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Chapter X: Losses
It was bright.
Leo Hanson cracked open his eyes to the glare of barely warm, muted sunlight. He was on his back, the backpack between him and the ground with his head tilted back and looking up at a blue sky and some clouds, tinted orange. God, his neck was stiff! Barely moving his head toward the sun, it looked like morning. They were outside…
On top of the island?
No…there were mountains around them. It was high up, grey…and cold; he could see his breath. Trying to move, more than just his neck felt stiff.
So how did they get…
That Pokémon creature…it was preparing to kill them!
Jolting upright painfully with heart pounding, he found Sally, Lonny, Grovyle and Blaze asleep around him, but the charizard-like Pokémon who had seemed bent on ending their existence was nowhere in sight.
Well, that was a relief, but…where were they? Taking a calmer look around, there were mountains to the sides, suggesting a range of some type, the highest of them with a bit of snow.
They were transported to some other area of the Poké world?
Closer in, he noticed the five of them seemed to be inside of a stone circle, though it was only a few short rectangular stones set on their ends in a wide circumference around them, with perhaps a couple toppled. There were also some flat stones on the ground as if forming a paved area though most of it appearing buried.
And…there was someone missing.
His counterpart, where was…
Memory hit as a sudden breeze drove home the fact that it was indeed cold, and he was in only a tee-shirt! Just like Sally and Lonny. Stiff and numb from the cold, he crawled the short distance to Sally to gently shake her. Several heart-pounding moments later, she stirred…to immediately draw in her legs and arms into a fetal position.
Cracking open her eyes: "It's cold…" Then opening them up wide, raised her head to look around. "Where…"
"Don't know. Just woke up myself. Hold on." Thankfully the packs were still attached to their backs, but unstrapping them with cold-numbed fingers took some effort. Finally free of the of the weights, they quickly had the thin blankets unpacked and wrapped around them, Lonny and each of the two Pokémon. They all started waking up at that point, though Lonny had the hardest time; she was shivering almost uncontrollably.
Helping wrap her blanket a little tighter around her, he heard both Grovyle and Blaze talking to him in the tone of questions. "Don't know," answering after guessing what they were asking, being likely either "where are we?" or "what happened?".
The infernape was the first to stand to immediately start looking around in all directions before stumbling to one of the circle stones. Shortly he was walking/running around in a frantic manner, kicking up small broken rocks as he went.
Sitting up, Lonny was also looking around. Slowly, as if her mouth was full of cotton: "Where's Leo?"
Sally half crawled, half walked over with the small cook-stove they hardly had to use before in hand. But she stopped, also looking the area over more carefully.
That was right: she was already unconscious when his counterpart went over the edge. He debated whether to tell Lonny or not, but by the sudden widening of her eyes, realized she'd seen what happened to him.
"No…NO! Leo! Answer me! Where are you?" She rose to half stumble around in looking around, just like Blaze.
Grovyle said something, which only elicited a sharp response from her. "Don't you dare say that!"
"What happened to him?" Sally asked carefully, her expression full of dread.
He swallowed with the shock of it now fully sinking in. "Just after you were knocked out, he…was knocked over the edge. He fell into that trench."
Sally froze, her mouth partly open.
The look on her face said she knew what that meant. "No Pokémon could have survived that fall," saying it anyway. That trench had to have been at least a several hundred feet deep, considering the range of their flashlights!
"NO!" Lonny screamed. Falling to her knees nearby: "Leo…my little sweetie…he can't be dead…"
Behind them, Blaze was starting to wail.
"Oh…God," Sally said.
"There's nothing here; we need to go," Sally whispered through chattering teeth.
The last while was miserable, and it wasn't just the cold. Blaze had at least stopped wailing…to now just sit with a vacant look about his yellow and blue eyes, staring toward nowhere. Lonny was closest to the camp stove, head down with blanket draped over her. Every now and then he heard a new sob, though it was becoming infrequent.
Utterly silent, Grovyle stayed beside him and not showing much emotion as usual, though Leo knew he was also torn up inside. After having lived with his friend and partner for well over twenty years, he could tell.
As for himself…he had watched himself die.
He'd very nearly saw the same thing on Fore-Nine island a year and a half ago, but his counterpart managed to survive, probably thanks to the small distortion that the swampert and infernape shared by virtue of being from the future (at that time).
This time was different. That distortion wouldn't have provided any protection against a several hundred-foot fall. And from the quick look he had of the trench, the face of the cliff was sheer – no outcrops, no ledges, nothing to break a fall or to even really grab on to…assuming one could during a fast drop. Unless one was a bird or could otherwise float, the fall would be lethal. Period.
