TEAM: Twigs (Grookey)

Author's POV

The two trainers hurried as the path got darker from the looming shade of the Slumbering Weald. Even if the day was still very young, their trek into the forest had them traverse under trees thick enough to obscure much of the sunlight above.

Hop offered to walk ahead of Flare, knowing he had two Pokémon instead of her one. "Stay close to me, mate." He narrowed his eyes at a bend over the bridge ahead. "It gets foggy from here. It only seems like it'll get harder to see."

Buddy also helped lead the way while Sev was withdrawn into his Pokéball. Even if the little Sobble cowered in a place like this, Twigs vigilantly kept her spot on Flare's shoulder.

"Sheeeeeep!" Buddy bleated into the foggy unknown. There was no response.

Keeping a close grip on Hop's sleeve, Flare looked around and tried to make anything out from her surroundings. But the further they got in, her glasses just fogged up. They couldn't even hear Sheep's trotting anymore.

Still, they pressed onward. Even if their line of sight continued to grow more obscure as they went, they kept close and kept going.

"How far does this place go?" Hop spoke up. "I can't even see my own hand in front of my face at this point."

Flare wanted to respond, but despite hearing Hop's voice close by, she realized she couldn't even see him.

She suddenly stopped in place when the fog around magically started to clear. It suddenly dispersed, just enough so she could see that she and Hop were standing in the middle of a clearing where the fog swirled.

"A clearing?" Flare cautiously looked around her, Twigs just as cautious. "How far have we been walking?"

Hop paused. "I must've lost track of time… how far was that Dubwool running?"

A guttural noise suddenly came from the fog. It was enough to put the two trainers on edge and freeze on the spot.

They stood at the clearing's center, staring at opposite ends of it as the sound repeated again, growing louder.

Hop kept a close eye on his steadfast Wooloo while keeping his gaze fixed ahead. "Flare… does your Dubwool know Growl?"

She gulped, keeping a hand on her Grookey for safety. "She's never made any noise like that…"

"So if it's not your Dubwool, then-"

The growls became louder. It was then that a blue disheveled wolf walked into view in front of Flare, teeth bared and making a low growl.

Flare stood on guard as the beast slowly approached her. "Hop… what Pokémon is that?!" Twigs tried to growl back.

It was then that the two trainers backed into each other. "My Pokédex isn't reading anything!" Hop cried out, staring down another disheveled growling wolf, this one having red fur instead.

Twigs hopped off Flare's shoulder and stared down the blue wolf, brandishing her stick. "If you wanna touch my lass, you're gonna have to get through me!"

Buddy did the same, standing defiant in the face of the large red beast. "Shoooooo!"

Sev suddenly let himself out of his Pokéball to do the same. "Y-Yeah, shoo!"

The two trainers found themselves surprised to see their Pokémon willingly defend them like this. All the while the two growling wolves continued to slowly close in, teeth snarling as the mist pooled around them.

Both trainers stayed on the defensive, too shaken up to call out any commands.

Then, in eerie unison, both of the wolves tilted their heads to the sky and howled. As they did so, the fog returned in full force, rushing like a flood threatening to engulf everyone in the clearing.

Flare immediately caught on to spreading fog and scrambled to get a Pokéball from her bag. "I won't be able to see you, Twigs! Come back!" She quickly withdrew the Grookey into the ball before the fog could swallow her. As the fog engulfed Flare, she braced for whatever impact might come as she held Twigs' Pokéball close.

Hop did the same. "We need to get back, you two!" He quickly took out their Pokéballs and withdrew them as the fog swallowed him up too.

The two trainers once again found themselves losing their vision to the dense amounts of cloudy white around them. As the fog continued to spread, they tried calling out for each other, but their senses started to dull as they began to collapse.

As the two fell, their fading senses still caught the sounds of the two wolves howling.

Flare's POV

All I remembered was the sound of howling and suddenly passing out. I just hoped Hop and Twigs were safe.

It took me long before I could stir again, but my senses were still groggy. I barely managed to hear… voices?

"... pure of heart…"

"... compassionate bonds…"

"... worthy…" The third voice was new to me. I could've chalked the other two deep voices to maybe being those wolves talking, but this sounded different.

