Ilex Forest was the same as the last time: mysterious, full of hidden life, and beautiful. Leaves rustled softly in the wind, but the thick trees muffling sound to produce a quiet atmosphere. Or, it was supposed to be that way. As Noah and I raced through the woods, a piercing call filled the air.

"Jacob!" Alec's voice came, violently disrupting the peace of the forest. We only had to turn around a bend to find the local, hands cupped around his mouth. "Jacob, where are you?!"

"Alec!" Noah shouted.

Immediately the young man spun around. "Oh, good, you came," he gasped with relief. He recognized me instantly. "It's you again."

I replied with a nod and smile in greeting. "Me again."

"Khalifa!"

I looked towards the direction to see Bugsy falling from the trees. His net leaned against his shoulder and Butterfree fluttered behind him as he jogged over to us.

"I'm glad you came," the Gym Leader breathed.

"So I guess this is our search party?" Alec confirmed.

Noah nodded. "Guess so."

"Noah, do you know which part of the forest your brother was going?" Bugsy questioned.

The older teenager only shook his head in disappointment. "No, he left really early this morning. He just left a note saying he was going out in the forest with Farfetch'd."

I remembered the bird Pokémon worked with the brothers, serving as their partner and companion. Bugsy just nodded at the report. Even though he was the youngest one here, as Gym Leader he immediately took charge.

"Alright, we'll split up. Noah and Khalifa, go check out the east side of the forest. Alec and I will search the west side. We'll meet here at sunset."

"Meet up in about an hour?" Alec suggested.

Noah nodded again. "Sounds good to me."

"Then what are we waiting for?" I demanded. "Let's go!"

"Find anything?" Noah called over.

"No," I groaned back.

"Jacob!"

"Jacob!"
It was hopeless. I had long lost track of time as we aimlessly scoured the forest. I hope Noah was keeping an eye on it. Last thing I needed was for us to get lost, too. I even lost my sense of direction of a few times. Everything in Ilex Forest looked the same. Now I was having an understanding how Jacob was missing.

We called endlessly for the lost brother, our voices sounding like they were echoing through the forest but I knew the trees were absorbing them. I wouldn't be surprised if Jacob was around the next bend but still couldn't hear us. That's why Dad said searching for a missing person in the woods was always the hardest. Usually in such cases there would be helicopters patrolling the reserve with dozens of search teams on the ground. Sometimes there would be more canine Pokémon than humans.

There was no such thing here. Just four volunteers with no special gear and praying to get lucky. I had taken part of a couple of searches. One was a hiker that got lost on a trail—he was found pretty quickly within a day. Another was a boy wandered away from his camping family. He was out there for two nights before we finally found him—only a Luxio to protect him from the bitter cold. I remembered the thrill it would give me, like I was part of this big mystery that everyone wanted to solve. But it also gave me a sense of horror and concern of what had possibly happened to that person.

Right I felt more of the latter. Jacob and Noah had been wandering these woods for as long as they remembered. They even brought me out a couple times—walking around the mysterious forest as confidently as they owned the place. While I of all people would get turned around, the brothers knew exactly where they were going. That's why I was worried for Jacob. There was no reason for him to disappear like this. Something was wrong.

What I learned from my Ranger days was to ask what the most likely place he would go was. But not even Noah could answer that. The brothers never foraged for wood in the same spot. They worried if they impacted one area too much, they could hurt that part of the forest. So they would work chipping off branches off trees, cutting down small shrubs, and collecting fallen debris. The process took longer and had them wander farther into the forest, which no doubt happened to Jacob.

"Come on! Where are you, Jacob!" I yelled into the forest. "Talk to us!"

"Farfetch'd?"

The voice made me jump. I whirled around to see right in front of me a tiny, feathered brown creature.

"Farfetch'd!" I cried with relief.

The Wild Duck Pokémon stared at me almost as blankly as Slowbro, standing like a soldier and holding its stalk at attention. I didn't give it grief as I called over my shoulder.

"Noah! Noah! I found Farfetch'd!"

"You did?!"

The teenager was over in an instant. "Oh, thank goodness! Farfetch'd, where's Little Bro?"

Upon seeing its trainer, the bird broke its trance. With its finger-like wings, it turned slightly and gestured further into the forest, barking.

"Looks like he's pointing towards something," I observed.

"Must be where Jacob is," Noah concluded. "Take us there, boy!"

"Far! Far!"

The Pokémon popped its stalk into its mouth and fluttered into the air, flapping away from us. Noah and I were right behind it. We took a couple turns when we heard the moans. Noah's face went pale the second he realized.

"Jacob!" he cried.

The muffled sound was coming from behind a bush in front of us. He charged forward to tear through it, but suddenly Farfetch'd squawked. Startled, we skidded to a halt to see the Wild Duck Pokémon was pointing towards a trail that led around the obstacle. I had been around Pokémon enough to know not to doubt it. I had to tug a reluctant Noah to follow our guide.

