Chapter 2: In Tall Grass
As we walked down what seemed like an endless stretch of flat, grassy terrain, we didn't speak. none of us had any words to describe the sensations we were feeling. We finally had our own Pokemon, and walked the path to the first of the Gym Leaders, and if we were skilled enough, the Elite Four. While all of this was on my mind, I couldn't help but to think about our hang out tree back home. It was a healthy, shady tree in the far corner of town, where Pidgeys would sometimes fly in and out of. It was a nice, large evergreen, so big that I felt that several Bug Type pokemon could have been living up there as well. That spot would drive our passions wild, making us more anxious and impatient for the future to come. I let out a sigh of gratefulness that the future we all imaged had finally come to reality. Today was awfully sunny, and the sun shone directly at our eyes, which gave me the urge to turn back to town and sit under the tree. As I was lost in thought, Cade was elbowing me, trying to get my attention.
"Hello? Zatharia to Jude, do you read?"
He was practically shouting while waving his left hand in front of my face and keeping his right hand curled up in his coat pocket as he walked down the path backwards. I blinked myself back to reality and shoved him a little forward.
"Dude, cut it out, I was just daydreaming!" I responded through a laugh. "So, since you've got the map, I suppose that makes you the navigator?"
He pulled the well-kept piece of paper from his bag and unrolled it, revealing a full image of Zatharia. From every mountain to every molehill, it was labeled on the map.
"Yep, I suppose it does. Let's see here…" He said as he examined the map more closely. "We should get to Envia Town sometime in the next hour, if we take the shortest route possible."
He rolled the map back up and returned it to his backpack as Alyssa's Turtwig let out a sound to something ahead of us. We all looked in a more alert fashion towards the direction Turtwig had called at. In the distance there was a large mass of high standing trees, and a path that opened into them. Once we had come closer, we saw a sign to the right of the entrance.
~Envia Way: Zatharia's Forest~.
The lettering was somewhat formal, and carved into the wood of the sign. The trees were several times larger than the tree back home, and guarded the forest within from any sunlight. The branches above rustled with the movement of the wild Pokemon, some of the leaves falling below to us. I gazed into the darkness of the forest, ready to venture into it's unknown. I released Fennekin from its Pokeball so it could be able to observe the world with me, not to be left out of the adventure. Once again, I was greeted by a weak, fiery sneeze from the small animal followed by a smile. Cade followed my lead, and let Totodile out as shook itself up, looking like it was trying to wake itself up. He proceeded to pick it up and hoisted it up on his left shoulder. Totodile was excited to be able to stretch out, and headbutted Cade lightly on the side of the head. I walked in with Fennekin at my side, my friends not too far behind me with their allies as well. This was our true first steps into the world.
The forest was much darker than anticipated once we were inside, but there were some spots above in the trees that allowed sunlight to shine into the beautiful landscape. Compared to the road here, it was very flat, but decorated by the plant life and wild Pokemon wandering around the area. Turtwig was awestruck by the forest, and I could tell that he felt very at home here, while Totodile, on the other hand, was falling asleep on Cade, using his head as a pillow. I chuckled to nobodys notice, and looked at Fennekin. The moment it looked back at me with a small smile across its face made me more content then I think I've been in a very long time. I felt relaxed, and sincerely happy, almost to the point of letting a tear out. Then again, Cade wouldn't let me hear the end of that, so I kept it in. The sounds of the Pokemon chattering beyond the brush and the footsteps in the tall, soft grass were satisfying to the ear, somehow lightening the hearts of those around it. Soon enough though, the silence between the three of us was broken.
"Today is perfect… Better than, actually." Alyssa said quietly. "The weather is on our side, nature is at ease, our Pokemon are happy with us… It couldn't be better." She finished looking through one of the gaps in the leaves, up to the near cloudless sky.
"I honestly couldn't agree more." Cade said as he glanced over to Totodile, scratching him on the side of the head. "It was a good idea on your part to wait for the kid to leave town."
