"Rawb!" the Rawbbit croaked. It hopped over to Flaradillo and splashed poison in the shelled Pokemon face! It was Toxic Sludge! Flaradillo took a little bit of damage, but not much. Flaradillo fought back! It used Flame Wheel and managed a critical hit on Rawbbit, hitting it in its expanded air sac!
"Brit b-brittaw!" the Pokemon ribbitted. It hopped over to Flaradillo again with its round body and opened its mouth. An indigo aura created fangs in its toothless mouth that weren't there before! It screeched and the ethereal fangs reverberated a shock wave that was the same colour as them. Dragon Pulse! It hit Flaradillo and it fell onto its shelled back. Quickly, Riley helped it fix its posture and ordered it to use Bite!
It did, and Rawbbit fainted, but Rawbbit had Poison Touch, a condition in which it excreted poisonous matter from its body that poisoned Flaradillo when it bit it. Distressed about having no way to heal Flaradillo's condition, Riley proceeded with caution, picking Flaradillo up so it wouldn't have to exert itself while walking, and going through the hole in the tree and into a hallway-like hollow that looked, miraculously, like it had naturally grown from the tree.
Riley felt something brush past him, but it moved far too quickly for him to catch it. A couple things tumbled out of his bag, like his PokeDex, a couple healing items, and the Shuca Berry that the lady from the desert gave him. Curious, he picked up the fallen items and turned his head in the direction of whatever it was that had brushed past him. Meanwhile, Flaradillo was growling. But a infliction of pain from the poison it had been infected with made it reel back, turning its cute growl into a whimper. Riley wished he'd had an Antidote on hand, but he'd used it previously.
He sighed. The curious event would have to wait. Riley couldn't bare seeing his Pokemon hurt. He walked down to see Professor Maple, who appeared to be sitting on the back of a Lapras and fishing up Rawbbit that were hiding underneath the dark-coloured water. He asked her for a handful of Antidotes.
"Here Riley," she smiled, placing a set of five Antidotes into PokeCache Capsules and putting them in a bag that had the logo of Moo Moo Milk on it. "I'm probably not going to drink this Moo Moo Milk, so you can keep it, and the Antidotes." With that, the Professor tossed the bag to the shore, and Riley caught it directly in his hands. He used one of the Antidotes on Flaradillo and waved thankfully at Professor Maple.
He returned to the tree, and walked through the hollow. He saw a dim yellow light in the corner of the wide hollow hall. No, two! No, wait, three! What were they? Glowing fungus? Pokemon? Hopefully they wouldn't bother him.
He walked through the hollow hall, being careful not to make any sudden movements that would alert Pokemon and make them attack him. He heard bug-like chittering. He started sweating, hoping to Arceus that he could get through this hall- it was narrowing in around him as he took each step close to the supposed Pokemon, he could feel it getting tighter and tighter, he knew it was, he knew it- without being attacked.
He sighed. He'd made it through the hollow after all. The light from the exit on the other end of the natural hall was now more noticeable than the golden light from the walls. He let his shoulders slouch, no longer in danger. His body was tingling from the knowledge that he wasn't in danger. Relaxing needle-like sensations pinned in his back as his body started getting heavier. Wow, he was tired. Was it really that adrenaline-drawing? There were only three Pokemon- if they even were Pokemon. A blue eye with a green pupil looked at him from his shoulder. He stared at it, too tired to pay it any real attention.
That's when he felt himself fall to the ground below him, his body now too heavy to hold up on his own. The light from the hollow's exit hole became unbearably bright before everything went black.
"Rakt," a small and gruff voice chittered. Riley held his head. What happened? There was a sticky web on his foot, one pinning his knee down, and others around his body that looked to have been ripped off of him. He stood up, his head spinning from vertigo. He heard the bug-like noises, and he also heard Flaradillo's familiar voice. It was crying. Crying for Riley. Riley held his temple with the same hand that his PokeVice was on the wrist of, waiting for his hearing and vision to normalize again.
Three rather tiny, grey and gold Pokemon were crawling along a silver-coloured web that was pinning Flaradillo down to the ground. Flaradillo was completely pinned under the net-like silk except for his head, which the chittering eight-legged Pokemon were biting at. "Aractric!" one of them cooed.
