Hello and welcome to another chapter of Pokémon Journey: Hoenn!
Last time, the group met up with Mia again and she and Nicola fought a battle together in Kasena Town. Nicola and Mule emerged victorious in the end, thanks to their battle training.
Upload Date: 23rd February 2018
Chapter 52: A Sinister Shadow
Meteor Falls, Hoenn
3:14pm, 3rd June 2006
"Use Flamethrower!"
"Hang in there, Gulpy!"
"Now have Gulpy focus on forgetting what just happened!"
"Oh! I think it's working!"
There was great excitement on one of the paths leading up through Meteor Falls as Gulpy apparently forgot the attack she'd just taken. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a move named 'Amnesia', it was difficult to teach. It had only been with Nicola and Mule's coaching that Will and Gulpy had finally managed to get to grips with it. Still, at least the extended training session had been worth it.
After saying goodbye and parting ways with Mia earlier that morning, the group had set out from Kasena Town and finally embarked on their crossing of Meteor Falls. As the name suggested, this was a place that suffered from occasional meteor strikes. There had apparently once been many villages dotting the valleys and clinging to the slopes of the mountains, but the meteorites that kept hitting the area meant that it had gradually been abandoned. There was an eerie vibe to it, even though the mountains were open for trainers to explore. Perhaps that was helped by rumours that pokémon originating from space had been seen here?
Regardless, the group had been trying not to think too much about it. It was going to take a couple of days to cross and they wanted to make sure that they got through in good time. Though the scenery was impressive, this wasn't somewhere where they felt like taking a leisurely pace.
This attitude was part of why Will was relieved that he and Gulpy had actually managed to master Amnesia. The others were getting anxious about continuing forwards while they still had light.
"Right! Let's get moving again!"
Richard had been busy packing all of the stuff they'd gotten out for lunch away again while the others had been training. He held up James' backpack as he came over.
"Thanks."
As they quickly gathered the bags and got ready to move, James pulled out his guidebook once again. It was always worth double-checking the route ahead before setting off. There were so many little roads around here left over from when it was inhabited that it was very easy to lose their way. Every time they saw a turn off, they'd had to stop and double-check their location again, just to be sure. It was adding to the stress of being out here. The fact that they were stood in an area where meteorites were known to hit the ground regularly didn't help either.
"How much further do you think we'll be able to get today?"
"I think we can manage to get through to the next valley. There's an abandoned village ahead of us through this forest. Once we're past that, we'll be down into the next valley and we can stop whenever we like."
"Sounds like a good opportunity to cover as much ground as possible then!" Richard grinned as he shouldered his bag. "Shall we get going then?"
"Right behind you!"
"Don't forget to put Gulpy back in her poké ball, Will!"
"Ah, sorry!"
The artificial sound of the recall beam striking Gulpy and returning her to the ball filled the silence of the mountain as they began walking once again.
3:37pm, 3rd June 2006
While other people found abandoned evidence of former human presence eerie and unnerving, this wasn't the case with Richard. He came from Pewter City, which had no shortage of abandoned buildings. After spending so much time hanging out in places like that with his friends when he was younger, he often found himself feeling relatively at home among abandoned buildings.
Despite this, even he found the old buildings in the abandoned village unsettling as they passed through. Perhaps it was the occasional rocks that they saw lying in small craters on the ground. Several houses looked like they were falling apart and others had had their roofs knocked in, either by the elements or by a direct hit from above.
There was a subtle difference between this place and the abandoned sites Richard could remember from Pewter City. Those back home were places that humans had chosen to leave, whereas this was somewhere that they felt they couldn't stay in. It made the village seem even more forlorn.
"Watch out for broken glass."
James was further ahead, looking around. At his suggestion, they'd recalled their pokémon to their poké balls. There was no telling what kind of danger these derelicts could pose to them. They were already trying to keep as close to the centre of the road as possible, just in case one of the nearby buildings collapsed.
"I don't like this place. It feels like there's something watching us from somewhere."
Nicola glanced around skittishly as she spoke. There was a distant clatter and all four of them jumped in fright. It was probably a roof tile slipping, or maybe even a meteorite hitting the ground, but that didn't stop a brief panic taking over.