Yet as much as he felt like mourning for the swampert, he needed to think about their survival at the moment. Although he couldn't even guess what happened to bring them to their present location, that Pokémon creature did succeed in killing one of them and could be coming for the rest of them at that very moment. Furthermore, they couldn't stay on the mountain for very long. Not only was it really cold (though apparently above freezing given some dew on nearby rocks), there didn't appear to be any food around, either plant or animal. It was utterly rocky and barren. They had, maybe if they really stretched it, five days of food with them, and they were probably going to need most of that in getting down off the mountain they were on.
However they got there.
Though the change of location seemed to have saved their lives for the moment.
Idly he wondered if the creature itself transported them instead of killing them? But it seemed pretty intent on doing away with them…and very few Pokémon had such a teleport ability anyway. In fact, he knew of only Palkia who could.
Add that to the growing list of unknowns.
While huddling with Sally for another half moment as they shared blankets and body heat, he stared at the circle stones around them. Six roughly square chiseled stones in a circle, with a bunch of large pavers forming like a base or floor, but most buried by the dirt or gravel which was the ground around them. Something about one of them caught his eye though; with everything, he hadn't noticed the pattern that seemed to be nearly buried…
Moving over a bit where the hint of a pattern became covered over, he shoved away some of the debris with his freezing hands. It didn't take much to reveal more of the pattern, confirming what he thought it was.
"It's that sun pattern," Sally said, standing over him.
Nodding, he felt torn between happy and not. Seeing it here could mean they were exactly where they were supposed to be? On the other hand, that symbol seemed to be tied to their misfortune as of late.
"Damned thing," Lonny suddenly spat. "I don't care to see it ever again!"
She was staring at it from her spot almost over the stove, her green eyes puffed and dull, before looking quickly down again.
Time to get away from there, he decided. Standing up with cold-induced stiffness, "We need get moving to someplace warmer and with food. We also shouldn't be here if that Pokémon comes looking for us."
Grovyle got up right away, hauling his and Sally's packs to them while Sally shut off the stove to start packing it. As Grovyle helped the two of them harness the packs to their backs, he watched Lonny and Blaze. Lonny eventually started moving too, perhaps more from the loss of her heat source than anything, though she made one last glaring glace down to the partially uncovered pattern. Blaze wasn't moving though, and remained staring off to nowhere as the slight breeze ruffled his long mane.
Blaze. He'd suffered through having his partner 'die' once already and lived many months before Dialga resurrected the swampert from non-existence. Of course he and Blaze were both on Four-Nine island when the swampert nearly died the second time. But now a third time…
Sally kneeled before the infernape, putting her hands on either side of this red skinned and white-haired face. "Blaze, we need to get going. We can't survive here."
The fire-type Pokémon started mumbling something, apparently causing a sharp rebuke from Grovyle.
"There was nothing you could have done!" Lonny said angrily, nearly shouting. "Even as a swampert I would've been beaten too! I've never faced such a strong Pokémon before, so don't you start thinking you didn't try hard enough! Blame isn't going to help any of us!"
Lonny surprised him with her outburst. Yet it was true; that one Pokémon seemed unnaturally strong.
But Blaze still wasn't moving.
Leo sighed quietly; there was something...from one of their stories, that came to mind… "Blaze, Leo would want you to keep going…to go on living, and not linger here. I want you to keep going and to come with us. We need to do our best and survive now."
The infernape finally looked up at him, his white hair-framed red face blank, frozen.
Stepping to him, he held out his hand. "Come on. Let's get off this mountain and to someplace warmer and with food. And…do you have any idea where we are on this Poké planet?"
Blaze took a deep breath, taking his hand in finally rising into the typical infernape standing stance. Looking around a bit, he shook his head.
Lonny asked him something; translating the response: "This area doesn't look familiar to him. He's pretty sure we aren't on the continent Treasure Town is on. It doesn't have mountains like this."
"We need to pick a direction," Sally said.
"There might be someplace we're meant to go," Leo half mumbled, looking down at the symbol again. "Actually, I really don't care anymore. We just need to get home somehow." He really didn't care; the expedition had already proved far more costly than he could of thought!
"Agreed," Sally replied with a weary tone as Lonny and the Pokémon nodded. After a few more seconds, she pointed southeast, toward the largest break in the mountain range. "There? I think I see forest down in that direction."
"Right", he replied in seeing the green there over the great distance. Looking to Lonny, she shrugged.
In a quiet, almost bitter voice: "If you want to ask me, it looks as good as any place; just so it's warm." As if making the point, she wrapped the blanket even tighter around her torso as she started shivering worse despite the rising sun and it's direct rays on them.
