Chapter 31 - 31 - Burning Wood

The next day, it's the second day of the camp, and Rico was eating at the dining hall for breakfast, along with his Pokémon. They were eating in peace and quiet. Then, Santiago and Maneki joined him in his table, along with their Pokémon.

"Morning, dude," one of them greeted him brightly. His Bulbasaur then responded in greeting.

"Hey, morning," Rico greeted him back. Litleo then responded in greeting.

"So, the teacher will conduct some activities for us later. Right?" Maneki responded.

"Yeah, we'll have mini-tournaments and kayaking today," Rico brightly replied, "And a campfire tonight." Riolu then responded in happiness and enthusiasm.

"That's great!" Santiago responded whilst clenching his two fists in enthusiasm, "We'll join then."

Meanwhile, in the same time, a mysterious Legendary Pokémon was hovering in the air above the forest. That Pokémon, however, is one of The Three Legendary Birds.

Blue Ninja, in the meantime, was flying above the forest on his Noivern, going on a lookout and guarding.

"Huh, there's nothing happened here," he seriously commented. His Pikachu then responded in happiness.

Back at the camp, while Rico and Maneki are walking at a stone path to the activities hall, Tommy showed up to them, and intervened, "Hello there, Rico." Upon hearing him, Rico produced a stress mark.

"Oh, hi there, Tom," Rico retorted in an uninterested greeting. As a result, he and Tommy then had a spark of rivalry. But it was cut off by Maneki, Riolu, and Absol.

"Cut it out, you two," Maneki responded while trying to separate them apart.

"Oh, yeah, I want my revenge for the failed sabotage of your musical performance a long time ago," Tommy retorted in a mix of anger and stress.

"And who did it?" Rico retorted in response, "You did." His Pokémon then responded in seriousness and resentment. This only make Tommy even more angrier.

"Oh, yeah, let's have a one-on-one battle," Tommy retorted in anger, "Your Litleo versus my Absol."

"Oh, yeah, it's now on," Rico seriously answered while clenching his fist in determination.

Later, at the camp's battlefield, Rico and Tommy had a Pokémon battle; their Pokémon are Riolu and Absol. Luckily, only a handful, or around a dozen, kids watched them. Rico and Tommy then called their said Pokémon.

And so, their battle had began. Upon seeing Absol, Rico responded in semi-seriousness, "I seen that Pokémon before." He then pointed his Pokédex towards it; his Pokédex then responded, "Absol, the Disaster Pokémon. A Dark-type. It senses coming disasters and appears before people only to warn them of impending danger."

"Wow, awesome," Rico calmly commented upon hearing this. He then put down his Pokédex and responded to Tommy in seriousness, "Alright, Tom, let's begin the battle!"

"Hmph! I can do that," Tommy retorted in style. Then to his Absol, "Absol, use Quick Attack!" His Absol then used Quick Attack, charging towards Litleo in a fast pace.

"Alright, Litleo, use Headbutt!" Rico commanded Litleo in coolness. Litleo then used Headbutt, charging towards Absol and used Headbutt, attacking it with its head inflicting it hard pain and damage.

"Wow, that's so powerful," Maneki commented in enthusiasm.

"Chespin, Ches," Chespin added in excitement.

"Ri, Ri-olu," Riolu added in excitement and enthusiasm. And as his Absol get up in pain, Tommy got more mad and quickly commanded it, "Don't give up, Absol, use Dark Pulse!" His Absol, getting up, ten stand up firmly, and then used Dark Pulse, opening its mouth and a light orb surrounded in black and purple circles appears inside it, firing a beam of it at Litleo, striking it effectively. Litleo then was weaken by it, collapsing to the ground in pain.

"Don't give up, Litleo," Rico seriously commanded Litleo, "You can do it. Use Flamethrower!" Getting up, Litleo used Flamethrower, opening its mouth and scorched an intense blast of fire, striking Absol effectively.

"Counter it with Slash!" Tommy immediately commanded Absol in coolness. Being attacked, Absol resisted and used Slash, slashing Litleo with its claws repeatedly, inflicting it lots of pain. Litleo was now once weakened to the ground.

"Heh, your Pokémon was weak," Tommy commented in a retorting, arrogant style, "I think you need more 'fire' power for that." Rico got angry by that.

"Oh, no, Litleo will lose against him," Maneki commented in surprise while crossing his arms.

"Yeah, right," Santiago added.

"Bulba, Bulba," Bulbasaur added too.

After a minute, Litleo, determined not to give up, stand up slowly in struggling, surprising everyone.

"What the...?" Tommy retorted in surprise rising.

"Absol, Ab?" Absol responded in surprise.

"Lit...leo?" Rico responded in surprise.

"Ri-olu?" Riolu added in surprise. Litleo then got up and stand up, and then use Flamethrower, opening its mouth and scorched an intense blast of fire, striking Absol effectively. After that, Litleo responded in serious coolness. This surprises Rico, Maneki, Santiago, and their Pokémon in happy enthusiasm. This also surprises Tommy, this time in shock and anger, while Absol was defeated by it. Then, Santiago, acting as a referee, announced, "Absol is unable to battle. Litleo wins, and the match goes to Rico Titus of Kawayan City."