And then nearby footsteps were leaving. Large heavy footsteps were followed by… normal steps?

Any sign of them quickly left earshot and brought back silence. With nothing left to hear, it seemed like my senses were fading again…

I heard different footsteps coming this way, accompanied by flapping wings.

"Hop! Flare!"

The sound of Leon's voice was enough to wake up the rest of my senses and bring me back to consciousness.

My eyes opened to see that I was still in the clearing, except the fog wasn't nearly as dense and barely knee level. All the while my hands firmly clutched Twigs' Pokéball, which continued shaking in my grip. As soon as I realized this, I loosened my protective grip just a little bit, which immediately caused the ball to open and send Twigs out. I was greeted to the sight of her looking up at me with a less than pleased look.

"I dinnae know what you were thinking, I thought I was supposed to be protecting you!"

I groggily got to my feet. "Sorry, Twigs…" I bashfully smiled at her as I let her climb back onto my shoulder. "I just thought I'd be responsible for protecting you too."

"Aye, I can get behind that, but dinnae forget I can handle myself, lass." She quickly dismissed me and looked around. "But how's Sev? Where's that Hop lad?"

I looked to see Leon helping Hop to his feet. It took him a bit to properly stand up, too. Buddy and Sev came out to help him get up as well.

Hop put a hand to his head. "Lee? Charizard?" He hesitated, looking as if he still needed to adjust to his surroundings. "How'd you get here, Lee? You're pants with directions…"

Leon sighed with relief. "It was a good thing I had Charizard to guide me here… you had me worried sick! You know this place is off limits, don't you?"

Twigs hopped off my shoulder as I recalled what I knew now. "Guess now we know why thanks to those mad Pokémon we've never seen before…"

Hop's eyes widened and he clamored towards his brother. "That's right, Lee! There were these weird wolves that did something with the fog! My Pokédex couldn't scan them, either!"

Leon looked confused. "This place doesn't have any Pokémon. It was just known for the dense amounts of weird fog here. Are you sure that fog isn't gettIng to your heads? What were you even doing here?"

It was quickly coming back to me. "My mom's Dubwool! I saw her jump the gate here!"

"That's right!" Hop immediately spoke up after me. "Your mum's Sheep! We still need to find her!"

"Wait one second…" Leon cut Hop off by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sheep? Big sleepy looking Dubwool, right?" He hesitated. "She never left."

Me and Hop stared at each other, dumbfounded. I couldn't believe it. "What do you mean, never left?"

Leon just looked at us as if we were the ones who spewed something fake. "She was still by Judith's side, last I remember. This strange fog must be getting to your heads." He motioned to his Charizard. "Let's get out of here."

Before either of us could object, we were given a ride on Charizard right out of the Slumbering Weald. While it felt relieving to finally get out of the foggy forest, I still couldn't help but be uncertain about things. I knew what I saw. What happened to Sheep, and what was with those voices I heard? Was someone just playing a trick on us?

It felt a bit disorienting going from such a dark place back to the blue skies of Postwick. The sight of wild Wooloo and Butterfree frolicking about the fields almost made me forget the dangers behind me. Leon looked relieved too.

"I hope you two try to stay safe from now on." He sighed. "I still have visits to make before I head back to do my champion duties. Take care, you two!"

Before any of us could say anything, he was already on his Charizard's back and flying away. I could've sworn I heard him say "don't forget to have a champion time!" as his voice faded from earshot.

I watched him fly off into the distance, and once he was gone, it was just me and Hop standing there. In our awkward silence I was just left wondering what to make of all this.

"That was quite the journey we had, wasn't it, mate?" Hop suddenly spoke up. I looked to see he was smiling now. "Bet it'd make for an exciting chapter of my legend!"

I had a confused look. "What are you talking about?" Was he trying to lighten the mood? "Legend?"

He began to look excited again. "You know, the stories people would recall fondly and remember for generations to come!" He pumped his fists again and grinned at me. "I know Lee didn't believe us, but our time in the Slumbering Weald would make for a great champion origin story, don't you think?"

