“Do you have a name?” Tommy asked the beast as he and Spencer stood sheltering under the branches of the Ilex Forest. Almost all of the verdant trees stood tens if not hundreds of meters tall and his attention was torn between admiring the majesty of the leafy giants or that of the yellow and black striped beast standing before him.

I do, for I am One of the Few, the great beast told him. But it matters not what it is, because this is where I must leave you both.

The remainder of the journey that would have taken Tommy and his friends the better part of two days, the beast made in a handful of seconds. To Tommy, it felt as if he had barely blinked back in the campsite and when he next opened his eyes he was here at the forest’s edge.

“You’re not coming with us?” Spencer asked while Tommy turned the phrase ‘One of the Few’ over in the back of his mind. For a reason that he couldn’t recall, the phrase stirred an unfamiliar part of his memory. The more he focused on it the further it slipped from his grasp though.

I cannot, it told the two boys. I have guided you to the path’s beginning and it is up to you to find it’s ending.

“Thank you then,” Tommy told the mysterious creature.

“And what of the rest of our friends?” Spencer asked. “Will they be alright?”

The storm is clearing and they will soon set out after you, the beast said. Their journey is a pointless one though, should the two of you succeed.

“And if we should fail?” Tommy dared to ask. “You haven’t even told us what it is that we’re doing here.”

Follow your path, you must reach her, a brilliant flash of lightning momentarily blinded Tommy and he raised his hands in reflex to shield his eyes. When he lowered his hands to his side only Spencer stood beside him.

The two boys turned to face the imposing forest, the trail before them leading directly under the branches of the trees. A yawning and cavernous expanse marked the only way into the dense thicket of closely overlapping trees. It was the middle of the night and Tommy couldn’t see more than a few meters into the forest; he doubted he could see much further even if it had been midday and the sun was at its zenith.

He and Spencer shared a look and the two of them promptly set off into the forest, Tommy wishing that he could be anywhere else in the world. Within a matter of seconds he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face and he paused to retrieve a lantern from his bag; Spencer bumped into him and almost bowled him over.

Tommy held the lantern out, focusing the beam on the path in front while Spencer held his own high above their heads to illuminate their immediate surroundings. With the path now visible they set off again, following the bends and twists for an indiscernible amount of time.

Insects chirped from hundreds of trees and owls and other birds called softly in the night. The dancing of the shadows played tricks on Tommy’s eyes, every movement looked like an assailant. The sighing of the wind messed with his head, each leaf it rustled made him wonder what was lurking just outside of his vision. He wiped beads of sweat from his face despite the cool winter night as he desperately tried to calm his heart that threatened to rupture in his chest.

“Remind me again why we’re doing this?” Spencer whispered from behind him. Tommy hadn’t been expecting his companion to speak and dropped the lantern he was holding. The glass bulb shattered and in the ensuing silence one could hear a pin drop.

Tommy let out a deep breath and tried to steady his shaking hands.

“Bit jittery, are we?” Tommy could hear the smile on Spencer’s face, and he chuckled to himself.

“Am I crazy for being scared?” He asked Spencer.

“Hell nah,” the boy laughed. “If you weren’t terrified, then I’d be wondering if you were crazy.”

“How long have we been walking?” Tommy asked.

Spencer checked the time on his PokéNav and snorted. “Only fifteen minutes.”

“Are you serious?” Tommy said. “That felt like three hours. You lead for a while, my heart needs a break.”

Spencer took the lead, focusing the light of his lantern onto the path once more. Tommy fell in step behind and before long the only sounds were the chirping bugs and their steady footfalls. He tried to count time to distract himself but gave up quickly as it only made the journey feel slower. He wanted to be out of the forest as soon as he could.

Eventually little specks of moonlight bled through the trees and before long the path wound its way and opened into a small glade. Tommy looked up at the crescent moon that hung in the sky as he and Spencer towards the center of the meadow under its dim light. He breathed deeply, calming his nerves, while the two of them paused by a tree to drink some water.

“By the Mother, am I glad to be out of there,” Spencer said as he leaned up the trunk. “That was miserable, pure torture I tell you.”

Tommy nodded, nerves too frayed to properly speak. He sat down against a rock and looked to the tree that Spencer was resting against. It stood alone in the center of the glade, its shimmering leaves a beautiful golden color that reflected the dim moonlight.

