded with a pat on her head with his free hand.

"I swear, Loopy, there are times I wish I was an Electrode so I could blow up right in your face!" she growled, her arms trembling in fury as Loopy patted her head. He then snickered and pinched her cheek.

"Flash cute when angry," he said, now balancing the boulder on two of his fingers.

Flash slapped Loopy's hand away as she growled really loud. "That does it! Stop making fun of me!" she snarled as she inhaled deeply, trying to spit out an Ember at Loopy. But as usual, a puff of white smoke emerged from her mouth, except that this puff of smoke was bigger and a little hotter than usual.

Since Loopy was laughing, he inhaled most of the hot smoke. He started to cough repeatedly. He used both of his hands to cover his mouth as he was coughing, but he forgot about the boulder, which fell down right on top of him with a crash.

"Loopy!" Flash cried, worried that he could've suffered any serious injuries. She saw him lying on his back with the boulder on his chest. He smiled and gave thumbs up, to show that he was all right. She sighed first, but then swiftly jumped on top of the boulder, looking down at him gloatingly.

"Hah!" she burst out, "I win!" She flexed her arms proudly. 'Jeez, you're bad influence, Loopy,' she though awkwardly afterwards.

"Flash good smoke breath has," stated Loopy with a cough, "But Flash need more train!" he then declared as he pushed the boulder off him with ease. Flash yelped as she fell off the boulder and crawled away as fast as she could to avoid getting crushed. Loopy stood up freely and brushed the dirt off of him, and then picked up the boulder again. He then held it with one hand, but tossed it and caught it with the other. He repeated this action for a while.

Flash got up as well and stared at Loopy. She shrugged. 'Fighting Pokémon…' she thought. But she started to feel worried when she watched Loopy's game. "Hey, isn't that enough?" He stopped tossing the boulder, looking at her. "I mean, it looks kinda risky," she added.

Loopy sighed and tossed the boulder carelessly over his shoulder. Flash yelped again, fearing that the projectile could hit something, or worse, someone. Luckily, it crashed down next to the mailbox.

"Loopy!" she scolded, waving her left claw towards his face. "You could've smashed the mailbox to pieces!" Loopy put his hands behind his back and looked down sadly. She sighed and poked his stomach with her claws lightly. He flinched.

"No touch!" he quickly said. Flash grinned.

"What, a little ticklish?" she asked as Loopy took a few steps back. Flash followed, claws ready. She cracked a wide grin and pounced at Loopy, scratching him lightly on his belly. Loopy couldn't take it and fell down on the ground, trying to cover most of his belly from Flash's tickling claws.

"Flash!" he shouted in between his laughing fits, "stop!" He managed to grab a hold of Flash and lightly tossed her away. But Flash quickly got up again, running towards Loopy who turned around to run.

"Not until you give up, Loopy!" she playfully replied as she once again pounced at him. She managed to push him down face first and started tickling his sides. Loopy was helpless and kicked with his legs to get the Charmander off him. But Flash's constant tickling in his weak spots prevented him from getting up.

"Me give up!" he then shouted in mercy. Flash stopped tickling, but remained on his back.

"Better not trick me," warned Flash as she poked him on his side, causing him to flinch once. She chuckled, "Heh, this sure is fun training," she said as she got off Loopy.

The Machop got up himself and stuck out his tongue at Flash. She raised both her arms while cracking a mischievous grin which caused him to back off. Loopy crossed his arms in defeat, grumbling.

"No real train, Flash, only play," he muttered. Flash shrugged.

"At least I knocked you down, so I guess I'll call that my kind of training," she retaliated. Loopy rolled his eyes.

Flash looked over at the mailbox and noticed that the flag was up, indicating that someone had put in some mail in it. She curiously paced towards it.

"I wonder who'd send mail to me?" she wondered out loud.

"Mailbag?" suggested Loopy, following right after her. Flash smiled and sighed. She examined the box and opened it to find a rather thick letter. It was labelled BRT.

"Oh yeah, the Board of Rescue Teams," she thought. She slammed the lid shut and walked towards the shack. But before she opened the letter she heard someone from behind open the mailbox. She looked over her shoulder to see who.

"Mailbag? Hello?" said Loopy as he knocked on the metal box a few times. He sighed and slammed it shut as well. But he did it a little too hard, which caused the metal box to fly off the wooden pole it was glued to.

"Loopy, look what you did!" Flash scolded. Loopy blushed. "Now you go fix it!" she then ordered. Loopy sighed and tried placing the metal box on the pole, but failed.

Flash rolled her eyes and turned her attention on the letter in her claws. "Well, I'm only doing this rescue team thing until the debt is paid off. After that, I'll retire," she thought as she started opening the letter. She was halfway opening it when she heard a sudden noise.

Crash!

Flash jumped with fright and dropped the letter on the ground.

"Fixed!" boasted Loopy proudly. Flash slowly turned around dreadfully to see what had happened. She put her hands on her head in frustration when she saw what the result of Loopy's doing was. The mailbox had been slammed into the wooden pole so hard, so that the wooden pole had pierced through the box from the bottom to top.

"Oh, great," she muttered. "Now I'm going to have one fourth of a wooden pole for mail every day…"

Loopy walked up to her proudly, and patted her back.

"Good work?" he asked. The Charmander sighed and nodded, bending down to pick up the dropped letter.