"C-Could that be a ghost throwing things?!"
"N-Normally, I'd say that you were imagining things, but I really don't like this place either!"
"Wow, even Will is feeling intimidated? I guess this place really could be haunted!"
Though Richard said that, Nicola's comments had suddenly made him very aware as well. Now he couldn't shake off that feeling of being watched either. It was an intense feeling, like something was really staring at him maliciously.
As they passed the village centre, he threw a glance over his shoulder. For a split second, he though that he could see something gleaming in the shadows beneath the trees. He looked closer but couldn't see anything further. He frowned as he turned back to follow after the others. It was unusual for him to end up spooked in places like this. Very unusual.
Fortunately, they soon reached the far side of the village, itself built in a clearing in the forest. As they followed the uphill slope towards the ridge of the mountain, the abandoned site gradually disappeared behind the trees. It was once again completely empty of human presence.
10:26pm, 3rd June 2006
"The sky seems clearer here. It's like I can actually see the stars properly."
"Well, we're a long way from civilisation after all. It doesn't seem that strange to me."
"I guess you could call that an advantage of this place…"
"No pressure, but shouldn't we start thinking about heading to bed soon? You were saying that we should try and make as much progress as possible tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, you're right, Richard."
After leaving the abandoned village, the group had continued on for some time before finally stopping to set up camp on an open patch on a clifftop on the mountain. The pine forests surrounded them on all sides, with the tops of the trees below reaching high enough to stand above the cliff edge. It was pitch black in the surrounding forest, with only the silhouettes of trees against the starlit sky marking their presence. Aside from the sunlight and the distant glow of the moon, their only source of light was the campfire they'd built after stopping.
They'd eaten dinner and washed up after it a long time ago. They'd decided to stay out for longer just so that they could see the stars – it was a clear night and it was still relatively warm outside, so it seemed like a shame not to take advantage of it. Sadly, none of them knew any of the constellations, but it was still nice just looking up at them.
Still, Richard was right and they couldn't stay out here all night. It was better to get an early start and make some progress towards the other side of Meteor Falls.
"I guess we should finish taking all of this stuff in."
Nicola looked around at the scattered assortment of camping stools, pots and other things around their campsite.
"Ah. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. It might rain in the night and ruin them. Can you help her, Will?"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to put the fire out. Make sure you turn on the light in the tent."
As they started moving things about, they suddenly heard a brief whoosh. The fire seemed to flicker more than normal, like it was being blown by the wind. Then they heard a startled cry from nearby.
The pokémon started panicking and running back towards them. Richard could make out a black streak rushing at them, each time it seemed to strike, a pokémon toppled over and crashed to the ground.
"What's going on?" Nicola yelped in fright, dropping the camping stool she was carrying and scurrying over towards the rest of them. As she came over, she suddenly cried out in pain as something whipped past her.
"Are you okay?" Richard called.
"My arm! It hurts!"
Whatever was suddenly attacking them had raked her arm with its claw, leaving her with a nasty gash. Whatever it was clearly wasn't friendly and wasn't something that they could take lightly.
"Go and get some disinfectant from the first aid kit! Make sure you clean the wound!" James called to Richard. He glanced over at Charka, who had stopped retreating and was now stood by the campfire, his eyes darting around as the attack continued. "I need you to use Fire Spin, Charka!"
With a grunt, Charka built up some fire in his mouth and shot out a jet of flames. It struck the ground just behind Mushy, who was fleeing the attacker, and burst into a brilliant vortex of flames. Orange light illuminated the camp as the pokémon scrambled to re-join their trainers, but there was no sign of whatever had been attacking them. Just as quickly as it had appeared, it had vanished again. It was like a shadow, disappearing when there was light.
"I think it's gone," said James.
"Are you sure? It might come back again once Charka's fire wears off."
"We'll worry about that in a second. How's Nicola?"
"I'm doing – oww!"
"Hold still!"
Richard wiped the cut on Nicola's arm with some cotton wool soaked with disinfectant, clearing away the blood. The wound looked much worse than it actually was. As long as they kept it covered to prevent infection, it would probably heal up pretty quickly.
