Flint sat on the grass, resting after setting up the tent. He gazed up at a 45-degree angle, lost in daydreams…
"Ow, the sunlight's so bright." Flint rubbed his eyes.
As he stood up, he noticed several Poké Balls scattered in the grass.
He blinked and rubbed his eyes again to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "Why are there Poké Balls lying around here?"
Then the "Poké Balls" started to wriggle. One by one, they stacked up into a pyramid.
At the top, the leading "Poké Ball" peeked its head out. Then the rest followed suit, revealing themselves one by one.
Only then did Flint realize—they weren't Poké Balls at all. They were white, mushroom-shaped Pokémon with Poké Ball-like caps.
They had stubby little arms with no fingers, a round pink mouth, and dot-like black eyes. Harmless-looking enough.
But Flint recognized them—Foongus.
They were known to release toxic spores at passing humans. Like Beedrill, one was no threat, but they always appeared in groups—and in groups, they could be a major pain.
Flint reached for a Poké Ball—but then a puff of yellow powder burst from behind him.
Stun Spore!
His body froze up instantly.
Flint was paralyzed, and behind him, another group of Foongus leapt from the bushes.
A sneak attack!
The ones in front were just bait—the rear squad was the real ambush party.
Flint had never imagined he'd be outmaneuvered by wild Pokémon. Still, he had to admit—they'd be terrifying opponents in a wild battle.
"Flint!" Just back from gathering firewood, Candice saw Flint surrounded and dropped everything in shock.
The sound alerted the others.
The Foongus at the top of the pyramid realized they'd been caught and gave a sinister smile.
It leapt down from its perch and waved a tiny hand.
"Foon~!"
Well, since we've been seen, no point hiding anymore. Come on out, boys!
In an instant, Foongus poured out from trees, bushes, even the soil. Dozens of them.
At least forty or fifty in total!
They'd hidden so well that no one had noticed until now.
"Foon~!"
We were gonna pick you off one by one, but oh well—looks like it's full-on gang warfare now!
The lead Foongus barked out orders like a mafia underboss, and its underlings surged forward.
Cynthia had never encountered something like this before. As curious as she was to see what the mushrooms planned to do, safety came first.
"Garchomp, Draco Meteor!"
"Lapras, Sheer Cold!"
Lorelei and Cynthia threw out their Poké Balls simultaneously.
In a flash of white light, two Pokémon appeared, their sheer presence enough to make the air heavy.
Garchomp let out a thunderous roar that shook the surrounding air. The sound alone made some of the Foongus in the back collapse in terror.
Then—boom—a shower of gleaming meteors rained down from above.
Lapras, more elegant by contrast, opened its mouth and exhaled a breath of biting cold.
Shards of ice shot out in all directions with pinpoint precision.
As meteors and ice came crashing down, the lead Foongus's creepy grin vanished.
It shut its eyes tightly, unwilling to see what was coming.
BOOM!
…
BOOM!
Back in the forest, Caleb had been sneaking around to ambush Amoonguss when he suddenly heard a huge explosion not far away.
His instincts screamed bad news.
"Gardenia! Take it down—now!" Caleb barked.
If they didn't attack while its back was turned, they'd lose their window.
Gardenia, startled by his yell, blanked for a second before yelling to Breloom, "Bullet Seed!"
Oh no, Caleb winced. Gardenia clearly hadn't grasped the gravity of the situation.
Guess I'll have to handle this myself.
Without hesitation, Caleb hurled every Poké Ball he had.
"Chansey, Fire Punch!Haunter, Shadow Ball!Torracat, Flamethrower!Vulpix, Ice Beam!Pachirisu, Thunderbolt!Riolu, Close Combat!"
In an instant, all six of his Pokémon hit the field.
"Lucky~!""Gaaas!""Raaaowr!""Vul~!""Chiiipaa!""Riiya!"
The Amoonguss, just starting to turn around, looked up in time to see a rainbow of attacks incoming. Its eyes went wide.
"???"
BOOM!
Amoonguss fell—not to a clever strategy or elite tactics—but to the righteous fury of an all-out beatdown.
Caleb wiped imaginary sweat from his brow and sighed deeply, like he'd just completed a world-saving mission.
Beside him, Gardenia stared in disbelief.
She thought she'd figured Caleb out after spending the last few days with him. Clearly, he'd underestimated him again.
Caleb noticed her look and gave her a confident grin.
With a raised eyebrow, he said casually, "Pretty close call just now, huh?"