Loopy laughed and promptly embraced his arms around Flash and hugged her tightly, dancing around.

"Loopy! How many times do I have to tell you? No hugging!" she wheezed. Loopy put her down.

"Me forget," he excused. Flash looked at him sternly in the eyes.

"Why do I have this feeling that you don't always forget?" she asked him suspiciously. He just smirked and rolled his eyes.

Flash concentrated on the letter again, opening up the last of it. She pulled out a paper and quickly scanned it until she found the big green "APPROVED" stamp on the lower right corner of it. She smiled, knowing that phase one was complete. She crumbled it into a ball with one claw and tossed over her shoulder, hitting Loopy's face. He didn't care though, nor did he react.

Flash then picked out a badge, which had a small fist engraved on it, and a pair of navy blue scarves. She finally pulled out a big bag which was made of a sturdy fabric. She gazed at all the items. How the heck did all these fit in?

"Much stuff in small mailbag," said Loopy, looking at all the stuff. Flash just nodded.

"I guess this is the rescue team starter kit. One badge for the leader, which of course is me, and two scarves for us to wear, and finally the so called toolbox where we can store items which we will bring on our adventures."

"Adventure! Fun!" Loopy exclaimed, raising his hands into the air.

"Now, now, Loopy, don't get to hasty," said Flash as she wiggled her claw threateningly towards Loopy. "We're not done with the preparations, you oaf," she added with a smile. She picked one of the navy blue scarves and tossed it to Loopy, who caught it. "Tie it to your body," she just instructed, bending down to pick up the other scarf.

Flash embraced the scarf around her neck and tried to knot it, but she was having problems. Every time she managed to tie a knot, it opened up and she had to start over.

"Flash help need?" asked Loopy. Flash turned around and saw that he was already done with the scarf tied around his head like a head band. Flash grumbled and nodded.

"Yeah, I want it around the neck, but be careful!"

"Me careful," assured Loopy as he begun tying a knot on her scarf, though Flash was becoming worried quickly.

She tried to object, but Loopy then tightened the scarf hard. She shut her eyes and flinched, but then noticed that her air supply hadn't been cut off.

"Done!" he proudly exclaimed. Flash opened her eyes to see a sturdy knot just below her neck and sighed in relief.

"Thanks," she said, "but will I ever get it off?" she then proceeded to ask, knowing that Loopy had tied it pretty hard.

"Worry no," he assured, "hard knot easy to undo. But why off take? Flash wanted it on?"

Flash shrugged, "Never mind." She picked up the badge and attached it to the left side of her scarf. 'All done, I guess, now that the leader of this temporary rescue team is me, I hope this will be over with as quickly as possible,' she thought as she walked towards her shack. And as usual, Loopy followed, but he carried the toolbox with him.

Flash heard Loopy following her, and she started to wonder about his past she didn't know about. She looked briefly over her shoulder to meet the carefree smile from the happy Machop which followed her. Nobody in town seemed to know who he was, but she figured that he might've lived at Mt Discipline and could've strayed away.

When she entered the shack she searched for the paper Kangaskhan had left her. She hadn't really checked how much she actually owed her. Thinking of Kangaskhan reminded her of the prank Loopy played yesterday. Flash hoped that she had settled down.

She found the paper under the rock table and picked it up. As she read it, her eyes widened when she saw the total debt.

"Fi-fifteen th-thousand Pokédollars?" she burst out, staring at the paper, "no freaking way!"

After putting the toolbox on Flash's bed, Loopy carefully walked up to her and leaned his chin on her shoulder. "What wrong, is?" he asked.

Flash flinched to get Loopy off her and then just looked at him. "Uh, nothing, really," she replied. 'But I guess this rescue team thing will go on for a pretty long time though,' she thought afterwards. Loopy patted her back a few times, shaking his head.

"Me know Flash upset," he told her. "But Team Brawl be fun!" he then exclaimed, catching her in a light hug while lifting her up.

"Hey, Loopy, let me down or I'll tickle you!" she threatened playfully, kicking with her feet. Loopy yelped and dropped her at an instant. She landed flat on her tail. "Ow! For that I'm gonna tickle you anyway!" she growled as she jumped up and pounced on him.

"No, no!" was all Loopy could utter before he drowned in his own laughs as Flash tickled him on his belly and sides. Flash found it funny as well, as she had found a weak point of Loopy's.

After a while of tickling, she stopped, but she remained on his chest. "You know what? We should get out and get ourselves a job offer. But we gotta search for one though, as no one knows who we are." She got off him and headed for the exit. Loopy scrambled to his feet and followed.

"Fun!" he exclaimed.

"Let's get to town and see if there is some kind of offer," she suggested. They headed for the town, hoping to get their first rescue job.

To be continued…

 

[EkaSwede]

Chapter X: Meh, Finding a job…​

​

Flash and Loopy were once again inside the town, looking for job offers. Flash wanted an offer that was not too far from the town, and hoped that she'd find an easy for starters. She also made sure to check every now and then to see if Loopy was still nearby, as he would probably stray off to do something stupid. It wouldn't be good if he ripped out one of Kangaskhan's windows.

She chuckled at the thought, even though the door-stunt Loopy pulled off was unnecessary, it was hilarious. She checked to see if Loopy was near her, and he was.

