Pokémon Crossing: Fly Me to the Moon

The Rustboro Special

Benedict gathered a pile of rocks throughout the woods. He wandered through the forest and stopped in front of the tallest tree possible. He dropped the rocks near his feet, furiously glaring at the stupid tree in front of him. Anger flowed through his veins, replacing the numbness of defeat. Everything was supposed to go his way, but no, that Rhyhorn stopped him from being one step closer to battling Apollo!

He picked up a rock and hurled it at the tree, panting in relief as the rock smacked against the tree and knocked off several pieces of bark.

He continued pelting the tree with each rock, calming down with each snap and shatter of the tree. Scraps of bark fell off, but in the end, it didn't matter to him. The only thing Benedict cared about was letting out his stress, away from his companions.

Until the final rock pelted something completely different.

It wasn't bark, or leaves, or even dirt. It was a poor Ariados who crawled down to see the commotion. And then that last rock smacked it in the head, leaving a throbbing red bump. The wild Ariados hissed at this-- this selfish prick! White foam dripped from its fangs, splattering against the grass and dissolving several patches of grass into dry dirt.

Ariados' eyes glowed lime green as it spewed a white string from its horn. Benedict backflipped in an attempt to avoid the sticky string, but tripped on a large gnarled root. The spider Pokémon successfully ensnared its prey, yanking the remaining thread to tighten its grip.

Benedict tried to reach for his Poké Balls but with no avail. He shoved the balls in his backpack earlier, but thanks to that stupid silk, his wings were tightly bound to his sides. So this is how his life ends, he thought. Not taking on the Champion, not heroically sacrificing his life to save a friend, not even witnessing an earth-shattering apocalypse. It was ending, all because his dumb ass had to throw that stupid rock at a hungry Pokémon.

Meanwhile, outside of the Petalburg Woods...

"Benedict!" Tank called out as he wandered down the dirt paths, standing on his tiptoes as he yelled again. "Come on! Where'd you go, dude?!"

"Seriously, Benedict!" Kidd yelled in another direction. "It's just one battle, so get over it!"

Tank glared as he punched Kidd in the arm.

"What?!" Kidd scoffed. "I'm just saying that he can just battle that guy again."

"I mean, yeah, he can always go for a rematch," Tank pointed out. "But now's not the time to rub it in his face! Come on, he could be in danger!"

A loud yell echoed through the forest, scaring a pack of bird Pokémon from the canopies. The flock of Taillow chirped and cawed as they flew into the horizons.

"That's gotta be him," Tank said. "Come on, let's go!" he yelled as led the way into the woods.

Kidd groaned under his breath as he chased after Tank, the bow in his scarf flying undone as he rushed through the last of the route.

Back in the heart of the Petalburg Woods...

Benedict wriggled around as the Ariados pulled its prey through most of the heavy woods. He tried to kick away the string, but failed due to the string's slippery coating. Leaves and branches smacked across both trainer and wild Pokémon. Ariados scaled up a tree and lept through the forest's canopies, hissing at every other Pokémon in its way.

"Hey! Y'all don't wanna eat me!" Benedict shouted as he glared at the wild Pokémon. "Trust me! Chickens ain't very tasty, y'know!"

Ariados repeatedly snapped its mandibles as it ignored its prey, using String Shot to swing through the forest canopies.