Request: The Curse of Berry Forest

“So, Ash, what kind of adventures are you hoping to find here?” Misty asked as she, Iris, May, Dawn and Serena entered the mysterious forest. The six had traveled to an island in the Sevii Islands on Ash’s insistence.

“Well, I had heard there were berries that grew in great abundance here,” Ash said, with Pikachu affirming.

“Really? I can’t wait to see it!” Iris said, an excited look on her face.

“I’ve heard other rumors, though,” May said, with a concerned look on her face. “I’ve heard there have been strange disappearances over the years.”

“Oh, relax,” Dawn said, catching up to Iris. “Not every rumor is true.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine as long as we keep an eye out for any trouble,” Serena noted.

Before May could retort, Ash said, “Okay, last one to the berries is a rotten egg!” With that, he ran off into the forest. Iris quickly followed, with Dawn, Misty and Serena not far behind.  

“Wait!” May called out as she approached the entrance. However, a shadow jumped out of the forest, catching her by surprise. “Wha! What are…you…” May’s eyes glazed over as she followed the shadow in the forest.

(Half an hour later)

Ash and Iris were busy gathering berries by a lake. “There are a lot of great berries here for natural medicines here,” Iris told Ash. “I’m so glad you asked us to accompany you here!”

“No problem,” Ash said as he saw Pikachu return with a bunch of berries. “You know, I haven’t seen Misty, May, Dawn and Serena in a while. Do you think we should go find them?”

“Yeah, I suppose there’s no harm in doing that. Let’s go…wha?”

Ash looked up and saw Iris being attacked by a Hypno. He immediately sprang into action and ran after the Hypno, who was also leading Iris. After a while, Ash lost sight of them. “Iris! Where are you?” Ash yelled out, but didn’t receive any response.

“Pika, Pika!” Pikachu called out to Ash, pointing toward a glen. Taking a peek, Ash was surprised to see the Hypno leading Iris to the end of a lineup of the other girls he had come with; Misty, May, Dawn and Serena. All of them had glazed eyes and blank expressions on their faces.

The Hypno began to wave his pendulum back and forth in front of the girls and chanting its own name. Deciding to take charge before things got even more out of hand, Ash stood up and shouted, “Pikachu, use Volt Tackle!”

Pikachu agreed by running toward Hypno and covering its body with electricity. Before the Hypno could react, Pikachu collided with it. After the attack, Pikachu leaned up against a tree to keep its balance, but the Hypno fell over in a bit of a daze. Not wasting any time, Ash threw a Poke Ball at the Hypno, which was caught almost immediately.

Before Ash could rejoice at his latest capture, the five girls started to stir. He ran toward them and asked, “Are you all okay?”

“…Misty?”

Ash stood shocked as his longest friend, Misty, looked around with a confused look on her face. “Misty, Mist, Misty!”

“May, May, May!” May shouted, suddenly appearing scared of her surroundings.

Dawn and Iris looked at the berries and repeated their own names as they happily ate the berries that were gathered.

Serena looked at Ash and exclaimed, “Serena! Sere, rena!” At this, the five girls huddled around Ash and stared at the boy with happy looks in their eyes.

“What happened to you?!” Ash shouted. Picking up Hypno’s Poke Ball, Ash thought to himself, “I’d better get everyone to a safe place. I hope someone can help them get back to normal!”