Chapter Ten: One Tough Jigglypuff



Terra's POV



"Will the bell accept a human's song?" I ask Ilima. "The ancient prophesy said that no human knows the answer to send this beast back to where it came from."



"Well," Ilima says, "you seem to be doing well for a human. I might as well do my part."



"You play the flute?"



"Flutes have cultural significance where I come from."



That makes sense. The Sun Flute and Moon Flute are very important to Alolan culture. "What will you play?"



"Just a little song I picked up in Shamouti."



"Shamouti Island? You've been there?"



"I've been all over the world. Now, please be quiet. I'm concentrating."



Ilima takes a deep breath, places the flute to his lips, and begins to play...



---



Gladion's POV



I don't know what Wes did to anger a giant Totem Gengar that wants to kill everybody, but I'm sure it was him. He has that effect on people. The stories I could tell you.



Now Gary and I are tearing through the woods, trying to outrun an assailant that's not even fully corporeal, and sooner or later we'll run out of woods and find ourselves out in the open where that damned thing can pick us off one by one.



Why me?



"Hey, Gladdy?" Gary asks as we run. "Maybe we don't have to both outrun this monster."



"Great theory," I snap. "Any ideas how?"



He grins. "Oh, I just have to outrun you."



That's when I turn and realize there's a branch in my face. I try to slide to a stop, too late. The branch hits me in the face, I stumble downwards, and Gary runs off without so much as breaking his stride. The douchebag's laughing, too.



Oh shit.



I pick myself up, and the Gengar towers over me. I realize it wasn't even really running after me; just lumbering at its own leisure. Its teeth are enormous, and I have the bad feeling that I'm about to become intimately acquainted with them in my final moments of life.



"Hey, Mister Gengar!" a voice says from behind me.



It's not Gary.



I turn, look, and do a double take. For crying out loud... it's that green-haired kid. At least, it used to be that green-haired kid. Now he's wearing this inflatable Gengar costume with scribbles all over it, hovering two feet up in the air, with rocks tied to ropes wrapped around his arms to ground him. His voice is clearly squeaky from the helium.



"Who says we gotta kill this guy?" the kid asks. "Can't we do something a bit more fun, like a hockey game?"



The giant Gengar peers down at the ersatz Gengar in front of him. It growls something under its breath, then picks up a stick and pokes the costume.



The costume pops, sending helium and costume parts everywhere.



I think I've inhaled some of the helium, because my voice sounds funny. "What. The. HELL?" I ask the kid. "A hockey game? REALLY?"



The Gengar roars behind us. Slightly more high-pitched now, not that it matters in the end.



We're doomed.



---



Terra's POV



Ilima plays the first few notes of Lugia's Song, and the song takes me back to ages ago when I first watched the second movie. The battle of the legendary birds, the journey of the Chosen One, the orbs, the collector, Team Rocket's sacrifice...



To be honest, I'd always felt disappointed that Jessie and James' change of heart never lasted. They would have made better heroes than villains. Although part of that was because Ash had plot armor, but you take what you can get.



Ilima's pretty good at this. I have to remember that it's not polite to stare, even if it's at a cute boy. But I keep glancing towards Jigglypuff's bell, hoping against hope that the song works and that the Guardian of Pokemopolis will emerge.



The song ends. The giant Jigglypuff does not appear.



But something else does.



---



Gladion's POV



I instinctively try to shield the green-haired kid with my body. Maybe I'll buy him some time to escape. Maybe.



"Run, kid!" I whisper as the giant Gengar reaches down to us. "Get out!"



I can feel the chill in the air around Gengar. I'm done for, that much is certain. But just as the beast is about to grab me, I see a huge flash of bright light, right behind it.



"Hey, hound dog!" a familiar voice yaps. "Arooo!"



I look up, blinking. "What the frek...?"



It's Wes.



Behind the Gengar.



On the shoulders.



Of a giant freaking Alakazam.



Gengar turns towards the sound of the voice. My self-preservation instincts kick into overdrive, and I scamper away into the woods. The kid follows me, probably just as freaked out as I am now.



Wes has a giant Alakazam? Where did Wes get a giant Alakazam? Just what the heck is going on here?



If we survive this, I had better get some answers.



---



Terra's POV



What's in front of me is not a Jigglypuff. It's pink, fuzzy, adorable, and has big blue eyes. But by no stretch of the imagination could it be called a Jigglypuff.



It's a Mew.



And it's glaring at us, as if to say, "Okay, you've summoned me now. This had better be good."



I supposed I should have expected this at some point. The forest is supposed to be sacred to Mew, after all. I hope Mew doesn't blame us for destroying its shrine, or letting the giant Gengar loose, or whatever else happens to be going on in this forest.



But it doesn't look happy. Actually, it looks like it's about to cut a bitch.



"Greetings!" Ilima says. "Captain Ilima here. If you don't mind--"



Then Mew slaps him. Right in the face, with its tail. "Mew!" it squeaks, with as much indignancy as one could imagine a Mew having.



"Y-Yes, I know I don't look like I used to, but I assure you--"



"Mew!" Another slap. "Mew mew mew!"