"So, what do we do now?"
Will returned to them, carrying the remainder of the stuff they'd been taking inside.
"Yeah. We might get attacked again in the night…"
"We don't even know what attacked us – did anyone get a good look at it?"
"No, not at all. That's why I wanted Charka to light up the campsite."
There was silence for a couple of seconds.
"Well, we don't need to worry about the identity of our attacker. It was almost certainly a wild pokémon, so we just need to think about how we can prevent it from attacking us again."
"I'm kinda afraid to go to sleep while it's still out there…should we try and hunt it down?"
James shook his head. "I think that would make things even worse. Then we'd be in its territory without a way to meaningfully fight back."
"I agree with Nicola though – trying to sleep while it's out there doesn't appeal at all!"
"How about we have the pokémon stand guard then?" Richard asked. "They can rest in their poké balls tomorrow while we're travelling."
"That's a good idea in theory, but…"
The pokémon didn't look wholly enthusiastic about it either. No surprise, really. Who would want to stay out here against an opponent that seemed to strike them without warning and without them really having a chance to fight back. Trying to get them to stand guard through the night seemed like a tough task.
Fortunately, there were a couple of pokémon who didn't seem as fazed.
Charka didn't look that bothered by the whole thing. Sure, the attack had caught him off-guard, but it seemed to have fled from his flames pretty quickly. Nothing to worry about.
Similarly, Mule hadn't once broken into a run as she plodded after the others. She clearly recognised what was going on, as she'd wandered over to her trainer to look at her injury, yet she didn't seem to be all that afraid of whatever was out there.
"I guess we'll have these two do it then," said James.
"Just two?"
"It should be fine. They'll be working together and can support each other with fire-type attacks. The attacker fled after we used Fire Spin, so I think we can assume that it either doesn't like light or otherwise can't move around unless it's in darkness."
"Fair. Well, I'm in favour of it."
"Same, though I still don't know how much sleep I'll get tonight…" Nicola sighed.
James turned to look at the two fire types.
"I guess we'll be counting on you to keep us safe tonight. We don't know if whatever attacked us will come back, but make sure that you keep an eye on all sides of the tent. If something happens, then wake us up."
Charka and Mule both nodded as the trainers and the other pokémon disappeared back into the tent. Behind them, the campfire crackled as it continued burning. No one wanted to put it out now.
Though it was a restless night for those trying to sleep, there was no further sign of their attacker.
6:47pm, 4th June 2006
The following day was largely uneventful as well. The trainers had been on guard all through breakfast and while taking down the tent and packing up all of their things. The surrounding forest had continued to look dark and foreboding, helped by the dark clouds over Meteor Falls that day. The rain had made them uncomfortable as they walked, and they hadn't been able to shake off the unsettling feeling of being watched either.
Richard couldn't help but think that their mysterious attacker was still following them, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Still, the day passed without anything significant happening and the group soon found themselves looking for a place to stop for the night as they made their way along the valley.
"This seems like a good spot. Will! Help me get the tent up!"
"On it!"
As James and Will started unpacking the tent, Richard and Nicola worked to rig up a tarpaulin to cover their proposed cooking area. With the thick clouds in the sky, it had become much darker than normal for this time of day and it was a little difficult to see exactly what they were doing.
"Hold it there for a second! I'll just set this last pole up!"
Nicola held the tarpaulin in place as Richard took the pole now tied to one corner and worked it into the ground. He gave it a wobble – seemed secure.
"Phew!" Nicola let go of the tarpaulin and moved underneath it. Zaggy, Tricky and Naro were quick to follow her, eager to shelter from the rain. Arro lingered by the side, as if trying to decide whether or not he wanted to join them.
"Good work," said Richard. "I guess we need something else to do now."
"Should I get started on dinner?"
Nicola looked over at James expectantly as she waited for an answer.
"You could start setting up the stove! Once Will and I have got the tent up, I'll come over and help prepare everything!"
"Alright!"
"What should I do? Do you want a hand?" Richard called over to the others, handing Nicola his bag so that she could start unpacking the stove.
