บท 58: Out of the Frying pan

~~~

Parasect- the mushroom Pokemon

Type- bug/grass

This Pokemon is completely controlled by the mushroom on its back once it has grown larger than its own body. It is said they prefer damp places, and spreads poisonous spores wherever they go. This Pokemon has the Effect Spore and Dry Skin abilities.

Moves- Scratch, Stun Spore, Poison Powder, Spore, Cross Poison, Fury Cutter, Bullet Seed, Giga Drain, Slash, Growth, Aromatherapy, Rage Powder, X-Scissor, Dragon Breath, Dig, Brick Break, Sludge Bomb, False Swipe

~~~

My face was starting to cramp from how much I was smiling as I read everything this Parasect was capable of. It truly was a monster.

But even as I read through its data, I couldn't help but wonder WHY it was so strong. It was obviously an alpha, but there had to be something more than that.

Looking at the more in depth information my Pokedex had on Parasect told me it was holding a Miracle Seed somewhere on its body, and while those would encourage physical growth and increase strength in gras types that held them, it wouldn't make one THAT big. Plus they wouldn't help a Pokemon learn moves they otherwise usually couldn't, such as Dragon Breath.

With nothing else in the Pokedex giving me any information, I turned my attention to the area Parasect had been before waking up.

That area was literally a crater in the floor that had been dug up by Parasect over the years, with similar, smaller, craters around me from where the other Parasect burrowed themselves.

At first I didn't find anything of note as I search around the crater, but when I focused with my aura, I detected something close to the center. After brushing away the top layer of soil I was surprised to find a small sphere that gave off a peculiar type of energy.

It was mostly light green with streaks of pink surrounding another streak of darker green. And it was familiar.

I pulled out one of the stones I had bought in Pewter city when I went to the market with May. Along with two identical rainbow stones, there were also several spherical stones that were just like the one I just found with the same pattern and everything, except they were different colors.

The sphere I had currently pulled out for example was orange with a streak of dark red and blue running through it.

After comparing the two I stashed both spheres into my bag for later, while also wondering if the Parasect had somehow drawn energy from the sphere itself to become stronger and learn Dragon Breath.

Questions for later, and for someone who was better suited to ask them. Like a certain professor who dedicated his life to researching Pokemon.

"What are you doing?" Misty as she me as she slowly approached, making sure she took a path that allowed her to take a wide berth from all the unconscious Paras and Parasect.

"I was trying to figure out how that Parasect got so big and powerful, but I couldn't find anything concrete." I told her helplessly.

I then thought of something else as I added, "you want to tell May and Dawn it's safe to come down? I'm sure they'd like to send some of these alpha Parasect back professors Birch and Rowen since they're already defeated."

"Nnn... That's going to take us even longer to leave..." Misty groaned irritably, not that I could blame her. She was actually doing pretty well considering we'd both almost been eaten by bugs.

She did however go to do as I asked, so there was that.

While Misty was letting Dawn and May know what was going on, I looked around the cavern a little bit to see if there was anything else here of value.

Other than mushrooms though, all I had found throughout the cavern was several fossils that hadn't been discovered and excavated yet, probably because of how far down we most likely were. I decided not to touch them though since I got so many fossils from the Rockets I'd captured, and none of them were anything new for me anyways.

*crunch*

Something crunching under my foot however made me pause, as I looked down to see an old skeleton laying there with a few items that hadn't decomposed.

Glancing around I found a few of them scattered in this area, showing me Misty and I probably weren't the first people to have fallen down here.

Making sure I wasn't stepping on any other bones, I knelt down and began searching through the items that were left in them for something. I ignored everything else they had out of respect, but soon found what I was after as I located a rectangular plate of metal.

Trainer ID

Billy Carson

A quick glance over the ID told me who it belonged to, and when it had been issued to them. Presuming they ended up down here soon after, I'd say the ID was a few years old at least.

I then search through the other skeletons for their IDs as well, locating only four out of the several that were present. And after pocketing them, I called Charmeleon over.

"I want you to burn these remains." I told him somberly, which I was sure he felt as he looked over the skeletal remains sadly.

With a flash of fire, Charmeleon set the bones aflame until they were reduced to ash, a fairly quick process considering how hot his flames were, and how dried out and brittle the bones were.

I then said a few words to the fallen trainers quietly, before returning to where the rest of my Pokemon were resting as both May and Dawn appeared down the hole.

"Wow!" Dawn exclaimed as she beheld the cavern.

"Yeah yeah, it's amazing. Hurry up so we can get out of here." Misty snapped as she tried to hurry the two of them up.