Tommy watched it sway in the gentle breeze, the leaves slowly melting—

He quickly stood, leaves shouldn’t melt. “Spencer, get up!” He hissed.

Spencer scrambled to his feet, his shirt tearing away from his torso as it stuck to the trunk of the tree.

“What the—“ Spencer yelled as he shivered in the night air.

The tree erupted into a whirlwind of frenzied activity. A cloud of Combee so thick that they blotted out the moon buzzed frantically about the top of the tree and it was only then Tommy realized that it wasn’t a tree at all, but a massive hive that he and Spencer had disturbed.

Tommy unclipped all three of his Pokéballs as more bees than he had ever seen in his life began a dive bomb towards them.

“Yanma, Quick Attack! Houndour, support him with Ember!” Tommy called as all three of his Pokémon materialized in front of him. “Solosis, Protect me and Spencer!”

Yanma bathed himself in a blue light and valiantly charged at the swarming Combee. He flitted about, attacking as many bees as he could to buy time while down on the ground Spencer called his own Pokémon out. Teddiursa and Phanpy stood in front of Solosis ready to defend him while Growlithe and Houndour stood behind, supporting Tommy’s Yanma by spraying hundreds of burning embers into the clear night sky.

The amount of Combee that were in the air was overwhelming and Yanma did the best he could. For every one Combee that he knocked unconscious though, two more took its place, and still more Combee continued to pour from the colossal hive.

“Yanma, come back!” Tommy yelled to his Pokémon, but it was too late; he was already engulfed by a tide of bees.

“I got him!” Spencer yelled. “Phanpy, Rollout! Teddiursa, get him up there!”

Phanpy rolled himself into a ball and began to spin in place faster and faster, reinforcing his rough hide with sand, dirt, and loose stone. When he was spinning so fast that he looked like a giant boulder, Teddiursa kicked with all her strength and launched the elephant into the air. The stone missile hurtled into the cloud of swarming Combee, launching bugs everywhere in a shower of raining insects. Yanma activated his Speed Boost for a second time and quickly darted back to the ground before he could get engulfed again.

“Take a break for a minute, bud,” Tommy told his Pokémon when it alighted next to him. He winced when he saw the damage to Yanma’s wings.

“Growlithe, Flame Wheel!” Spencer told his puppy as the swarm descended towards their group. “We need protection!”

The orange dog lit himself on fire and ran a protective circle around everyone. Flames formed an impenetrable barrier and the only approach the bees could take was from the air now.

“Hurry and Protect, Solosis!” Tommy cried out. A shimmering blue barrier appeared in the air, completing their protective dome just before they were swarmed by Combee. The bees buzzed angrily, throwing themselves into the shield with reckless abandon. Houndour continued to spray Embers through Solosis’ shield and Teddiursa jumped up, kicking and punching as many bees as she could reach.

“Wow, is this actually working?” Tommy cried out as Combee after Combee were knocked unconscious. As soon as those words left his lips he regretted it though. He felt the air around his group tremble and the remaining Combee retreated as the protective ring of fire was snuffed out by overpowering winds.

When the smoke cleared Tommy saw a bee the size of his sister flying in the air, it’s piercing red eyes gleaming in fury.

A Vespiquen.

“Fuck,” Spencer said, as he spied his Phanpy unconscious on the ground. He recalled the little elephant to its Pokéball and then pulled his bow and quiver from out of his backpack; Tommy quickly followed his friend and produced his staff.

Vespiquen buzzed angrily, the entire glade vibrating under the might of its ire. It’s eyes flashed a crimson red and rocks the size of Tommy’s fist were ripped from the ground up into the air. The bee screeched once more and the rocks were hurtled right at Tommy and his group.

“Solosis, Protect!” He yelled. A blue barrier erected itself again, just in time to block the first few rocks. It fizzled under the unstoppable onslaught though and then shattered, Solosis collapsing into unconsciousness. Tommy held his hands and arms over his face and grunted in pain as his forearms and chest were pelted and gashed by the remaining rocks.

Vespiquen screeched and a wave of Combee charged forward to attack. A quick rain of Ember by both Houndour and Growlithe forced the weak bees to scatter and retreat though.

