Barely half an hour had passed since they left the warmth of the research center, and the cold had already begun to get the better of Andrea, but she refused to give up. She had been raised to give everything she had when it came to first impressions, and quitting so soon into her first real task would have reflected poorly on her work ethic. However, her burning desire to prove herself was only in her mind; she shivered uncontrollably as she huddled her arms together in an attempt to keep warm, but it did very little against the biting wind and the icy cold rain.
"Perhaps you should have brought a jacket?" Patrick asked. "Those clothes you're wearing look pretty thin. I mean, I can see your skin through your sleeves."
"It's May!" she shouted. "It's not supposed to be this cold!"
"Usually is, at least in our neck of the woods," he shrugged. "Cold mountain air always comes over the loch this time of the year."
She huddled her arms together as she groaned, "It was sunny and warm when I left Aughrim this morning..."
"Speaking of that, I'm curious... How often have you left that city? You ever get a chance to travel the roads?" he asked.
"No... My only real experience with the wilderness was when I visited a couple of beaches up in the northern reaches of Glastonfell for my studies."
"Really," he stated, clearly surprised. "Didn't you say you lived in a rural area before you attended university?"
She nodded. "I did, I grew up in Goldwheat."
"And you never tried to explore the countryside?"
"Of course not! I listened to my parents when they told me not to, and I'm glad I did. One of the village boys was put in a wheelchair by a feral Pokémon. The doctor said that he was lucky to survive."
"God damn..." he said. "Well, I was going to warn you about the dangers of travelling the countryside, but it sounds like you already know about them."
She nodded quietly.
"Don't worry, I'll keep us safe," he assured her. "I may not be the most capable trainer in the world, but I've got a powerful Pokémon at my command. He can usually handle himself, but let's hope that I don't have to use him."
As they rounded the bend in the road ahead of them, the skyline of Loch Alstan disappeared behind the trees. They had officially entered the wilds of Lanark. Despite the advancements of society and the rapid development of the country's urban centers, the wilderness felt as if it were untouched by human hands for thousands of years; aside from the winding cobblestone road that snaked its way through the foothills, nature was at its most pristine, unhindered state. Eventually, even the road ended at a sea of tall grass that fluttered about in the cold wind.
Patrick led her over to the tall and ragged grass. "Now comes the most annoying part of travelling on foot." he said as he looked up and down the wall of grass in front of him. His search for a way around the grass was met with failure, which prompted him to dive right in. "I hope that clothing of yours isn't too delicate, this grass can be a little sharp sometimes."
Andrea studied the grass with a grimace on her face. The grass reached up to her chest and was so thick that she couldn't see the ground underneath it. "You're kidding, right? The roads up in Glastonfell were never this bad."
"If you think this is bad, you should see the 'road' on the other side of Nettlefield."
She muttered quietly to herself as she took her first steps into the grass. "I hope there aren't any of those big bugs in here..."
It wasn't as bad as she first imagined. While she could feel the grass snagging against the delicate fabric of her stockings, it wasn't as sharp as Patrick warned. Even more, the grass wasn't as wet or cold as she expected, despite the gloomy weather. Most importantly, there wasn't a giant bug in sight, but that meant little considering she couldn't see through the thick blanket of tangled grass around her. Before they knew it, they had emerged on the other side of the grass.
"That was surprisingly uneventful," he commented.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You of all people should know that tall grass like this is the best spot for feral Pokémon as they either await their prey, or hide from their predators."
"I do know that!" she protested. "I also know that it's pretty damn cold out here. Combined with the rain, not many Pokémon will be out in the open if they can help it."
"A fair point..." he admitted. "You can never be too careful, though."
"I understand. I hear about it all the-"
Their conversation ended abruptly with a high pitched, bellowing sound that carried across the countryside. It didn't take long for either of the two to pinpoint the source of the noise: atop a rocky outcropping sat a stubby, black and grey elephant-like creature. Most of its body was a uniform, scaly grey, but a thick, black set of armored plates ran from the tip of its extensive trunk, across its back and ended at its short tail. Deadly looking curved tusks jutted from its mouth and a clear look of anger shined in its eyes.
Patrick held his arm out to slow Andrea down. "A Donphan..." he said. "Careful."
"What should we do?"
"Move slowly and maintain eye contact. Let it know that we know that it's there."
"You sure that'll work?"
"It usually does. They're creatures of opportunity, they only strike when they know they have the upper hand."
In this instance, it didn't work. The Donphan pounded its padded foot into the ground and bellowed loudly, a universally understood signal that it was agitated and ready to attack. The attack was swift; it hopped into the air and curled up, protecting itself with its dense armor plating, then began to roll down the hill towards them.
"Look out!" Patrick shouted as he pulled Andrea out of harm's way.
The two tumbled to the ground as they narrowly avoided being bulldozed, while the Donphan roared past and slammed into a massive oak tree just off of the path. The trunk of the tree shattered from the force of the impact, sending the rest of it toppling with a booming thud.
Patrick responded quickly by helping Andrea to her feet. "Find somewhere to hide!" he shouted as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out his trusted Pokéball and tossed it into the air.
The Pokéball exploded with a burst of hissing flames and a slender, orange canine-like creature appeared in its place. Luxuriously bushy white fur formed a mane around the creature's neck and rested atop its head, and more covered its long tail. The Flareon dropped to the ground and readied itself for battle as it locked onto the Donphan.
