Back to Fern's Point of View! :)

~

Wow, Emily can sure run very fast, I thought, dragging myself as fast as I can towards the direction where Emily ran.

Chikorita and Phanpy had ran up ahead to look while Salamence took the search to the skies.

"Chikorita, Phanpy!" I called. "Maybe we should try something else. We are not getting any where with this search."

Disappointed, Chikorita and Phanpy walked back to me. "I wonder where's Salamence," I said out loud.

"Chiko!" Chikorita pointed his leaf in the air, and I spotted Salamence's large shape flying down towards me.

"Found anything?" I asked hopefully.

"Broar," the Dragon Pokemon shook his head.

"Oh well," I sighed, collapsing on a fallen log. "Let me think of something."

Minutes past. Chikorita yawned while Phanpy amused itself by practising its Take Down on a tree truck.

Salamence looked bored, flapping his wings at me in annoyance.

"I'm thinking," I said, scratching my head. "It's not like the answer is going to land on my hand, right?"

"Phanpy, phan!" Phanpy leaped onto my head playfully.

"I'm not sure what you are saying Phanpy, but thanks for the suggestion," I told the Long Nose Pokemon.

"Phan!" Phanpy used its trunk to point at a tree.

How's a tree going to help? I wondered.

"Chiko!" Chikorita bit on my shirt and tried to drag me towards the tree.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," I said with a sigh.

When I neared the tree, I spotted something moving in the branches. A familiar - but not pleasant - green body with black markings of a Pokemon lowered itself from the tree.
A Spinarak! I thought.

Suddenly, an idea brust into my mind. If I catch that Spinarak, maybe it could lead me to its nest!

"Phanpy, I need your help," I said. "I need to catch that Spinarak so that it can lead us to Cyndaquil and hopefully Emily."

"Phanpy!" Phanpy cried.

"Salamence, Chikorita, could you help me take care of the egg?" I asked.

Both Pokemon nodded.

"Okay, let's do this," I turned to face where the Spinarak was causally gathering berries, totally ignoring me, which would give me the element of surprise.

"Wait," I said before doing anything. "What am I supposed to do? Um, tell Spinarak I'm going to catch it?"

"Chiko," Chikorita sighed.

"I guess that's a 'no'," I shrugged. "So back to battling."

Phanpy got ready to attack and waited for my command. Meanwhile, Spinarak seemed to sense that it was being watched.

It dropped itself from the tree, facing us. The Spinarak made the first move - a Poison Sting attack.

"Counter with Rollout!" I called.

The Poison Sting attack bounced off harmlessly as Phanpy's Rollout brought it closer to Spinarak.

The Spinarak dodged using Sting Shot, which made Phanpy hit the tree trunk instead.

"Phan," Phanpy shook its head.

The Spinarak then used Sting Shot on Phanpy, causing the Pokemon unable to move properly.

"Phanpy, try to get out of there before Spinarak makes a move!" I shouted.

Phanpy tried - as hard as it could - to break free, but the String Shot was tied up too tightly for Phanpy to escape.

Suddenly, one of Spinarak's legs glowed a shade of darkish purple and it struck Phanpy with it.

What's that attack? I thought, panicking for a moment before regaining my composure.

"Phanpy, try using Defense Curl!" I called. "Keep using it!"

I wasn't sure whether Phanpy had managed to use Defense Curl, but I had to have faith in Phanpy.

The Spinarak struck Phanpy, strike after strike. I stood there helplessly, unsure of what to do.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Spinarak's attacks were beginning to cut through the String Shot.

"Phanpy, try using Rollout to get out of there!" I ordered.

Phanpy obeyed and managed to break out of the String Shot after a few tries. Spinarak was also hit by Phanpy's Rollout. Furthermore, its power was doubled by Phanpy using Defense Curl earlier on.

However, Phanpy was already very injured from Spinarak's attacks and tired from trying to break itself free. I knew I needed to attack Spinarak fast, or Phanpy wouldn't handle it any longer.

"Spinarak!" the Spinarak used another attack, which looked like Pin Missile.

"Finish it off with Rollout!" I said.

Pin Missile bounced off Phanpy's Rollout attack harmlessly, causing Phanpy to strike a super effective move on Spinarak.

"Okay, go Pokeball!" I tossed one of my empty Pokeballs at it.

In a stream of red light, Spinarak was sucked into the Pokeball. The Pokeball shook and blinked.

I held my breath as Phanpy tiredly flopped itself on the ground.

The Pokeball finally stopped shaking. Excitedly, I picked it up and sent Spinarak out.

"Spinarak?" it looked around anxiously.

"Hi Spinarak," I said. "Even though we kind of took off from a bad start, I hope we would be friends."

"Spinarak," it said.

"Could you do me a favour?" I asked politely. "Could you lead me to your nest? I am looking for a friend."

Spinarak remained silent for a while. "Please?" I begged.

"Spinarak," it said, beginning to walk in a direction.

Thank goodness, I thought.

"Salamence, Phanpy, return," I said, bending down to take the Pokemon egg container. Chikorita leaped onto my shoulder and we set off to find our two missing friends.