"What funny?" he asked, noticing Flash's grin. She quickly turned around.

"Nothing," she promptly replied. Loopy prodded her back impatiently.

"Something funny, why no tell?" he asked. Flash turned around completely to face him, already annoyed.

"Why are you so damn curious?" she snapped. "Curiosity killed the Skitty, you know."

Loopy looked at her blankly, and blinked twice. He then started to speak. "Who-"

"Let's just find a job offer, Loopy!" interrupted Flash, flailing with her arms. Loopy blinked once again, not saying anything. The Charmander just sighed, but right after that, the Machop gasped as he put both of his hands on his mouth.

"Scary!" he whispered, though it was pretty muffled due to his hands covering the mouth.

Flash looked at him for a while, not understanding what he meant. She patted his shoulder, smiling. "Hey, Loopy, don't be scared. I didn't mean to be so angry." Loopy was still fidgeting however. She sighed, wondering what his issue was now. "Let's go back to what we were doing, finding a job offer," she then suggested.

Loopy quickly raised his hands up in the air, smiling. "Fun!" he exclaimed. Flash feared that he was about to hug her, but she knew how to make him stop if he intended to. The hug never came. She wondered if he was tricking her into letting her guard down, so she carefully took one step away from him to make sure.

Loopy looked at her and put his hands on his hips. "Flash want hug?" he asked as he cracked a mischievous smile. He took one step towards Flash.

The Charmander jumped in surprise, when he had taken that step. She raised her paws in defence. "Loopy, one more step forward and I'll show you the tickle of fury!" she warned, wiggling her claws.

Loopy stood still for a moment, staring at Flash. Suddenly, he ran towards her and swiftly, yet firmly, embraced his arms around Flash, lifting her up. "Flash tickle miss!" he laughed. He made sure that he had caught her arms as well, which prevented any form of tickling.

"Gah! Stupid Loopy!" Flash snarled as she struggled to get free. She glared at Loopy, who only responded with his innocent smile as he tightened his embrace slightly. She tried to shoot an Ember at him, but only a puff of white smoke came out of her mouth. Again.

Loopy laughed more as he spun around once. "Flash no get out, Flash no get out!" he sang, spinning around once more. This caused Flash to struggle more, kicking her feet at Loopy's stomach. Though, that wasn't enough to tickle him.

"Flash give up?" he asked, smiling as playfully as ever.

She glared at him for a while, but then admitted defeat and relaxed. "I give up," she grumbled.

Loopy kept holding her though. "Flash trick will," he told her, not letting go. He kept the hug tight as ever.

"Damnit Loopy! Let me down NOW!" she yelled, kicking his stomach again with no effect. "I've had it with this hug!"

"Flash impatient!" Loopy yapped, tightening the embrace.

Flash was starting to feel pain through her back as Loopy squeezed. She didn't think this was funny anymore. 'Time for plan B!' she thought as she raised her tail so it touched Loopy's hands. The tip of the tail burned Loopy's hands enough for him to drop her on the ground.

Loopy rubbed his hands, trying to ease the burning pain in them. They hadn't been severely burned, so they were still useable. When he was done easing the pain, he looked at Flash, who looked pissed.

"You better start running!" she threatened, claws ready.

Loopy fidgeted a bit, taking one step back. "Um," he stuttered, "Flash angry?"

She growled as she ran at him, but he reacted by sidestepping and tripping her. He laughed and blew a raspberry before running off towards the town.

"Just you wait, Loopy!" Flash yelled as she started to chase him.

-----

When Flash entered the town, she had already lost track of Loopy. She knew that he was in the town, as she had seen him run towards it. She sat down against a building to catch her breath, tired of all the running. She tugged her navy blue scarf, swallowing once before panting again. Wherever she looked, she couldn't find Loopy, and it started to worry her. She stood up and looked at the building she had rested against.

Kangaskhan's Bank. She started to feel nervous, wondering if Kangaskhan was still mad about yesterday's incident. She paced around the corner, only to see the ripped out door leaning against the wall next to the entrance. She sneaked up to the opening, peeking inside to see Kangaskhan behind the counter.

"Uh, Kangaskhan?" she started, getting the Pokémon's attention, "have you seen Loo-"

Kangaskhan glared when she saw who it was. She banged her fist on the counter and pointed at Flash. "OUT!" she bellowed.

Flash dashed away as quick as she could. 'Yup, she's still angry,' she thought as she ran towards the centre of the town. Many Pokémon walked about here, attending their businesses. Some were wearing those bandanas in various colours, which signified them being in different rescue teams.

Her concern about Loopy was growing, and she thought that this place would be good to ask if anyone had seen him. But a group of three Pokémon were already approaching her.

A Pichu with a grey bandana on his left ear looked at her. "Looking for something?" he asked.

"Y'need any 'elp?" asked a Magby quickly, having the bandana in the same fashion as Flash.

"We'll fix anytime for ye! Leave it to The Juvens!" a Totodile finished with a pose, having his bandana tied around his head like Loopy, only that it wass tilted in a way that it covered his left eye.

Flash sweat dropped, looking at the three obviously younger Pokémon. "Uh, have-"

"YEAH!" the three cheered as they high pawed each other.

Flash lost her temper and growled at them, exhaling a big puff of white smoke that covered the three. "I'M NOT OFFERING YOU A JOB!" she cried out in shrill voice. The Juvens froze, and stared at Flash. "I was just gonna ask you if you had seen a Machop with a blue headband around his head around here!"