Only when I did, he took off towards the trail. He yelled the second he slipped out of sight.

"Whoa!"

I raced over to see him unharmed, but he was clinging to a tree. The rest of his body had slid down the slope underneath him. A ravine. Thankfully this part was sandy and shallow, so it wouldn't be harmful if he lost his balance. Once he assured he was okay, we slid down the decline together. Jacob was a few feet from where we landed, unmoving and moaning weakly.

"Bro!" Noah wailed.

He darted over to his brother's side while I was hot on his heels. The younger brother was not in good shape. Under the brightness of the sun, he looked pale despite his long hours in sunlight. Sweat glistened on his forehead—probably in combination by lying in the heat and whatever was wrong with him. The problem was seen very quickly.

A huge, deep gash was on his leg: from his shin to almost his ankle. By the looks of it, the cut probably reached his bone. His entire limb was covered in blood with a stain on the ground underneath him. By the sheer amount and how there was a fine layer of the dried substance along with mud, I could guess he had been here for quite a while. Even though, my acute senses smelled something vile and I saw a tinted white liquid with the blood. Pus. The wound was infected.

I looked up to see the shadow of ravine to see we right where Farfetch'd led us away from. I could see why. Instead of a steady slope, the ground dropped for several feet, right on solid rocks. Those rocks angled down a steep decline littered with dead foliage. What happened was very clear. Noah and I exchanged amazed, knowing glances.

"Farfetch'd was warning us," Noah realized.

"Because it happened to Jacob," I finished.

The lumberjack looked at the Wild Duck Pokémon. "Thanks, buddy."

The bird saluted with its stalk. "Farfetch'd!"

A particular loud moan from Jacob interrupted us. The poor boy suddenly flailed like he was having a nightmare, only for me and Noah to snatch his limbs. The older teenager placed his wounded brother's head on his lap, balancing him with a hand on his cheek and the other on his shoulder. Jacob's fit ended and he went limb once again, whining. Noah's eyes were wide and his skin was as pale as his brother's.

"What do we do?" he demanded in a panicked voice.

I looked back to the ravine. There was no way we could carry Jacob back up there. He was dead weight. Furthermore his wound was infected and he was already suffering the symptoms. I could already feel his skin burning beneath my fingertips from his fever. I felt my mind snapping back to Ranger mode.

Dad taught me how to survive in the wild. I couldn't work in a hospital, but any injury in the forest I could treat in an instant. My mind started working as a list of herbs to apply to Jacob's cut flashed across my brain. My body reacted before my brain gave the order. I jumped to my feet.

"I'm going to collect some medicine for him," I explained. "Stay with him until I come back."

Obviously Noah didn't like the idea of being abandoned, blinking with concern. "How long will you be gone?"

"Hopefully not long."

I dashed into the forest.

Searching for the herbs took longer than I thought. I well aware Hoenn and Johto, being on different continents, had different plants. I remembered once I read a book on remedy herbs, which had a section of Johto's floral. Even though I read over it many times, I didn't memorize it, and now I was racking my brain trying to remember what I saw. All the while trying to remember the herbs the two regions shared. Then I had the problem of trying to find them without trampling them in my rapid panic.

By the time I came back to Noah and still unconscious Jacob, I had noticed the sun had moved, but I didn't care. I skidded next to them.

"Got it," I gasped, breathless.

Noah was silent as I applied the "medicine," even as I had to chew a few leaves in order to get the juices out. It was not the most sanitary, but it would have to do. The herbs I used were mostly for infection, killing any bacteria that could have collected in the wound. The others were used to speed up the healing process. Not that it would've helped such a gruesome cut, but it wasn't like I had a lot of options.

Jacob's gash reopened while I worked, recoating his leg and my hands with his blood. I think some of it even got on my clothes. Too busy with the herbs, I gave Noah the task of cleaning Jacob's skin. I thrust a water bottle and rag into his hands. I didn't even pay attention the fact that the "rag" was my underwear, and the older teen's face was beat red while he worked.

By the time I was done, I was winded from lack of breathing steadily and sweat was covering my forehead. I leaned back to sit on my heels, wiping away the sweat from my face with the back of my hand. I gave a sigh of relief.

"That was… amazing," Noah breathed. "Where did you learn all that?"

"My dad taught me," I replied, only able to smile.

"He must be a great man."

Immediately I frowned as I was reminded I thought of him every day. "Yeah, he was." I looked back to Jacob's wound to see it was clotted again and was clean, but already fresh pus was appearing. "We're not done yet. I need to get something to cover his wound." Already I was fishing through my bag. "Crap, I don't have any bandages!"

"You don't have anything else in there? Another piece of clothing?"

I didn't even get the hint. I just shook my head, but another survival tip rung in my head. "No, but I know what we can do. We need to get some moss for him."

Noah blinked. "Moss?"

"Yeah, moss."

"I know where some is. There's a big rock covered in it."

I widened my eyes at this information. "You do?"

"I think it's near here. Come on, help me carry him."