“Growlithe, Flame Wheel!” Spencer yelled, trying to press their advantage. The puppy charged forward again after lighting himself aflame. Vespiquen ordered her Combee in front of her, creating a living shield of writhing bees.

“Yanma, Quick Attack!” Tommy ordered his own injured Pokémon. “Houndour, follow after Growlithe with Thunder Fang!”

Yanma darted forward, easily outpacing Growlithe and Houndour and slammed himself into the shield of Combee. An explosion of bees scattered everywhere and the ones that landed closest to the two boys were frantically batted away by Teddiursa. Tommy jumped in every so often, smacking a bee with his staff so Teddiursa wouldn’t get overwhelmed by the ones that were still conscious.

With the shield of bees gone, Growlithe hurled himself into Vespiquen’s midsection and Houndour clamped onto the bee’s wings with her electrified teeth. Vespiquen wailed in agony from the two super effective moves but before any more damage could be done, Houndour and Growlithe were forced to retreat by a bombardment of Combee.

A stinger longer than Tommy’s hand unsheathed from Vespiquen’s abdomen and before anyone could react she streaked across the glade and thrust it straight through Yanma. The dragonfly wailed in pain, then got knocked out and Tommy recalled both him and Solosis to their Pokéballs to rest. Now he was left with only Houndour.

Vespiquen screeched in primal fury over her kill, crimson light shrouding her and making her appear thrice as menacing. The queen called still more Combee from the hive, and Tommy saw Vespiquen’s burn marks begin to heal as the Combee rubbed bits of Honey onto her wounds.

“Fuck, they’re healing her!” Spencer echoed aloud Tommy’s thoughts. “Teddiursa, hurry and get in there! Growlithe, Howl and then Flame Wheel again!”

Tommy called for Houndour to follow suit. Both of their dog’s Howls echoed around the glade and all three Pokémon charged forward with what remaining energy they had.

“We should get ready to run,” Tommy mumbled to Spencer. “Do you think we can even win at this point?”

Spencer swallowed and nodded absentmindedly as he watched his Pokémon scrap with the giant bee. “What about the beast though? It said we had to follow the path.”

“I mean what choice do we have if all of our Pokémon are knocked unconscious and that thing turns its attention towards us?” He told his friend. He watched with his heart hammering in his chest as all three of their still conscious Pokémon desperately dodged around Vespiquen’s wicked stinger.

To Tommy’s utter horror the queen’s stinger glowed purple and then she actually ejected it from her abdomen. Growlithe and Houndour were able to dodge but Teddiursa wasn’t fast enough. She was pierced in her shoulder by the poisoned stinger and she cried out in pain, collapsing onto her rump.

“It’s over,” Tommy said under his breath disbelievingly. They came all of this way for nothing, they would have to turn around and return empty handed.

“Teddiursa, Payback!” Spencer grinned maniacally. The little bear stood and roared in a berserk rage, wrapping her fists in darkness and flinging herself onto the giant bee with reckless abandon. Vespiquen was caught completely off guard and Teddiursa slammed her blackened arms into Vespiquen’s thorax, shattering the protective chitin that was protecting it. She gave one more defiant roar before she succumbed to the poison.

“Now’s our chance!” Tommy grabbed Spencer’s shoulder excitedly as the two boys looked on with renewed hope. “Houndour, use Thunder Fang! Go for the wings!”

Before Vespiquen could recover from Payback, Houndour flung herself onto the bee’s back and viciously tore away the insect’s wings, grounding her so that Growlithe could knock her out.

“Flame Wheel!” Spencer called out to his one remaining Pokémon. Growlithe lit himself on fire one last time and charged forward, hurling himself into Vespiquen’s damaged midsection since she was immobile and could no longer fly.

She gave one final roar, red eyes closing, then she collapsed onto the ground; what few remaining Combee were in the glade floated about in the air randomly, the hive mind that was controlling them now affected them no longer.

“We did it…” Tommy whispered under his breath. He turned to look at Spencer and repeated himself. “We did it.”

“By the Mother, we did it!” Spencer whooped into the night sky through cupped hands. Growlithe and Houndour threw their heads back and bayed at the moon while Tommy laughed in delirium.

He knelt down and Houndour bounded over and jumped into his arms. He laughed gleefully as she licked his face and hands. “You did it girl! You battled amazingly!”