"Gee," started Pichu, "you didn't need to yell, Charmander."

Totodile stepped forward, adjusting his bandana. "Yeah!" he snapped.

Magby shook her fist at her. "Ju't 'cause we're young doesn't mean-"

Flash waved her arms quickly, confused again by the bickering Pokémon. "Hey, HEY! Kids, one at a time! Just tell me if you've seen a Machop with a blue bandana! By Mew!" she yelled. The three froze again, looking at her.

"Yes," they all answered in unison.

Flash lit up slightly, "Oh? Where?"

Totodile grinned. "He's right behind yer back!" he burst out. Flash looked at the blue Pokémon and blinked, slowly turning around to face a Loopy with a wide smile.

"HELLO, FLASH!" he shouted in her face, scaring the daylights out of her. The Juvens burst out laughing at the scene. "Me fast!" Loopy then said, thumping his chest proudly. Flash glared at him and raised her claws.

"You are SO in for a tickling, Loopy!" she snarled, a thin trail of smoke coming out of her nostrils.

Loopy guffawed, walking up to Flash and patted her head. "Flash easy… eh, take. Find adventure!" he requested.

The Juvens had stopped laughing, but kept smiling at the show. "Adventu'e?" Magby asked.

"So you're looking for job offers too?" assumed Pichu.

Flash shrugged. "Well, yeah. I'm starting out with Loopy here," she said, pointing at Loopy.

Totodile adjusted his bandana again. "Cool, we're looking for an offer too."

"But job offers are found on the bulletin board outside the post office, no?" stated Flash.

Magby scratched her head awkwardly. "W'll, we thought th't maybe we 'ould find an offer right 'ere."

"So we should've done what I said half an hour ago, check the bulletin!" squeaked Pichu, tugging his ears with frustration.

"No, I suggested that!" snapped Totodile.

"No, y' didn't!" objected Magby.

It didn't take long until they all started bickering again. Flash sighed and dragged Loopy with her to the bulletin board outside the post office. Some other rescue teams were there too, and was checking job offers as well.

"Now, Loopy, let me do the looking, since we wouldn't want a job we can't handle," she explained.

Loopy nodded, "Understand," he acknowledged. "But pick fun adventure!"

Flash rolled her eyes as she browsed the bulletin board, trying to get a glimpse on various fresh notes which had been put up. She spotted one job that looked rather easy, as it was located in Tiny Forest, but it was too high up for her to reach. She tried jumping, but it didn't work.

Loopy then grabbed her from behind and hoisted her up, putting her on his shoulders.

"Hey!" she yelled, "at least you could warn me before doing that, Loopy!" She balanced on his shoulders while she reached for the note. But as she managed to snatch it, Loopy stumbled and fell down, Flash landing on him.

"Ow," he muttered as Flash jumped off him.

The Charmander helped Loopy to his feet, grumbling a little.

"Sorry," he apologized, looking down.

Flash patted his shoulder, smiling. "It's okay," she said, earning a smile form the Machop, "but no hug of appreciation, okay?" He nodded.

"Why Flash grey band carry?" he then asked, looking at a grey bandana which was wrapped around Flash's chest.

Flash glanced at him inquisitively, and looked at her chest. She saw a bandana, which probably belonged to a team member of The Juvens, around her chest like a toga cloth. She sighed. "Sometimes I even amaze myself…"

Loopy waved his hand before her face, trying to get her attention. "Adventure now?" He began shadow boxing, showing that he had a lot of energy for fighting.

Flash nodded, "Yep, but I think I gotta return this first," she said as she scratched the back of her head. She took of the grey bandana and held it in her claws. She got an idea, and walked up to the closest Pokémon, which resembled mostly a blue duck without the wings. It had a red gem on its forehead and webbed claws and feet. She knew it was a rescue team member due to the white bandana which was wrapped around the head.

"Excuse me, Mr Golduck, could you hold on to this and give it to one in the team The Juvens?" she requested. The Golduck looked at her with surprise.

"Excuse me?" he replied, but Flash already handed over the bandana to him.

"Thanks, real nice of ya! Gotta go now, urgent business!" she blurted out as she darted off with Loopy, laughing.

The Golduck quickly attempted to give chase, but decided not to, since he figured that he'd have a job to do anyways.

-----

Back at Flash's house, Flash and Loopy had stopped running. They knew that the bigger Pokémon hadn't given chase, so they had paused rest.

"Well, at least that's over with," Flash muttered, still holding the note in her claws. "I wonder what the job is though…" She checked the note. "Oh…"

Loopy walked up to her eagerly, curious. "What? Hard adventure? Me get toolbag!" he chirped as he ran inside the shack to get the sturdy leather box known as the Toolbox. He wore it by putting the strap over his shoulder with the box hanging at his right side.

Flash grinned, "Well, that's good to know. But I don't think we need too much of supplies for this job. I know Tiny Forest pretty good, so I can find some apples and such on the way."

"But what adventure?" Loopy eagerly asked, jumping excitingly.

"Huh?"

"What we do with adventure?" he asked again, trying to ask what they were supposed to do. Luckily, Flash realized what he wondered.

"Oh yeah…" she mumbled, "Our client-"

"What be clint?" Loopy asked, blinking.