The teenager wrapped his arms underneath Jacob's while I supported his legs. Being the stronger one of us, Noah took most of the weight, but he was still able to move quickly. Though he couldn't help but hobble awkwardly with his burden.

Even though, we made it within a few minutes. It was large, flat clearing covered with lush, green grass. Despite the break in the forest was wide, the canopy formed a roof above us, blocking out the sun. There was only green light filling the air. In the center of the clearing was what we came for. It was a boulder that was almost as tall as me with its width half its height. Like Noah described, the dark gray rock was almost completely coated in a green, fuzzy blanket of moss.

"We call it the 'Moss Stone,'" Noah explained.

"That's original," I quipped.

The teenager only shrugged. We carried Jacob until we came a few feet near the Stone before we gently set him down. The bed of grass was perfect for him. In the quiet of Ilex Forest with the gloomy light, it almost seemed peaceful. But I didn't have time to relax as I was already running over to the Moss Stone, ripping several handfuls from it. Noah had taken his former positon of cradling Jacob's head as I applied the moss. I wrapped it around Jacob's leg, using it as a makeshift bandage to cover his still ugly gash. I was done in seconds.

"There," I breathed.

"You're incredible," Noah gasped.

I only smiled at him. "Nah, I'm not that great. We still need to get your brother out of here."

Suddenly the boy groaned again, twisting in place. I immediately snatched his leg and held it still, so he wouldn't reopen it. Jacob's eyes suddenly opened, but they were slit and unfocused.

"Wh-what happened?" he moaned, voice hoarse.

"Looks like you took a bad fall, you clumsy idiot," Noah replied, using brotherly mocking to cover his desperate concern only seconds ago.

Jacob didn't really react, only blinking. "Oh, stupid me…"

I only scoffed as the younger brother fell back to sleep. At least we were assured he wasn't comatose. Noah stroked his arm comfortingly, glancing up at me. I about to reassure him that Jacob was going to okay, but never got the chance.

"Far! Far! Far!" Farfetch'd suddenly screamed.

The bird Pokémon hadn't left the brothers' side the entire ordeal, and now was suddenly flapping its wings frantically. Noah and I glanced at it.

"What's wrong, boy?" the lumberjack asked. He followed to where Farfetch'd was pointing and blinked. "Uh, oh."

At first I didn't see anything, only the green of the forest. That was until I saw glaring red eyes staring at us. Eyes I've seen before…

The Ariados crawled out its hiding place from the brush. I whimpered when I noticed it was bigger than even Bugsy's. And it was not alone.

Sounds of hungry chittering and rustling of leaves filled the air as up to a dozen Ariados appeared. They completely surrounded us, taking the ground up to clinging to the branches of trees in the air. All of them glared at us, and they did not look happy. I yelled.

"What are they doing here?" Noah exclaimed. "Ariados don't usually don't come to this part of the forest! I know they've been agitated lately, but—"

He couldn't finish his sentence as suddenly the large one fired a volley of Poison Sting. Both of us screamed and hit the ground. I didn't hesitate.

"That's it! Fennekin, Eevee, go!"

My tiny foxes appeared with a flash of light.

"Are you crazy?!" Noah yelled at me. "They don't stand a chance!"

"You got a better idea?" I snapped back.

By now two Ariados had come closer, flexing their pincers menacingly.

"Eevee, Quick Attack! Fennekin, Flame Charge!"

My Pokémon dashed into their respectively attacks, charging for their own opponent. However Eevee's was cut off as she ran straight into a barrage of stingers, skidding to a halt with a yell of pain. Fennekin's was a hit, throwing back the rival Pokémon with burns. However the Ariados wasn't too bad, as without warning spat a spider web from its mouth. Fennekin tried to leap back, but the attack was too fast and she found herself caught in a sticky net. Before I could react, the large one got in on the action.

Suddenly the Long Leg Pokémon's eyes glowed. A blue aura surrounded Fennekin, the Fox Pokémon even rising into the air. Psychic?! The fire-type flailed only once before she was violently thrown through the air, slamming into the Moss Stone with sickening force. She collapsed back onto the ground with a tangle of limbs.

"Fennekin, can you get up?" I demanded. Immediately the weird pang of guilt returned. I looked at her struggle. No, she couldn't get up. Why did I have to ask?

Little did I know the big Ariados, apparently the leader, wasn't done yet. Without warning the bug began shrinking, losing inches in seconds. Wait, not shrinking. Sinking.

I watched amazed as the Pokémon disappeared into the shadow beneath it, vanishing from the world. And little did I notice Fennekin lay in the shadow of the Moss Stone. Ariados's form tore from the rock like it was hiding inside it, still a phantom black from its trip through the shadow realm. However, inside of returning to its beat-red coloring, the Pokémon stayed a shadow as it pounced onto Fennekin. But instead of sending her flying, it slipped right through her, like a ghost, and once again disappeared in darkness. The poor thing screamed in pain and went in still.

Fennekin had fainted.

And Eevee was alone.