I have the feeling there's a story behind this, but now is not the time. "Can we save this for later?" I ask anxiously. "Right now, there's a giant Gengar tearing up the forest, and we need to awaken the giant Jigglypuff that will sing a song and make it fall asleep so it returns to the Shadow World or wherever it normally lives in."



Mew gives me a startled look, like it has no idea how I know all of this. It gives one last glare at Ilima, then floats up to the bell and starts to sing.



A Mew's singing is adorable. Better than the caterwauling I hear outside my door at night whenever I forget to let Benga into my room before closing the door. This Mew has perfect pitch, and I secretly wonder how much it practices. A Mew that can sing? Phenomenal.



As the Mew sings, the bell begins to glow...



---



Gladion's POV



The giant Alakazam raises its spoons, shooting a Psybeam of phenomenal energy at the ginormous Gengar. It explodes in a vibrant burst of rainbow colors, lighting up the night.



I start running. Wes is clearly buying time, and in typically reckless Wes fashion, he's likely to make the situation worse. Well, I'm not sticking around to get stepped on by a kaiju. And neither is the kid.



We duck behind a cluster of trees, and the kid turns to me. "What do you think's going on?"



"I think we should ask Wes that once this is over," I say, "assuming we all make it out in one piece." My hand starts to twitch, and I grip my wrist to try to keep it under control. "I've never seen Totem Pokemon grow to that size; they must have eaten a good deal of Ultra Energy to get that tremendous."



"Ultra Energy?" the kid asks, confused.



"Energy from an Ultra Wormhole. Basically the same type of energy that allows for travel between worlds can be absorbed by Pokemon to make them bigger and stronger." I glance from behind the tree and see Gengar aim a Shadow Punch at Alakazam, who dodges with a Teleport. "Normally they don't get THIS huge, however..."



"So how do we stop them?"



"Kid, if I knew that, I wouldn't be hiding behind this tree!" I shake my head. "Wes is typically suicidal enough to think you can solve most problems with huge explosions. One of these days he's going to wake up dead because of it."



The kid winces, and I wonder if perhaps I was just a little bit too honest. "I'm sure we'll be fine," I lie. "Those things had to come from somewhere, so maybe when they're done they'll just leave." The question is whether wherever they came from has anything even worse on the other side, and if the 'anything worse' is going to come over here and get hungry.



"I spent four hours making that Gengar costume," the kid says sadly.



I gape at him. "This entire forest is in jeopardy, and you're concerned over your stupid costume?"



"Hey, it took forever to get it airtight!" the kid shoots back.



---



Terra's POV



As the bell starts to glow, Mew turns and teleports the three of us back a safe distance. For good reason. This giant Jigglypuff is the size of a hot-air balloon, covered in tribal markings, with an Omega symbol painted across its chest. If there was a Primal Reversion for Jigglypuff, this would be it.



It blinks, taking in its surroundings. "PUFF?"



As if to answer it, a bright burst of rainbow colors comes from the forest. I turn to look, and realize that there are now two enormous figures in the forest, the Gengar and what I'm guessing is the Alakazam.



I'm breathless. Ilima is not. "Over there!" Ilima says, pointing to the feuding figures. "Keep them at bay! Use your Sing attack!"



"PUFF!" the Jigglypuff announces, and starts to bound towards the other two oversized Pokemon.



The ground shakes with its every leap, much to Mew's displeasure. "Mew!" it squeaks indignantly, then simply teleports the Jigglypuff directly to the figures themselves, leaving Ilima and I standing alone in the ruins with bemused expressions on our faces.



"Why did that Mew slap you?" I finally ask.



Ilima looks embarrassed. "Long story. I'd rather not go into it."



"What did you look like before, anyway?"



"Smaller. Cuter. Less gangly. Shouldn't we go check up on our friends?"



---



By the time we arrive, the battle's over. Gengar and Alakazam are fast asleep, and Jigglypuff is drawing on their faces. It still surprises me that paint sticks to a Gengar's semi-gaseous body. Surprises, and somewhat disgusts me.



We find Wes curled up asleep as well, close enough to the Alakazam to have a giant paint splatter on his arm and shoulder. "Wuh-whazzat?" he asks when Ilima shakes him. "Whaz goin' on?"



"Captain Ilima here," Ilima says, "and we should really get going before Jigglypuff sends these two back to the 'Shadow World' or wherever they've been staying."



"Kazam ain't a bad sort," Wes slurs tiredly. "He saved me."



"I assure you, we can discuss this in more detail once we've found our companions," Ilima says curtly. "Now get. UP."



Wes stumbles to his feet, looking pretty drowsy. I guess that Jigglypuff's song must have really done a number on him. He leans against Ilima, and some of the wet paint comes off on Ilima's shirt. "Where we goin'?"



"Away from here," Ilima says, in the tone of voice that says the discussion is over. "We've wrecked Mew's forest quite enough for one night, thank you very much. And I think we all need some sleep."



I glance quickly around the forest, looking for Mew. Not a sign of it. Maybe it floated off to take care of its shrine or something.



I do hope we don't all wind up pranked mercilessly for all this.