Chapter 4: Kadelast Region: Chapter 3

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

"Uhg, maybe I should have just listened to Kate and stayed hidden." Groaning as I got off the ground, I found myself surrounded by trees. "At least I still have my bag, so I won't need to worry about starving anytime soon." However, I almost fell back when I turned around and was greeted by a Phantump right in front of me. "AH!" I couldn't help myself from screaming at the sudden sight of the pokemon.

"Phan." The Phantump froze in place from the sudden noise. After taking a couple of calming breaths, I looked at the little Ghost/Grass pokemon.

"Sorry, you just startled me." Phantump waited to see if I was going to do anything, once they saw that I wasn't going to attack them. They made a phew motion before floating closer. "Sorry if this is rude to say but are you the same Phantump from earlier, that was hiding behind the tree?" They nodded. "So do you know way back to where I was?" They nodded once more before pointing toward a direction. "Thanks!" However before I can walk away, I felt something tugging on my shirt. Looking back I saw that it was the Phantump that was stopping me. "Yes?"

"Phan, Phantump, Phan!" During times like these, I wish that I have any psychic-type affinity. It takes having a deep bond or hours of training to fully understand what a pokemon is saying.  The only shortcut is having an affinity for psychic-type pokemon, as it typically comes with a form of telepathy. However, having inherited my parent's affinity for fire and water types does come with some decent perks. My high fire affinity makes me decently fire-resistant, which helps when dealing with young Fire-type pokemon. While my decent water affinity allows me to breathe underwater for up to an hour even without any training, great for playing with many of my dad's more water-bound pokemon.

"Um, I'm not sure what you're trying to ask me." They pointed in the opposite direction from where I came from. "You need me to go there?" They nodded before trying to pull me toward where they wanted me to go. I Look towards the direction they are pointing at, then towards the way out of the forest, and then at the distressed Phantump. "-Sigh-, ok I'll go along with you, lead the way." They cheered before rapidly floating deeper into the forest, with me following close behind.

After a few minutes of running after the Phantump and trying not to trip over the uneven ground. Phantump finally stopped in front of an extra large tree. I stopped next to them and looked around the area, trying to find what they need my help with. When I couldn't find anything I turned to them. "What do you need my help with?" They floated closer to the tree and pushed away some bushes to reveal a hole in the tree. Peeking inside I saw an injured Fletchling glaring back at me. "A Fletchling?." I turned to Phantump, "is this what you wanted help with." They nodded.

"Fletch!" Turning back towards the Fletchling, they continued to glare at me as they try to back themselves deeper into the hole. However, their action must have agitated their injury as they let out a cry before stopping. I paused and raised my hands to try to show I mean no harm. Either they were in too much pain to move anymore, or they realized that I wasn't going to hurt them because they started to calm down. Taking out a bag of blueberries from my backpack, I presented them with a handful of fruit. They eyed the snack suspiciously, however after seeing they were no tricks they started to eat. Once they finished eating, I presented them with another handful which they accepted with a pleasant chirp. 

"Hahaha, I'm glad you like them, it's not like I was going to eat them anyways." Once the bag of blueberries was empty, I saw Phantump enviously looking at the empty bag so I gave them a candy bar which they happily ate. Ather stuffing the empty bag back into my backpack, I tried to pick up the Fletchling. Which they responded with a weak but defiant chirp. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to help you." After a few moments of silence, they eventually allowed me to pick them up. I carefully used both my hands to lift them and bring them out of the hole. "See I'm not going to hurt you."

"Fletch!!" They gave a happy chirp. On closer inspection, I noticed a deep slash on their left wing, and the fact they're not standing means they must also have an injured leg or two.

"Do you live in this forest?" They shock their head. "Do want me to bring you out of the forest?" They let out a small chirp and nodded, to which I responded with my nod. Carefully cradling them in my arm, I turned to face Phantump. "Let's get out of here." The Phantump nodded and gave me a wide smile before floating back to where we came from, with me right behind them. 

--Phoenix Pov: Roughly an hour before--

"Is the scent getting any stronger?" My Houndoom looked up at me and barked. "Good boy, you're doing an awesome job," they gave a happy bark as I patted them on the head. "What about you guys, did you find anything?"

"I managed to Convince this haunter to help us, he said that they saw a group of Trevenants dragging the workers tied up in vines through here yesterday." Ben has been asking the wild pokemon if any of them can help us, however, most of them seem reluctant to lend us their aid. This isn't much of a surprise as a single Trevenant is a nightmare to face surrounded by all these trees, a group of them is an impossible challenge for almost any wild pokemon living here. The Haunter noticed me looking at him and grinned as he waved at me.

"That means we're right on track, what about you Hawk?" As soon as I asked him, I heard a loud cry as his Staraptor weaved through branches and landed on Hawk's stretched-out arm. 

"Star! Star, raptor. Staraptor," Hawk nodded then turned to face me.

"Staraptor didn't find anything up north, where we are heading is the only direction we didn't investigate yet."

"I think it's safe to assume that they didn't split up the workers then. Lead the way Doom, and if you notice anything don't engage." 

"DOOM!" He barked before running ahead, causing me to sigh and shake my head.

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"We better get going, at this rate he might burn down the forest before we can save the workers." We ran after my Houndoom and after a few minutes of running, we started to hear the sounds of a battle. Catching up to Doom, we were greeted by the sight of him facing off against 3 Trevenants. The workers were unconscious and bound by vines on the trees behind the Trevenants, their pokeballs bound shut in thick branches.

"Doom Fire Fang!/Go Staraptor, Brave Bird!/Sucker Punch Haunter!" Doom charged toward the middle Trevenant with their mouth wide open and coated in flames. While Staraptor started to glow before recklessly speeding toward the left Trevenants, finally Haunter disappeared before reappearing behind the right Trevenants with his fits covered in dark energy.

