~ Chapter 26 ~
Eterna Forest, Separate Ways
"I spent the night listening faintly to the sound of trees and rain falling. To thunder striking the Earth, and to Niya and Jeremy wondering aloud to each other how they were going to get Alyssandra back. Apparently, she drifted off with a Driflblim when the winds picked up, and despite how hard they tried she was gone—for now. I wanted to help them...but my mind was filled with strange dreams and stranger visions...doubts filled me, and I began to regret going on this journey. I wondered where it all had gone wrong, and where it started to fall apart..."
Sam lay there on the ground, rolling in his sleeping bag. Niya and Jeremy watched him warily as they sat at the mouth of the tent, watching the outside world through the blinding rain.
It was as if they were hoping Alyssandra would walk from the rain with a smile on her face and return to them. But they knew that was not possible, no matter how hard they hoped.
"What does this all mean?" Asked Jeremy as he drank from the canteen of water.
Niya shrugged as Jeremy handed her some to drink. She sipped, wiped her mouth, and passed it back to Jeremy.
"I don't know," she said, "But I don't like it. All of Sam's weird fainting spells, this sudden sickness, all these storms, and now Alyssandra is missing. It's like something out there is trying to break us apart and stop us."
"But why?" Asked Jeremy, "What did we do to deserve all this?"
"I don't know. My mother used to tell me stories about imps that lived in caves all over the world, and these imps would sit there watching over us. And once and a while when we'd have too much good luck, the imps would cast a spell that caused bad things to happen to us, so that we'd have a balance of good and bad luck."
There was silence for a moment and Jeremy raised his eyebrows.
"So, the little imps in the cave made Sam sick, caused these storms, and took Alyssandra away from us to teach us a lesson?" He asked skeptically.
Niya rolled her eyes. "Of course not!" She cried, "It's just a story; I was just trying to lighten the mood."
More silence, minus the roar of thunder in the distance and morose patter if the rain on the tent.
"It feels like it, I suppose," said Jeremy suddenly.
"Hmm?" Asked Niya.
"The imp story; it kind of feels like that's what happened," he explained, "I know it's fake but…"
Niya grunted in understanding. She never got along with Jeremy as she had with Sam or Alyssandra. Not that she hated him; she had just never gotten to know him as well.
Although she tried to support him as best as she could, and she considered him a good friend, but when it came to be alone like this. The two of them didn't click like her or Sam, and definitely not like her and Alyssandra.
"So," said Niya slowly.
"So," added Jeremy in reply.
"What do you think about him and—?" started Niya.
"And her?" added Jeremy, "Hell I think it could work out. I mean, they both are very—"
"Yeah," smiled Niya, "That's true. Completely oblivious, and the both of them still can't seem to understand."
"Oh, I know," laughed Jeremy, "It's like the signals don't go through."
"Give them some time though," said Niya reassuringly, "They'll do all right—this kind of thing usually works out."
Jeremy nodded. "I wonder how Sam's doing," he wondered, "He hasn't made much noise in the last few hours…and he seems to be calmer than before. Is he still breathing?"
Niya nodded. "I just checked a few moments ago," she said, "He's fine…actually he seems a bit better than before. With any luck, we can get going soon. Alyssandra's been gone for two days."
"Jeez has it been that long?" asked Jeremy.
"Yeah," she said sadly, "With all this rain there hasn't been much to do but sleep and watch Sam. Hopefully the rain will let up soon, and maybe around the same time as Sam's sickness, and then we can get going and find Alyssandra."
Jeremy nodded. "I hope," he said, "I hope. I just want us back together again, like we were before all these storms. I want to be back together again, and I want Sam awake and happy, and healthy again."
Niya looked at Jeremy, suddenly remembering that he was a whole year younger than Sam and Alyssandra. He was the youngest of the group, only 15 years old.
He was still a child to Niya—Sam and Alyssandra were too, but there was only a year gap between them and her.
Jeremy always acted so mature and grown up, and now to see him acting more his age was…interesting.