He rushed in, swatting the three small Pokemon away from Flaradillo. Working on pulling apart the web net around Flaradillo, Riley sent out Bluntooth and Barksky! He half-mindedly scanned the Pokemon with his PokeDex to find out how to beat them "Number 37, Aractric. The Paralyzing Pokemon. Electric- and Bug-type. Aractric have the ability to paralyze prey because of the electric venom in their bites. After paralyzing their prey, they trap them in sticky webs that are difficult to break through. They create their own light so they can thrive in dark places and strike unexpected."
Barksky used Brick Break, but it had little effect on the Aractric it had targeted! It jumped back, not wanting to be attacked! Bluntooth used Ice Fang, and the Aractric that it attacked was reduced to half the health it entered the battle with! Barksky got in a second attack, and it too used Ice Fang, bringing the same Aractric that Bluntooth had attacked to merely a sliver away from unconsciousness.
The one who was about to faint screeched. It used Silk Shot, trapping Bluntooth in an inescapable web! Its two partners used Discharge. The electrical discharge from their bodies wasn't enough to hit Barksky, but it did hit Bluntooth, and it fainted with a painful-to-hear hiss.
Riley sent out Corvekt! He'd have to be very careful! Electric-types like Aractric would be very effective against Corvekt! It used Fly, avoiding the Thunderbolt attack that one of the Aractric tried to use on it. It flew down from the air and slashed its sword right through the weakened Aractric, causing it to faint!
Barksky examined Corvekt's graceful and powerful attack, and put together a move that it didn't know it could perform! It determinedly ran on its four paws to one of the Aractric and procured a rock. Barksky's tails wagged as it smacked the rock into Aractric, the super effective attacking causing the arachnid Pokemon to faint! It had just used Smack Down!
And Riley had just managed to snap one of the threads of the web pinning down Flaradillo! By breaking that one thread, many of the other threads broke off! Making sure it still worked, Flaradillo waggled its arm that had just been freed, and started prying at the sticky paralyzing web.
Aractric used Discharge. It jumped on Corvekt and grasped onto its chest, then released an electrical discharge from the lightning bolt pattern on its abdomen that was producing the golden light that Riley had seen before. Barksky used Smack Down again, and Aractric fainted! Everyone panted, exhausted. Riley deemed that they would all rest the moment they got out of the hollow and back into daylight.
Riley finished getting the sticky web off of Flaradillo and put all of the Pokemon into their respective PokeBalls so that they wouldn't be at risk for another surprise attack, should they encounter more Aractric. Surprisingly enough, there was a protrusion in the tree on the other side of the hollow hall that was similar in thickness and walkability to the one on the other side. There was a branch sticking out of the tree that was still on the walkable protrusion, and RIley sat on it, needing a chance to retain his breath.
When he had successfully recovered, he noticed somebody who was sitting on the installed wood-and-rope railing that was meant to keep people from falling off the tree's protrusions. It was a man with hot-pink hair and a white uniform. Riley tried to walk up to him, but when he got near, the man got up from his seat and jumped to a vine that was resting between this branch-path and one not far from this one.
With confidence, Riley jumped to the vine, then used it to swing his way to the next protrusion. He watched from a distance, standing still on the edge of the barky protrusion, as the pink-haired man in the pink and white uniform entered a hollow. Riley followed, curious.
Right as Riley had managed to climb his way up the slippery protruding natural wooden path and get into the hole that made its way into the second hollow, he saw the silhouette of the man exiting through the other hole on the opposite side. This hollow took up the majority of the tree's circumference, not just a hallway like the one below. Something was familiar about the man Riley was following, which was likely the only reason he was following him. This hollow had a huge empty space beneath it. There were plenty of bug Pokemon down there, but Riley decided that he would rather not see them up close. Thankfully, there was also a winding protrusion-path that lead about halfway through the spacious hollow. There was a railing set up on it so nobody would accidentally fall into the pit of gross-sounding bug Pokemon below. There was another wood protrusion above this one that led to the other hole- the one the man had just gone through- and was connected to the lower one by a ladder.
"Bit-bit!" croaked a Pokemon. It was another Rawbbit! Riley sent out Barksky! Right off the bat, he had Barksky use Ice Fang! It coated its fangs in ice and bit down on Rawbbit's air sack! Thankfully, it avoided being poisoned. But Rawbbit still remained conscious! Riley took this opportunity to catch it! That had been his job, but he'd accidentally caused the Rawbbit from earlier to faint. He threw his PokeBall!
One wiggle... two wiggles... three wiggles...!
Oh no! It was so close to being caught, but it broke free! It was fine, because Professor Maple had supplied him with those PokeBalls. He'd just use another. Rawbbit used Dragon Pulse, its attack the same as the Rawbbit before it, except Barksky's part ice typing made the attack weak against it. Riley threw another PokeBall.
