Team Bridlewood were in the town square, asking the locals about Pokémon-related problems, when a pair of Deerling bolted past them.

"What was that?" exclaimed Izzy as she watched them go. She raised her head and sniffed. "Do I smell... smoke?"

Everyone looked up. Sure enough, a cloud of smoke was blowing downwind towards the heart of Bridlewood.... followed closely by the sound of roaring fire. Trees crumbled as easily as twigs as it consumed everything in its path, and it was heading towards town. Several unicorns panicked and bolted indoors.

Quickly, Izzy, Misty, Nemona, and Alphabittle pulled into a circle.

"What can we do?" Izzy shout-whispered. "There's only four of us."

"Five of us," said Misty. Confetti hopped in place on her back.

"I say we get the whole town to help us," said Nemona.

"That's a great idea!" exclaimed Izzy. She broke out of the circle and turned to face the few ponies who were still outside. "Alright, unicorns of Bridlewood! We don't know if emergency is Pokémon-related or not, but we need YOUR help to stop this fire from spreading! Who's with us?"

Her only response was silence.

"I said, WHO'S WITH US?" shouted Alphabittle.

"We are," the other unicorns said flatly, which was probably the best response they were going to get.

Alphabittle burst into the Crystal Tea Room. He levitated a cushion under the door to wedge it open.

"You need to evacuate. There's a forest fire!" he shouted. Most of his customers, pony and Sableye alike, stopped what they were doing, stared at him, and then stood up.

"Single file! Single file!" Alphabittle yelled as the customers rushed out of the door. However, two were still inside...

"Forest fires are a real danger, but don't make yourself a stranger," Onyx rhymed in tune with Dapple's drumbeats. Before she could start another verse, though, a burning tree branch smashed through the stained-glass window behind her. Both of them lunged out of the way without even a gasp, and soon the flames started to lick Dapple's bongos. In a matter of seconds, they caught on fire, and then it spread across the floorboards. The two trotted away, but they weren't fast enough...

Alphabittle was about to leap in and rescue them, when he saw the leader of the Sableye, who was almost at the doorway, turn around. He ran towards the flames, then used his marble-thing to change form. He used his giant ruby as a shield to hold back the flames, buying Onyx and Dapple enough time to escape.

The Sableye returned to normal and rushed towards the door.

"Thanks," said Alphabittle with a wink.

Meanwhile, the girls knocked on ponies' doors and warned them to get outside. They started with the homes closest to the Wishing Tree, as many of the townsponies jumped into action. Misty saw one elderly mare spray the fire with her garden hose. Unfortunately, by the time they reached the tree-houses closest to the blaze, most of them had already caught fire. Ponies were fleeing from their homes without being asked.

"I'll lead everypony to safety," said Izzy as she ushered a galloping family towards the Wishing Tree. "You two, rescue ponies who're trapped!"

Misty gulped as she and Nemona exchanged glances.

"Dammit, we could really use a Water-type right now..." muttered Nemona. Ice formed around her first, and the heat of the fire caused it to melt instantly... and the resulting water only extinguished a small patch of smouldering grass. Nemona looked back at Misty and said: "I'll go find the Sneasel pack. You stay here!"

As Nemona left, Misty stared at the wall of flames, paralysed in fear. The heat licked her coat, threatening to burn each and every hair, coming closer and closer each second...

"HELP!" a foal screamed, snapping Misty out of her trance. She swivelled her ears until she found the source of the sound: he was trapped on the ground floor of a nearby tree-house. His fur was a deep shade of green... almost like Sparky's.

Misty's legs trembled. She was too scared to risk her life... but she couldn't bring herself to let him die.

Without another thought, Misty dashed towards a window and used her horn to smash it open. Confetti hopped onto the ground next to her. She got a few cuts on her legs as she jumped through, but there were bigger things to worry about. Inside, she saw a sobbing foal curled up on the floor, surrounded by burning furniture.

"You'll be okay... just follow me..." Misty said as she stepped towards him. He stopped crying and looked at her, but he didn't stand up. Was he injured? Or was he paralysed by fear?

Regardless, Misty felt a surge of adrenaline. She concentrated all the magic in her body to levitate the foal and carry him out of the window. He was the heaviest thing she'd ever listed, and she was exhausted, panting... but she'd saved him. She faintly hear him gallop away.

Before Misty could catch her breath, the ceiling started to collapse, and long planks of wood fell around her. Some blocked off the door, and one landed on top of her, knocking her down. She yelped. The floor around her started to catch fire; by the time she stood up, there'd be no time to escape, this was the end, she was gonna die...

She felt a sticky rope wrap around one of her back legs and pull her out of the window frame. When she landed on the ground outside, her ribs were sore, but she saw who was responsible: Confetti! Quickly, she stood back up and levitated him onto her back. Once they were a safe distance away, she hugged him and choked out, "Thank you for saving me."

As she blinked tears out of her eyes, she noticed that Confetti was... glowing? He must be evolving again! She didn't know Pokémon could do that more than once! She placed him on the ground and watched him change. A pair of antennae grew out of his head, and his white ruff shrank away to reveal a skinny, grey thorax. Two pairs of wings unfolded out from his sides, and he hovered in front of her as the glow started to fade. He'd turned into a beautiful, pony-sized butterfly! His lower wings were various shades of blue, like waves on the sea. His upper wings were mostly sandy-yellow, with strips of green at the top. He looked like the cliffs in Maretime Bay.

"Misty!" Confetti exclaimed. That was his first word! He did a loop-de-loop in mid-air, as if he was overjoyed by the gift of flight. Then, he looked away from her. "Hey, are those your friends?"

Misty noticed Nemona heading towards her, along with another Sneasel with red feathers, and what looked like a bigger Sneasel with more feathers.

Nemona stopped when she reached Misty's side and panted for a moment. "Congratulations!" she exclaimed when she saw Confetti. "Anyway, I got some help. My plan is for us to freeze the nearby trees, which will at least slow down the fire long enough to get everyone to safety. You ready?"

"I hope it works..." said Misty. She stepped back and watched the trio do their work. Nemona's fist glowed with ice again, the big one span around rapidly and surrounded himself with a tornado of ice, and the other one prepared to breathe a beam of ice out of his mouth. They combined their attacks to freeze the trunks of several nearby trees. Once the fire got to them, the ice melted, which made the trunks damp and difficult to burn. It still spread across their leaves, but it was much slower.

Once they got back to the Wishing Tree, Izzy and Alphabittle were consoling some of the townsponies, including the foal Misty had rescued earlier. Izzy bounded towards them.

"Did you stop it?" she asked.

"Yep!" exclaimed Nemona.

"Were there any casualties?" asked Misty.

"Nope!" Izzy gestured at the crowd of unicorns. "And thank hoofness!"

Nemona folded her arms, looked at the big and other Sneasel, and sighed. "At least, no pony casualties..."

Once the remainder of the Sneasel pack had left, the five PET members gathered in a circle again. After Misty and Nemona explained everything, Izzy asked: "What are we going to do now?"

Author's Note

Illustration by me.