Finding the right path proved to be surprisingly trivial, as the sign pointing to the spring hadn’t been damaged or destroyed. Shortly after we started down the path, Twiggy had to, once again, knock out a Bidoof. Its presence, while somewhat expected, combined with the description of fallen trees blocking the path, made me consider whether or not that might be another dam-situation. Though why Bidoof would want to dam an unmoving pond was beyond me.

“We should be cautious, just in case there are more Bidoof or Bibarel at the pond.” I warned Claire. “Though it would be somewhat ironic if our first two tasks involve destroying structures created by Bidoof.” I added, chuckling a little.

“Maybe we’ll get a special Dam-Breaker Badge or something.” she replied, a grin on her face. “Bidoof Buster Badge?” she suggested. The only acknowledgement I had to her ideas was a pained groan.

Before we ever got to the pond, the problem became apparent. The forest around us was dense, with tangled, thick undergrowth and shrubs between the trees, the only exception being the path we were on. At least it had been an exception until one of the larger trees had fallen, crashing onto the path and taking quite a bit of that undergrowth with it, creating a barrier across. Going around was possible, but it would be a massive pain, especially due to the wet, soggy ground.

“Now I know why they called it a ‘chore’” I darkly muttered, realising that it was less about battle-ability in this case and more about providing labour.

“I’ll chop, you keep watch.” I told Claire, pulling Prince Charming’s Pokéball out.

“Come on, buddy, we got work to do.” I softly said, pressing the button to release him.

“Charm, I need you to help me clear this path. You cut and slice, I try to drag the vines, branches and whatever out of the way.” I explained to my partner, who looked at the tangled mess before us with consternation. For a moment, the tail on his flame burned a little brighter and he spit out a few small sparks, as if suggesting to burn the obstacle up.

“I’m afraid that won’t work, Charm. It’s wet but even if it wasn’t, we don’t want to burn the forest down. So, physical labour it is.” I explained and in that moment, any doubt that Pokémon, or at least Prince Charming, could understand my words, not just be trained to accept commands and distinct tones of voice vanished, when he rolled his eyes at me.

“Jerk.” I gave him a gentle shove and we got to work.

Even just a single tree had managed to make a massive mess. It took Charm and myself a good thirty minutes,until we managed to untangle the vines, cutting and slicing them when needed, dragging them out one by one, trying to avoid their thorns and budding leaves as much as possible as those leaves made my skin itch.

By the time we were done, I was itching, annoyed and wet, both from sweat and the remaining rainwater from the night before. Charm looked a lot better, but the gleam in his eyes told me that he regretted not being allowed to burn down the forest for expediency’s sake.

In the meantime, Claire had to smack around yet another Bidoof, making my earlier premonition all the more relevant.

“Charm, come back. Don’t want to see you get ambushed again.” I called him back, after tossing the last branch into the forest beside us. There was still a bit of foliage and detritus remaining, but nothing we couldn’t easily step over.

“Let’s go, Claire.” I told her, gesturing for her to lead the way. If there was another blockage, she’d get to deal with it.

After the initial blockage, there was only one other, a much smaller one, that we resolved with ease. Just a large branch had fallen on the road, we could even have simply let it go and climbed over it, but that wouldn’t do. Instead, we moved it aside before continuing on to the pond.

From above, the pond looked wonderfully peaceful, clear water gathered in a bowl, with steep sides leading downwards. A small path, probably prepared by some trainer in the past, was secured with a bunch of rocks. There was a bit of damage to it, and a lot of branches blocking it,but nothing that couldn’t be solved with some effort.

“Those are not there by chance.” I told Claire, looking at the blocked path. Unless the branches had decided to walk over to the pond and only land on the path, they had been placed there. And unless someone was trying to claim the pond for themselves, they had been placed there by Pokémon.

“Why don’t you send out Myna. Maybe something will jump out of the pond and attack.” I suggested, getting an affronted look from Claire.

“She’s not bait.” she grumbled, but obliged. As Myna made a quick circuit above the water, a furry head poked out, shooting a stream of water at her. Having been warned ahead of time to keep an eye on the water, she managed to dodge, before momentarily ignoring the laws of physics to perform a barrel-roll, while Claire called for her to make a Quick Attack.

Myna didn’t even go to a normal flight-position, instead shooting downwards before the Bibarel’s head could vanish again. She smacked into it, pulling back up with incredible agility, before making her way back towards us.

The annoyed Bibarel followed suit, quickly scrambling out of the water and finally, I could see one with my own eyes, not just in images. Not that there was much to look at, it was almost as derpy as its pre-evolution, a ball of fluff with a nasty overbite. The main differences were the size, that its legs were less stubby and that its tail was wide, adapted to propel it through the water. There were no points added for beauty, grace or ferocity.

“Myna, come back.” Claire called, once the Bibarel ws fully on the small piece of shore below.

“Your turn, Twiggy.” she continued, smoothly exchanging her Pokémon, sending Twiggy as close to the water as possible. A somewhat risky choice in my mind, as there was very little space to move around. But then, Twiggy was a slow but tough battler, not trying to dodge and weave around attacks.

“Charge up time.” Claire told him, and Twiggy stood in the sunlight from above and for a moment, I could have sworn that some roots sprung from his body, digging into the soil. For a moment the Bibarel was confused at the sudden change in opponent, but it quickly adapted and shot a stream of water against Twiggy. Not that the water did a lot of damage, some of it might even have helped Twiggy.

As he was growing white, the leaf on his head grew a little, becoming more supple and a size larger, just in time for Claire’s enthusiastic command.

“Okay, show it your new attack. Razorleaf.”

As the Bibarel tried to Tackle, it was struck by a barrage of leaves, some of them cutting through its body and striking sparks of energy, others bouncing off.

“Great.” Claire cheered, before commanding him to do it again.

The Bibarel must have realised that it was losing badly, and did something surprising about it. Instead of trying to run, maybe retreat into the water, it let out a sharp screech and there was movement in the water.

“I’ll take that one.” I promised, sending out Vio. Though instead of letting her appear right next to Twiggy, making the already cramped spot even worse, I sent her behind some of the branches blocking the path, so she would be able to use her psychic abilities with impunity. It wasn't particularly nice, Twiggy would get mauled instead, but it was the best we could do in the situation. There was no way I’d send Prince Charming into the situation.

“Vio, help Twiggy. Muddle their minds.” I ordered, just as a second Bibarel-head poked out of the water.

Vio’s horns started to glow purple, just as Twiggy struck the first Bibarel again. The Bibarel tried to dodge aside, but staggered, its head surrounded by a purple glow, leaving it open to the attack. At the same time, the second Bibarel was out of the water, already glowing white and attacking poor Twiggy. He staggered, unable to dodge, but withstood the attack, without even stopping his assault on the first Bibarel.

That Bibarel never recovered its senses, Vio kept pushing her attack, while Twiggy struck with another Razorleaf, even as the Bibarel desperately attacked him, sending the first Bibrael to the ground, unconscious.

Now with only one foe remaining, both our partners focused on that one. It would lessen the amount of power our partners could gain, even taking into account that there were two foes, but it was just something we had to deal with.

The second Bibarel stood even less of a chance than the first one. Vio got into its head, dazing and confusing it, while Twiggy simply bombarded it with Razorleaves, quickly knocking it out.

Just as I was about to cheer, Twiggy was shrouded with the telltale glow of evolution, while Vio let out an annoyed screech.