Weathering The Storm... (A Pokemon OC Story)

Chapter 23: Reunion...

"Alright, I think that's everything."

Shroomish ran back up to Lucas and Lucas crouched down in front of it, running its head and saying,

"I'm really glad we got to meet, and I hope to see you again someday."

Shroomish looked up at Lucas with a curious look on its face, then made a soft cry. It elicited a reaction of shock from the Breloom and Shroomish, and a smile from Night.

"It wants to go with you.", Night said bluntly, and Lucas looked a bit dumbfounded.

"Is what he said true? You wanna come with me?"

Shroomish reassured Lucas that what Night was saying was true with a simple nod. Lucas grinned and held Shroomish in a hug,

"I'm so glad. You won't regret it!"

Shroomish nodded then escaped Lucas' grip, turning around and talking to its family. It said that it felt stronger than before when it was with Lucas, and wants to extend that strength. The two younger Shroomish were devastated by the news, hugging Shroomish tightly and shedding tears. But, Shroomish promised that it'd see them again. Then, the Breloom looked on with a more calm sense of understanding and wished Shroomish well.

It then turned around Lucas, who looked at it thoughtfully. Then, a bright idea appeared in Lucas' mind and he said to Shroomish,

"Well, since you're coming along with me, why don't we have a battle between you and Torchic."

Torchic was instantly on board with the idea, jumping down from Lucas' shoulder and letting fiery smoke escape from its mouth. But, Shroomish was more concerned about the battle after having so little time between fighting Slaking and now Torchic. But, the duo of Shroomish encouraged Shroomish with cries that it would do great and it would help it get stronger, just like it wanted.

That was enough motivation for Shroomish to jump back, getting ready for battle. Night stepped to the side, while Ellie and Seijo watched from behind Lucas. Shroomish stood at one side as Torchic hopped around, getting ready for the battle.

"Let's start things off! Scratch, Torchic!"

Torchic stopped bouncing and threw itself along the hardened floor towards Shroomish. Shroomish flinched and froze in place, letting Torchic kick it to the side. Shroomish skidded roughly across the floor, then lay face flat on the floor for a couple of seconds. It got up, with a little more difficulty than it admittedly expected, and watched as Torchic continued its assault on Shroomish.

"Scratch, again!"

Torchic jumped into the air and thrust downwards with its foot outstretched. Shroomish almost froze once again, until the cry of one of its friends caused it to suddenly snap back into reality. It shot out three seeds towards Torchic's chest, but not sprouting into vines yet. Instead, it narrowly dodged and Torchic hit the ground with its foot. It swung massively for another hit, but the vines suddenly sprouted around its body, causing it to become stuck while heading straight towards Shroomish.

Shroomish took a step back and headbutt forwards, sending Torchic flying back in the trap of vines that it had set. It fell near to Lucas and he swear he felt the headbutt just as much as Torchic did. Still, he asked Torchic,

"Are you okay?"

Torchic nodded from inside its vine cage and struggled to get free. Lucas knew how to deal with it thought, and commanded,

"Use Flame Charge to burn through the vines!"

Flame Charge flared up around Torchic, melting away the energy-sapping vines until they were nothing but ashes spread across the floor. Torchic then continued that push forwards, using the added speed of the Flame Charge to boost along the battlefield. Shroomish hopped high above Torchic to avoid its attack, but Torchic turned around and followed it. It leapt up high, towards Shroomish's level, but Shroomish managed to do something it hadn't been able to do ever.

It popped out a cloud of spores, that collided with Torchic. Torchic immediately began to feel drowsy and fell completely asleep, dropping from the high altitude towards the ground. Shroomish smiled at being able to finally do what it had been trying to do for ages, and its friends were ecstatic. But, Shroomish couldn't spend too much attention on them. It had a battle to win.

Lucas, although amazed that Shroomish was able to pick up and use Spore so effectively, was concerned over Torchic being completely open to any sort of attack. Shroomish landed on top of Torchic just as Lucas cried for Torchic to wake up, and slammed its head into Torchic's torso. The attack quickly awoke Torchic, who suddenly kicked Shroomish back and struggled to get back up.

Shroomish hung back from Torchic, cautious of any sort of attack, but it only gave time for Torchic to get back on its feet. A familiar red aura glowed around Torchic, and Lucas called out,

"Flame Charge at full power!"

Torchic's flames burnt the brightest it ever had, and the flames burnt the path across the battlefield. Shroomish plumed out a cloud of spores but they were incinerated as soon as they made contact with the massive fire shield it was tasked with stopping. So, Torchic kept on moving and slammed into Shroomish, sending it towards Lucas' legs, completely fainted.

Torchic ran back up to Shroomish, giving Lucas a high five with its foot. He then looked to Shroomish, who was getting back up with drowsy eyes. It wobbled as it got back up, and was assisted by Torchic in getting back up.

"That was an amazing battle, especially being able to battle that good on your own. I know you're going to do great."

Shroomish smiled, and nodded, before toppling towards Lucas and pressing the button on the Pokeball. It was sucked inside and Lucas looked at the Pokeball.

"Yeah, you should take a rest. You've done well.", Lucas spoke softly, then turned to Torchic, "You should rest up too. You've had a long day."

Torchic agreed and slumped onto the floor, letting Lucas tap it on the head and return to its Pokeball. Ellie then tapped Lucas on the shoulder and said,

"So, shall we go? I really wanna get to Rustboro soon."

"Oh, of course!", Lucas said, getting up from his crouched position and waving goodbye to both Night and the Breloom. "I'll take good care of Shroomish, I promise."

He didn't need to say it twice. It was weird, but a new sort of trust was placed on Lucas in that moment, that Shroomish would rise up to be stronger than ever of them ever before...