Niya placed her hand on his shoulder. "He'll be fine," smiled Niya reassuringly, "He's always been strong, remember? He'll get back up, and it'll all go back to normal."
Jeremy looked at Niya with hope, and his mature stature seemed to be restored for the most part.
Meanwhile, Sam stirred in his sleep while his friends talked in front of him. He was vaguely aware of their presence and could understand the sounds that their voices made when they spoke, but as for what they were saying…it was lost to him.
All he had was what was in his head, and there was quite a bit there. The past few days had filled Sam with stranger and stranger dreams with each passing hour.
Each dream involved a dragon. One he remembered, he was riding on the back of a large dragon. It was black, and its head the size of two draft Rapidash—the same one from the dream he had as a child. Beside him flew a red dragon, almost as large as the black one…but slightly smaller…small enough that it looked significantly younger than the black dragon.
It would've been a nice dream had the sky not turned to storms and cause him to fall from the dragon to his dream death.
Then he was on a beach, the two dragons were curled up just beyond the reach of the waves, and his friends were there with him, playing in the sand and the sun.
The waves lapsed up around their ankles, and just when all seemed well, the sea began to swallow his friends, the sand sunk into the ocean, the dragons disappeared, and a large tsunami swallowed Sam whole, dragging him down to the bottom of the sea.
This led Sam down into a dark room, with a smooth floor and no visible walls or light. It was in this room that Sam spent the last few days…stagnant, unmoving, and bored. Sam lay on the ground, his thoughts going between Alyssandra—who apparently had gone missing a few days back—and his friends sitting out there, hoping for his safe recovery.
Sam loved his friends, and they loved him back…but even so, he felt as if he had failed them by getting sick, and the worst part was he didn't even know why. What had he done to deserve this?
Hell, what had even caused this in the first place?
Gah!
Sam gave up on thinking about that a long time ago and returned to thinking about Alyssandra again. He thought about how he felt for her, how he missed her, and how he was going to get her back as soon as he broke from this box.
Sam had even gotten to stand up, fueled by the need to get better, and started to crawl around the dark box before he slammed against the wall.
Sam shook himself off, stood up, and then continued to feel around in the darkness, hoping his hands would hit the wall or something, but he only kept walking, and walking and walking.
Then finally, the darkness began to disappear, and he was standing in a meadow, surrounded by trees, and standing on the other side of the clearing was a tall man, surrounded by shadow, with glowing red eyes.
He was tall, and he looked physically strong. Sam didn't know who he was…or why he was even there, but he knew he didn't look good.
The shadowy figure began to walk towards him. "Come to me," it said slowly and stoically, it's voice deep morose. "Come to me, boy, and I will give you power."
Sam stayed put, and raised his fists, ready to fight. The figure simply laughed and stopped in its tracks. "You cannot defeat me with those," he said, "I am too strong…even here. You are but a worm beneath my feet in this world, and in the real world."
Sam said nothing, but stood his ground—in fact, he couldn't say anything, his mouth wouldn't let him speak. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't let anything out.
The shadowy man drew a sword, and Sam, though he knew not to fear anything from a dream, had doubts about this man. Something in the way he walked, and the way he spoke…and the sword.
The man exuded evil, and maliciousness. Even though this was just a dream, Sam could feel the danger in this meeting…and he knew it wasn't by chance.
Sam tried to run, but his feet wouldn't move, they were stuck in mud that hardened into cement around his ankles. Sam let out a cry, but it was muted and deafened.
Sam was afraid for the first time in his dreams, and for the first time in his life possibly. The man with the sword inched closer, raising it, and readied a strike.
Sam closed his eyes and shielded himself; but nothing happened.
His eyes shot open in a moment, and before him stood the two dragons from before; one red, one black, and in front of them stood a hooded figure.
The figure was slim, and perhaps womanlier in stature than Sam had originally noticed…but that could just have been his imagination. A sword hung at the hooded figure's hip, but she did not draw it.