Making sure everyone was ready, basically meaning Blaze grabbing his satchel and Lonny taking her small pack and spear, Leo started leading the way down slope and toward the distant mountain gap. Judging as best he could of the distance, it was going to be a many-day journey to get all the way down.
Nothing changed that assessment when they finally stopped that early evening to make camp. Although it was hard going, they made a lot of progress in getting down some in elevation and were several thousand feet lower than when they started. It also felt slightly warmer, helped by the sun's heat still radiating off the ground.
Now after a rather austere meal that did little to fill, they were sitting around their campfire, made possible from dead wood that was scattered around from the few twisted trees found at their lower elevation. In the moon's strengthening light from overhead, Leo guessed what most of them were thinking, although everyone was dead tired.
Of course during the climb down they had time, but they all had to concentrate on getting down; where to place one's feet on steep, loose material, how to get around a cliff face, climbing down a boulder field without setting one in motion. But now, thinking was all there was to do before sleep came.
His counterpart was gone.
Before he had met the swampert a year and a half prior, he knew nothing of the other timeline, about hurrying in it with his colleagues to complete the dimensional gate, using it to travel to the Poké world where the source of Earth's destruction was coming from, about being changed into a Pokémon and then saving the Poké world from its time paralysis with Grovyle (and Earth from its destruction as a result), and later saving it again from Darkrai's second plot. Before meeting, he was the only Leo in existence.
Now he was the only one again.
Yes they were the same person, but the few years in which they led very different lives made a world of difference. The other Leo wasn't so much him anymore, but had started to become a friend, a partner, more like any other person or Pokémon.
He was gone…and he hadn't realized how much it would hurt, how lonely he would feel.
Almost subconsciously, he reached both his arms to touch Grovyle and Sally, to bring them closer to him. Then in the deep twilight, he watched Blaze get up on the other side of the fire and move around it to crouch in front of him. The infernape spoke a long series of syllables, his eyes becoming more tear-filled.
After almost looking around for his counterpart for a translation, he turned to Lonny.
Speaking softly: "He says…you're the only Leo now. Asks if you would be his partner… be his friend like the other Leo. He says he can't bear to lose..."
Before Lonny could finish, the infernape moved forward to partly collapse into him; Leo wrapped his arms around the Pokémon as he would anyone grieving.
"Oh…Blaze," Sally said, adding her hands to help comfort him.
"Come on, take it easy," Leo soothed as the Pokémon seemed to lose any composure he once had. He rubbed his thickly haired back while Sally huddled in close, the two of them basically giving the infernape a very long, encompassing hug as the poor thing's tears seemed endless.
Blaze was his friend too, but although he knew the infernape and his counterpart shared a strong bond forged by great trials, he often found it difficult to fathom how strong it was. And now with that bond severed…seems he needed to be his counterpart's replacement.
Across the fire, he stole a glance at Lonny, seeing in the firelight her lonely stare back. She too was obviously hurting.
…and Chip…
Damn…his counterpart's demise was leaving several gaping wounds. How could he possibly do anything to help that?
After some minutes as the moon just started rising from behind one of the mountains, Blaze finally calmed down again and seemed content to sit on the rocky ground between him and Sally, Grovyle parking himself just behind, probably just to let Blaze know he was there too. Even Lonny inched a little closer, but kept some distance.
As Sally continued to rub Blaze's back, Leo kept his arm wrapped around him in thinking of something hopeful to say. Finally as Blaze leaned against him: "Didn't Chalesti mention she might have some colleagues who studied ancient things? I was thinking if we happen to be on her continent, maybe we could find them and see if they know anything about that symbol."
"What for?" Lonny asked, still sounding bitter.
"We might come across some information that could be useful."
"How?"
He shrugged. "Never know. But if we happen to be there, it wouldn't hurt to ask." She didn't reply and as such, he decided to just end it there. Perhaps not much hope, but maybe just the prospect of maybe learning something that might provide a little hope for…
Alright, hope for what? Somehow magically bringing his counterpart back from the dead? Although…wasn't that what Dialga essentially did? …Dialga? Of course! Dialga could certainly warp Leo from the past to the present! Warp him out as he was falling…
Well, why not?
"Maybe we might learn something of Dialga's fate," he couldn't help adding. Which earned him a new stare from Lonny…and Sally, Grovyle and even Blaze. "After all, we were predicted to exist from thousands of years ago, weren't we?"
Blaze said something with his cracked voice.
"Blaze says it would be hard to believe Dialga would lead us into a trap."
"Then maybe something went wrong." He refused to allow this faint ray of hope to get snuffed out! He needed it…they all needed it!