She REALLY wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

Both Dawn and May hurried to do as she asked, going around and capturing a few of the unconscious alphas before sending them straight to their respective professors for research.

I however took the chance to properly look over Charmeleon and Vespiquen, both of which puffed out their chests proudly after evolving.

"Any complaints of these two and Happiny being the MVPs of this battle?" I asked the rest of my team, none of which voice any objections since Charmeleon had literally done the majority of the fighting. Especially against the massive Parasect.

Vespiquen meanwhile had singlehandedly held back several of the alphas, while Happiny was the only reason everyone had been able to last so long in the fight with so many opponents.

I then pulled out my Pokedex and used it to scan both Charmeleon and Vespiquen to see the difference in their stats.

~~~

Charmeleon- the flame Pokemon

Type- fire

This Pokemon is typically known for their barbaric nature, wildly slashing their opponents during battle and spouting intense flames that will set entire areas on fire. In the mountains they call home, the flames on their tails light up at night similarly to stars. This Pokemon has the Blaze and Flash Fire abilities.

Moves- Scratch, Growl, Ember, Smokescreen, Dragon Breath, Fire Fang, Metal Claw, Flamethrower, Slash, Fire Punch, Flame Charge, Scary Face

~~~

Vespiquen- the beehive Pokemon

Type- bug/flying

Often accompanied by swarms of Combee attendants, this Pokemon will skillfully command them in battle and will ruthlessly dispatch anyone who dares intrude within their hive. There will ever only be one per colony. This Pokemon has the Pressure and Unnerve abilities.

Moves- Sweet Scent, Bug Bite, Gust, Arial Ace, Slash, Struggle Bug, Poison Sting, Confuse Ray, Fury Cutter, Air Slash, Aromatic Mist, Fell Stinger, Fury Swipes, Swagger, Attack Order, Defend Order

~~~

My cheeks were REALLY starting to hurt with all the smiling I was doing in the last few minutes.

Though Charmeleon didn't learn many new moves upon evolving, the big bonus for him was the massive increase to his firepower and physical abilities. Vespiquen meanwhile had learned a plethora of new moves upon evolving, and had similarly boosted her own physical abilities significantly.

Plus they had both grown quite a bit after evolving.

While before Charmander was only about as tall as my knees, maybe a little bit taller, as a Charmeleon he was now up to my shoulders with the little point on the back of his head adding a few more inches. Vespiquen meanwhile had gone from my cute little bumblebee, to a staggering eight feet tall after her evolution.

Her appearance now was akin to that of a woman wearing a dress with wings, though the dress was actually a network of combs she could use to store her hive without a permanent place to set up.

"Quen quen!" She was trilling happily as she buzzed around the cavern in excitement from finally evolving, as now she could officially start building up her hive.

Promising myself to get Charmeleon and Vespiquen items later to celebrate their evolving, I returned everyone to Pokeballs for a nice long rest since we still had to climb out of here.

When we finally prepared to leave after the girls finished looking around, they did in fact take a couple fossils for themselves, I had them all climb up first with myself taking up the rear.

The plan was that if one of them fell I'd be able to catch them. I certainly wasn't using my position to look up Dawn's skirt. Not at all.

I don't know if the girls were just that slow, or if we really fell that far down, but the trip back up was hellishly slow as we inched upwards bit by bit. Until finally,

"Freedom!" I exclaimed as we climbed out of the hole and back into the mushroom filled cave from before.

"Yay! Now let's get out of this cave altogether!" Misty exclaimed, obviously having had enough with being under Mt. Moon. Not that I could blame her, since I was ready for some fresh air as well. I was STILL blowing black snot rockets from all the spores that clogged my nose.

No one voiced any disagreement as we all bee lined for the exit, with Zubat, Swablu and Chatot taking the lead in case there were any more Paras or Parasect in the passages between us and the exit. Vespiquen was too big to help them out now.

Thankfully I could soon smell fresher air as we hopefully approached the mouth of the cave system, and our steps became quicker as we hurried forward. But, just before we reached the exit of the cave, I sensed something.

"Everyone stop!" I exclaimed while putting my arms out, with Riolu similarly going on the alert.

"What's wrong Ace?" Dawn asked me worriedly, though my mind was racing as I sensed twenty....no, thirty people outside waiting, accompanied by a LOT of Pokemon. All of which radiated hostility.

"There's no point hiding, we already know you're there." Said a voice from the one aura I recognized amongst the group, making me grit my teeth as the girls and I stepped out to see the gathered force.

"Petrel." I snarled at the leader of the force, the same Team Rocket executive who escaped me the other day.