Flash let out a frustrated sigh, smoke coning out of her nostrils. "The client is the one who's in danger, okay?" Loopy nodded. "Anyway, I never expected to get this client, however. It's those Wurmple."

Loopy flinched, and clenched his fists. "No-catapi bad!" he growled as he stomped the ground once.

"It could be a different one, Loopy, calm down," she assured, "I hope there won't be any Pidgey involved…"

Flash shuddered.

To be continued…

 

[EkaSwede]

Chapter XI: First Job, I guess...​

"Me find apple!" Loopy burst out as he stood on a branch, reaching for an apple. He and Flash were in Tiny Woods, searching for a Wurmple. But Loopy was excited with finding food, however, and Flash was getting impatient.

"Hey, Loopy," she called to him from below. "You already stuffed ten apples in the Toolbox! We're supposed to be on a rescue mission, not an apple raid!"

Loopy looked down at her and jumped down from the branch. He landed hard on his feet, but stood tall after the fall. He held the apple in front of her. "But this apple big!" he claimed as he stuffed it into the Toolbox. "Apple tasty, good!" he added as he patted the Toolbox.

Flash rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, don't fill up the Toolbox with apples, we could find other stuff," she said.

Loopy nodded in agreement, but held the leather bag in front of her, opening it. "Much space left!"

She sighed, and didn't want to bother answer this time. She walked off where the distressed Wurmple was supposed to be, and Loopy quickly followed.

Their progress had only been about halfway due to Loopy's apple hunting, and the fact that Tiny Woods weren't exactly tiny didn't help either. But Flash had an assuring feeling that the presumed location of the Wurmple was far from the Pidgey territory, so it would be an easy job.

She looked over her shoulder to see if Loopy was following. He had stopped by a nearby bush, looking for berries.

"Loopy!" she shouted, getting his attention, "stop fooling around!" He looked down and slowly walked to her. "We gotta be quick to save Wurmple before anything bad happens," she then just said, feeling guilty for upsetting Loopy.

"Kay-O!" he replied nodding. Flash looked at him confusedly, but then realized he had swapped the word 'Okay' for gags.

They resumed trekking through the forest, Flash keeping a keen eye on Loopy so he won't dawdle off again. They arrived at an open section of the forest where a thin rivulet streaming across. The warming rays of the sun shone had a free way down to the ground, marking the glade look much more pleasant. She walked up to the rivulet and sat down, watching the water murmur quietly.

"Whew! It be warm!" Loopy exclaimed, wiping a sweat from his forehead, "Thirsty," he added as he walked to where Flash was. He dipped his hands into the water and splashed up a handful of it at his head, and followed up by drinking a bit after. "Water good!" he exclaimed, splashing some water at Flash playfully.

"Hey! Don't do that!" she snapped, jumping on her feet. Loopy sighed, looking down. "Do that again and I'll tickle you!" she threatened, raising her claws.

Loopy responded with a cheeky grin as he backed away slowly. Flash nodded cockily in victory, knowing that she put him in place this time.

The Machop started to sulk as he wandered off to a nearby tree, but a he noticed a hole in the tree and his childish curiosity came into play as he skipped his way towards the tree.

Flash looked at him, surprised of his sudden change in mood. She followed him to where he was skipping to, and saw that he peeked into a tree. She wondered what he was up to now, and carefully snuck up on him form behind.

"Find thing!" Loopy suddenly exclaimed as he spun around to face Flash, holding something in his hands. "Smell good!" he added.

Flash looked at the greenish jelly he held in his hands and sniffed it. She didn't like the smell of it, but she knew what it was. "Loopy, you found a grass gummi. They're good treats, you know, and rare too. Nice find!" she commended. "But the taste of this one is probably bad, judging by the smell," she added.

Loopy sighed and was about to put the gummi in the toolbox when he heard a cry.

"Get you filthy paws off my stuff!"

The two Pokémon turned to look behind them to see a yellow and brown striped seed like Pokémon with big, turquoise eyes for its size. The top of it was spiky, and a pair of leaves had sprouted on its head. It was upset at the two Pokémon for raiding its stash.

"Put that gummi back, or else I'll knock you out!" the Sunkern threatened, bouncing in anger. Flash scoffed.

"Ha, talk to him about that," she sneered as she pointed at Loopy. Sunkern growled and charged at Loopy without any warning, hitting his stomach with its head hard. Loopy was caught off guard and fell down on his back, dropping the grass gummi in the process. Flash quickly picked it up without getting noticed.

"Not a tough meanie, are ya?" Sunkern hissed, "Let's see how you handle this!" With that, Sunkern shot out a pair of vines of its body which attached themselves onto Loopy's chest. They then began glowing bright green as Loopy whined.

"F-Flash!" he cried, "Me… weaker… feel! Help!" The Sunkern used its Absorb attack to drain Loopy's energy and he was unable to fight off the attack.

"You stupid seed!" Flash roared as she pounced on Sunkern, scratching it multiple times. During her assault, she felt bad thinking that Loopy would handle the fight by himself, but she was part of a rescue team now, she couldn't let one do the dirty work.

Eventually, Sunkern's vines detached from Loopy and the attack was interrupted. Sunkern was struck powerfully by Flash's final scratch, sending it rolling a distance away.