Even if I still didn't quite get it, his excitement got me smiling a bit too. "You? Champion?"

"Got that right!" He put his hands behind his head with a proud look. "I think I'm just about ready to be a real trainer now! I'm gonna win my way up with a team of my own and make it to—no—surpass Lee's level!"

His enthusiasm was practically contagious, catching more of my intrigue. "How do you even go about doing that?" I did watch a lot of the league matches with him, but all I saw was the battling.

His stance became giddily animated. "This year's Gym Challenge should be beginning soon! Trainers from all around the region go exploring to fight the Gym Leaders and make their way up to claim the champion title!" He took a second to glance towards his house. His tone grew serious for a bit. "Tell you what, Flare. Meet me near Route 1 in a bit, you oughta head home to see your mum first after what just happened!"

Sheep's disappearance almost slipped my mind. "You're right! I better get going!"

As we both split up I quickly looked towards my shoulder to see Twigs absent. Thankfully I caught her nearby catching up to me. I must've somehow missed the part where she jumped off.

I slowed down to let her climb back up. "Where have you been?"

"Dinnae fret 'bout me, Flare. Was just having a wee talk with Sev, is all." She looked proud of herself. "Not often I see the lad as courageous as he was in that forest."

I smiled at her. "You were really brave too."

She smiled back. "Glad I could say the same about you."

With my Grookey back with me I managed to run back home. As soon as I reached the house, I quickly swung open the door to find my mom watching some TV by the living room couch.

She noticed me coming in and wrapped her arms around me. "Flare, dear! It's a good thing Leon went in to get you two back…" She withdrew to give me a worried look. "Why did you run off?"

"It was because of Sheep! I saw her running off into the forest, and there were these wolves, and…" I trailed off when I saw the large Dubwool on the living room rug. She looked the same as she did that morning, as if she never left that spot.

It seems Mom caught me staring too. She looked even more concerned. "Flare, dear…"

I had the urge to sigh. "You're not gonna believe me either, are you?"

Mom actually… smiled at me? "I believe you, Flare." And she sounded sincere, too.

Twigs suddenly spoke up, looking Mom in the eye. "Listen 'ere, ma'am, I know we must sound utterly crazy to ya, but I can say that I saw what she saw and…" She caught herself. "Wait, you actually believe us?"

I was in disbelief too. "You really do?"

She nodded, still smiling sweetly. "What kind of mother would I be if I didn't trust my daughter?"

I sighed with genuine relief. It felt like a weight had just been lifted off my shoulders while at the same time I just wanted to collapse in my mom's arms.

My mom took us to the kitchen table where we could "talk it over tea" as always. It felt nice to be in a safe space after what happened, especially since Mom actually listened to me throughout.

She sipped from her cup. "So Leon didn't believe you?"

I nodded. "We saw what we saw, but still…" I chanced a glance at the living room. That mysterious Dubwool was still sleeping. "Since Leon was right about what happened to Sheep, I'm not sure what to think anymore…" I tried to take a drink to distract myself. "You were with Sheep, right? Did she actually run off like I saw?"

Mom hesitated for a second, as if trying to think. "She was there during the barbecue, yes, but then I noticed both you and her went missing. I immediately ran home and saw her napping on the rug."

"She was…" I trailed off in disbelief. "I could've sworn I saw her jumping the fence. Hop and Twigs were there with me, too."

I looked over to Twigs to see her sitting on the table, helping herself to her own cup. It was at least amusing to see how our normal tea cups needed her to use both paws to hold.

"Aye," she added, helping herself to a sip. "I dinnae know what Leon was talking about. There were five of us there who saw the whole thing, the sheep and the wolves and all of it."

"Hmm…" Mom just gave us sympathetic looks. Were we really wrong after all? "I'm sorry to say it, dears, but while I still believe you about the wolves, Sheep really was here the whole time."

I felt a bit distraught at the mention until… "Wait, the wolves?" Out of all the things to believe us in… "Even after what happened, you still choose to believe the wolf part specifically?"

Mom slowly nodded, her earnest smile returning. "I actually know quite a bit about the Slumbering Weald. I did choose to have the house here."

