//------------------------------// // A Queen's Plight // Story: Pokémon Turquoise Johto Adventures // by foxmaster //------------------------------// It was a typical day in Kanto and the Oak Laboratory was just as lively. Professor Oak was busy with some kind of experiment in his lab while his assistant was tending to all the pokemon in the habitat area. The assistant was now in the forest area where the Beedrill raised their young and was very careful since it was a known fact Beedrill can be very aggressive when enraged or disturbed. Suddenly he came across a tree that looked unoccupied until he saw the top moving and a Combee fly out of it. “Looks like we have some new residence here at the lab,” The assistant said. Suddenly a bunch of Combee flew out and started fighting with each other. The fighting got so out of hand it sent one of the Combee crashing into a Beedrill which incited the other Beedrill to join in the brawl. The Assistant returned to the Lab to inform Professor Oak of the situation. “Professor we have a serious problem. “What is it?” Professor Oak asked. After informing him and showing him the ongoing fight Professor oak knew what to do. “We need a Vespiquen, Combee are like a colony, and without a queen to guide them they are lost and disorganized. “But where are we going to find a Vespiquen?” The Assistant asked. “It just so happens I know someone who has one and hopefully will lend her to us once I explain the situation to her,” Professor Oak said before running back to the lab while leaving the assistant to monitor the situation. He made it back and used the GPS in Turquoise’s Pokedex to pinpoint her location. Luckily for him, she was now in a town which meant he could reach her. He dialed the number and after a while managed to reach the Pokemon Center. “Pokemon center this is Nurse Joy speaking,” Nurse Joy said. “Yes, this is Professor Oak speaking. Is there a trainer named Turquoise there? I urgently need to talk to her,” professor Oak asked. “One sec,” Nurse joy said. A bit later Turquoise was now on the line.  “Turquoise so good to see you. How is your journey going so far?” Professor Oak asked. “Pretty good I already have seven gym badges and four ribbons,” Turquoise said. “That’s wonderful,” Professor Oak said before getting to why he called. “Now as to why I’m calling. We have a bit of a situation at the lab. A swarm of Combee has decided to make their hive in one of the forest areas on the habitat but they seem to be at each other’s throats so much that they haven't even started yet. And then there is the Beedrill which already has a claim to that area. What I’m asking is can I borrow your Vespiquen to help solve this problem? “Sure no problem,” Turquoise said. A few seconds later Vespiquen’s Pokeball appeared on Professor Oak’s end. “Vespiquen arrived safely on my end,” Professor Oak said. “I hope she can help with your situation,” Turquoise said before hanging up. Professor Oak grabbed Vespiquen’s Pokeball and ran back to where the fighting was. He managed to make it in time before things could escalate even higher. He called out Vespiquen who was used to being at the lab by now. “Vespiquen we need your assistance,” Professor Oak said before directing her attention to the fighting and the Combee. Vespiquen suddenly remembered what her former queen told her before Turquoise caught her. Suddenly Vespiquen unleashed a Pin Missile that was fired between the two factions and broke up the fighting. “(stop all this fighting at once),” Vespiquen said in what sounded like a commanding tone which got the Combee’s attention. Both sides sent one member of their group to represent them in explaining their side of things. The Beedrill went first. “(We need this forest to raise our young so you're not welcome here),” Beedrill said. Once Beedrill finished talking it was now Combee's turn to explain. Combee explained that their previous home was destroyed in a massive forest fire and they were looking for a new place to live. After hearing both sides Vespiquen tried to explain the situation to the humans but they could not understand her. Luckily a Pokemon ranger arrived to explain for her. “So this is where the Combee fled to,” The Ranger said. “And you are?” Professor Oak asked. “I’m Selene and I'm a Pokemon Ranger,” Selene said before explaining why she was at the lab. “You see I was in charge of getting all the pokemon from the recent forest fire to safety and when I noticed the Combee in the area were not there I went looking for them. “That explains where they came from but what are they doing here?” The assistant asked. “Obviously they are looking for a new place to build a hive,” Selene said. “Well they can’t build it there since the Beedrill has a claim to this area,” The Assistant said. “What if we try and find somewhere else more suited for them?” Professor Oak asked. “That’s a great idea, do you have anywhere like that on your land?” Selene asked. “Not really however we can create someplace,” Professor Oak said before having Vespiquen tell the Combee to follow them. Professor Oak led them to a recently acquired habitat area, a field of lush flowers. “This is a recent expansion we just bought the rights to, we haven't decided what to do with it yet but it does seem like the ideal place for them wouldn't you say? “The flowers are a good thing but what about trees? as in Combee need one for their hive,” Selene asked. “We can always plant some. It may take a while for them to grow but at least it will solve the problem,” Professor Oak said. “That could work,” Selene said. Luckily there was a huge spot in the center of the flowers they could use for planting. The three of them began digging and just when they thought their plan would work they suddenly hit a snag as in hitting bedrock. “This is bad we can’t dig through that,” The assistant said. “Your right and none of the pokemon here are strong enough to break through solid bedrock,” Professor Oak said. “I may have a solution,” Selene said. “Let’s hear it,” Professor Oak said. “A few miles away is a cave which is home to a bunch of Drilbur and Excadrill,” Selene said before the assistant caught on to her plan. “I get it your going to bring us an Excadrill,” The Assistant said. “Excadrill’s drill is powerful enough to pierce through iron plates so bedrock is a breeze for one,” Professor Oak said. Selene was off to the cave but suddenly hit a snag with a huge boulder blocking her