I found this chapter extremely fun (and funny) to write. I think you'll find it amusing as well, because I included some EarthBound references. It's been a couple years since I played that game on the Wii U Virtual Console, but it has stuck with me. I'm picturing this swamp area as looking much like Deep Darkness from that game.
In other news, we are now at over 75,000 words in this story. Sooner or later, the word count will be in the sextuple digits, and that'll be pretty cool. Enjoy this slightly shorter chapter.
"Here comes land up ahead" said Mr. Cheshire.
Lance had been paddling for so long that it felt as though his arms were about to fall off. By his own estimation, it had been a couple of hours, during which time he'd no doubt gotten bitten by about a million mosquitoes.
The hot Hoenn sun had only gotten hotter, too. It really did feel as though his skull was going to fry eventually, which was a very disturbing mental image that he would really rather not picture.
Based on that, he was fairly excited when he learned that there would be land in the near future. He was getting rather sick of all of this swamp.
It wasn't easy to see, but he could tell, far in the distance, that there was a patch that looked more solid than the rest of the swamp, and was a slightly lighter brown color. From this distance, it looked nearly indistinguishable from the swamp.
I hope it's not quicksand, Lance thought. Wouldn't they keep us away from the quicksand, for our own safety?
Almost immediately, it was as though Arceus spoke to him, mocking him for being so naive. LOL, NOOB!
Of course not. Since when did they prioritize our safety here? Next thing I know, they'll be subjecting us to tickle torture.
He shivered at the thought, despite the extremely hot day.
Eventually, they hit land. The sand looked fairly wet, but not nearly as wet as the rest of the swamp.
"We have a portage to make" their guide told them. "It's about a mile on foot to get to the other end of this sandbar. It's important to keep moving, because this is a mild form of quicksand here".
"Quicksand?" Brad piped up, sounding very different from his usual tough, masculine voice.
"Yes", Mr. Cheshire replied. "Quicksand. Defined as, 'loose wet sand that yields easily to pressure and sucks in anything resting on or falling into it'. That's what I am talking about". He spoke as though the Blaziken were in kindergarten.
"Great" Matt said. "I hope we don't sink".
"You won't, as long as you keep moving" Lance spoke up. Almost immediately, he got several glares.
Hey, I was just trying to reassure him, he mentally said to the others. It's not as though I did any harm just now.
"All right" Mr. Cheshire said. "Follow me, and carry your kayaks. Each recruit must carry their own kayak, nobody can carry two or zero. Got that?"
After everybody else nodded, Lance got out of his boat and stepped into the sand. Instantly, it sucked him down a few inches.
Mr. Cheshire wasn't kidding. This is bona fide quicksand.
Their guide led the way along the sandbar, with almost everybody else using his footsteps as guides for where it was okay to step and where it was not.
Lance had experienced minor quicksand on the beach where they had vacationed in Sinnoh. That could suck down one's feet a few inches, but, unless you were specifically trying to, you couldn't sink very deep there.
This was very much different; every step felt like a herculean effort. Lance quickly became short of breath, and the heat of the day certainly didn't help.
In addition, the kayak wasn't much lighter than it looked. Carrying it was also a difficult task, as it was very unwieldy in addition to being heavy. He had to be careful not to slam it into anybody else's head.
"This swamp is full of Zap Eels and Demonic Petunias" said their guide, sounding as though he had gone off his rocker. Certainly, those names seemed very interesting. "You want to avoid them at all costs, as they can be very dangerous".
I don't doubt it. With names like "Zap Eel" and "Demonic Petunia", I can only imagine.
As it turned out, it wasn't too hard to stay above the sand, as long as one kept moving. Lance's joints began hurting before long from the continued effort of having to lift his legs out of the muck.
With every step the others made, their feet made shallow imprints, before the sand rebounded and morphed back into its previous shape. Lance didn't want to look backwards, for fear of losing his balance and falling into the sand, but he could only assume that his footsteps were doing the same.
He supposed that the various mangrove trees were pretty enough, but it was eerie in another way. Lance could only imagine all of the diseases that were lurking in the depths of the swamp.
I got vaccinated against them, he thought. I know that the flu shot takes two weeks to build full protection...does this take that long? If so, that would mean that I don't have full protection against these diseases, either.
"We're halfway to the other side of the sandbar" said Mr. Cheshire.
