Episode #57:
Escape The Mystifying Forest!
Cody vs. Wigglytuff!

With Cody back into the Pokémon World, they were tasked with a graduation exam, to find the Luminous Springs and return to them. However, they heard the legend of a creature, known only as “The Grand Master of All Things Bad. They thought it was fake, especially considering that an acquaintance of theirs, Teddiursa and Ursaring, were regular visitors of the spring and they hadn't encountered such a creature.

However, when they fell down a pitfall trap, they soon enter the creature’s domain, only to be revealed to be Wigglytuff and the rest of the guild. However...

“You really think the Grand Master of All Things Bad doesn't exist?” Wigglytuff asked. “Surely you can't be that naïve!”

Cody and the others wondered what he meant by that. Soon, Wigglytuff got a nasty look on his face and smiled at them.

“Because I'm...THE GRAND MASTER OF ALL THINGS BAD!!!!”

They all wondered what had gotten into Wigglytuff. Chatot realized that he accidentally goofed up and tried to go along with it.

“Y-Yes,” he said nervously. “And I'm the Grand Master's servant! We all are! Prepare to face your doom, trespassers!”

They all slowly crept towards him as Team Hunters slowly backed away.

“Wh-what's gotten into you guys?” Cody asked. “Hey, say something!”

They all wondered if he was really the Grand Master. He soon knew now that there might just be a Grand Master, and he had possessed all of the guild members. Now they had to attack their own friends!

“Guys, answer me!” Cody said.

“You cannot run!” Wigglytuff said. “If you really expect to live, then you must defeat me!”

They all wondered what to do now. They had nowhere to go and they were closing in inch by inch! Turtwig suddenly got an idea.

“Guys, let's use that tactic that Grovyle used to do!” Turtwig whispered to them.

“You sure that'll work?” Cody whispered back.

“It has to!”

They all agreed that they should do it and fired their attacks, causing them all to back off. Cody immediately fired his Water Gun at Wigglytuff, who managed to dodge with ease. Like lightning, he shot towards Cody and struck him as hard as possible, sending him into the wall, miles beyond. Cody lifted himself up and coughed uncontrollably as he felt a lack of air in his lungs.

“Such...power!” Cody thought. “He's insane!”

Wigglytuff smiled as he went after him once more. Turtwig immediately blocked his path and struck him with a Razor Leaf attack. Wigglytuff stopped as he broke free of the assault, striking Turtwig and knocking him aside.

“TURTWIG!!!” Cody called out.

Turtwig slid to the wall and smashed into it. He slowly got up and wondered how he suddenly became so strong!

“This is nuts!” Cody thought. “Just how strong is he?”

“Everyone go after him!” Chatot said.

“Hold on!” Wigglytuff said. “This is my fight!”

They were all surprised by Wigglytuff's comment, since he usually didn't do this with his other graduates.

“Wigglytuff's actually holding us off?” Chatot thought. “He's never done that before!”

“I heard you were strong, but I want to see that for myself. I hope to have a good fight with all three of you!”

“This is odd,” Cody said. “Wigglytuff's singling us out?”

“I told you, I'm The Grand Master of All Things Bad! This Wigglytuff doesn't exist!”

“And he's still denying it...”

Wigglytuff charged after him, leaving the two to figure out what to do.

“Fire all at once!” Cody said.

They fired their attacks at Wigglytuff, who busted through them with ease. They all jumped out of the way as Wigglytuff slammed the wall with immense force. They were amazed at his strength and wondered how much strength he actually had. Wigglytuff screamed as he slammed the ground, creating a massive Earthquake, splitting the ground and causing everyone to fall down.

“I have never seen Wigglytuff act like this,” Cody said. “Is he even himself anymore?!”

“I don't know,” Turtwig said. “It's kind of scary now that I think about it!”

“Is he possessed or what?” Cyndaquil asked.

Chatot knew what it was. Wigglytuff had an alternate self that went wild if provoked. That was where all of his strength came from. He smiled as he charged once more.

“I got it!” Cyndaquil said, charging after him.

“Cyndaquil, be careful!” Cody said.

Cyndaquil activated her Flame Wheel as she struck Wigglytuff with ease. He backed off and recovered a little.

“Nice attack,” Wigglytuff said. “But you haven't beaten me yet!”

He focused his power, leaving Chatot to know what was coming next.

“COVER YOUR EARS, EVERYONE!!!” Chatot shouted to everyone.

He fired a powerful scream as he released a powerful sound wave that hit the three of them, causing their ears to cringe in pain. They didn't know what was going on, and they certainly didn't like it at all.