One... two... three...
Caught!
Riley decided that he would make Rawbbit pay back what it owed to Chinocko by using it in the fight against its species. He believed that he had the ability to rehabilitate its behaviours. Maybe it wasn't as horrible as everyone was making it out to be.
He climbed up the ladder, and on the upper protrusion-path, he encountered a second Rawbbit. This one was sticking to the wall with its sticky feet, and when it spotted Riley, it jumped down.
With little regard for its wellbeing because of how cruel it was in its behavioural nature, Riley sent out Rawbbit, who was already weakened.
The opposing Rawbbit used Dragon Tail. The indigo aura that had created the other Rawbbit's fangs made itself into a tail that the opposing Rawbbit used to swing at Riley's Rawbbit. Riley's, however, dodged the attack, and used Dragon Tail on the opponent of its same species. The opposing Rawbbit was knocked off the branch-path and into the ocean of creepy bug Pokemon below.
With disgust and a tinge of guilt, Riley watched as the invasive Pokemon was pulled under the waves of white, skittering Pokemon that looked like disgusting larvae. He shuddered. Absolutely revolting. He left the hollow as fast as he could.
Finally! That man! He was sitting down again, this time on his toolbox. Riley was close enough that he could yell to get his attention, but he felt talking face-to-face would be more meaningful.
He walked up, and thankfully, the man didn't walk away again. "Hey, you sure are in a dangerous place," the man pointed out. "What are you doing up here, youngster?"
Riley explained.
"I see. I'm proud of you. Actually, I was here working with Professor Maple as well. I'm Nurse Joy, and I'm working on helping Pokemon that have been injured by Rawbbit's and Roarbit's wrath to recover."
That was what was familiar about the man. He was wearing a Pokemon Centre uniform. He even had the same pink hair as the other Nurse Joys. Though Riley was a little curious about this particular nurses' gender.
"Heh, there's a couple male Joys too," the nurse, who had noticed Riley's curiosity in his body language, explained. "We usually work on the field while our extended sisters work in the cities. It's not really a gender role thing, just personal preference."
Riley nodded. What an interesting and unexpected tidbit. "I can heal your Pokemon for you, if you like," the nurse offered. Riley accepted his offer, and handed over his five Pokemon. "You be careful climbing up the rest of this tree, okay?" Mr. Joy insisted. His client nodded and smiled, then headed farther up the protrusion-path.
This wooden protrusion was much longer than the others, and led higher up the tree. On it, Riley found a PokeBall. He opened it, and found inside an item. Who would be daring enough to leave a PokeCache up this high on a tree? He opened it. "Haban Berry. An item to be held by a Pokemon. If held, it will decreases damage taken by the holder from a single super-effective Dragon-type move." He picked the red berry carefully out of the tiny PokeCache Capsule. He decided to leave one here in case any other travelers were interested. He put one of the several PokeBalls that Professor Maple had entrusted him with into the PokeCache Capsule and he even attached a note with it.
There was a holographic keyboard being projected from the PokeCache Capsule so that Riley could leave a note with the item. He typed the following; "Someday, Chinocko will be spared of the threat of the invasive Rawbbit. Help our cause by catching one in this PokeBall, or any other."
He smiled and left the PokeCache Capsule where he had found the one containing the Haban Berry. He sure hoped someone would use it for the purpose he'd blatantly assigned to the PokeBall.
The protrusion abruptly stopped a couple paces away from where Riley had found the Haban Berry. He looked around him. Where was he to go? It took him some looking, but there was actually a ladder leading downward. He mounted it, not having expected to have had to look downward to find the way forward. There was a fancy DNA-like twist that made it so that the ladder went from facing the air around the tree to facing the tree. Riley assumed this had been done so that a platform wouldn't have had to be invested in, because the protrusion-path that this ladder led down to was directly underneath the one above. Not any bit to the side or forward. Directly underneath.
This lower protrusion-path led into another hollow. This one was charming, its protrusion-path generally sticking to the parameter of the tree. There was a charming water body in the middle of the huge, spacious cavern. The only problem is that the ladder leading to the wooden protrusion had fallen. Riley decided that, to help him think of how he would get up to the path, that he would take on the Rawbbit sitting on a lillypad in the middle of the body of water.
He reached into his bag. That's when he noticed something was missing. His entire body went stiff and cold. Where was the piece of that strange medallion he'd gotten from the woods at Route 1? He'd been told how important it was, and he couldn't afford to lose it!