She walked up to Loopy, fidgeting with her claws a bit. "Loopy, you okay?" she asked. Loopy slowly got up, rubbing his head.

"Feel dizzy," he muttered, as he tried to stand straight up. He fell down on his end and reached for the Toolbox, picking up an apple. "But apple help!" he chirped as he started eating it. When he was done, he threw the core away and patted his belly.

Flash smiled. "At least he's okay," she thought as she picked up an apple herself, eating it slower than Loopy did. "I showed that plant, didn't I?" she told him.

Loopy laughed and slapped her back. "Fight self be good training, Flash," he said, standing up to look at the downed Sunkern. He noticed that the Pokémon was still conscious and was weakly making its way towards the dropped gummi. Loopy quickly walked up to the Sunkern and firmly grabbed it, lifting it up.

"Why attack?" he asked, staring into the Sunkern's eyes.

The Sunkern tried shaking itself free in vain. "You tried stealing my gummi!" it wailed.

Loopy looked at it. "But, me gummi find," he muttered.

"But it's MINE!" Sunkern snapped, "I worked hard to find that gummi, I was just defending it from thieves from you!"

Loopy dropped the Sunkern in shock. "B-but, thief b-bad!" he stuttered, backing away from the Pokémon.

"But I beat you fair and square, Sunkern!" pointed Flash out, "I think we deserve that gummi!"

Sunkern quickly hopped in front of the green gummi, as if defending it. "But you won't like this gummi! This is my favourite colour!" protested Sunkern. The Pokémon edged closer to the gummi as Flash started walking towards it.

Loopy stopped Flash in her tracks. "Gummi be seedy's," he said, earning a glare from Sunkern.

"Did you just call me Seedy?"

Flash tried pushing Loopy away, but he stood firm. "Don't mind him," she quickly said.

"Flash, be no bad! Steal be bad!" Loopy argued, grabbing a hold of her arm. Flash tried to shake herself off the grip, but the Machop didn't budge.

"Loopy!" Flash cried in exasperation, "I won the fight, and I won the gummi as well! Isn't that right, Sunkern?"

The seed Pokémon looked down and said, "Well, you are right. But what are you going to do with a gummi you won't even like?"

Loopy finally let go of Flash's arm when it came to his mind that Flash had 'earned' the gummi.

"Well," started Flash, "I could always sell it."

Sunkern, despite its injuries, jumped in shock. "SELL IT?" it yelled, "Don't do that! That's a waste! A WASTE! Can't we make a deal or something?"

Flash crossed her arms, while Loopy picked up another apple from the Toolbox. "Consisting of what?"

Sunkern calmed down a bit, taking slow breaths. "Grass gummies aren't very appealing to fire types, but Brown gummies are much more appealing to the likes of you," it shortly explained.

"And?" Flash inquired.

"Well," continued Sunkern, "I might find a brown gummi in this forest for you, but I don't know if I'll succeed or not. But please, please, please let me have the Grass gummi."

Flash thought for a moment, but was interrupted during her thinking by a final plea from Sunkern.

"Puh-leeaase?" Sunkern gave Flash the puppy eyes.

"Okay, okay! Stop giving me that look!" she cried, losing her patience.

Sunkern jumped in joy (again, despite its injuries). "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" it chirped, snagging the Grass gummi with its mouth. "I'll send it to your quarters, what's your team name?"

Flash stared at first, but then realized why the Sunkern had known she was a rescue team member. "Uh, Team Brawl."

"Great! It might take some time, but I swear I'll get it for you!" With that, Sunkern hopped away.

Flash scratched her head and sighed. "This entire ramble for a simple gummi…"

"Flash!" Loopy suddenly exclaimed, startling the Charmander. "No-Catapi rescue!"

Flash smacked her head. "Cripes! Forgot about that! Let's go!" she replied as they ran off to find the Wurmple.

-----

When they reached the place where the Wurmple was supposed to be, they were welcomed with a mob of hostile Wurmple. Flash recognized them from before.

"Be no-catapi there-"

"Loopy, those are Wurmple! Wurmple! It's the ones from that cave the other day!" she barked.

Loopy scratched his head. "Wumpel?" he said.

Flash smacked his head. "They're attacking!" she yelled as two of them used their String Shot attacks at them. Loopy quickly reacted and pushed Flash out of the way as he right after side stepped the attack.

"Intrudersss," some of them hissed. Their compound eyes glowed in the same red hue as before, only this time it was a little brighter.

"Something's wrong with them," thought Flash as she got up, eyeing the attacking Pokémon. One attacked her using a Tackle, but she quickly scratched it, sending it back. Two more swiftly attacked, and Flash managed knock it back, but the second struck her hard with a Tackle attack. She fell down and three more Wurmple pounced on her.

Loopy grabbed a hold of two of the Wurmple on Flash and tossed them away, but the third promptly turned around and spit some white goo at his face. He reeled backwards, trying to get the liquid silk off his face. While he was defenceless some of the Wurmple promptly used their silk to tie him up.

Flash scratched the sole Wurmple to get it off her, and got up. She watched in horror as five Wurmple quickly tied Loopy up with their String Shot attack. They then pulled the strings to Loopy fell down on the ground, preventing him from breaking free. She snarled at them as the fire on the tip of her tail flared up.