path. Suddenly she saw a Rhydon passing by before pulling out a device with an antenna “Capture on,” Selene said before the device fired a hi-tech top that began spinning around Rhydon as Selene twisted her wrist in a circular motion. A few moments later she waved the device around which caused the circle to close on Rhydon and envelope it in a white glow briefly. “Capture complete, Rhydon use your horn to break that boulder. Rhydon spun its drill-like horn and suddenly used it to shatter the boulder and clear the path. Suddenly Rhydon was released from Selene’s control and continued on its merry way as if nothing happened. Selene continued and found the cave she was looking for. So far all she saw were Diglett and Dugtrio as she went deeper in. She soon saw a bunch of Graveler rolling around and skillfully dodged them. She soon came across the Drilbur which meant she was close. Suddenly a big drill-like thing surfaced before revealing itself to be an Excadrill. (“what are you doing here human?),” Excadrill said demandingly. “Excadrill I could really use your help,” Selene pleaded even though she could not understand the pokemon language. Excadrill suddenly took on a fighting stance while the Drilbur also looked ready to fight. Selene tried to use the device from before only for one of the Drilbur to break the top. “My styler. Selene tried again but once again the Drilbur protected the Excadrill from it. Just before she could lose hope another top was launched but this time it managed to generate bubbles around the Drilbur. The one who fired the top was a woman with white skin, crimson eyes, spiked blue hair, and was wearing a uniform similar to Selene’s but more appropriate for a higher rank. “Caption Solana mam. “Professor Oak told me you would be here and I came to help,” Solana said. The two of them worked together and not only managed to capture Excadrill but its Drilbur underlings as well. The two of them returned to the lab where everyone was waiting. “Excadrill can you break through that bedrock?” Selene asked with Excadrill nodding yes. Excadrill didn't hesitate to turn into its drill form and then broke through the bedrock and then completely shattered it. “Perfect now we can begin planting some trees,” Professor Oak said as the Drilbur began digging some more holes while the assistant along with the other pokemon began planting the trees around the area making it look more appealing like a flower field in the middle of a forest. After the job was complete, the Drilbur and Excadrill returned to their cave. As for the big hole in the center, the Professor decided to wait until tomorrow to plant the seed since he needed to work on his compost for it first. The next day Professor Oak was ready to begin planting when he saw the hole was now full of water and in that water was a Crawduant who took over the space overnight. “Hey Crawduant you can’t be here that hole was for a tree I was planning to plant,” Professor Oak said. The Crawduant refused to leave and even went so far as to pinch its claws in an intimidating way which caused Professor Oak to back off. “This is very bad. “We need to get rid of that Crawduant,” The Assistant said. “We can’t just toss it out that Crawduant belongs to another trainer,” Professor Oak said. “But if we don’t do something the Combee will not have their new home,” The Assistant said. In another part of the habitat, the Combee were still butting heads with each other until Vespiquen took control again. Just then Professor oak came to share the bad news. Suddenly things began to spiral out of control again. As the fighting got more and more intense Vespiquen had enough and managed to unleash a powerful shout that got everyone to stop. “(now is not the time to be fighting each other. now is the time to reclaim our new home),” Vespiquen said which the Combee all agreed on. “(let us help),” The leader of the Beedrill said with their army behind them. Both armies went to the place occupied by Crawduant and were met with a BubbleBeam. “(Combee. form a wall),” Vespiquen commanded which was her Defend Order. The Combee all stacked together and form a protective wall in front of Vespiquen and the Beedrill Army. the Beedrill all charged in with twin needle only for Crawduant to use Harden to stand its ground. “(Combee. Attack),” Vespiquen commanded which was her Attack Order which cued the Combee to split apart and attack Crawduant once its guard was down. Vespiquen finished it off with a Power gem that sent it flying back into the lake with the other water-types all of which were super peeved about the way Crawduant treated them which landed it in hot water metaphorically speaking. After pumping all the water out and planting the seed for the center tree the professor declared this problem solved. He noticed how all the Combee were united under Vespiquen’s leadership and how the Beedrill were also getting along with them. “I wish we could keep Vespiquen here with us but I'm sure Turquoise will want her back,” Professor Oak said. “You know you can just ask her if it's okay to keep Vespiquen here, Turquoise is a reasonable kid, if she wasn't then Vespiquen would not even be here,” The Assistant said. “You know what I will ask,” Professor Oak said before returning to the lab to make the call. As soon as he got there he suddenly received an incoming call. After answering it was Turquoise on the other end which was perfect timing .“Aw Turquoise good timing. “Guess what I got myself a new Pokemon Egg,” Turquoise said before showing it to him. “That’s wonderful and on that topic, I have another favor to ask,” Professor Oak said. “What is it?” Turquoise asked. “We managed to resolve the territorial dispute and get all the Combee on the same page but they need a queen to keep the peace, so is it ok if Vespiquen stays at the lab a little bit longer just until a successor is named?” Professor Oak asked. “Seeing as I have a full team again sure,” Turquoise said. “Excellent,” Professor Oak said before hanging up. Professor Oak ran as fast as he could to find Vespiquen to tell her the news. He found her in the center of the flower field ready to address her subjects about her departure until he stopped her. “Good news Vespiquen. Turquoise agreed to let you stay here a bit longer. Vespiquen hoped Turquoise would allow it since she knew how attached she can get. And so the day ended and peace was once again restored to the Oak Laboratory. To Be Continued