The hooded figure did not speak, nor did the shadowy figure.
There was a silence, and then the dragons opened their mouth at the disposal of the hooded figure, and flames engulfed the shadowy figure, and with that everything went black.
Sam's eyes finally shot open, and he was looking up at the roof of the tent.
He groaned and gasped as his throat revealed to be cracked and dry. After much battling with his body, Sam pushed himself up in his sleeping bag, feeling his bones and muscles ache with every movement.
He had been lying there for a long time, and his reality was coming back to him.
He had fallen sick; he had been stuck in this tent for days…Alyssandra was missing.
Sam slammed his hand into the dirt, and stood up, throwing his blankets to the side. He needed to get changed into fresh clothes and get ready for the long journey ahead.
Out in front of the tent, Niya and Jeremy were enjoying the sunshine that had appeared after rain dissipated several hours earlier.
Jeremy had started up a cooking fire and was making oatmeal and sausage for breakfast.
Meanwhile, Niya cooked her toast over the very edges of the grill that had been placed over the burning logs.
"Day three," said Niya somberly, "I wonder if she's okay…has she made it to Eterna Forest do you think?"
"I wouldn't know," sighed Jeremy, almost as somber as Niya, "I hope that wherever she is she's safe, and she doesn't think we've abandoned her."
"Well, I'm sure she'll understand that we're waiting for Sam to get better, he's not really in travelling mode right now," sighed Jeremy, "Which reminds me how—"
Jeremy stopped, and looked at the tent, his jaw dropped.
Niya soon followed his line of sight, and realized where he was looking, her jaw dropping as well.
In the doorway of the tent stood Sam, tugging on his jacket, and back to normal, a look of determination stuck on his face. "Get ready to go," he smiled, "We're going to find Lyss, and we're going now!"
Alyssandra sat in a circle with her Pokémon. She had released them after she woke up in the woods alone, so that she wasn't as lonely as before.
When she had woken up she was in the woods, the Drifblim and Drifloon were gone, and her friends were as well. The storm hadn't reached as far as the forest, which she assumed was Eterna Forest, and for that Alyssandra was grateful.
"Piplup," said Piplup sadly; it missed playing with Sam's Prinplup.
The two had grown close since they departed from Floaroma Town, and now Piplup was starting to miss its new friend.
Shinx and Lopunny were trying to comfort it.
"Punny! Lopunny!" cheered Lopunny, attempting to brighten up Piplup.
"Shinx! Shinx Shinx Shinx!" cried Alyssandra's Shinx, adding to Lopunny's chorus of support.
Alyssandra had tried to help Piplup, but the thoughts of Prinplup let her to thoughts of Sam. Alyssandra wondered how he was…was he okay? Had he gotten worse in the past few days?
Alyssandra knew his sickness was the reason her friends hadn't come for her yet; so, while she waited Alyssandra travelled through the forest, looking into everything that she could while her friends came for her.
For the most she stayed by the path, and marked the trees with Piplup's Peck, and returned to a makeshift camp she had set up inside of a cave every night after exploring.
Alyssandra returned to her reality and turned her attention to Drifloon and Budew. Her two newest Pokémon; the Drifloon she had caught after waking up in the forest the other day. The Drifloon was injured, and was abandoned by its friends, so she took care of it, and ended up catching it.
Budew on the other hand, was a two-day hunt, and she had just caught it earlier this morning.
After spending days tracking it with her Pokémon, she finally found the Budew, and caught it off guard. Alyssandra battled it with the help of her Eevee and Lopunny and captured it after Lopunny—worn down from the battle—caused it to faint with a Dizzy Punch.
Drifloon and Budew talked amongst each other.
Being the newest to the group seemed to have gotten them to bond, but it wasn't long before Eevee and Cherrim waddled over to the new Pokémon and introduced themselves. In a matter of seconds, friendships were formed, and the group of Pokémon intermingled amongst each other.