"Hey, give me at least a little more credit, old man!" I responded comically, pointing directly at his nose. Cade was sixteen plus three months, unlike Alyssa and I who were both fifteen.
"Fen!"
We all looked at Fennekin, who was transfixed on what was ahead with wide eyes. It continued letting out yelps as we walked, until we saw what he was yelping at.
"Fen! Fen!"
The path ahead had forked into three separate ways, each of them seemingly identical and dark, no way of being able to see beyond it without traversing it. Cade reached back into his back and pulled the map back out.
"Hey, Jude. Pull that end out, will you?"
I pulled the map to unroll it for visibility, being that Cade only had one arm to work with. While Cade and I looked over the map, Alyssa had put Turtwig on the ground to play in the grass. He nudged the flowers that sprouted amongst the grass with his tiny legs, eventually rolling around in them.
"Alright, all of these paths should open up to the same exit, so it doesn't really matter which way we go." Cade said, tugging my end of the map from me. He began walking forward as he rerolled and placed the map back in his bag, but he didn't make it far before being stopped.
"Wait, I have an idea!" Alyssa said picking up Turtwig and tucking him under her arm. "Instead of all of us going down the same boring road, why don't we each pick a different one? We would get the most out of it that way!"
Cade and I looked at each other over the idea, and I nodded in agreement while Cade shrugged and turned back around to take the center path.
"Well, at least he's ready to push forward." Alyssa said in an almost disappointed tone. "So, which way do you want to go, Jude?"
I looked down both paths and then back to her. "Well, you chose last back at town when it came to our starters, so I think it's only fair that you choose which road you want."
"Oh, don't get political with me, mister! It doesn't matter if I'm the last to go ever! I insist you…"
She was cut off by the fluttering of several wings above, catching both of our attention as well as our Pokemon's. A group of Butterfree were making their way through the forest, which was extremely fascinating to Turtwig. His eyes glittered at the sight of the Bug Types, and he launched himself out from under Alyssa's arm back to the ground. The swarm made their way down the left path, and Turtwig bolted after them at the drop of a hat.
"Turtwig! Come back, you loon!" Alyssa yelled as she chased her Pokemon down the left road. As she continued running down the road, she turned her head around slightly to glance at me. "Well, here you go! I chose before you, now get a move on, slowpoke!" she shouted back before disappearing in the darkness. Fennekin and I looked at each other and turned to follow the far right road to wherever it may lead.
The path was darker than the single road, with no gaps in the now thicker leaves above to provide light. My eyes attempted adjusting to the darkness, but Fennekin consistently lit the path ahead with small embers, making us able to see, at most, a few feet ahead. It wasn't much, but it was better than stumbling around in the dark. There were no more sounds of Pokemon roaming the woods, nor were there any more sounds of nature itself. The atmosphere grew heavy and eerie around us, and I could almost call the circumstance unsettling. Soon, in Fennekin's light, three small, round, silhouetted figures lay in the middle of the way.
"Fennekin, hold up a second." I whispered. "I have a weird feeling about this, so let's take it slow, okay?"
I was on one knee, talking to Fennekin very closely, to make sure that he could hear me, and the figures didn't. We tip toed towards the three shapes of darkness and got a close look. I was relieved that the others weren't here to see what I was so worried about. At a much closer look, I saw that the shapes were only rocks, organized relatively close together. I laughed it off and picked one up in both my hands.
"Look, Fen. They're just rocks! Pretty heavy ones, though."
I was lightly tossing it up in the air, until two shapes in the appearance of arms, with three fingers and large forearms pulled from the other side of it and clenched its fists. I was even more surprised when the rock started growling. I panicked and dropped it back to the ground, causing the other two rocks to do the same as the first. They all turned themselves around and looked at me with large eyes and clenched teeth. It took me a minute to process what was happening, until it hit me like a ton of bricks. These were Pokemon! I whipped out my Pokedex, clumsily dropping it into the dirt. I quickly picked it up again and opened it, pretending I didn't drop it in the first place. The device scanned one of the Rock-Types with a small camera-like device on the lid and returned to the main screen with information about them.