“What is that?” Cody asked.

“Hyper Voice!” Turtwig replied.

Wigglytuff stopped as he charged in. He struck Cody hard as he was sent back. He slowly got up after he stopped and tried to figure out a way to defeat him.

“There has to be a way to stop him,” Cyndaquil said.

Wigglytuff smiled. He looked at Chatot and nodded. Chatot threw him a strange seed as he immediately grabbed it. He smiled as he ate the seed itself.

“You ready?” he asked.

He charged after him, leaving Cody and the others to defend themselves against the next attack. Wigglytuff got out of the way, moving like lightning, popping by them and striking Cyndaquil hard, knocking her aside.

“Cyndaquil, no!” Cody said.

Wigglytuff cracked his knuckles as they slowly looked back. Wigglytuff fired another Hyper Voice that sent them flying. He stopped as he laughed happily.

“The Grand Master of All Things Bad triumphs!!!” Wigglytuff said.

Cody and the others slowly got up, wondering what they could do now.

“There's gotta be a way to defeat him!” Turtwig said.

“We can't lose, not now!” Cody said.

Cody suddenly got an idea. He remembered Cyndaquil striking Wigglytuff's stomach as he felt pain. Perhaps his balloon-like belly was a weak point (at least, when they didn't naturally inflate it).

“His weak point!” Cody said softly. “Guys, huddle!”

They huddled together as they quickly discussed their plan. Wigglytuff finally got their guard down as he went after them.

“Okay, got it?” Cody asked.

“Yeah!” Turtwig said. “Let's do this!”

“Understood!” Cyndaquil replied.

They saw Wigglytuff running towards them, leaving them to freak out.

“Go, now!” Cody said.

They all avoided the attack, leaving Turtwig to fire Razor Leaves at him. Wigglytuff blocked the attack as he smiled. He focused his power within his hand and charged after Turtwig. Turtwig began to glow over his whole body and avoided the attack, striking him in the stomach. He felt a lot of pain. Suddenly Cyndaquil struck him in the stomach with a Flame Wheel.

“What are they doing?” Wigglytuff asked. “They know...they KNOW!!!”

Cody immediately charged towards him, leaving Wigglytuff to snap out of it. He charged toward Cody as the two struck each other hard. They both had their hands and paws out, waiting for the other to fall, showdown style. Cody fell to the ground first, leaving him to slowly try and get up. Wigglytuff smiled in response.

“I'm proud of you,” he whispered to himself. “Team...Hun...ters...”

He fell to the ground, knocked out from the strike. Chatot freaked out, amazed that they beat Wigglytuff.

“GRAND MASTER DOWN!!!!” Chatot said. “EVERYONE, RUSH TO HIS AID!!!”

They all went over to him and lifted him up, running off with his unconscious body. Team Hunters felt confused as to what just happened.

“Well, let's try and get out of here,” Cody said.

They soon saw a ladder come down for them. They all looked up to see Teddiursa and Ursaring above.

“Hey, are you all right?” Teddiursa asked.

“Don't worry, we got you!” Ursaring said.

They all felt happy that they got some help so suddenly. They all climbed the ladder and got themselves out.

“We saw you fall in and rushed to get a ladder. It's what we use when we go on adventures back at our home,” Ursaring said. “Sorry we took so long.”

“It's okay,” Cody said. “In fact, I think we had a good reason to stay down there.”

“Err, why?”

“Don't worry, it's not too important.”

They both looked at each other and decided not to worry about it. They decided to continue to the Luminous Springs where the final test would be. Hopefully, they would find out just what this Luminous Springs  place was.

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In order to get to Luminous Springs, they had to go through a quick cave route. They soon saw a light ahead, and something within the light. They soon recognized it at a large apple. Considering who sent this mission, it was no surprise that it was actually a Perfect Apple.

“Isn't that...” Cyndaquil said.

“Why am I not surprised?” Cody said.

They all went over to the Perfect Apple to find a note on it. Cyndaquil took it off and began to read it.

“'If Team Hunters found this, congratulations. You've passed the test! Please bring this back to the guild as proof of your success.' This is awesome, isn't it Cody?! Cody?”

They saw Cody staring at something amazing in front of him. They saw a large tree glowing yellow and a lake in the center with a small island on it with a land bridge leading to the center. Water flowed from the sides, filling the lake up.

“What is this place?” Cyndaquil asked.

“Luminous Springs,” Ursaring said. “A mighty place where many Pokemon evolve.”