Alyssandra smiled faintly, but her paradise was cut off by a scream off in the woods. Raising her finger to her mouth to quiet her Pokémon, she crawled to the mouth of the cave, and listened just beyond the reach of the sunlight.
There was nothing but silence, until a voice erupted from the trees, just a few feet beyond Alyssandra's cave.
"I don't see her," said the voice, "I saw her come by here."
It wasn't a voice she recognized…yet somehow, she felt as if they were speaking about her.
Alyssandra crouched closer to the ground, hoping they wouldn't see her—she still couldn't see them.
"The boss ordered us to find them, and weaken them," said the other voice.
"Well we can't do that if we can't find them!" retorted the other voice, "We heard reports that she's been seen in the area—no sightings of the others though."
"So, what do we do then?" asked the other person.
The first person paused to shrug. "We keep searching," he replied.
There was a long pause, followed by a low throng of buzzing noises.
Alyssandra moved out of her cave and came across the people speaking as she crouched low in a bush.
They were Team Galactic grunts…what were they doing here?
Alyssandra vowed to find out but kept watching the scene unfold.
The buzzing was soon revealed as a group of angry Combee that had been disturbed by another member of Team Galactic—they had definitely been searching for her.
Alyssandra crouched lower and watched as the angry bee Pokémon swarmed over the group of grunts, chasing them off into the forest.
Alyssandra smiled and would've laughed if she weren't hiding—but her victory was short lived, as the group of Combee, noticing her scent, dashed towards her in the bush.
Alyssandra let out a shriek and making sure each of her Pokémon escaped with her, as well as her stuff, ran from the cave before the Combee boxed them all in.
She ran with her Pokémon through the woods, over roots, under branches, around rocks and bushes, but it wasn't any good. Before long the Combee were upon her, and what was worse, amongst them was their leader, a large, angry Vespiquen.
"Quen! Vespiquen!" buzzed the Vespiquen angrily.
Alyssandra didn't need a translation to understand that the Pokémon wanted blood, or at least revenge, and she knew the only way she was getting through was if she fought her way out.
"So be it," she said, "All right guys, let's go! Piplup, Shinx, I choose you two! The rest of you, hide for now! There's no need for all of us to get hurt at once!"
Alyssandra, for as much as she wanted to use all her Pokémon, knew that using them all know would mean she would be without Pokémon once the Combee weakened them all down.
She needed to ration her Pokémon out, and use them to weaken the Combee and take out the Vespiquen.
"Shinx, Piplup!" she cried, "Use Spark and Peck on Vespiquen! Take out any Combee that get in your way!"
Alyssandra understood that if she took out the Vespiquen, she would deprive the Combee of a leader, and thereby making their attack end.
However, she also knew that attacking Vespiquen wouldn't be so easy, as all the Combee would be their protecting their Queen.
Just as she predicted, many of Piplup's and Shinx's attacks landed on Combee, knocking them out or knocking them back, and the two Pokémon were back at her side before long.
But Alyssandra wasn't going to give up—all she had to do was keep wearing down her opponents.
"Try again, you two!" she called.
Her Pokémon nodded.
"Shinx!" cried Shinx.
Followed by a happy, "Piplup!" from her Piplup.
The two Pokémon tried again. Combee were flying in front of Alyssandra's Pokémon while Shinx used its Electric attacks to cut through them. Piplup's Peck would paralyze on contact, but still, too many Combee were in the way, and this time the Combee they had taken down before were being healed by their friends and were starting to get back up.
Alyssandra paused to think, her Pokémon landing beside her again. She needed to rework her plan, adding in the healing effects of the honey used by these Combee, and the amount of Combee there were.
Alyssandra counted at least thirty, but she couldn't be sure as they moved back and forth constantly, making counting accurately near impossible.
But she was sure of one thing, there was only one Vespiquen, and that was all she needed to worry out.
It was then that Alyssandra realized the only way to take down these Combee permanently would be to catch them. She had enough Poké Balls, she had hoped she would have been able to save these Poké Balls for other Pokémon she wished to catch, but she knew she could always buy more, or borrow from her friends if she needed.