"Well, then we need to first find out where we are," Sally replied.
Leo looked at his suddenly beautiful wife, the moonlight now quite strong on her face from nearly dead-on.
Turning, she gave a faint smile…before looking past him for a moment before turning her around head, then straight up. She gasped. Almost fearfully: "There are three moons!"
Huh? Swinging his own head around along with Blaze, Grovyle and Lonny, he looked up, where there was one moon looking very much like the Poké world's moon. But to the east…a smaller moon was rising, and toward the north…yet another small one!
"We're not on the Poké world!" Sally said hoarsely.
Leo felt his own fear as much as he heard it in his wife's voice.
"I want MOM!"
Leo sighed heavily as Chip was screaming at him. He couldn't blame his son for acting up; it'd been well over a week since he last saw his mother. And after five days since returning to Treasure Town, he still couldn't bring himself to explain one particular detail of what happened. "Chip, she and all the others are gone. I told you before, they were transported from that cave to somewhere in an instant. I'd slipped and was falling, so I wasn't."
With a quick glance to Akri, he was again relieved the self-described Guardian seemed content in not mentioning the one omission, which was the Pokémon they fought and may have…done something terrible after they all left. He still didn't want to think about the worse-case, but if it turned out Lonny was dead and he had tell the rest of the story, he at least had the excuse he didn't know their fates; the same uncertainty all his hope was pinned on.
"You said Akri saved you; why didn't it save them too?" With tears streaming and a glare at Akri, the mudkip ran up and out of their bluff-side dwelling.
Leo sighed again while finding himself facing a frowning Akri.
"He not happy," the Azelf-like Pokémon observed as it floated near the small water basin.
"Makes two of us." Eventually he found himself up on top also, but with no Chip in sight. Most likely gone into town to be with Kangaskhan and Kangason for a while, which was probably best. While he and everyone were on expedition, the mother-son pair had acted as babysitters and apparently wonderfully so. A few at the Guild also had offered to take care of him, if ever the need arose.
If only there had been a way that he didn't have to tell Chip anything…like if he had returned to Earth with Christina…
Since the plane landed almost in the middle of town in the middle of the night, it created one heck of a stir the next morning after everyone started waking up. With the plane's near silent mode of power, nobody had heard it and he hadn't been about to wake anyone either. At least he had been able to wait until the morning before delivering the sad news, which included to Chip.
Everyone took it hard, though all expressed hope they would sooner or later turn up. Some point later he finally told most of them in private the one missing detail, and all agreed to not tell Chip. It was likely one of them would eventually let it slip, but he'd deal with that when the time came. For now, he just wanted to spare his son the worst of his own fear.
Below the cliff of Sharpedo Bluff, the ocean was lapping at the base in gentle, rhythmic motions, a light breeze from the sea just keeping the heat of the sun from becoming unbearable. A fresh ocean scent…white puffy clouds…a very beautiful day…
…like so many other days he and Blaze, and later Grovyle, Sally, and his human self shared together. And Lonny, with who he had precious few days with…
If none of them ever returned…
…how was he going to raise Chip by himself? Literally, they had only just met a couple weeks ago and from what he could tell, his son now hated him for being the only survivor and not his mother!
His son had a point. Lonny had become human; it had been his job to protect her…and he failed. It had been his to protect his human self and Sally too…and he failed. And when it came to it, it was his supreme duty to help Grovyle, and especially his dearest friend and partner Blaze…and he failed!
Blaze…
…was gone.
The fact hit him as hard as at any time over the last several days and his own tears started welling up. Somehow, he managed to not let too many stream down his wide blue face. There was hope…it was just all riding on someone from Earth making contact. He had to get to Earth! Even then, it would be one hell of a long shot.
But one step at a time; how long before Ticonamo, George or Naomi would be allowed to open the portal again…if ever? One certain thing was they hadn't opened it while they were gone, otherwise the radio would've recorded the contact.
Hope was slipping the longer there wasn't…
"You crying?"
He turned slightly to Akri. Wiping his face, he instinctively tried to hide the fact, but knew it was useless. Taking a deep breath to regain his composure a little, "I'll always miss Blaze greatly; we're not usually apart this long. I just wish I could know if he and everyone else are OK."
Akri's face became thoughtful for a moment, but it shrugged in the end.
"Are you sure you don't know where they were transported to? It would really help the search."
"Don't know. Sorry. Thought I knew, can't remember now. Just feel they far away. Not time portal though, already said."
The expected reply forced a groan out of him.
"Chest looks better."