Geodude: The Rock Pokemon.
Commonly found near mountain trails, etc. If you step on one by accident, it gets angry.
Having this information in my Pokedex was great and all, but I didn't need a machine to tell me that bugging these guys would get them angry, not after the piercing glares they shot me. The center one plunged its arms into the ground, using that base to launch itself towards Fennekin like a cannonball. I panicked. This was my first encounter with a wild Pokemon. My first battle. Instead of giving Fennekin a command, I jumped in front of him, taking the full force of the Geodude's headbutt in my stomach. After it collected itself from its attack, It hopped back to the two others waiting to get a shot at us. Fennekin came close to me and began rubbing his head on my back, trying to comfort me. My Pokedex had fallen right in front of me, which gave me an idea. Earlier my Pokedex had said that eating twigs gives Fennekin energy. I frantically searched around myself, and found twigs scattered at the bases of the enormous trees around us. I quickly grabbed several as another one of the Rock Pokemon prepared for the same attack the first had done. I dropped a handful of at least five twigs in front of Fennekin hastily.
"Fen, quick! Eat up!"
Fennekin consumed the twigs with happy eyes in a matter of seconds, and prepared itself in a battle stance. The Geodude launched itself at Fennekin, convinced it would succeed as the last one did, but instead was greeted by a burst of steam from Fennekin's ears right into its eyes. The force of the steam sent the Pokemon back a foot or so, causing it to rub its eyes during its temporary blindness. The sound that was made from the jet of steam was high pitched and extremely loud, clearly startling the two Geodudes behind the attacking one, being that a sound as loud as that coming from a Pokemon as small as Fennekin would startle almost anything. The duo let out noises of discontent as they rolled themselves into the thick brush that lead back into the depths of the forest and fled, leaving their ally behind to face Fennekin and I. While it was getting its bearings back, I felt that this was a wide open opportunity to catch my first wild Pokemon. I threw my backpack to the ground and dug for one of the Pokeballs that Professor Maple had given me. Once I had one, I clicked the button in the center of it, causing it to swell larger in my hand, making it almost bigger than my palm.
"Alright, Geodude! Let's do this!"
I shouted as I threw the Pokeball at it. The ball landed in a pile of dirt next to the Pokemon, showing me that I needed to work on my aim. Fennekin looked at me with a disapproving look.
"What? It's not my fault, it's crazy dark out here!"
I stopped speaking once I realized I was arguing a point that wasn't debatable with a Pokemon, and as I heard the Rock-Type let out a grunt. It had it's vision back, and wasn't happy about the surprise blinding. It stretched its arms out, ready to battle again, only to touch the button on the Pokeball, causing it to be enveloped in a bright red light and sucked into the ball. It began shaking back and forth as the Pokemon attempted fighting its way out. I stared at it with anxious eyes, hoping it would work. After two shakes, the ball burst back open, breaking the top and bottom halves from each other, ruining the ball completely as a now infuriated Geodude developed through a white light in front of me. It dug its hands into the now tampered soil and begun flinging balls of dirt at Fennekin, hitting about every third shot in its fury. At the time, all Fennekin could do to combat was dodge and wait for an opening to strike. Soon, noticing that Geodude was maintaining stationery, I had an idea.
"Fennekin!" I yelled. "Keep up the dodging, but try to get closer to it in the process!"
"Fen!" it responded as it turned back to look at me. Just as he turned back around to progress with the plan, he was hit square in the snout with a wad of dirt, knocking him backwards a little. I took that as a sure sign that I should quiet up and let Fennekin focus. The small fox hopped around the path, evading the mud balls being launched at him. Soon, Fennekin was close enough to the Geodude to land an attack.