Alyssandra looked down at her Shinx and Prinplup, and then back at her Lopunny.
She nodded, and they seemed to understand.
"All right! Let's try this one more time!" cried Alyssandra, "Piplup, Bubble Beam repeatedly! Shinx, your strongest Sparks! You know what to do Lopunny!"
Her Lopunny dashed off into the woods adjacent from where Alyssandra stood, while her Piplup and Shinx dived into the crowd of flying Combee and unleashed their attacks on the unsuspecting Pokémon.
Each time a Combee fell, Alyssandra tossed a Poké Ball, and each time the Poké Ball would catch its mark.
Finally, when only a few Combee remained, Alyssandra called out to her Lopunny. "Lopunny! Jump Kick on Vespiquen! Then finish it up with Dizzy Punch once your close!"
"Punny!" cried the Pokémon jumping from a nearby tree, landing its foot into Vepisquen's back.
"Loooooo-punny!" it cried as it spun forward and used its fist to knock Vespiquen into the ground.
The Vespiquen let out an angry buzz, and refused to go down, flying back up towards Lopunny, who was still recovering from its second attack. By now, all the Combee had been caught, and her Lopunny needed guarding.
"Piplup, Pound on Vespiquen! Shinx, Spark!" she said quickly.
Her Pokémon did as commanded, bringing the Vespiquen down to the ground. Lopunny landed beside it and finished it off with a Dizzy Punch before Alyssandra could ask it—making her smile as she saw how well she connected with her Pokémon.
Her last Poké Ball in hand, Alyssandra threw it towards the Vespiquen, and within moments it was caught.
Alyssandra cheered, and her Pokémon, both from the battle and those in hiding gathered together to cheer and celebrate their shared victory.
Alyssandra let out a laugh but looked back down at her Pokémon. Those who had fought were tired, and those who hadn't were tired as well…from fear, and from the time they had spent out of the Poké Ball running around the forest.
Alyssandra sighed lightly. "All right guys, I think it's time for you to rest for a bit, okay? Let's get you back in your Poké Balls for a bit."
Her Pokémon agreed immediately and unanimously.
Alyssandra withdrew all her Pokémon, placing them either in her Ball belt, or in her bag, then proceeded to pick up the thirty-one Poké Balls that sat in the grass of the forest clearing.
One by one, she added the Combee, and finally the Vespiquen to the collection of stuff she kept in her bag. From make-up, to souvenirs and keepsakes she picked up on her travels or through life; Alyssandra had it all in her bag.
After Alyssandra finally buttoned up her shoulder bag, she looked around her…then frowned as she saw the Galactic grunts watching her from the other side of the clearing, shock on their faces from their dumb luck.
For a moment nothing was said, and the next Alyssandra bolted off into the woods, the grunts close behind her.
Alyssandra tried everything to shake them, cutting corners, doubling back, shooting left and right, and putting as many trees between them as she could, but it felt like hours before she finally shook them.
Gasping for air, Alyssandra stopped, bent over, and finally threw herself on the ground as she tried to catch her breath, hiding herself in some bushes as she did. She breathed heavily, her chest heaving as it took in air, and looked up at the sky.
The grunts angry screams came back to her while she lay there. She had never been more scared in her life—she didn't know what they wanted from her, but she knew they were coming for her, and that if they got her it would be bad.
Finally, after ten minutes, Alyssandra stood up and dusted herself off. She wasn't getting back to the cave, that much she knew. She couldn't retrace her steps to any known area of the forest to her, and besides, going back would mean running into the grunts again. The only way on was forward.
Looking around to get the lay of her bearings, Alyssandra came face to face with a large, black house. It was old, it was dusty, and it was huge…parts of it were broken down or covered in vines and age.
Alyssandra didn't need to ask what it was, she had heard all the stories and she knew exactly what she was looking at. It was the famous, and haunted, Eterna Mansion.