"Don't worry! We've got it handled!" Will called back.
"I've got an idea for something you could do though – think you could go and patrol around the edge of camp?"
"I guess I could, but why?"
"You know, in case we get attacked again like we were yesterday!"
"Urgh!" Richard shuddered at the thought. Still, James had a point – it would be better to discover it sooner rather than later. "Fine, I'll do it!"
He stepped out from the under the tarpaulin and beckoned to Arro, who scurried after him. There was no way he was going out on patrol without some kind of support and Arro's steely body would be perfect for resisting those sharp claws.
Their chosen campsite was located a short distance away from the path they'd been following that day. The ground was flat and overlooked the bottom of the valley, but the steep slopes of the mountain and the thick forests that accompanied them started quite close behind the camp.
Richard had a feeling that this was where they were most at risk from and decided to head there first. Arro trotted alongside him, looking around warily at his surroundings. The forest was dark and gloomy, full of shadows that made the two of them initially reluctant to stray inside. An attack seemed almost inevitable if they went beyond the trees.
Instead, they skirted around the outside of the forest, watching the interior carefully without stepping beyond the treeline. Behind them, they could hear the others calling out to each other as they worked on setting up the campsite. Apparently, James and Will had finished putting up the tent and were moving on to preparing dinner-
Richard felt a sudden rush as a dark form shot out of the forest and slammed into Arro.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed as Arro stumbled to the side in fright.
Just as quickly as the first, the darkened blur of their attacker, seemingly like a shadow itself, struck again. This time, Arro managed to hold his ground and the shadow bounced back into the forest.
"Pull back!"
Arro followed Richard's order and started retreating towards the campsite. If they'd been hoping that the enemy would be afraid to follow them, however, then they were to be disappointed.
"Watch out!"
A shadow sprang forwards again and struck Arro, knocking him backwards. It finally settled on the grass in the open between Richard and the forest. It was a small, dark purple creature with gleaming eyes and a toothy grin, watching them carefully for any openings.
"You found it?"
James, Will and Nicola had come running over at the sound of the commotion. They stopped behind Richard and Arro and looked at the pokémon opposing them.
"What is it?"
Richard pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it over at the pokémon.
"Sableye, the darkness pokémon. Sableye lead quiet lives deep inside caverns. They are feared, however, because these pokémon are thought to steal the spirits of people when their eyes burn with a sinister glow in the darkness. Sableye dig the ground with sharpened claws to find rocks that they eat. Substances in the eaten rocks crystallize and rise up to the pokémon's body surface."
"Look out!"
Richard glanced back upon hearing Nicola's yell. The sableye had charged forwards again, so fast that it blurred back to looking like a shadow again.
"Arro! Stay defensive for now!"
Arro nodded. He stiffened his steel armour just in time, causing the sableye's claws to simply bounce off. It didn't seem fazed though and quickly jumped around for a second attack. Arro held back and fended off this one as well.
Richard wanted to counter attack, but he could see that the sableye was still mounting attacks of its own with increasing viciousness. It was all Arro could do to hold on for now.
As the sableye slashed at him again and again, he suddenly emitted a loud burst of sound, like that of metal grinding. The humans all clutched their ears in pain, as did the sableye. It stumbled backwards, momentarily stunned and disoriented by the strength of the sound.
"Metal Sound?"
James winced in pain as he recognised the move. Richard, meanwhile, had spotted their opening.
"Go! Attack!"
Arro cloaked one of his claws in steel and lunged forwards. The power of the swipe sent the sableye flying backwards. It crashed into a tree and disappeared into the shadows.
"Get ready!"
Arro and the trainers all watched the treeline intently, waiting for the sableye to re-emerge and strike against. After about a minute, however, they finally relaxed.
"Is it gone?"
"I guess it's the kind of pokémon that gives up if you fight back."
"How anticlimactic…"
Not that it mattered. They were just glad that it had finally disappeared. There was always the risk of further attacks though, especially if there were other sableye around in the area. They'd need to look out while travelling the following day.