"Oh, yeah!" Rico rejoiced in victory. Litleo then jumped to him, and Rico hugged it in embrace. Calling his Absol back, Tommy retorted in angry response, "I should've train it everyday."

"Seriously?" Rico responded in uninterested.

"Litleo," Litleo added in uninterested.

"I'll get you next time, Rico," Tommy retorted sharply in frustrated anger, "You heard me? I'll get you SOME DAY!!!" He then put Absol's Pokeball to his Pokébelt, and ran away. After that, Santiago yelled out to Rico, "Wow! Way to go, Rico."

"You beat that blue pen up!" Maneki exclaimed in added commenting.

"Thanks, you guys!" Rico happily replied while turning around to see them whilst holding Litleo in his arms.

"Ri-o-lu!" Riolu happily responded.

In the meantime, the mysterious legendary Pokémon, which turns out it's Moltres, a Fire and Flying-type Pokémon and one of the Legendary Birds, then flew a few dozen meters above the trees in seriousness.

Later by 10:00 a.m., the school group are having a kayak race across a wide, winding river, a perfect place for a kayak race. The contestants are this: Rico, Maneki, Santiago, Lauro, Suziki, Paula, and Valoma. Everyone are now cheering up for them, while others are cheering one of them or two. Their Pokémon, especially the players' Pokémon are also cheering up for them. When the countdown ended, the players, on their kayak boats and with kayak equipment, start rowing in different speeds.

"Oh, yeah, Paula," Santiago retorted sharply, "I'll win against you!"

"Try it, Santi!" Paula retorted in response. All of them then kept competing to each other. Others are being banged to the riverbanks, where they were being picked up by the race staff, indicating that they are out. Luckily, the depth of the river is balanced between shallow and deep, so there's no problem about drowning. After an hour of rowing and competing, only two players left: Rico and Lauro. They kept competing each other as they went closer to the finish line.

"I'll win. This time!" Lauro exclaimed.

"Try it!" Rico exclaimed in response.

"You can do it, Rico," Maneki responded in cheering up.

"Pip, Piplup!" Piplup responded in happiness.

"We're almost there!" Rico and Lauro exclaimed in the same time as they got closer to the finish line. But suddenly, Moltres flew over the river in a violent rampage, and then used Flamethrower, scorching most of the trees along the river on fire, and eventually caused one of them to fall into the river, blocking the kayaks' path to the finish line.

"What the...?" Rico and Lauro exclaimed in surprise and response. The audience then gasped in surprise.

"Oh, no," Raymond commented in stunning.

"Ri-olu?" Riolu responded in a mix of stunning and worry.

"Oh, no, get out of there," their teacher responded in commanding, "The tree's on fire!" In response, Rico and Lauro abandoned their kayaks and swam to the riverbanks. As they get out of the water, they saw Moltres flew above them.

"Woah, is that...?" Rico asked in amazement.

"That's Moltres!" Lauro responded in rising as he gets out of the water. He then helped Rico to get out of the water. Standing up, Rico was being given a blanket by one of the camp staff, so as to Lauro.

"That's Moltres, one of the Three Legendary Birds," Lauro continued.

"Moltres? The Three Legendary Birds?" Rico replied in asking, "You mean that...?"

"Yes," Lauro seriously answered, "Lugia is their master, another Legendary Pokémon."

"Awesome," Rico replied in rising amazement. Then, three of their classmates ran to them, and responded in exclaiming, "Guys, let's put out the fire before it's spread to the trees around." Just as expected, the fire spread fast to the trees around. In response, most of the school group called out their Water-type Pokémon and commanded them to use Water Gun, Bubblebeam, Bubble, and Hydro Pump, putting out the majority of the fire; while others helped people to get out and evacuate the burned zones. And as the rest out the fire like firefighters, Blue Ninja came to the rescue and commanded his two Pokémon, Samurott and Greninja, to use Hydro Pump and Water Shuriken, putting out the latter parts of the forest fire. And as his Pokémon put out the fire, Blue Ninja, through his mind, spoke to Moltres, "Moltres, hear me, I know you're in a violent rampage, but calm down. Calm down, Moltres!" After repeated chants of the two sentences, at last, Moltres calmed down and stopped burning the forest, and just flew away. Upon seeing this awesome scene, Rico and others are amazed by this; others even rubbed their eyes in astonishing.

"Blue Ninja, is that you?" Rico asked him in slow, rising speed.

"Yup, kid," Blue Ninja answered him upon seeing him and others, "Luckily I can sense those Legendary Pokémon. And I put the fire for you. You're all welcome." His Pikachu then responded in serious happiness. Blue Ninja then threw a smoke bomb and disappeared in it in thin air.

"What? Did he just disappeared in thin air?" Santiago asked his group in confusion.

"I...I think so," Maneki responded. Rico's Piplup, after finished putting out the fire, then responded in a mix of plain and confusion.

"Yeah, he did," Rico thought seriously.

Later, the camp leader announced the winners of the kayak race: Rico and Lauro; also, they presented them medals for bravery and cooperation. Everyone applause for them, except Tommy, who was angry and in a bad temper.

"Man, I can't believe we did," Rico said to Lauro. Riolu then happily responded.

"Yeah, right," Lauro retorted in happiness. His Vaporeon then responded in happiness. And they became happy all the way.