Chapter One: A Sunlit Journey

It was a gorgeous sunny morning. The rays of the golden sunlight beaming through the gaps in the trees, a soft breeze passing by, causing the trees to dance in the heat of the sunshine. The sound of the singing Butterfree echoed through the forests. The flowers swaying with such beauty. Blue skies reflected off the purity of the lakes. The snow-covered mountains standing proudly in the distance embraced by a sheet of soft mist and clouds. Spearow and Pidgey flying gracefully in the sapphire skies. Nature really does know the definition of an absolute perfection.

Upon the dirt track roads gliding over the emerald hills, were two people and a feline creature walking on two legs. The woman had long crimson hair and sparkling sapphire eyes, and the man traveling beside her had medium azure hair and glistening harlequin eyes. Their feline friend, a Meowth, began to pant, slowing his distance between to two humans. His large eyes creased into an irritated frown.

'Argh, we shoulda taken da balloon. D'is walk is going on forever...' He began to moan.

The man, James, copied Meowth's expression and tone, 'Yeah, Jess, why couldn't have we taken the balloon? My feet are hurting! You said this was going to be a short walk.'

The woman, Jessie, scowled at the two, annoyed by their constant complaining, 'Will you two stop whining,' she yelled, 'we're almost at the other end of the Valley.'

'You said that half an hour ago!' Meowth complained.

Jessie halted in her tracks, allowing the other two be alerted by the sudden stop. Jessie smiled, 'Look there.' She pointed. The two glanced in the direction of her finger. 'That's the Crescent Forest. All we have to do is take a short walk through there and we'll be in the next city in no time.'

'That's the forest?' James observed, 'It's huge!'

Jessie growled, 'Quit complaining! We'll be on the other side before it gets dark anyway.'

'Can we at least rest a moment?' Meowth asked, collapsing onto the floor, wheezing heavily. James copied. Jessie turned her head and frowned at her two traveling teammates, 'Will you two get up?'

'In a bit...' James said, enjoying the pleasure of sitting, having his feet rest.

'Do you want to travel through the forest in the dark?' Jessie asked, hoping for an exact answer. Meowth glanced up at her, 'To be honest, Jess, I don't really care. I just want a break.' Meowth lay down on the green grass. Jessie starred at them, irritated by their ways. Her frown faded.

'Guys, come on, the sooner we get through the forest the sooner we'll be in the next city.' She said, toning her voice down lower, trying to seem soft. James glanced up at her. He sighed, 'Okay. Come on Meowth.' He arose.

'Aw, I was just getting comfortable.' Meowth hopped up.

'Now come on, let's just enjoy the relaxing walk.' She smiled and pranced off towards the forest.

James let out a quick chuckle, 'Relaxing?' He followed her.

Meowth sighed sadly, 'We really shoulda taken da balloon.'

* * *

The forest was alive with such life. The rays of light beaming down through the tight openings through the blazing leaves. The large trunks engulfed the narrows in the forest on each side of the long dirt path. The lighting of the forest illuminated it with an aura of a vivid emerald. The canopies swayed, and all the wind was shut out from the thickness of the woods.

It was like that in a fairytale.

All but Jessie began to pace slowly through the woods. She was enjoying her time out in the open, smiling upon the pleasures the forest had to offer. James and Meowth didn't care; they just needed the rest they were forbidden to receive until they reached the other side of the valley. She closed her eyes and embraced the beauty of the forest, until it was suddenly cut short by her fellow partners progressing at a faster speed than her. She grabbed the back of their necks and pulled them back at her side.

'Ow.' Meowth yelled, rubbing the back of his fury neck.

'Yeah...' James did also. 'What was that for?'

'You two slow down; there's no rush.'

'Yeah, for you, maybe,' Meowth murmured, 'You don't seem to be affected by all d'is walking.'

'Of course not, I'm enjoying this. This is why I wanted to walk instead of taking that piece of scrap we call the balloon.'

'It would've been much faster though.' James thought.

The walk seemed to take an eternity for James and Meowth. It didn't bother Jessie at all - she loved it. The two began to get impatient with all the walking. All their whining didn't change Jessie's mind; she ignored them as usual. They continued gallivanting through the forest, keeping straight and following the high sun. They all kept quiet since the little bicker earlier, until they came across something quite fascinating.

'Hey, what's dat?' Meowth asked curiously, pointing through the trees to a stone structure plastered onto the earth. James and Jessie stopped, and, as curious as Meowth, observed it too.

'What is it?' Jessie asked, squinting to focus. James hopped off the path and zig-zagged towards the structure. 'It's a collum.'

'A column?' Jessie asked, now quite uninterested. They pranced through and examined it with James. Meowth touched it with his paw, and softly traced the indricate ridges in the column with the tip of his claw. 'Wow, d'is is pretty amazing. It must be hundreds of years old.' Meowth suggested.

'Older than that.' James corrected, 'I'd say it's about over a thousand years old.'

'Hm...' Jessie turned back onto the pathway, not at all engaged in this discovery. James and Meowth looked behind them; and seeing Jessie stroll back onto the pathway had them follow.

'So, why were we looking at that?' Jessie asked.

Meowth shrugged. 'I dunno, I wanted to know what it'was.'

'Well, we do now, we may as well keep walking.' James said, and they continued hiking through the forest, unaware of what it may hold.