One of Akri's more irritating aspects was its tendency to just change subjects at the drop of a oran berry. He just couldn't work up any emotion about it this morning, though. Instead for some reason, he found himself making the decision to ask something he'd been wondering about, while his inhibition was low at the moment. "Akri, what gender are you? Male or female?"
The floating Pokémon at first simply stared back…before looking more and more bemused as its tails rose a little behind it. Finally it started giggling which quickly became outright laughter. "You…can't…tell?"
"Let's say you are unlike any Pokémon I've ever met before," Leo replied before he felt too embarrassed.
Stopping its laughter suddenly, it still was smiling as it put its tiny hands on its hips. "Well…we won't be sleeping together, I say that! I do that with a female, which you aren't!" With more chuckles, it turned to the side to seemingly focus on something behind them.
Leo turned, finding an wide-eyed Chatot a few paces away. "Chatot…" Back to Akri in a loud whisper: "That wasn't what I was asking!" Yet again, if it wasn't for his blue skin…though he still felt the warmth of embarrassment.
The multi-colored bird glanced several times between Akri and him in a manner of embarrassment as well. "I'm…uh…not interrupting anything, am I?" Chatot said, apparently suppressing a cough.
Leo gritted his teeth. "No, I was just asking what gender it was," paying the floating Pokémon a brief side-long glance. "Male, apparently."
"Oh! Well, to be honest, I was wondering that myself…uh, once or twice," Chatot admitted, giving a brief flap of his wings. "He he. Well, glad we got that settled and I can now refer to him properly."
With that out of the way, "I was going to be leaving for the Guild in another moment. What brings you out here so early? You have good news?" It had to be important, that much he was sure of, but if Chatot's beak would have allowed it, his expression indicated it would have been a frown.
"I regret to say no, Leo. All guild members are still searching and asking around, but nobody has seen or heard anything as of yet. And I'm afraid…" The bird Pokémon swallowed hard as he paused, "Well, there's only so many places on this continent. Soon we will have every possible place checked out. Word from across the seas is…rather hard to come by. Having to rely on the pelippers, you know, and not many of them travel that far and when they do, it's rare…"
Leo nodded solemnly, knowing that. Riding the backs of laprases was the only real way for anyone else to get across the seas (until the flying craft had been discovered, that was!)
"They are far away," Akri said.
"Yes, as you said before," Chatot replied. "However, I have other news this morning. Chalesti returned last night; she's at the Guild. Poor thing was exhausted when she arrived, but she was worried about you and Blaze and… Anyway, it's probably best if you explained what happened."
The three of them arrived at the Guild a short while later, where Leo was relieved to see Chalesti eating breakfast in the Guild's dining hall. She certainly looked the worse for wear, with a few minor bruises and scrapes.
"She had a few battles on the way back here," Chatot filled in with a whisper.
"She was also with you?" Akri asked, seemingly confused.
With Chalesti noticing them, he answered while walking to the far end of the table. "She was left behind where we found the gold craft." Facing the clefable as he neared: "Or more accurately, the plane left her behind."
Chalesti at once rose and embraced him. But looking around him questioningly: "Where's Blaze, Grovyle, and everyone else? I got the impression from everyone here that something's wrong, but Chatot just kept telling me to ask you."
After introducing Akri as the Guardian of the chamber that was the plane's destination, he had her sit back down before telling her the full story. It really didn't take long, but it was shocking enough to the clefable. Akri helped to the extent of making negative comments about the charizard-like creature that had been waiting for them, but otherwise gave no new insights.
"My gosh," Chalesti said after he'd finished, her wing-like appendages twitching. "I guess maybe it was a good thing I wasn't there, but I feel bad about not being around to help. All of this is…" She stared down with a frown, "...my fault."
"Stop right there," Chatot said from her other side. "No one knew what was waiting. Every indication was it was something good, right Leo?"
Leo nodded. Indeed, there had been no sign that anything bad was going to happen to them. Which of course made it the perfect trap. "I don't blame you for anything, Chalesti. We were exploring, and every exploration carries a certain amount of risk. Everyone understood that." Didn't mean he wasn't still blaming himself, though he didn't know what he could of done differently. Little comfort, however.
"And you don't know where they went?"
"Nobody knows!" Akri provided. "Except who traveled, of course." He snickered, but not mockingly.
Chalesti's expression become angry, "But they traveled with a Pokémon that was trying to kill them! That's not funny!"
Akri stopped snickering and frowned, his tails drooping. In a small voice: "Sorry."
"Indeed not," Chatot supported. "I just hope…we all hope, they are alright, wherever they went."
"They have to be," Leo said. "Somehow, they'll find a way to survive." The thought of everyone dead...was still more than he could cope with, either now or for a long time to come.