“Thunder Fang, huh?” Spencer grinned as he scratched Growlithe behind the ears. The puppy had his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth and was thumping his foot excitedly against the ground.

“It’s my trump card,” Tommy sat up and Houndour promptly curled into his lap. “Don’t tell Ashley or Nessa, it’s my only chance to beat them.”

“And you didn’t feel you had to keep it hidden from me?” Spencer asked coyly.

Tommy laughed and opened his mouth to respond but widened his eyes in horror as the sound of voices carried across the glade. He and Spencer darted to the edge of the clearing and hid themselves behind a tree with their two puppy Pokémon.

“This forest gives me the creeps,” A man’s voice carried across the night air. Tommy poked his head around the tree and frowned when he saw two men dressed in all black walking into the glade. The blood red R emblazoned on their shirt breast and hat glinted in the moonlight.

“Something fought with that Vespiquen, look!” The second grunt said to the first. They both walked over to the giant bee and toed at her unconscious corpse. “Wow, the bee actually lost.”

The two men each gave a nervous glance around the clearing as if expecting to be assaulted by the very same creature that had attacked Vespiquen. Houndour growled softly from Tommy’s side and he placed his hand on her head to quiet her.

“What do you think fought her? Whatever made that howling sounded pretty terrifying,” The first grunt said.

“Yeah, let’s get back to base,” the second man agreed. “It’s almost time to switch shifts anyway. We’re expecting the package tonight after all.”

The two men left the way that they came in and Tommy and Spencer slowly edged themselves out from around the tree; at least they knew where to go now.

“Are you ready to go after them?” Spencer asked.

Tommy nodded to his friend. “Let’s get some Honey first though. Maybe we can heal up our Pokémon a bit, since the Combee were healing Vespiquen with it.”

The two boys walked up to the tree and scraped some honey away from the giant hive for their Pokémon. Houndour and Growlithe each ate a little bit, and Tommy smiled as the small scratches and cuts his Pokémon received began to disappear.

“It’s almost as good as some of the stronger Potions you could get from the store,” Spencer admired. Tommy pulled an empty jar from his bag and filled it to the brim with the golden sticky liquid. He called Solosis from his Pokéball; the Pokémon had recovered from being knocked unconscious but looked like he was about to faint again at any moment.

Tommy put some Honey at the end of his finger and placed it into Solosis’ mouth. He was pleased to see his friend perk up immediately, his green skin shining with renewed luster. He was tempted to call Yanma out as well but thought better of it; Tommy knew the dragonfly was in critical condition and needed a Pokémon Center to fully recover from his puncture wound.

Spencer healed his Phanpy, electing to let his Teddiursa rest as well and with four fully healed Pokémon resting in their Pokéballs and a jar of honey, the boys set off to follow after the two Team Rocket grunts.

Tommy took a deep breath to ready himself as the two of them entered back into the depths of the forest. It was soon almost pitch black again but neither boy wanted to use a light for fear of being ambushed by a Rocket grunt.

After bumbling and stumbling on every root and rock, he and Spencer breathed a sigh of relief when the path opened up again. The trees became less dense and Tommy spied a second clearing ahead. Spencer signaled him to the side of the path and they walked the last few meters by squeezing themselves in between tree trunks until they came to the edge of the new glade.

Tommy recognized it immediately as the place he had heard so many troubled trainers mention. There was a beautiful sparkling lake in the center of the clearing and on its far shore was a small hill. Tommy could make out a little wooden shrine that stood alone at the top. It would have been a beautiful and welcome sight to see if not for the great metal doors that had clearly been built into the base of the hill.

“There’s no telling how many of them there are,” Spencer frowned as he thought aloud. “There could be hundreds of them in there, who knows how far down that bunker goes.”

The doors opened and a handful of guards made their way out into the night air. Their raucous laughter was carried by the wind until they split off into pairs to begin their patrol route.

“So what’s the plan then, Tommy?” Spencer asked as the two boys watched the grunts walk around the glade on their designated patrols.

“Well those two look like they’re walking right towards us, don’t they?” Tommy nodded his chin at one of the patrols who it looked like was making its way towards the path he and Spencer had come from.

“You want to try to grab them?” Spencer asked.