By now, Lance was panting, gasping for air, even though he hadn't been underwater at all. It felt as though he were walking uphill, with all the effort it took to keep moving. Nonetheless, he kept on the move, following Mr. Cheshire and the other recruits, because he knew the consequences of stopping.
The second half of the portage felt interminable. The kayak felt as though it weighed a ton, with the oar adding seemingly another hundredweight. The sun was beating down with a vengeance.
Finally, they reached the other side of the sandbar. "This part has a little less quicksand, so you won't sink downwards. I'll show you guys the place to sit so that you can eat without worrying about sinking".
Mr. Cheshire led them to a part of the sandbar that looked like a usual white sand beach. It looked a lot more solid than the rest of the area.
"I brought peanut butter and jelly for each of you, as well as an apple for each person. You guys need to keep up your strength, because there's going to be a lot more ahead. We'll soon end up in the most dangerous part of the forest".
The most dangerous part of the forest.
As soon as he had heard those words, Lance had already decided that he wanted nothing to do with that. Unfortunately, he had made his bed, and now he would have to lie in it.
Their guide passed around the sandwiches, and the Lucario boy took his, trying to eat it slowly. It tasted heavenly, especially since he hadn't had any drinks of water. Mr. Cheshire also passed around water bottles, since it was important to stay hydrated when you were out here.
"From here on out, this place is kind of a maze. There are a lot of dead ends, where there'll be nothing but a lot of trees. So it's imperative that you guys follow me everywhere we go. Got that?"
He really seems to use those two words a lot, Lance realized. Is there any particular reason for that?
From this spot, the sun had a nearly direct angle to shine on the sand. There weren't that many trees too close to this part of the sandbar, so it felt hotter than ever, especially since it was now at least midday.
"You'll have to fight in some environments like this, once you're actually in combat" Mr. Cheshire told them. "It's important that you are familiar with this environment".
Lance was beginning to grow irritated with everything that the old man was telling them; it seemed like a lot of platitudes about things that might not end up being very important in the long term.
It was a relief when he announced that lunch was over, and they could get back in their kayaks. The Lucario boy pushed his to the edge of the water, and, when Mr. Cheshire gave them the all-clear, hopped in.
This part of the swamp did indeed seem more like a maze. The trees were packed more closely together, meaning that you had to be extremely careful not to hit any. What was more, the water looked dirtier and dirtier, and Lance was wondering if it was poisonous.
I don't want to fall in anyway, but now I REALLY don't want to fall in, Lance thought. I'd probably never get the smell out of my fur for a month. Claire would refuse to kiss me for a year.
Like she'd ever kiss you anyway, replied another part of his mind.
She would, Lance said, if I get through this swamp hike. It's going to be quite miserable, for sure.
He decided that he would try and exercise more restraint in terms of the thoughts he was having. It wasn't as though it would be easy; he fully expected it to be quite a long, hard slog to figure out how he could do that.
In having those thoughts, Lance realized that he had fallen well behind the rest of the group. They were barely visible, but it appeared that they were going in a single-file line in order to negotiate a gap they had found in the trees.
Mr. Cheshire's probably really mad at me for not paddling as hard as I should have, he realized. I can't afford to fall too far behind them, or I might lose track.
Paddling furiously, he tried to make up the distance. He didn't think it would be that hard - after all, he could see where they were. He wasn't going to fall any further behind.
But then the disaster struck.
Before he had transformed into a Lucario mysteriously, Lance had been taking driving lessons, since he had his learner's permit, and had logged roughly three hours of practice. One thing he had been taught was to look around objects in his way, not away from them, that he should hit the space rather than avoid the car.
This lesson applied when one was paddling a kayak, too. It was more important to focus on hitting the space in the water rather than avoiding the-
BANG! SPLASH!
Lance, having been moving quite quickly through the murky water, had crashed head-on into a mangrove tree. The shock caused the boat to capsize, and Lance fell into the swamp.
Thanks to the life jacket he was wearing, he didn't sink too far before he kicked his way to the surface. It was impossible to tell how deep the water was, only that it was much deeper than his height (which was six feet, two and a half inches tall).
Almost immediately, he began to panic. He was able to right the kayak, but, when it came time to climb back into it, he either used too little strength or too much.
The result of using too little strength was that he wouldn't be able to raise himself back into the kayak, while the result of using too much was that he accidentally turned the boat back over.
He hoped that someone, surely, would notice that he'd fallen in, and that one of them would come back and help him. However, no help was forthcoming, and Lance began to fear for his life.