There was a grunt from Arro, causing everyone to look back at him. A sudden glow enveloped him as his body started to change, growing larger and bulkier. As the light surrounding him faded, his far heavier body sagged closer to the ground. Most of his body was now grey, with only his back and the top of his head retaining the white colouring of his old form.
"Wow! Congratulations, Arro!"
Richard grinned at him as he knelt down to pat him on the head. His armour felt just as tough and hard as it had before.
Arro grinned back at him tiredly before turning to start trudging back over towards the campsite. He'd earned a rest.
"Arro was tough enough as an aron! How much more powerful do you think he is now?"
"Let's have a look at the Pokédex!"
The other three looked at Richard.
"Do you want to do the honours?"
"Sure."
Richard pulled out his Pokédex again and pointed it at Arro.
"Lairon, the iron armour pokémon and the evolved form of aron. Lairon feed on iron contained in rocks and water. They make their nests on mountains where iron ore is buried. As a result, these pokémon often clash with humans mining the iron ore. When two lairon meet in the wild, they fight for territory by bashing into each other with their steel bodies. The sound of their collision carries for miles."
"I'm really looking forward to my next gym battle now!"
Richard grinned at Arro as he put his Pokédex away.
"What are we going to do about the sableye? Do you think it might come back?"
Nicola looked at the others in concern.
"We'll have patrols until we go to bed, then we'll have to set up another guard shift. Don't worry, we're not going to just ignore it!"
James was quick to reassure her.
"But who's going to be on guard duty?" Will asked. "Since it's raining, it would be really unfair on Charka and Mule to make them do it again."
"Perhaps we can give the water types torches?"
"…That might not actually be a bad idea."
"Really? I thought he was joking!"
Even though they were still worried as they walked back over to their campsite to start cooking dinner, the subconscious awareness of something watching them had slipped away. They weren't going to be easy pickings after all.
10:32am, 5th June 2006
"Ugh! Why did the rain have to continue today!"
Nicola let out a loud groan as she followed the others along the valley path. The weather hadn't improved since the previous day. In fact, it might have gotten worse. Still, they didn't want to stay in one place – they needed to cross Meteor Falls, for one thing. They also still felt uneasy about the sableye.
"I didn't hear anything in the night, so I wonder if we managed to finally drive it off?"
"I felt like we were being followed yesterday, but it doesn't feel that way today."
"Perhaps. I'll only be satisfied if we haven't seen it again before this time tomorrow."
"I have to wonder if the guidebook mentioned anything about this. Ghost pokémon attacking passing trainers from the shadows seems like the kind of hazard you'd want to warn people about."
Will glanced at James as he spoke, silently asking for his opinion.
"I don't remember reading anything. It could just be a single rogue wild pokémon though and it might have only arrived in the area recently."
"I guess that's a possibility."
"Well, either way I'm just glad that it doesn't seem to be bothering us for now."
Richard stretched his arms out in front of him, watching the raindrops thudding down on them. He glanced around at the others.
"Let's focus on getting through the rest of Meteor Falls – I'm looking forward to getting back to civilisation!"
"Wow! This place really is abandoned, huh?"
"I don't know why that surprises you, Dan. We knew that Meteor Falls was abandoned a long time ago."
"Do you think that the buildings might collapse, Corey?"
"Don't get too close to them, just in case. Suzy, you said that we need to get into the next valley before changing direction, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. I'm looking forward to getting away from this village – Meteor Falls is dangerous enough with all the meteorites without having to worry about this place collapsing on us as well."
"I guess we'd better hope that the Spirit of Meteor Falls doesn't attack us then!"
"Spirit of Meteor Falls? What do you mean by that, Corey?"
"Didn't you hear that rumour in Kasena Town? About a ghost pokémon that was supposedly left behind when the villages here were abandoned?"
"Oh! I remember! You mean the one that supposedly attacks trainers because it wants revenge on humans?"
"I-Is that true, Dan?"
"Oh, of course it isn't, Suzy!"
Corey turned to look at her and grinned confidently.
"It does seem like the sort of story that would be spread about a place like this," Dan said. "But I don't think that anyone seriously believes it."