Desperately, he rummaged through his bag. But it was simply not there! He relaxed himself. For now, he would just have to take on what was directly in front of him. He gave Rawbbit the Haban Berry and sent it to battle its relative!
Rawbbit used Dragon Pulse, its ethereal indigo fangs emitting the shock wave like they had before. The opposing Rawbbit became very weak immediately. It used Dragon Claw, slashing claws made out of that same indigo dragon aura at Riley's Rawbbit. Quickly, Riley's Pokemon ate the Haban Berry it had been given, and it was spared the full damage from the Dragon Claw. Riley threw a PokeBall at the Rawbbit in the interior pond!
It shook in the air as Rawbbit was turned into a white light and transported inside the capsule. It shook once when it landed on the lillypad, then it glowed gold. Rawbbit had been caught!
Just then, a thick log fell from the ceiling. It nearly landed on top of Riley, just barely missing his foot! But it ended up rolling towards the wall, and stopping right in front of the entrance. Riley realized that he could use it to climb up onto the protrusion-path. But instead, Riley walked back to Nurse Joy outside, and requested that he put the Rawbbit that he'd just caught in the PC back at the Pokemon Centre. Then, he scurried back to the spacious hollow.
Right as he got through the hole, he received a call on his PokeVice. "Hey Riley," it was Lillie, who had Saturnius sitting on her shoulder as she played with her French-braided hair that draped over the opposite shoulder in a similar way to how Lilly with a -y usually wore hers (save for the braids).
"Maple told me to tell you that she only expects two more Rawbbit from you. She's been keeping track of all the Rawbbit we've all caught and/or caused to faint. She also told me that she got a signal of a Roarbit from the top of the tree you're in and wants you to investigate. Got that? Okay, good luck! See you soon!"
Desperate to get his cracked medallion piece back, Riley decided to investigate more of the tree. Maybe, just maybe, that Roarbit had his medallion piece! He didn't have the option not to check. Because what if that was the case? What if he never got it back? What if it fell into Team Delta's hands?
Riley tightened the strap of his bag and puffed up his chest. He would take on that Roarbit so that it would stop causing trouble, whether it had his medallion piece or not!
He followed the long, charming wooden protrusion up the parameter of the great tree. Butterfly Pokemon were fluttering around in the air, as well as moth Pokemon, and even bee and ladybug Pokemon. At one point, Riley saw that there was an Aractric web that extended from the protrusion like a tightrope. His Dowsing Machine told him that there was an item across the tightrope, so he carefully crossed it. Like a miracle, he made it across safely. The tightrope led to a much smaller wooden protrusion than the others. There was an exit onto a wooden protrusion outside that was about the same size as its small indoor counterpart.
Apparently, the Aractric that had made the web was waiting out there. Had it lured him in by making its own PokeCache? If that was the case, Riley was extremely impressed by its intelligence.
He sent out Flaradillo! Aractric used String Shot, but Flaradillo managed to pull off its attack even through the web! It used Ember, coughing up a hot coal and launching it at Aractric! The Pokemon fainted from the flaming hot attack and its web went limp, letting Flaradillo escape.
Riley picked up the PokeCache that the Aractric was guarding. Inside, he found a Dubious Disk. What an odd place to find such an item... But Riley had more pressing concerns.
He returned to the main path and continued his climb up the winding protrusion path. This one led to a rather large exit hole. It was almost as if Riley was ascending into a new world, the light out here was so strong. The air was brisk, but not so much cold. The protrusion merged into a branch that had many fruitful leaves growing from it. This is where the guard railings stopped, so Riley would have to be very careful. Thankfully, though, there were wooden platforms set up on certain of the endless number of other giant branches that Riley could swing to using the vines that grew in convenient locations.
Before he could make his jump to the first vine, though, he got an alerting tone from a device of his. He checked his PokeVice, but it wasn't coming from there. He checked his PokeDex. Not from there either. The last device he checked, his Dowsing Machine, was the source of the alerting chime.
"Ella, from New Moon Town, has picked up your PokeBall that you left in a PokeCache in Tempura Woods!" read the notification. How odd. New Moon Town was small enough that Riley could name all of its residents, and none of them were Ella. Perhaps they'd just moved in? There was probably a much more valid reason to this than what he had in mind.
He hopped off the gigantic branch and just barely grabbed onto the target vine. He used his momentum to swing to the next branch, which had a platform with a relieving railing built onto it.