“Yeah, let’s see how close they get to where we are,” Tommy agreed.

The two men chatted idly with one another, oblivious to the fact that they were walking towards the two boys. When the patrol reached the path that Spencer and Tommy were near, the two boys stepped out from behind a tree. Spencer had his bow drawn and an arrow pointed right over the heart of one of the two guards.

“The fuck are you?” One of the grunts said. His eyes widened when he saw the bow move towards him.

Tommy raced over to the two men and bound their hands with a length of rope while Spencer kept his weapon trained at the two of them. Tommy guided them off the path behind the trees and further tied their legs together, then searched them and collected all of their weapons which he tossed into a pile away from where they were. Spencer lowered his bow.

“What is Team Rocket doing out here?” Tommy addressed the two men.

“I don’t know where you two came from or how you know our name, but you’re in way over your heads.” One of the grunts snarled. “If I get free from these restraints you’re dead.”

“We overheard a pair of men earlier mention that you were expecting a package,” Tommy continued unfazed. “What is the package that you’re expecting?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” The guard sneered.

“All teams check,” the radio on the second grunt’s belt buzzed. One by one ‘All Clears’ sounded out through the walkie.

“Team Six, check in,” the radio blared and Tommy realized the men he had just captured were team six. He carefully reached towards the guard’s belt and unhooked the radio, slowly raising it up to his mouth.

“Team Six, All Clear,” he said, then held his breath. The man on the other end moved on to team seven and Tommy exhaled in relief.

The ropes binding the two men fell away and one of them leapt onto Tommy, tackling him to the ground. The air was forced from his lungs as the man punched him hard in the ribs. He grunted in pain, using his forearms to shield and deflect what blows he could until an opening presented itself. With adrenaline flowing through him, Tommy waited until the man cocked his arm back for a big swing. He bucked, knocking the man off balance and then smashed his forehead into the nose of the grunt who immediately fell back, trying to stem the flow of blood while he wailed in pain. Tommy pressed his advantage and leapt onto the man’s chest, punching him hard in the side of the head and knocking the man into unconsciousness. He turned to make sure Spencer was okay and breathed a sigh of relief when he spied the second grunt unconscious beside his friend.

“Apparently there are incorrect ways to tie up hostages?” Tommy quipped. “Sorry.”

Spencer spit blood and grinned, “I’ll show you how.”

The two unconscious men were tied again and Spencer and Tommy returned to watching the glade with nothing better to do. Spencer walked over to the two guards and returned with their binoculars so that he and Tommy could see better.

The radio in Tommy’s hand spoke again, “The package has arrived. Prepare to receive.”

Tommy focused his binoculars on a pathway at the other end of the clearing. A retinue of at least ten grunts walked into the glade carrying a hooded and struggling figure whose hands and feet were bound.

“An abduction?” Spencer said. “Zach and Melanie did say that there have been some disappearances. We should have figured it was Team Rocket.”

“Look Spencer,” Tommy gripped the binoculars so tight in his hands they almost broke. “At the head of the detachment.”

Spencer focused his binoculars on the blonde girl that was leading the guards towards the bunker doors, “Traitorous cunt. You should have let me put her down back in Mahogany.”

“We aren’t killing anyone, we’re better than they are Spence,” Tommy watched as Aubrey and her crew reached the bunker doors.

“I know, I know,” Spencer grumbled. “I’m just ranting.”

The bunker doors began to open and more guards came out from inside the base.

“Dammit,” Tommy muttered as he spied Darius amongst the crowd. “I didn’t want to believe it. Darius actually betrayed Jon, just like he said.”

“Which one is Darius?” Spencer asked.

Tommy didn’t respond though because he was certain his ears were playing tricks on him. The person who was bound began screaming at the top of her lungs for help, and ice flooded Tommy’s veins at the familiar sound of her wailing.

“Let me go!” The girl screamed as the men set her down and removed the hood that was covering her head.

A brilliant mane of sandy brown hair fell to the young girl’s waist and Tommy blinked back the tears that threatened to choke him up.

Tori.

“They have my sister,” Tommy mumbled in disbelief, as the girl’s screams echoed across through the clearing. He felt goosebumps rise on his arms and the back of his head.

“What?” Spencer looked over at him incredulously.

“They have my fucking sister!”