Chapter 37: Trouble

"We're almost there guys," Brock said about an hour later.

"Good! Though it's been nice to stretch our legs," I said, feeling optimistic for the first time all day. My dad was back to his normal self, talking to everyone. That was a gift he had. His happiness could cheer up anyone.

"Come on Pikachu! Let's go find Celebi," Ash said, starting to run.

Pikachu bounded next to him.

"Hey, we haven't run in such a long time. Let's go." Daniel flew off. "I'll race you Em!"

"It doesn't count if you get a head start!" I yelled after him, scowling as I tried to catch up.

The forest was dense and running was more like an obstacle course over thick branches that didn't know they were supposed to be under the ground, not in the air.

Daniel had problems getting through a small person sized hole, which I instead climbed over.

"I'm stuck," he whined, pouting. It was pretty funny since he had taken a good amount of time squirming to get free.

I stuck my face a few inches away from his and smiled slyly. "Too bad. See you."

I turned and was about to start running, but something grabbed my ankle. I looked down to see Daniel's hand around it as he looked at me in pretend confusion. "Huh. I didn't know you needed this to run. Amazing how that works."

I wanted to kick him gently in the face, but didn't think I could ever be that mean, so instead I tried to shake myself loose to no avail.

"This is fun. Nice day, isn't it?" Daniel commented lightly.

"Let go!"

"Hey, guys?" Ash said.

I didn't like his wary tone. Daniel and I locked eyes before he let go of my ankle and I instantly grabbed his hands, pulling him free.

"What's up?" I asked as soon as we ran up with Ash. Then I saw.

A stone shrine was set up, but all around it, the trees and shrubs had all been charred and destroyed. I could smell the older smell of burnt wood. There weren't any signs of Pokemon around this area of the forest.

"This is pretty recently done," Daniel said, stepping over to the shrine. "Look. There are a few burnt marks along the stone. You can see where the moss used to be."

"So you think there was a fight here?" I asked.

"Why burn the stone?" His fingers traced the burns, coming away black. "We're the only ones who have been here since. And I feel like whoever did this is still here."

"Celebi's in danger?" Ash perked up. "We have to find him."

"We need to tell the others," Daniel said.

Before we could move, I heard a scream.

"Misty," Ash whispered, rushing off.

I didn't even think. I just ran.

A minute later, we came back to the place where Daniel had gotten stuck, finding Misty on the side nearest us, but with a Rhydon drilling through the tree, its horn inches from her. Her arm was caught awkwardly in a root above the ground. Ash ripped at the root, breaking it, and dragged her away as fast as he could. The Rhydon broke through the thick tree, the wood splintering with deafening cracks.

"Crikey, use Waterfall!" Daniel called as he threw his Poke Ball.

Crikey's light blue body seared forward, smashing into the Rhydon, who roared in anger. 

"Get out of here," Daniel demanded, his eyes desperate as they found mine. "Find the others."

I nodded, running past Rhydon and releasing Zuko, who sniffed the air, ears turning backwards.

"Where are they, Zuko?"

He broke off to the left and I followed. I didn't know where Ash and Misty were, but I had other people to worry about.

Zuko stopped suddenly, standing up on two legs. I turned as fast as I could to see a brown blur rushing at him, knocking him backwards with a Waterfall attack. Zuko hissed and let out a Flamethrower so powerful it knocked the brown mass away. But the damage was done. His quill mane was lit.

I hadn't seen him so angry before.

My heart raced as I noticed it was a Kabutops.

"Use Hidden Power and let's get out of here," I said, my hand itching as I wondered if I should let out another Pokemon. I decided on my Manectric. "Reg, we need your help."

Reg emerged, looking discontent, but ready to fight. Without waiting for a command, he rushed at the Kabutops and sent a Thunderbolt at him, stopping the Waterfall he was about to use again on Zuko.

"Good. Come on. Try to smell out our friends."

We went a few minutes without another Pokemon attack, but heard screaming and Pokemon attacks. We came to a less dense area to find Bonnie, Amanda's Ampharos, and Snout, Anthony's Krookodile, and Brock's Onix battling a Donphan, Aerodactyl, and Snorlax.

"Alright guys, go help them out. Take care of the Donphan, Zuko. Reg, go for Aerodactyl."

As soon as they ran off, a pair of red eyes in the distance landed on me. I recognized it immediately, trying to freeze and hope it really hadn't seen me. But then the bulky, furry mass roared and sprinted at me, ready to smash me into oblivion.

Before I could get another Poke Ball out, the Ursaring was right above me, its arm glowing as it powered up an attack.

