SWORD & SHIELD: THE GREAT JOURNEY
Round 3
Stuffed Full With Stufful
A/N: Happy holidays! It's gonna get a wee bit hectic in this chapter, so fasten your seat belts!
Inside Of Train
June 30
The wheels emitted a harsh squealing sound as the Galar Regional Railways train began to rapidly decelerate, putting on its brakes, causing many passengers to unexpectedly pitch forward. The cabin in which Victor and Gloria were in was full of quiet questions being asked. Victor turned towards Gloria and whispered, "Why's it doing that?"
Just in time, the announcer came on. "BZZT! Sorry, we are experiencing problems with the wild Wooloo. We will instead stop at Wild Area Station. Sorry for the inconvenience. BZZT-BZZRT!"
Gloria whispered back. "See this red dot right here? That's us. We're right by Dappled Grove! The lake's on our right!"
Victor wasn't paying any attention to Gloria. He thought, a bad omen for a journey.
Meetup Spot; Wild Area Station, Inside
June 30
"So, now what do we do?" Victor asked impatiently.
Gloria scrolled through the list of service announcements on her Rotom Phone. "Let's see, um, the 6:30 train and the 8:30 train are all delayed; apparently the Wooloo are a stubborn bunch," she muttered. Turning to Victor, she spoke. "Unfortunately, the opening ceremony is tomorrow at six a.m, so we need to catch a train before that. All of the ones arriving in Motostoke on Sunday are too late for us, and right now the section of track near Dappled Grove and Watchtower Ruins is down, and no alternate tracks are available (they haven't constructed the Giant's Seat bypass track yet), and neither are the other tracks heading to –"
Victor said, frustrated, "Can you provide a short answer?"
Gloria answered, "This means that the GRT is of no use in getting us to Motostoke Stadium on time. Therefore, we must journey through the Wild Area."
Meetup Spot
June 30
Victor and Gloria sped headfirst out of the station, where they met the professor's assistant, a woman with wild red hair.
"Hi," she said, and then presenting two devices to Victor and Gloria, "here are your Pokemon Box Links. These will help you connect to your Boxes while on the road, without the hassle of stopping by a Pokemon Center every time you need to put a Pokemon in your Boxes. I trust that you both have PSS accounts, yes?"
"Yes," they both replied.
"Put this in your Phone's universal port, and it will download the PSS app. This little attachment is to put your Poke Balls in."
"Okay!" Victor said, and after putting the install drive into the port, raced off.
"So much for doing this together," Gloria said.
Rolling Fields
June 30
Gloria had not expected the Wild Area to be so huge. Dens littered around the place, shooting their characteristic reddish-purple beams into the sky. Lakes littered the area, with Axew's Eye being a solitary island in one. And what amazed her more were the Pokemon.
So many species' habitats were contained in these areas. As she watched, a Wingull soared over a tree, and the Blipbug fled, jumping out of the tree onto the floor. Zigzagoons were chasing each other back and forth, and more Pokemon of every shape, size, and color were wandering about in these plains.
Gloria saw the distant buildings of Motostoke in the distance standing tall among the flatter fields. Giant's Seat loomed in the east, and Dappled Grove spread out in the west.
Amazed by the tranquil beauty of the Wild Area, she took her steps slowly, letting Marina ride on her shoulder and Paula trail behind her. She took the opportunity to scan all of the Pokemon she encountered, even the ones she did not want.
Once, she got dive-bombed by a Wingull (leaving droppings on her hat), but she cheerfully looked up and scanned it as it flew away. Another time, she was surprised by a horde of Zigzagoon, but cheerfully made conversation as they passed by.
It was not until the end that Gloria was in real danger.
East Lake Axewell
June 30
"Watch out, Gloria!" Victor shouted as they neared the reddish-brown city of Motostoke. The sun was setting towards the west, right of the Watchtower Ruins, and as they watched, night slowly dominated day.
At first, Gloria did not think anything was wrong; on the contrary, her spirits were high, for the grand staircase that led into the city of Motostoke was just in sight. However, as the cries of enraged Pokemon filled the air, it was clear that there was a Pokemon stampede happening. Hundreds of Stufful were slowly marching towards them, trapping them in the isthmus between East Lake Axewell, South Lake Miloch, and Rolling Fields.
"Stuff stuff stuff!" they all echoed.
Victor backed against a tree as the Rookidee and Corvisquire flew away from the rampaging Stufful. They chittered and chirped as they flew away, a tiny black cloud (but a black cloud nonetheless) that flew away towards the setting sun.
The lead Stufful was almost upon Gloria. "No, stop, stop!" she yelled. But it was no help. Gloria was pressed against a tree, and out in the open, and not even Marina or Paula could damage enough of the Stufful to make attacking worthwhile.
North Lake Miloch
June 30
Meanwhile, Victor was having an equally bad time with the Stufful. Having been cornered by the lakeside, he was about to fall in the lake when a squawking, squealing Rookidee tumbled out of the tree.
"Why didn't you go?" Victor asked.
The Rookidee chittered impatiently. "I had a twisted leg, and as such was unable to fly. I begged, pleaded for Mother not to leave me, but she said that in time, I would learn..."
"To fly? Maybe – HEEEEELLLLPPPP!"
Splash.
East Lake Axewell
June 30
"HEEEELLLLPPPP!" Gloria heard Victor scream.
"Marina, Paula, return!" The two Pokemon were mere punching bags to the army of Stufful. Gloria jumped and fought her way to Miloch when…
…there was no one there. All she could hear was the chitters of an angry Rookidee.
"Hefellinth–"
"Slow down, slow down," Gloria said. "Who fell in?"
"Him!"
"Victor?"
Leaving the squawking Rookidee aside, Gloria sent out Marina, who promptly dove in the water.
The next few minutes were the most stressful ones so far as Marina remained underwater. Gloria could not physically do anything to help her friend, and she was moping about it.
Suddenly, a large splash was heard, and ripples flew across the lake. Marina had done it! Victor was saved.
"Ach." Victor coughed out water. "I don't feel so good." The Rookidee from earlier was now sitting on Victor's soaked hat.
"I know," Gloria said. "We're almost to Motostoke. Then we'll get you to the Center."
?
June 30
"Well, at least we made a decent try..." someone said.
"I know, but they just are too strong..." someone else commented.
"If only Miloch was deeper..."
A/N: *coughs* Well, that's only a taste of things to come. It's kinda obvious that the culprit is –
text removed because it was a spoiler
– but anyway, thanks for reading! In the next chapter, Cheerful Copperajah I, it's time for the opening ceremony! Anyway, happy holidays!