“This is Luminous Springs?” Cody asked. “It's incredible!”

“Want to see how it works?” Teddiursa asked. “It's pretty simple.”

Teddiursa went over to the island in the center and waited for something.

“Well, what's going on?” Cody asked.

Ye wish to seek an evolution?

“Whoa, what was that?” Turtwig asked.

“That's the voice of Luminous Springs,” Ursaring. “Now hush, he needs silence.”

“Yes, please!” Teddiursa said.

Do ye wish to use an item for evolution?

“No thanks.”

The light above flashed down onto Teddiursa as he began to glow brightly. Soon his body began to change and began to grow a bit bigger, as well as a bit more slimmer. Cody and the others were amazed at this process, so much that they couldn't talk. Soon, the evolution process finished. Teddiursa was now a powerful Ursaring!

“This is awesome!” the newly evolved Ursaring said. He noticed a difference in his voice and covered his mouth. “My voice...it changed!”

The two Ursaring felt happy about each other and hugged each other happily.

“This is awesome, buddy!” Ursaring said.

“Yes it is, pal!” the other Ursaring said.

“It's going to be hard to tell which one's which,” Cyndaquil said.

“Yeah, it kind of will,” Cody replied. “Well, I better try.”

He went over to the center as he thought about what evolution would be like.

Ye wish to seek an evolution?

“Uhh...yes...sir!” he said.

Do ye wish to use an item for evolution?

“No, sir,” Cody replied.

The light shined down below him, but nothing seemed to be happening at all. The light immediately faded.

Forgive me. I have never experienced anything like this.

“What do you mean?” Cody asked.

It seems...ye cannot evolve at all.

Everyone seemed to find it odd, but they didn't know why.

In fact, two other Pokemon here do not seem to be capable of evolving!

“Wait,” Turtwig said, realizing who those Pokemon were.

“You mean us?” Cyndaquil asked.

It seems to be an odd force that's preventing ye from evolving. Forgive me, this has never happened before. It is not like I am outright refusing to evolve ye.

“Oh, don't make it seem like that,” Cody said. “I'm sure we'll figure this out, right guys?”

They all wondered why they couldn't evolve either. It did seem odd now that they thought about it.

If you find a way to make it work, I shall be here. Farewell.

The light faded, leaving Cody to head back to them. They had to figure this out as soon as possible. They took their Perfect Apple as they bid farewell to the two Ursaring, and congratulated the other one for his successful evolution.

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They soon arrived back at the guild with their Perfect Apple as they show it to Wigglytuff and Chatot, who seem to be pleased that they succeeded. The rest of the guild seems to be happy as well. There was still the question of who this Grand Master really was. Was it really Wigglytuff and the rest of the guild? It was too much of a coincidence to think otherwise.

“Well done!” Chatot said. “I knew you'd all make it out alive!”

“Well, let's just say it wasn't easy,” Cody said.

“Well, I hope the Grand Master didn't give you and trouble, right?”

They all fell silent. Cody and his team knew that Wigglytuff was the Grand Master of All Things Bad, but for some reason, they were still denying it.

“Well...I guess you don't want to talk about it," Chatot said.

“I think you two need to talk,” Cody said. “You're the Grand Master of All Things Bad, aren't you, Wigglytuff?”

Wigglytuff blinked in confusion, only to turn his head away with his paw on his chest.

“You do seem to know that the Grand Master was me...but was he actually me?”

They all wondered what he meant by that.

“What if...it was an illusion created by the Grand Master, hmm? What if he's not really us?”

They were all confused now. They didn't know what to think at this point. Chatot cleared his throat as he prepared to send them off.

“Well, if that's over with, I hereby announce that Team Hunters have officially graduated from this Guild! Let's give them a big hand!”

They all clapped in their honor, leaving the three to be proud. Buneary felt happy that they graduated.

“Now then, dismissed!” Chatot cheered.

“YES SIR!!!” they said.

They all split, while Buneary went over to them. She felt kind of upset that they were leaving, but they had their reasons.

“If you want, I can come visit you wherever you're staying,” Buneary said.

“Thanks,” Cody replied. “We'll probably be coming here more, though.”

“That's nice. Well, good luck. Do you know where you're going to stay?”

“I have a good idea,” Turtwig replied.

They also had a feeling that they would be staying in a place where Turtwig was most familiar with. Their adventures as graduates would be an interesting one. At least they wouldn't have to deal with Loudred's shouting anymore. Or the drills. Still, they had a fun time within the guild, and they hoped to have even more fun on their own.


To Be Continued!