"Yet…" Chatot continued, using a wingtip to bring it up to his beak as he sometimes did when deep in thought. "I've been thinking about this for a while, and something doesn't make sense. Why go through all the trouble of making that…airplane the humans call it? ...to bring you to some far-off isolated island in order to, well, to knock you all off?"
"I see what you're saying," Chalesti said. "That piece of technology is amazing and advanced. I've never seen anything like it. But why not just set the trap right there instead making such a thing to take you elsewhere for that?"
It was a point he'd gone over more than once himself, but really hadn't seemed too important as of late. After all, what difference did it make as to the how or why? He already knew what he needed to do. But just in case… "You still have that map? I think Akri should have a look."
"Huh? Oh, yes!" The pink clefable reached beside her where she apparently had her satchel and soon had the ancient map unrolled on the rough-hewn tabletop, partly polished by many years of use.
Akri immediately was floating above it, looking down with apparent study. After a moment with Chalesti pointing to the six figures on the one side, "You right, Leo! It look like all you!"
"So…does this mean anything to you?" Leo asked, both Chatot and Chalesti hovering over the map seemingly in anticipation.
Akri looked around at all three of them as if he was suddenly feeling some pressure. His tails twisting around themselves, "No. Never see this before. But…maybe… that place was meant for you. Just like the symbol responded to you."
Chalesti and Chatot exchanged glances, the later speaking: "That sounds creepy, in retrospect."
Great. The only insight Akri provided just reinforced the fact that the trap was set for them specifically. Still, he wouldn't mind having Wigglytuff have another look at the map. Maybe with both him and Chalesti (and Chatot) together, they just might think of something that would make a trip to Earth unnecessary. "Where's Wigglytuff this morning?"
Chatot looked down for just a moment. "Well…he actually left early a couple days ago with Sunflora on…that special errand you mentioned. I was left in charge while he's gone."
Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen the Guildmaster yesterday either. Which just went to show how upset he'd been and from dealing with Chip. Still, he didn't mean to suggest the Guildmaster himself should go; he really just mentioned it in passing, meaning to do it himself when he felt up to it and got tired of waiting for contact from Earth.
A few loud voices from outside the dining hall got their attention. It didn't seem to be angry, but Chatot was already moving for the doorway mumbling a "what's going on out there," when Loudred stuck his bluish, large eared head in.
"Oh, there you guys are!" in his usual booming voice. "We have a visitor looking for you Leo!"
"Visitor?" Chatot asked, stopping in his tracks a second later as a familiar light-green Pokémon came floating in.
"Celebi!" Leo greeted, feeling genuinely glad to see the small time-travel Pokémon.
"Leo!" Wasting no time, she flew over to him to give a quick hug around his comparatively large head.
He almost sneezed from the sudden air her wings was stirring up, but held. Although he guessed the answer: "What brings you here?"
After giving a glance to Akri: "I heard the news about what happened to all of you and my Grovyle, so I came here as soon as I could." Forming a more serious expression on her otherwise gentle face: "Tell me exactly what happened, then tell me what I can do to help."
"You cute," Akri blurted.
Celebi gave him another, longer look, forming a half-smile. "Uh…thanks. Who are you? I don't recognize your species. Oh, I forgot my manners!" To both Akri and Chalesti: "I'm Celebi."
"I'll have Chimecho prepare some more berries," Chatot said as he started hopping toward the door again. "I think you're all going to be here a while."
Chatot was almost certainly right on that. After formally introducing Chalesti as an explorer from across the sea and Akri as a friend (saving who he was for later), "Everything started about two weeks ago when we got word from Earth that Ticonamo, Christina and Lonny were coming for a visit…"
The last five days had not been easy…or had it been six? While trying to knock down some jungle vegetation that Grovyle eventually cut with his leaf blades, Leo Hanson decided it'd been five since they arrived on this unknown world.
Basically put, the climb down from the mountains had been exhausting, but they made it to the forest at the base of the range and now had traveled far enough that the forest was more jungle than anything, with the appropriate increase in temperature and humidity.
While he hoped they'd escaped that charizard-like Pokémon who'd been trying to kill them (assuming it also made it to this unknown world), they had other more immediate worries. Two things they were looking were food and water, since little of either had been in the mountains themselves. Well, there was the one stream which allowed them to refill their canteens, but it had been too cold to bathe from. Now both were critical again; their canteens were near empty and they'd exhausted all the food they had as of last night. Only thing left were some berries they managed to find, which neither Grovyle nor Blaze could identify except to say they had the kick of oran berries but not the flavor. Nor the looks or the size.