He landed, catching his balance when he did. He followed the wooden platform until it reached another vine. He jumped out to it and swung to the next platform. This one led onto a wooden bridge that balanced on top of a vine that was stretched out from branch to branch like the web thread had been in the interior.
Riley proceeded across the bridge where another wooden platform awaited. This one was very minimal and immediately opened into a row of swingable vines. Riley built up the courage to swing from each one of them and made it to the other side. The leaves here were so thick that they blocked out the light. Furthermore, this leafy cover led back inside the tree. There was a one-way hollow inside, but the entrance hole was small and let in little light.
Glowing mosses and fungi on the walls, however, illuminated the room.
There! In the middle of the room! The strange violet medallion shard! Riley dove for it, but a sticky tongue that left a slime that stung his hand grabbed it from him just as he'd gotten his fingers around it. He reeled, wiping the venomous liquid off of his hand and taking off his glove so that it wouldn't sting him. The long-tongued culprit was Rawbbit! It couldn't swallow the item because it was so large, and not edible, but the cruel Pokemon hopped away, keeping it securely in its lips.
Riley tried chasing it around the room, but couldn't keep up with its long jumps! Eventually, it started using its sticky feet to climb up the tree! Riley noticed a straight-up section of the interior bark that looked like it had been scratched lot by something that was likely trying to scale its edge. Riley sent out Ferrothorn from his PokeCaller and hopped on its back as it scaled the stripped wood.
The Rawbbit was sitting on a chunk of grassy ground that was stuck in an Aractric's sticky web. This web, though, looked way too thick and strong to be the work of a tiny little Aractric. Did Aractric have an evolution? Arceus, he hoped not.
He walked carefully along the web until he too was standing on the chunk of ground. It felt so good to feel dirt under his feet again, but on the other hand, he knew too much weight would cause this to come crashing down. He sent out Barksky! Barksky used Ice Fang, but it missed!
Rawbbit used Toxic, but it, too, missed its attack! Barksky tried using Ice Beam, this time! It hit Rawbbit, and the Pokemon jumped back in pain! It dropped the medallion, which got stuck on the sticky substance that was coating the spider web.
Rawbbit used Poison Jab, jabbing Barksky in an inconvenient and painful place. Barksky was poisoned! Riley hated to watch it suffer, but he knew it could hold out until the end of the battle!
It flinched, though, and Rawbbit used its flinch to land another attack on it! Another Poison Jab! Riley knew Barksky would pull through. He asked it sweetly to use Ice Beam. It did! And the Rawbbit was hit! It was now within a sliver of its health.
However, it popped a Sitrus Berry out from between two of the disgusting hard-as-stone boils on its body and ate it. It was visibly restrengthened. It used Sludge Bomb, launching a ball of its toxic spit at Barksky! Barksky nearly fainted, but held on! Even when it felt the pain from its poison. It used Ice Beam, and Rawbbit fainted! Right before he saw Barksky go unconscious from poison, he sprayed it with one of Professor Maple's Antidotes. It looked up at him with plenty of adoration and puffed up its fluffy chest as it was returned to its PokeBall.
Riley grabbed at the medallion, but when he touched his finger to it, it slipped off the web! A Roarbit much like the one that Team Delta's Leader used, only this one much stronger-looking, picked it up and ran off with it, out from the only way in or out of this particular hollow.
Riley gritted his teeth and growled. He had Ferrothorn carry him back down the stripped bark wall and ran out of the hollow as fast as he could. When he got outside, he witnessed the Roarbit using its acidic excretions to burn through a tall, rather large branch. It fell over, creating a bridge from this wooden platform area to a branch with a flat area that looked like it could be easily walked on, lucky for Riley. There was a vine there that didn't lead anywhere, but when Riley observed what was above the vine, he figured he would have to climb up it if he ever reached it. He watched the Roarbit scurry away from him, launching its poisons at the Pokemon that had fled from the falling branch.
One of them was a Concealpillar. The poor Pokemon had been underneath the base of the branch when it fell, and had tragically been killed, but the Roarbit seemed to relish in its unfortunate death. Another of the Pokemon was a Ledian. When Roarbit caught it flying away, it launched a ball of its poisonous excretion at it. It had no intent of eating it, it only wished to see it die. Its smile grew disturbingly wide when it witnessed the terrifying crack that the Pokemon's body made when it hit the tree's bark far below where it had been flying.
Riley knew he had to get that Pokemon. Not just get it. He wanted to kill it.