He'd heard of Demonic Petunias and Zap Eels from Mr. Cheshire, but he hadn't thought that they really existed. Now, he couldn't be sure. There could be any number of creatures stalking him right now, wondering what those flailing Lucario legs tasted like.
I've got to get away from here, Lance thought. Somewhere that's shallow enough that I can climb back into my boat, because I need some ground to push off of.
I have an idea.
Lance hated the idea. However, it sounded like the best thing to do in order to get back into the boat.
The first thing he did was to take off his life jacket. That step would be necessary for what he was planning on doing next.
However, he was hit with a nasty surprise when a spear rose out of the water and hoisted the life jacket away from him. The spear moved, taking the PFD away with it.
Lance's first thought wasn't, Great, I'm without a life jacket.
It was, Oh shit, I'm doomed.
Indeed, it sure felt that way. He was stuck in the middle of a swamp that probably had all sorts of parasites and creatures all throughout it. And clearly, one of them was wielding a spear.
He imagined himself as speared Lance, served over a fire for dinner, with a side of fries. That wasn't an attractive proposal for him, and he shuddered at the thought.
Anyway...he now no longer had the life jacket. He knew that Lucario had pretty good underwater vision, so he would use that to his advantage.
Lance shuddered at the thought of what he was about to do. The thought of doing so almost made him want to get speared by whatever that was that doing the spearing.
Nonetheless, he did it anyway, taking a deep breath and then ducking his head underneath the water. He soon realized that that wasn't going to work, forcing himself back to the surface.
Eventually, he decided that he was going to dive down head-first. He did that and started swimming towards the bottom.
He'd read somewhere that Lucario could hold their breath underwater for a longer period of time than humans could. How much longer, that he wasn't sure of.
The plan was to reach the bottom of the swamp and then use his legs to push himself back up. It was a big bet, but he didn't see any other options, not unless he wanted to swim alongside his kayak until he found a place that was shallower.
Underwater, visibility wasn't great, although he was fairly sure that the depth was thirteen feet or so, roughly twice his height, or about the depth of the deep end at the local swimming pool. The sun shone through only weakly.
As soon as Lance's foot touched the bottom, it seemed to sink into it, and it became clear that this plan wasn't going to work as intended. He'd been intending to push off the swamp's floor, but it was too squishy to push off of.
Lance swam back to the surface, which wasn't much easier than swimming downwards. Something about this water felt heavier than usual, harder to maneuver around in. He had to fight to get there.
Gasping, he reached the surface of the water once more. Panting for air, he felt the strong southern sun dry off his aura sensing organs almost immediately. It had a drying effect even though it was extremely humid.
It was a relief to be back where he could breathe, but he had to put it all into perspective. He was now alone, stuck in the water, unable to get back into his boat. What was more, he had no idea where the other members of his group were.
I'm well and truly alone, he realized. I'm going to have a hard time catching up with them now. I don't even know which way they went!
Suddenly, he felt something slice into his left foot. He could tell instinctively that the cut wasn't deep, and it wasn't going to bleed very much; however, it was still very painful.
Was that a spear? Or something else?
Whatever the case, I had better get out of here and back into the kayak!
After swimming down and going back up for air, Lance didn't have the strength to get back in his kayak. However, he knew that blood attracted all sorts of animals, who would now be wondering what a Lucario's leg tasted like.
Holding on to the edge of the boat, Lance swam towards a grove of trees. He figured that, if there were trees, it was more likely that the water was shallow enough for him to stand. Once he was back in his kayak, he'd be able to move around a lot more, perhaps able to find his way back to the rest of the group.
Eventually, he was able to touch the bottom while keeping his head above the water. Just to make sure that he'd be able to climb back in, he waded until he was only waist deep in the swamp. Then, when he was convinced that he would be able to get back in, he went for it.
Pulling himself back into the kayak, Lance caught his breath once more. He noticed that his legs were very dirty indeed; the water had had more debris in it than even he had thought.
They can't have gone too far, he thought. If I paddle really quickly, I might catch up with them.
But then he remembered that he had no idea which direction they had gone, or how long it had been since he'd fallen in and lost the group. It was probably only ten or fifteen minutes; it couldn't have been too long.
That's still more than enough time for them to be irretrievably far away from me, Lance's mind told him.
Looking around, he couldn't tell where the others had gone, so he simply decided to force his way through these thickets of trees. He had to be careful not to crash into any of them, or else he might end up taking another unplanned swim.