Now that she mentioned it, I did wonder why our house was next to a spooky forest. "So wait… are there actually wolf Pokémon in there?"

Her gaze trailed off, as if fondly remembering something. "I do remember heading in there, long before you were born. It was just as foggy, just as desolate, and wild Pokémon didn't want to live there. And just like everyone believed, you couldn't find any Pokémon there."

It was then that I noticed Banana on the seat next to her. She pet him and smiled.

"Banana was with me, too. We headed in there to find Pokémon to catch, but we didn't find anything." She frowned for a second. "That is… until we heard something big growling. Like a guardian. It was definitely the wolf Pokémon you saw."

I blinked. She never told me this before. "You actually saw the wolves? What did you do?"

Her smile returned. "I did what any sensible person would do, dear. I picked up Banana and ran out of there as fast as I could!" She chuckled and placed Banana in her lap. Aren't… Munchlax really heavy? "You did the same before you passed out, didn't you?"

"Well…" My tone grew meek. "I only just got Twigs, so I still wasn't used to going to new places alone. I wouldn't have gone in there if Hop didn't come with me. Though, we both just stood our ground when the wolves came…"

"Hop came with you, did he?" Mom looked pleased. "He's a good kid for sticking with you. Good on you both for not leaving each other behind, too. How is he, anyhow?"

"Hop?" I thought back to what he said outside. "He said something about a Gym Challenge that he'll join… Now that you mention it, he said I should meet him later."

Her eyes lit up. "The Gym Challenge, you say? You should give it a try now that you have a Pokémon, dear!"

Mom's sudden shift in enthusiasm surprised me. My eyes widened. "Hop said it had something to do with exploring the region, so wouldn't I have to leave home?"

She nodded, still smiling.

I hesitated. "And you're okay with this?"

"I don't see why not, dear! I've been waiting for the day you'd take it like your father and I did! Don't you want to be a good battler like the trainers you've seen on the telly?"

I thought back to all the matches I watched with Hop. It never crossed my mind that I could be in one of those stadiums one day, let alone to be the one battling. I had to admit the thought felt exciting. I looked at Twigs and thought back to our battle with Hop. She looked back with newfound determination.

Twigs nodded. "Sounds good to me, lass. Battling sounds right up my alley."

I looked at Mom. "Are you really going to be okay with me leaving home?"

She chuckled. "Don't worry about me, dear. I knew this day would come eventually. I did it when I was younger, after all."

This was actually the first I've heard of it. I knew Banana was Mom's Pokémon, but I didn't know she went on a whole journey with him. "You never told me the story of your adventures."

She smiled modestly. "I suppose it wasn't anything too exciting, dear. I'd rather hear the story of your adventures instead!" She put a hand on my shoulder. "I know you'll do great, dear. Leon told me you did well during your first battle!"

You mean the one I didn't do anything in? Despite the truth, I found myself smiling back. The idea of having my own tale to tell with me and Twigs and a team of my own started to excite me.

As we talked some more, Mom's encouragement got me really confident. I finished my tea and hugged her before preparing to head out. She gave me some of her old spare supplies for my satchel and some pocket money too.

"Make sure not to spend it all in one place. And be sure to keep in touch."

"I will."

As I packed all the items into my bag and slipped my phone into my pocket, I headed for the door with Twigs on my shoulder. I never did expect that all this would happen to me today, but I supposed I had a new objective now. It felt good to have a drive.

There were still some things I was confused about, but I could leave that behind. This trainer business sounded more exciting!

Author's POV

Judith waved as she watched her daughter run off with her Grookey to Route 1. Once Flare was out of view, Judith made her way back inside and looked towards Sheep.

"Oh, Sheep…" She knelt beside her and started petting the Dubwool. "You little rascal."

The Dubwool opened her eyes and bleated.

Judith smiled. "I know, I know… maybe one day she'll be able to handle the truth."

Sheep bleated again.

"It was a good thing he quickly flew you back here when he did." Judith looked back fondly. "You really missed him, didn't you, dear?"

The Dubwool looked up at her and smiled in agreement.