1.Ash's Story (Part 2: Johto)

Chapter 80: Patient Path

Route 45 kept descending after Phanpy joined us. The wind stayed sharp between the cliffs, and the ledges forced us to watch every step.

East's Skarmory circled above the path, while mine watched from a higher ridge. Ursaring kept near the rear of the group, and Gligar moved from rock to rock whenever the wind gave it enough lift.

Pikachu rode on my shoulder. Togetic floated beside Lillie, Espeon walked close to her leg, and Meganium followed behind them. Lillie opened Phanpy's Poké Ball before we started again, and the little Pokémon hurried between us with its trunk raised toward every new smell.

East's Skarmory landed on a narrow shelf ahead, stared at the loose gravel, then flew back and settled near him with a short metallic cry.

"My Skarmory says the next ledge has loose stones," East said.

Ethan looked from East to Skarmory. "You understood all that from one cry?"

"No," East said. "It landed short of the edge, scratched the gravel, and came straight back. I can guess what it found."

Reisa smiled. "That sounds more like you."

East adjusted his bag strap. "It is useful."

Phanpy bumped into Pikachu's tail, stopped, and carefully stepped around it. Pikachu looked down from my shoulder. "Phanpy is finally watching where those feet go."

"I'm glad somebody is," I said, glancing at Gligar.

Espeon paused beside a patch of loose gravel and touched it with one paw. Pebbles rolled over the edge and rattled far below. "That part is too loose for Phanpy."

Lillie followed Espeon's stare and guided Phanpy toward the inside wall. "Stay over here with us."

Phanpy copied her step exactly, then looked back at the ledge with wide eyes. It had only been outside its Egg for a short time, and Route 45 seemed determined to introduce every kind of ground at once.

Gligar banked around a pine tree and called down, "I missed it this time!"

"That does not make me feel better," I answered.

A soft chirp drifted from the upper ridge. Reisa stopped and looked toward a jagged outcrop.

"That sounded weak," she said.

East shaded his eyes. "Small Flying-type. The crosswind keeps pushing it back."

A white-and-blue Pokémon fluttered near the rocks. Its cottony wings beat hard, but every attempt to climb ended with the same gust forcing it sideways. Several loose feathers clung to the branches below it.

Reisa stared upward. "That is a Swablu."

Kris studied the air around the ridge. "It keeps turning where the flock probably turned, but this gust is coming from the other direction."

East's Skarmory started toward the ridge, but East held up one hand. "Slowly. If we crowd Swablu, it might try to climb again."

My Skarmory dropped from the higher ridge and circled beneath Swablu. East's partner moved above it, breaking the strongest gust before it reached the smaller Pokémon.

Reisa stepped closer and hummed a simple melody. She repeated the same few notes without raising her voice.

The first note disappeared into the wind. The second reached the ridge more clearly. By the third, Swablu had stopped beating its wings in panic and was watching Reisa between each gust.

Swablu turned its head toward Reisa.

The little Pokémon tried one more time, then faltered. "I can't find the flock. My wings are tired."