"Let him go, or I'll torch every one of you!" she threatened, clenching her paws. Some Wurmple slowly backed away. But some of them advanced slightly, looking at her as if she was bluffing. She did the mistake and took one step back, and four Wurmple began advancing faster towards her. She saw the Wurmple who had tied Loopy up keep spewing out the liquid silk to make sure he wouldn't break free.

A single Wurmple nudged Flash's leg from behind, scaring the living daylights out of her.

"A-are you from a Rescue Team? P-please get me out of h-here," it wailed, edging closer to Flash. This Wurmple seemed friendlier, as there was no red hue in its eyes. If Flash had had the time, she'd give it some comfort, but she was more worried about the advancing Wurmple.

But they had stopped their advance, and were all staring blankly into the woods behind them.

"Welcome, Master, we have awaited you," they all said. Flash wondered what Pokémon it was, but she say six pairs of bright red glowing eyes slowly floating towards her. The Pokémon consisted of six pink eggs – each having a pair of eyes and a mouth – which were floating together in a rhythm. All of the Wurmple bowed their heads in respect for their leader.

An Exeggcute.

"Master, we have a potential servant for you," a Wurmple said, showing the grass/psychic the tied up Machop. The Exeggcute ignored it as it floated towards Flash, the twelve eyes all pinned on the Wurmple behind her. The Wurmple tried hiding behind Flash in vain.

"So," the grass/psychic started, "you have evaded us for long enough, but soon you'll be under our control again."

"Hey!" Flash exclaimed, getting the Exeggcute's attention, "If you want him, you gotta get through me!"

Exeggcute chuckled as they circled Flash. "Oh, a rescue team member… you look rather fragile, we bet you couldn't burn us at all," it chanted.

Flash growled, only to be answered with another chuckle from Exeggcute. "I'll burn you, and then I'll burn your minions with you!" she threatened.

Wurmple nudged Flash's leg again, "Don't hurt them, Charmander, they're under Exeggcute's control."

"What?" Flash burst out.

Exeggcute was becoming impatient. "So, will you show us your feared fire, Charmander?" it asked, "If you can show us a good fire, I'll let that Wurmple friend of yours go."

Flash took a few breaths, casting a glance at the tied up Machop who couldn't move a muscle. She hoped that a good Ember would scare this opposing Pokémon. She took one big breath and exhaled with all her might at the Exeggcute. And the result of her attack…

…was just a big puff of white smoke that washed over Exeggcute.

Flash looked at the disappointed Exeggcute, and some droplets of sweat trickled down her forehead.

The grass/psychic powerfully rammed her chest, knocking the air out of her. She hit a nearby tree and slumped to the ground, breathing weakly. Her eyes screwed shut in the expression of pain, but she heard the Exeggcute mutter, "Pathetic."

The Wurmple, close to panic, quickly crawled to Flash to see if she was all right. "Please, Charmander, please don't let them get me. Please…" it pleaded, glancing behind it to see the Exeggcute hovering near it. "I'm their last hope, don't let them hypnotise me. Please… please…" it kept pleading.

"Now," Exeggcute started, "it's time for you to become one with us. You are especially needed since you are the leader to this pack of Wurmple, and having you with us makes things easier for all of us," it chanted, looking into the frightened Wurmple's black compound eyes.

Wurmple shivered and backed away, going closer to Flash. "No… no…" it whined. "…nooo…"

"But fear not, dear Wurmple, before we make you one of us, we will concentrate on making that Machop one of us," it ensured, floating towards Loopy, who could do nothing else but to watch the grass/psychic approach him. Loopy stopped struggling and looked at Exeggcute oddly.

"Why egg float? Be birdie egg?" he asked. The Exeggcute hastened up its pace, glaring murderously at the Machop.

"Insolent child! But no matters, we will welcome you as being one of us after our treatment," it said with an enticing voice as they started floating in a weird eight formation.

"Me feel… sleepy… tired…" Loopy muttered as he was slowly falling a sleep.

Flash was regaining her senses and noticed Exeggcute's attempt to hypnotise Loopy. She groggily got to her feet, but one of the six eggs noticed the Charmander's movements.

"You two!" Exeggcute barked, pausing the Hypnosis attack, "make sure she does not interrupt us!"

Two Wurmple made their way towards Flash, about to tie her up with their String Shot attack. But the friendly Wurmple promptly got in the way of the advancing two.

"Stop it! As th-the true leader, I-I command you t-to stop!" it ordered. The advancing two looked at the Wurmple, but then spit a short string of liquid silk at it which missed. Flash dashed to the two and was about to strike one of the opposing Wurmple when the friendly Wurmple yelled at her.

"DON'T! I forbid you to hurt my comrades! Even though they may be corrupted by this fiend of an Exeggcute, I won't let you lay a claw on them!" it screeched at Flash. This did cause the advancing Wurmple to stop, their red hue vanishing slightly from their eyes.

"L-leader Orly?" one said, revealing the leader Wurmple's name. Flash coughed at the shock of the Wurmple's name. "Concentrate on helping your friend while I occupy these two!"

Flash took Orly's advice and ran towards Exeggcute who was busy hypnotising Loopy, but the grass/psychic turned around completely in time to notice her.

"You're too late, weakling," it sneered, "when the Machop wakes up, he will serve no one but us!" Exeggcute laughed triumphantly in Flash's face, gloating over its success.