Eventually, he reached another sandbar. Seeing that there was no other way around it that didn't require a good fifteen minutes of weaving around trees, he decided that he was going to make a portage here.
As he was walking across the sandbar, he stubbed his toe on something. Giving a brief yelp of pain, he dropped the kayak, wondering what the hell that had been.
It was an old-fashioned radio, just lying there, in the middle of the swamp.
What the fuck is that doing here?, Lance wanted to yell. Indeed, it might have been a good idea for him to yell, because, if the group was anywhere nearby, they might hear him and rescue him from this nightmare.
The radio belted out, "And now, for today's greatest hits, Rucka Rucka Ali's "I Can Do Whatever I'm White". Enjoy".
"SHUT UP!" Lance yelled. The sound of the radio was extremely annoying; all he wanted to hear was the chirping of crickets, or maybe the sounds of the group coming here to save him.
As the radio belted out lyrics about being in Detroit and running red lights, Lance resisted the urge to cover his ears. He knew that, if he did, he might not hear the sounds that he needed to hear in order to avoid something dangerous.
There are many dangerous swamp creatures about, Lance reminded himself. If covering my ears means having to listen to some Rucka tunes, so be it. I don't mind Rucka, anyway.
Soon enough, a spear rose out of the wet sand.
Ah, fuck. I'm not safe here.
A teal green fish that appeared to be walking on its own two feet appeared, looking at Lance with an absolutely murderous expression.
"Who are you?" the Lucario boy asked. He wondered if that wasn't the best thing to ask this fish; he didn't want to rile up a being with a spear in hand.
"I am a Manly Fish" replied the fish.
Lance couldn't help but laugh, in spite of the fact that a fish was pointing a spear directly at his heart. "That's your name? Manly Fish?"
"Sure is" the fish replied. "I am a Manly Fish, and, if you can't prove your manliness to me, you should suffer the consequences".
Lance's heart stopped. "What are those consequences?"
"You'll have to wait and see. One thing is for sure; you won't get out of this swamp too easily. Oh, no".
After he stuck his tongue out at Lance, the Manly Fish disappeared below the sand once again, leaving Lance to wonder exactly what was going on.
This is the most ridiculous place I've ever been, he thought. There's an old radio playing Rucka tunes, Manly Fish...what the hell is up with this place?
He continued his portage across the sandbar until he reached the other side. Once there, he paddled quickly once more, but more carefully this time. He didn't want to end up falling in again.
The heat was a little less intense now, thanks to the fact that the forest was thicker. However, Lance had no doubt that he was going to be guzzling water like a camel once he got back to the academy; he was feeling extremely thirsty after the swim and all that paddling and walking.
He didn't have any encounters with Zap Eels or Demonic Petunias here, which he was very grateful for. In his current state, feeling quite exhausted, he didn't think he would have been any match for them.
Also, now that he was out of the water, his wound was smarting a great deal. It wasn't bleeding, not that much, but he knew that it could easily get infected in the jungle. That was a far greater concern.
I'll get it taken care of once I get back there, he told himself. It'll be fine. All of this is going to be okay eventually.
It was hard to convince himself of this when he was in the middle of the swamp, completely alone.
But, as it would turn out, he wasn't alone for much longer.
After another hour of paddling, Lance thought he spotted a group of other canoes. They were paddling towards him.
No way, he thought. It must be a mirage. I'm just so tired and dehydrated that I'm seeing things. It's not like they're really coming for me...are they? Did I find them?
He saw a Blaziken and a Machamp paddling in his direction. "Lance!" he heard the Blaziken yell.
It was then that he realized that it wasn't just any Blaziken. It was Brad who was calling for him.
I found them again!
"You're okay!" Brad exclaimed. "Guys, he's all right! We found him!"
Almost immediately, a feeling of utmost jubilation came over the Lucario boy. Yes, he had been separated from the others, but it had all worked out okay. He'd found his way to meeting them again.
"But you're all wet…" Matt said. "Did you fall in, Lance?"
Lance nodded sheepishly, a little embarrassed to admit it. "Yep. I did" he replied, wanting to avoid the subject".
Once the two of them got closer, Brad was able to look at Lance a little more clearly. He saw that there was a large amount of dirty swamp water stuck to his fur, as well as to his face.
"You're going to want a shower when you get back".
I didn't get any questions on the last chapter, so I'll leave it at this. Looking forward to seeing what you guys think!