"Too bad these don't give that energy kick to humans," Sally said in grabbing the last few from the small pouch dangling from her belt loop. She was looking obviously tired and in need of such a kick.
No doubt he looked the same, Leo thought. He certainly felt the five days of hard hiking!
"What I wouldn't give to feel that again," Lonny added, making three of them who looked and sounded exhausted.
Blaze and Grovyle by contrast seemed to look back as if wondering what was wrong. Of course they were benefiting from said 'kick'! At least the two of them looked concerned.
In addition to desiring some energy himself: "What I wouldn't give for a bath," in an effort to change the subject from food (and lack thereof).
"I'll take that too," Lonny replied with a long sigh before taking a drink from her canteen which sounded like it was one drink away from empty. Then she ran a hand over her sweaty head and the short blonde hair growing there, now around a inch long and contrasting neatly with her light-blue skin, light-green checks and diminutive purplish head fins.
She wasn't scratching her scalp anymore, Leo noticed after a moment. Then after looking up at the sun through the lush overhead foliage: "I think it's probably time for a break."
"Agreed!" Sally replied, instantly unstrapping her pack to let it fall to the moist ground, Lonny taking her cue from that to do the same.
Leo observed the two females standing together while taking off his own pack. Between them, Lonny looked slightly less tired, probably stemming from the fact she used to be a very strong swampert…and that she was just more muscular period. Minus the skin color and other swampert remnants, she'd be otherwise be considered quite 'hot'. Of course, some would consider her that despite the remnants… Wearing only her one sweat-soaked green tee-shirt only added to that impression, too.
If only his counterpart were still alive to appreciate her…
Sitting with his wife on a nearby fallen log, he enjoyed that blissful moment when one's overworked muscles finally got to stop and rest. He tried to not think too much about their loss as Sally leaned against him, even though both of them were sweaty and smelly after not having had a bath for many days. He sure hoped Grovyle didn't mind, which he seemed not to in spreading himself out on the log face down next to them and seemingly falling asleep instantly, paying no mind to Blaze seemingly just wondering off a little toward a dense cluster of vines.
It was quiet, save for some distant calls of birds (Pokémon?) and various insects, some of which sounded familiar like crickets and some not.
Pokémon. If this were Earth or the Poké world, they would have seen a lot of them by now. On this world… Well, they seemed to exist, as they caught glimpses of what looked to be animals similar to nidorans and other forest types, but not many. The few they spotted scurried away as fast as they could; fleeting glimpses.
Definitely different from the other two worlds, where wild Pokémon are about equally likely to attack as to run away.
Sally moved her head on his shoulder as if settling in, letting out a long content-sounding sigh. "Don't move. I'm going to take a nap."
"Goodnight," he replied, feeling his own eyelids getting really heavy as fatigue started taking full hold. Unfortunately they wouldn't be able to rest for very long. If nothing else, they absolutely had to find water by the end of the day. If they didn't, they would be out by evening, given how the warm, humid air was draining it out of them, and the next day would become life-threatening. Food they could go without for a few days if that's what it came too.
For the moment though, he let his eyes close after just noticing the clouds coming in front of the sun, making it immediately cooler despite the shading already provided by all the trees. Good; they'll sweat out less water. With any luck, the clouds would became rain and they could capture some. Well, they were in a jungle, and jungles usually meant high rainfall!
Perhaps they might get lucky…
"Infern, he he rana gron ree."
Opening his eyes on the infernape standing in front of him, he found Blaze pointing with a purple finger and seemingly his tail to someplace ahead. "What is it Blaze?" asking wearily.
"Blaze, let Leo rest," Lonny said from behind them, apparently leaning back against the log further down while sitting on the ground. "We humans don't get that boost from berries like you and Grovyle do."
Blaze seemed to retort something with a twitch of his red tail and a minor lowering of his brow, but not angrily as he continued in Poké speech for a bit.
Lonny sighed, "He wants you to see something." Then when Blaze said a couple more words: "Something unusual."
Which he was starting to guess from the infernape using his hands to shape something square.
Nodding, Blaze quickly grabbed his hand in attempting to pull him up.
Beginning to get curious, Leo relented and finishing heaving himself back up to let the infernape pull him along. Knowing Blaze, it shouldn't be something too trivial; the Pokémon had more brains than to bother him unnecessarily given his current fatigued state.
"Let me know what it is," Sally said with a yawn, fully laying herself down on the log to be nearly head-to-head with Grovyle, who also said something in Poké speech but made no move to get himself up either.
Though his green friend had been munching on the same energy-giving berries along with the rest of them, conservation of energy was still smart. Something Blaze should be really be doing, considering they were now out of those berries. Perhaps he found more?