"Alright, Fen! Use your Ember attack!" I shouted in a determined fashion. I was elated by this adrenaline flowing through my system. I felt like a real trainer, just like the ones I've read about and seen on TV. A small flame lit at Fennekin's mouth, which was soon launched at the stubborn Pokemons face. It hadn't made any attempt to move, but it didn't really have much time to, regardless. Fennekin hopped back after hitting the attack as the Geodude, although not completely phased by the attack, began wiping its eyes again, giving me another opportunity to try and catch it. I pulled another ball from my bag and prepared to throw it.
"Alright, take two! Fennekin, move aside, pal!"
I launched the ball in the Pokemon's direction, making sure I aimed right at it. Fennekin hopped to the side, allowing the ball to hit Geodude right in its forehead, once again pulling it in with a mass of red light. The ball shook as it did before, keeping me on the edge of my seat. After several shakes, it stopped moving, and let out a clicking sound, locking the ball. A very wide smile grew across my face as I ran over to pick up Fennekin and the Pokeball in my excitement.
"Haha! Did you see that, Fen? We caught it! We really caught it!"
I was holding the ball in the air with my left hand and Fennekin with the other. I felt as though I was the best trainer around for this victory. Soon enough I was brought back to reality by a small sneeze and a slight warmth on my hand above me. I brought both my arms down and held Fennekin close to my chest. We both looked at the Pokeball for another minute before putting it back in my back, but in a pocket separate from everything else I had packed.
"Hey, good work out there, buddy. How are you feeling after that?" I said to Fennekin as I placed him gingerly back onto the ground. He was breathing with exhaustion, but still gave me a smile and a small noise.
"Hey, how about you take a break?" I said as I pulled his Pokeball back out from my bag. He gave me a slight nod, signaling me to put him back.. I clicked the button, and just like catching the Geodude before, a red light surrounded the little fox and returned him to the ball. I slid it into my backpack again and continued down the road for what felt like an hour. Once I saw the light of the end of the path, my legs were killing me. Just as I was about to exit, I heard a familiar voice in the distance.
"The exit! Finally!"
The voice was approaching quickly, and by the time I turned around, I was plowed into by none other than Alyssa. She body slammed me to the ground and ended up falling with me. On impact, I heard myself make a startled sound along with the surprised sounds of her and her Turtwig. I was lying on my back, Alyssa laying on top of me. We both groaned in pain as my face was cheek down to the dirt, and Alyssa's was cheek down on my other cheek. Once we both got our bearings, we made brief eye contact, which felt like an eternity, before hurriedly getting up and collecting ourselves. In the crisp light coming in through the exit, I could see that Alyssa's face was flushed in a light crimson color, complimenting her blue eyes, and by the warmth that was developing on my face, I could tell that I looked the same.
"So, uh, hehe…" She started as she rubbed the back of her head with her right hand as she checked on Turtwig with her left. "How about we get going, huh?" She tapped her fist on my arm in a friendly manner as she made her way towards the exit. I brushed myself off and followed behind her, the sun shining much brighter than before, in my perspective. Once my eyes had readjusted to the unconcealed brightness of the day, a small town with a very clear attachment to nature caught my vision. Various types of trees in a young stage decorated the town in an admirable fashion, the various green colors of the leaves complimenting each other as they rustled in the wind, some turning to the colors of autumn in flawless locations, creating a beautiful scene before me. The buildings were made of durable looking logs that composed themselves in a more rustic fashion than the buildings back home. The grass stood to the height of the top of my foot, being much shorter and tended to than the grass in the forest. I took a deep breath of the satisfyingly clean air as I watched Alyssa make her way into a white building with a red roof, much more advanced looking than the other buildings around it, established next to a similar looking building with a blue roof instead. I followed her to the building where up close, the wooden sign, much like the one at the entrance of the forest, was easily readable.
Welcome to the Envia Town Pokemon Center.