It came down, smashing with deadly fury. I only had enough time to gasp and duck as I realized the Snorlax had crept up behind me, about to Body Slam me into the ground. The punch had sent him falling backwards lamely, trying to get up like a Torterra on its back.

So the Ursaring was on our side?

I didn't have enough time to think about it more as I stumbled towards Anthony and Amanda, the Pokemon blurs as they fought. It was hard to keep track of all the movement, especially with Donphan rolling everywhere, smashing into our Pokemon with Rollout.

"Guys, get between Onix so he can't get you! Cover your backs!" I yelled.

They listened. Onix coiled up, batting Aerodactyl away and keeping his ground when run into by Donphan. The rest sent attacks out where the Aerodactyl and Donphan couldn't reach them. Reg jumped and used Thunder Fang, sending the prehistoric Pokemon crashing to the ground. Snout used Earthquake, causing Donphan to fall into a crevice, which Zuko and Bonnie sent Flamethrower and Dragon Pulse into. The Ursaring had the Snorlax taken care of, though Bonnie sent a well-aimed Focus Blast at him just before Snorlax could use Rest and gain his health back.

"What was that all about?" Brock asked.

"The shrine has been defiled. Looks like someone is after Celebi."

"Or multiple people," Amanda said.

"Is Misty ok? We lost sight of her," Brock asked.

"And Daniel?" Anthony asked.

"They should be. But come on, we need to find the Trainers responsible," I said firmly.

Ursaring came over to us, grunting. Zuko hurried over, listening intently.

"So he's on our side?" I asked.

Zuko nodded.

"Does he know where Celebi is?"

Ursaring pounded his chest. Alright then. I guess that meant he did.

"Let's regroup, then find the bad guys, and then go home."

"Amen, girl," Amanda said.

"And this time, let's keep our Pokemon out," Anthony suggested. "I'd rather not be ambushed again."

"But then we'd miss the party." Brock grinned.

"I'm a bit tired of parties," Anthony said dryly.

Zuko sniffed Ash and Misty out quickly, leading us back to the shrine. Misty was cradling her arm. I hadn't seen my dad look at her with such caring intensity since being in the past as he inspected it.

"Are you guys ok?" Amanda asked.

Anthony was the first to come forward, running a hand tenderly over her arm. "It's not broken. Or disconnected from the joint, though you probably got close to that. Bruised, but not too bad."

"It hurts to move, but it's not the worst I've had." Misty winced.

I watched Ash's hand land on hers and tighten before quickly moving away. "Who did this?"

"We don't know. But we're going to find out." I paused. "Where's Daniel?"

Ash's eyes widened.

"Where is he?" I asked again.

"I don't know."

"You didn't see him?" My voice was rising.

"I was taking care of Misty. I heard him fighting, but..."

"Zuko, find him," I ordered.

Anthony caught my arm. "Emma, we can't just go without a plan."

"Let go of me," I snapped. "We go and fight. That's our plan."

"There are most likely at least a few Trainers out there I'm sure and they all have very skilled Pokemon. The ones we fought were way above the average level. Plus they're looking for Celebi. We can't let Celebi get captured."

"No, we can't leave our friend who told me to get away to help you. He faced the dangers all by his stupid self!" I yelled. "We're going to find him."

"It'll be a trap."

"How the heck will it be a trap?" I asked, getting really worked up. "Yes, let's capture this kid. To do what with? Why would they want anything to do with us all as a group? It doesn't even make any sense."

"Unless they know we know where Celebi is," Amanda whispered.

"Why would they know that?" I scoffed.

"There was a time machine," Anthony murmured, remembering how we got here in the first place, "There were so many other people in that room."

"Yeah, but I don't remember any of them having these Pokemon we've seen. Plus they weren't that strong," I said, then cursed at myself. "We're wasting time. When we find them, we'll find out who they are. Come on."

"She has a point," Brock said.

"I'm staying with Misty. She shouldn't be moving," Ash said.

She made an annoyed face. "I'm fine. I can walk. And fight. I love Celebi too and I'm not going to come all this way to help these guys and then sit on the sidelines."

"You are so stubborn." Ash tugged his cap lower. "Fine. Come on, we're wasting time."

"After you, Zuko," I said.

Zuko sprinted through the forest, weaving through trees with his nimble body. I kept up as best as I could.

We're coming, Daniel. You're not going to get into any more trouble than you already have.

*Dramatic Music* Where's Daniel? Who are these mysterious Pokemon and who do they belong to? Where's Celebi?

Gosh, you guys have a lot of questions to think about. Good luck. :P

Pokemon Question of the Day: What's your favorite Pokemon forest?

You guys are awesome! Thanks for reading.

-Flips