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

Chapter 3: Forest Balance

Sentret moved as if fear had seized its tail and dragged the rest of its body forward.

The little Pokémon darted between roots, stopped to make sure we were following, then vanished through another gap in the trees. Each metallic crash ahead made Sentret flinch, but it never turned away.

Pikachu sprinted beside me with sparks jumping from his cheeks. His ears flattened as another crash rolled through the trees. "Togepi is close. I can smell hot metal, smoke, and Meowth somewhere ahead."

"I knew Team Rocket had to be involved," I growled, pushing through the brush.

Lillie kept pace beside me even though fear had tightened her voice. "Sentret is trying to help us, right?"

Sentret looked back with wide, desperate eyes. "The baby is trapped in the loud thing. I tried to stop it, but I could not. My family is ahead too."

"You are helping," Lillie called. "Just take us to Togepi."

Sentret pointed ahead with both paws and ran again. East followed its direction immediately, Reisa went pale at the panic in its cries, and Kris kept Megaree close while Ethan guided Exbo over the exposed roots.

A tree ahead shook violently.

Then a huge metal shape burst through the brush.

The machine looked like a giant Arbok twisted into tank armor, grinding over the forest floor without control. Branches snapped against its sides, and through a cracked window I saw Togepi tumbling beside the controls.

"Togepi!" Lillie screamed, and the fear in her voice cut through the grinding metal.

Togepi caught sight of us through the window. "Lillie is here! Please make this loud thing stop!"

Sentret cried out and pointed toward a hollow beneath a tree where several smaller Sentret huddled together. The Arbo-Tank was heading straight toward them.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt into the ground in front of the wheels!" I shouted.

Pikachu fired a controlled bolt into the dirt ahead of the machine. Soil burst upward, and one side of the Arbo-Tank bounced hard enough to slow it, but the machine only lurched toward the hollow at a new angle.

Lillie already had a Poké Ball in her hand. "Seadra, come out! Water Gun under the wheels!"

Seadra appeared in a flash and fired a hard stream across the dirt. Mud spread under the machine, forcing its wheels to slide sideways instead of carrying it directly toward the Sentret.

East pointed toward a fallen log near the edge of the clearing. "Turn it toward that log! If a wheel catches there, we can stop it from rolling farther."

"Onix, I need you!" I called.

Crystal Onix burst from his Poké Ball, glittering through the forest light. Ethan stumbled backward, but there was no time to explain. Onix lowered his enormous body across the machine's path.

The Arbo-Tank slammed into him with a ringing impact. Onix groaned and slid several feet, but he held the machine away from the hollow.

Seadra braced against a root while keeping Water Gun trained beneath the wheels. "It is heavy, but the mud is making it easier to push sideways."

"Keep it there!" Lillie called.

The top hatch suddenly flew open, and Meowth's head popped out with his fur standing on end. "We told ya twerps! We didn't steal the machine this time!"

Jessie and James stumbled from the brush behind it, both covered in leaves and mud.

Jessie pointed furiously at Sentret. "That little thief stole our magnificent Arbo-Tank!"