The moment Doom bite down on the middle Trevenant, the flames burst out causing the Trevenant to cry in pain. They responded by lifting an arm that started to glow green before smashing it down on Doom, causing him to let go of his hold on Trevenant. "Crunch, then flamethrower!" As soon as Doom landed, they lunged forwards and bit down on one of Trevenant's legs. With their mouth biting down on the leg, Doom let out a powerful torrent of fire. The blast of which caused Doom to let go of the leg, and launched him back. The Trevenant glared at us before letting out a scream and charging at us. However soon after they disappeared into a purple portal that vanished right after.

"CAREFUL PHANTOM FORCE!" I brace myself as I rapidly look around, while Ben and Hawk kept an eye out for any ambushes in their fight. A moment later two purple portals appeared, with a Trevenant each rushing out. One Trevenant appears above Doom covered in ghastly energy trying to crush him while the other appeared to my left ready to punch me with a fist coated in the same ghostly energy. Rolling at the last seconds I ducked under the punch while Doom braced themselves and took the hit, while right after throwing them off of him using Comeuppance. "THERE'S MORE THAN THREE!"

"WE NOTICED!" Shouted Hawk. When I glanced at the other two I noticed each of them facing off against an extra Trevenant. I grit my teeth before coming to a decision.

"Brace yourself! Doom Heat Wave!" 

"Staraptor up!/Haunter get behind me!" Staraptor flew straight up, breaking any branches along the way. While Haunter disappeared and then reappeared right beside Ben. Then Doom roared and let out wave after wave of intense heat, knocking back all the Trevenants as they crossed their arms to try to endure the attack. I didn't even sweat as the hot air passed me, however, one look at the other two made it clear they won't be able to endure the heat for too long. 

"Doom shift to Dark Pulse!" He stopped the attack, and before the Trevenant can react shot out a wave of purple rings of energy out of his mouth toward the closest Trevenant. Launching them back, causing them to hit the tree behind them before fainting. Once the air around us cooled down a bit, Staraptor dived down and hit a Trevenant straight into another one, knocking both of them out.

One Trevenant retaliated by shooting a Shadowball toward Ben, which was blocked by Haunter's own Shadow Ball. Another Trevenant horn glowed green before smashing Staraptor down to the ground, healing some of their wounds. However, before they can hit Staraptor with a glowing green punch, Doom interfered with a Shadow Ball of his own. Giving Staraptor enough time to doge the attack and get back into the air. 

There was a pause in the battle as the six of us faced the tree Trevenants. I glanced toward Ben and Hawk, who nodded as we all thought the same thing. We three tried to reach down toward our other pokemon, however, the Trevenants noticed our action and tried to attack us. All three Trevenants launched Shadow Balls at us, which were blocked by Dooms Dark Pulse, Staraptor's Air Cutter and Haunter's own Shadow Ball. However, the explosion from all the attacks colliding pushed us all back and filled the area with a cloud of dust. Once Staraptor cleared the cloud, we were shocked to see the biggest of the Trevenants with their roots dug deep into the ground. With a large amount of green energy building up and condensing in front of the pokemon. However, my eyes widen when I noticed that the attack wasn't aimed at us but toward the unconscious workers and their pokemon. 

"F&#K! Doom stop them with Inferno!" Doom opened his mouth and fired off a beam of blue fire.

"Haunter Shadow Ball!/Brave Bird!" Haunter's Shadowball was blocked by one of the Trevenants blocking it with their body, which knocked them out at the same time. While the other Trevenant eyes glowed, and an ethereal purple chain shot out toward Staraptor. As soon as the chain attached itself to Staraptor and connected the two pokemon, Trevenant launched themselves in front of Doom's attack. They roared as they blocked the attack, which pushed them back as they fainted. As soon as they fainted a ball of ghostly energy shot through the chain causing the chain to crumble as it travels down it. Once the ball of energy reached Staraptor and the chain fully broke down, Staraptor screeched before fainting mid-air.

"Staraptor no!" Hawk yelled as Staraptor crashed into a tree next to the large Trevenant. 

"We have to stop them!" I yelled as I reached down to my other pokemon, not caring which one and released them. From the flash of light next to me, it's clear Hawk also had the same idea. Seeing which pokemon I released I quickly gave my command. "Arcanine Extreme Speed and Flare Blitz! Doom Flamethrower!"

"Noivern Dragon Pulse!/ Haunter Shadow Ball!" However non of the attacks connected with their target as a purple portal opened up and launched another Trevenant into Arcanine, causing both of them to crash onto the ground. While a storm of leaves coming from behind us intercepted the other attacks. Glancing back, I saw two more Trevenant coming toward us readying another attack. However, before I can worry about the reinforcement, I noticed the largest Trevenant was about to launch their attack on the workers. 

Ben, Hawk and I rushed toward the large Trevenant while at the same time reaching toward our other pokemon. However, I knew that we aren't fast enough to intercept the attack. But, before the Trevenant can launch the attack, multiple figures jumped out from the bushes and into the line of fire. 

"Stop!" Yelled a small figure with its arms stretched out to shield the workers.

"Phantump!/Phan!/Phan!/Tump!" Yelled the other figures, mimicking the first figure.

"AMBER!?!/TREV!?!" The sudden sight of the young Phantumps caused the large Trevenant to quickly aim the attack up, resulting in the attack being fired into the sky. The roar of the attack caused me to flinch from the sound alone. However, despite all that is happening, I can only think of one thing once the attack ended. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!/TREVENANT TREV TREV NANT!?!"