Not unless those berries were square…
…which would qualify as something unusual…
At least the infernape was doing better emotionally from when they first lost the swampert. Since then, he seemed intent on involving him in everything, like every minor discovery he made or making sure he had input on every decision large or small whether it really mattered or not. Each day was only reinforcing the fact that he was the substitute for his counterpart. It was a new bond and he didn't want to rip that away from the infernape; if anything, he discovered he needed this bond too as a way of knowing his counterpart still lived on in Blaze. The two Pokémon had been very close, and now it seemed that same type of relationship was growing between them.
Of course that was a lot to infer from only five days.
Not far away from the others, Blaze stopped at what at first seemed like a old moss-covered rock just sticking out of the ground. But standing over it, it was square…and didn't seem like an ordinary rock, considering what was sticking out of it.
Kneeling down, he put his hand on the short stick that seemed embedded in it…only to find it solid and hard. "This is unusual," Leo commented. On a hunch, he took out his small pocket knife and scraped the dull-side edge against it, causing dirt and perhaps something resembling corrosion to flake off…and leaving a shiny, metallic surface. "Metal? A metal bar?" Blaze voiced something as he took a closer look at the base. Scraping that with the knife likewise removed the moss, uncovering what appeared as concrete, though badly deteriorated.
Facing behind him: "Sally, Lonny, Grovyle, come and have a look at this!"
A moment later the others were standing around, Sally kneeling next to him. "Then…there's civilization here!"
"Or was," Leo added, noting both Blaze and Grovyle were looking around the jungle litter on the ground around them. With Grovyle's shout, he knew the Pokémon found something else. After only a few more minutes of searching, they had managed to find other remnants ranging from crumbling concrete mostly buried in the earth to other metal fragments including a twisted piece of I-beam.
"I think this is something like stainless steel," Sally remarked at the metal. "It certainly hasn't rusted and there's no real corrosion, just plastered with dirt and stuff. Which means…whoever made this was fairly advanced."
Just how advanced? Trying to lift it, he concluded the weight certainly precluded it from being any lighter corrosion-resistant metal, like titanium. "Only reason to use such a metal as a structural component is for the corrosion resistance," he added after letting go of the one end to let it fall back to the ground with a heavy dull thud.
"So they built it to last," Sally continued while Lonny had a go with the beam, quickly giving up after she strained just as much to lift it. "But if the concrete is any indication, this is really old."
"Like five thousand years?" Leo asked.
Sally stared back a few seconds as did Blaze. "Could be older. Hard to say, but…" shaking her head, "sure would fit in with everything else, huh?"
"So whoever made this might have been responsible for making the map, and setting that trap?" Lonny asked before Grovyle got their attentions.
Although the jungle didn't afford long views, they did at least have sight through it to perhaps 30 meters at their particular location. And currently, the direction Grovyle was facing was becoming…
"Fog?" Sally asked. "But it's the middle of the day…"
Looking up, Leo furrowed his brow. The clouds from a few minutes ago had since become a nearly full overcast. Very quick change of the weather…but they were on a different planet! But different enough to explain the quickly gathering fog? The normal jungle sounds were also growing quiet, he realized. He was about to remark about that o the others, but a sudden distant scream drifted through the trees, followed quickly by other shouts of the Pokémon variety.
"That scream…" Lonny said as the distant ruckus continued. "It sounded like an infernape."
Both Grovyle and Blaze perked up at the continuing ruckus, with Blaze looking more and more alarmed both finally saying something.
"What?" Sally asked, looking uneasy as the fog seemed to thicken in front of their eyes.
"There's…" Lonny paused for a moment as there was another scream and she strained to hear. "A fight. It sounds like a bunch of Pokémon are…trying to hurt someone?" More shouting and her eyes grew wider along with Blaze's and Grovyle's. "They're trying to kill someone!"
A much louder, though still distant scream erupted through the trees and fog, one clearly in pain and desperation despite the language difference, and his heart started beating faster in its own alarm.
Jumping up, Blaze took several steps toward the fog bank alongside Grovyle.
"That was a cry for help!" Lonny shouted, joining the two Pokémon. "We have to help!"
Leo really didn't like the idea of rushing headlong into an unknown situation, especially in this circumstance, and something was giving him a very uneasy feeling. Yet Sally's look said it all: if someone was in serious trouble, they needed to at least try and help. And as they rushed through the fog, he hoped this wouldn't cause them to make enemies on this world. His worry faded as the screams continued, though. Whatever Pokémon it was…was in pain.
He just hoped they were going to be able to see as they tried navigating their way through the fog, the visibility dropping to near zero...