"That's a relief…"
Suzy sighed as she continued walking after them. She thought she heard the sudden snapping of a tree branch behind them and spun around. The forest beyond the village was dark and gloomy and she couldn't make anything out. It must have just been her imagination. Frowning, she turned back to follow after Corey and Dan.
If she'd looked back for just a little longer, perhaps she'd have spotted a pair of eyes suddenly gleam as a toothy grin appeared in the darkness…
I thought that somewhere like Meteor Falls would be rife with abandoned elements of civilisation, which in turn feeds into the presence of ghosts and whatnot. The main conflict of the chapter ended up melting away as the sableye gave up, but I'm sure that's a realistic interpretation of how some wild pokémon would act.
Richard and Arro have come a long way from their initial conflict with one another, but the developments this chapter hopefully show how much stronger they've grown over the last 24 chapters.
There's not really much more to say about this chapter. It's filled some of the time nicely, but I don't think that we're quite one with Meteor Falls just yet…
As ever, I appreciate any feedback you have on this chapter and don't forget to leave a like on the Facebook page.
Until next time!
Team Listings:
James Burton:
Active:
Charka (Charmeleon): male, naïve, often scatters things, likes sweet food, fire type, Blaze ability, knows Fire Spin, Smokescreen, Flamethrower and Metal Claw.
Kacha (Pikachu): male, modest, sturdy body, likes dry food, electric type, Static ability, knows Thunderbolt, Agility, Brick Break and Thunder Wave.
Nulin (Wingull): male, impish, highly persistent, likes sour food, water-flying type, Keen Eye ability, knows Mist, Water Pulse, Supersonic and Aerial Ace.
Muro (Loudred): male, careful, loves to eat, likes bitter food, normal type, Soundproof ability, knows Howl, Stomp, Screech and Uproar.
Richard Winter:
Active:
Naro (Nidoking): male, mild, sturdy body, likes dry food, poison-ground type, Poison Point ability, knows Thrash, Megahorn, Poison Sting and Double Kick.
Chena (Mightyena): male, docile, capable of taking hits, eats anything, dark type, Intimidate ability, knows Take Down, Howl, Swagger and Bite.
Dish (Lombre): female, gentle, capable of taking hits, likes bitter food, water-grass type, Rain Dish ability, knows Rain Dance, Growl, Mega Drain and Nature Power.
Arro (Lairon): male, naïve, loves to eat, likes sweet food, steel-rock type, Sturdy ability, knows Metal Sound, Iron Tail, Iron Defence and Take Down.
Vortex (Baltoy): genderless, lonely, sturdy body, likes spicy food, ground-psychic type, Levitate ability, knows Rapid Spin, Psybeam, Mud Slap and Rock Tomb.
Nicola Hewitt:
Active:
Kipa (Marshtomp): male, quiet, somewhat vain, likes dry food, water-ground type, Torrent ability, knows Take Down, Bide, Mud Shot and Water Gun.
Mushy (Shroomish): female, calm, likes to relax, likes bitter food, grass type, Effect Spore ability, knows Mega Drain, Headbutt, Stun Spore and Leech Seed.
Zaggy (Zigzagoon): male, adamant, quick to flee, likes spicy food, normal type, Pick Up ability, knows Tackle, Rest, Headbutt and Dig.
Tricky (Electrike): male, quirky, somewhat of a clown, eats anything, electric type, Lightningrod ability, knows Bite, Spark, Quick Attack and Howl.
Mule (Numel): female, docile, often lost in thought, eats anything, fire-ground type, Oblivious ability, knows Ember, Magnitude, Amnesia and Take Down.
Will Burton:
Active:
Toya (Wartortle): male, modest, very finicky, likes dry food, water type, Torrent ability, knows Rapid Spin, Bite, Water Gun and Withdraw.
Turkey (Swellow): male, mild, alert to sounds, likes dry food, normal-flying type, Guts ability, knows Aerial Ace, Steel Wing, Double Team and Quick Attack.
Gulpy (Gulpin): female, mild, nods off a lot, likes dry food, poison type, Sticky Hold ability, knows Pound, Amnesia, Sludge and Poison Gas.