Flash's paws began to shiver in pure anger; she gritted her teeth while hearing the Exeggcute's laugh. "You… you…" she stuttered, unable to speak as the blood inside her boiled.

Exeggcute leered, "Aw, were we mean to the little weakling?" it teased. Flash took a deep breath. "Spare me…" it teased once more.

Flash exhaled with all her might and anger, and she finally managed to spit a powerful fireball right at the grass/psychic whom was entirely caught off guard by the successful attempt of Flash's. Flash didn't hold back as she ran full speed towards the injured Exeggcute and delivered a hard scratch across four of the eggs.

Exeggcute fell down and tried to get up, but Flash pounced on it and unleashed a barrage of Scratch attacks, adding some Embers as well. During her rage, she could feel her claws scrape and even tear up the shell of the Exeggcute. The cries of agony from the eggs were completely ignored.

She stopped.

Flash took several breaths as she watched the downed Pokémon. She slowly got to her feet, and kept staring at the Exeggcute. She then let her gaze float over to Loopy, who was sleeping due to the effects of Hypnosis. Luckily, the Wurmple under Exeggcute's command backed away from him and Flash, and beat a hasty retreat.

"I… I did it… I finally learned Ember…" she said quietly to herself. The Wurmple Orly crawled forward and bowed its head in gratitude.

"I thank you heartily for defeating this foe, Charmander."

Flash scratched the back of her head, striking a pose. "Well, nothing can stop me, eh, Orly," she said while grinning.

Orly sighed, "Funny, how's the Machop friend of yours?"

Flash looked at Loopy, who still slept, and walked up to him. "I don't know, Exeggcute told me that he would serve them. But Exeggcute is defeated, so he should be all right," she said, looking at the Machop covered in the hardened silk. She sighed as she tried scratching the binding material off him.

"No! STOP!" yelled Orly while crawling to Flash at a high speed, the two other Wurmple following. They all shot out a string of liquid silk that connected to Flash's back and pulled her towards them.

Flash fell down on her back, trying to rip the strings off her. "What's the big idea?" she yelled while being dragged away from Loopy.

"Listen to us," one of the two Wurmple said, "Exeggcute were manipulating our minds and were using us for their wicked plans to rule this part of Tiny Forest! The manipulation wears off after time, and Leader Orly managed to hide from them."

"I had to get assistance if there'd be any hope for us to become independent again, so I figured a Rescue Team would help out a great deal," Orly explained, "But time was short as you noticed, Charmander, you both found me at the same time, and I feared that I'd become their servant again." They stopped pulling when she was at a safe distance.

Flash tried to comprehend all this while getting to her feet, and asked, "But what does not untying Loopy have to do with this?"

Orly groaned, "The Machop might be under their manipulation! When he wakes up, he might turn hostile!"

"Nah, he's too dense to be controlled," replied Flash as she scraped off the white goo off her back. "Don't worry."

They all heard Loopy groan a little, and the Wurmple froze in place.

"Oh no, he's waking up. We better get away and stay out of his way until the manipulation has worn off," Orly told Flash.

Flash looked at Orly and asked, "How long will that take?"

"Hmm, well, first timers doesn't last long, a day if I remember it correctly."

Flash shrugged, walking up to the Machop. "You talked your friends to sense. Loopy will listen to me," she assured. The three Wurmple crawled casually behind her. "He's tied up as well," she added.

Loopy groaned again, and mumbled a bit. His eyes were still closed, but it seemed that he couldn't open them. Flash kneeled down to look at him, and grabbed a hold of him and positioned him so he sat against a tree. She looked at him; he seemed to be in pain as he tried waking up. She petted his head softly.

"Hey, Loopy, wake up, it's safe to do that," she softly told him, "Come on, listen to me, or I'll tickle you!" She started tickling his sides a little, but he didn't react much to that. He flinched a little though, mumbling something. Flash sighed and decided she'd have to wake him up a little harder. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him slightly, but enough to make most wake up.

His eyes remained closed, but he now stopped flinching, as well as mumbling and groaning. With his eyes closed, he sat straight up as if being fully awake.

"Loopy?" Flash said, looking at his closed eyes. "Loopy?" she repeated.

And suddenly, his eyes shot open. They were glowing in the same glaring, red hue as the hostile Wurmple's. Flash heart skipped a beat as she jumped back in shock.

"WHAT THE F-"

"RUN!" Orly cried as it along with the other two Wurmple crawled away at an abnormally high speed.

Flash were gasping repeatedly as she watched Loopy's hostile demeanour towards her. He struggled to get free as he glared murderously at her while growling ferociously. Flash's breaths slowed a little when she noticed that he was trapped and was still quite defenceless.

"Loopy! Listen to me! You don't want to do this!" she yelled at him, but he wasn't listening; he was gritting his teeth and growling, just waiting to kill Flash.

The Charmander carefully walked up to the hostile Machop, who never let his glare leave her.

"You can't do anything anyway," she muttered.

Loopy calmed down briefly, taking a few breaths, and suddenly used all his strength to break free from the hardened silk. The hardened silk cracked and broke into pieces instantly and he stretched out his arms, flexing them.

Flash cried in sheer terror at the sight. Loopy was now free, and glaring at her with his glowing, red eyes. He charged forward, roaring at the fear stricken Charmander.

To be continued…