"Fang, we need to overwhelm that thing quickly, before someone gets hurt!" Patrick ordered.
Fang immediately leapt to action and rushed over towards the fallen tree. He cautiously searched the area in an attempt to find the Donphan, but found it difficult to see through the fallen leaves and branches. His continued search yielded nothing; no movement, no sound, nothing out of place. It was almost as if the Donphan had simply vanished.
Patrick cautiously approached the downed tree, but remembered to keep his distance. "Find anything?"
Fang let out a deep growl as he paced around the tree.
"Maybe we should take the opportunity to leave?" Andrea suggested as she peered out from behind a large boulder.
Before they could react, the shrill cry of the Donphan echoed out again and the tree rustled with activity. It rolled out of the leaves and straight for Fang, hoping to catch him off guard. Fang, quick on his feet, managed to dodge the attack. He took in a deep breath and tracked the Donphan's movements, then let out a stream of flickering flames in its direction. The flames bounced off of and had little effect on the Donphan, who continued to roll about, tucked away in its protective armored shell.
"Keep it up, Fang!" Patrick ordered.
Fang continued his relentless gout of fire breath, but it seemed pointless. All he did was tire himself out while the Donphan shrugged off each attack. Instead, the Donphan was only getting started, with the speed and accuracy of its rolling attacks increasing with each miss. Even worse, the Donphan was becoming more and more unpredictable, bouncing between aiming for Fang and Patrick at random.
Patrick narrowly scrambled out of the way of the Donphan as it rolled straight at him, then picked himself up off of the ground. "Bloody hell..." he muttered. "Umm..."
"You need to find a way to get through that armor!" Andrea suggested.
"And how in the bloody hell are we going to do that?!" he shouted. "The bugger just keeps rolling!"
She took a moment to study her surroundings as she formulated a plan. She wanted to find a way to stop the Donphan from rolling around in its protective shell, and figured a good way to do so would be to knock it off its feet somehow. The tree that it had knocked over at the beginning of the fight gave her an idea; if it were to smash into something hard enough, perhaps enough time could be bought to seize the upper hand. The fallen boulder that she took cover behind seemed like it would do the trick. She left her hiding spot and rushed over towards Patrick, then pointed it out. "See that boulder? Perhaps if that thing smashes into it, it'll come out of its shell and your Flareon can actually do something useful."
He was skeptical of the plan. "You sure about that?"
"Yes! Do it!"
"You heard her, Fang!" Patrick called out. "In front of that rock, now!"
Fang followed the order without a second thought and positioned himself in front of the boulder. He kept a close eye on the rampaging Donphan, ready to move at a moment's notice. Exactly as planned, the Donphan began to circle around and aim for him, and with a swift leap to the side, he lured the Donphan right into the trap. A large crack formed down the center of the boulder as the Donphan smashed directly into it. Andrea's plan proved effective; the Donphan uncurled and wobbled about, dazed by the impact.
"Now, Fang!" Patrick ordered.
Fang let loose a stream of white hot fire in the Donphan's direction and was absolutely merciless with his attack. As the flames burned into the exposed underside of the Donphan, its hostile nature shifted towards terror, and it spared no energy in an attempt to escape. Fang pursued relentlessly, maintaining both his laser-like focus and his burning breath of flames on the escaping Donphan.
"Stop, that's enough!" He raised his hand and the fire subsided, then took a moment to catch his breath. "That... that could have gone really, really badly. Those things are vicious when they're pissed!"
"I'm just glad it's gone..." Andrea said as she searched her surroundings for more trouble. "Let's keep moving, I don't want to see that thing again."
Patrick nodded. "Yeah, come on." He motioned forward and called out, "Fang, lead the way. Keep us safe, ya hear?"
It was much more cautious journey for the two after that. Chatter was kept to a minimum. Every small movement in the roadside bushes or in the trees was scrutinized. They kept within an arm's reach of Fang, who led the two forward quickly. Neither of them hoped for it, but both Patrick and Andrea were ready for the Donphan to return, only this time with friends. As the landscape changed from rocky hills to open field, however, the possibility of that began to diminish, and the aura of worry dissipated as they continued on towards Nettlefield.
"Not bad back there, by the way," Patrick commented.
"Hunh?" Andrea asked.
"That strategy of yours... I didn't even think of something like that."
"Oh! Uhh... Why, was that good?"
He couldn't tell if she was downplaying the praise or truly clueless. "Hell yeah, that was incredible! I know you aren't a trainer, but you ever spectate any of the top tier competitive stuff? You know, like the Rose Conference finals or anything like that?"
She shook her head. "I'd catch a match every now and then when there was nothing else on TV, but I never paid much attention to it."
"Ah, a shame. You seem like you'd be good at it. Looks like you already know a thing or two."
She stopped in her tracks and their eyes met. "If your intent is to get me to embrace the idea of becoming a trainer, you can stop right now. It doesn't interest me, it's that simple. Besides... it's too much responsibility."
"Oh, no! Nothin' meant by it, lassie!" he said. "Just making some observations, that's our job after all!"
A smile crept across her face as she giggled. "Let's just keep moving."
It was nearly sunset by the time that Andrea and Patrick had reached the outskirts of Nettlefield. As they pressed onward, darkness threatened to envelope them before they even reached the center of the village. They knew they wouldn't be able to get started on the task at hand, so the subject of lodging came up between them; much to Andrea's relief, Patrick informed her that they already had a room reserved for them at the Roost, Nettlefield's only motel. Even better, she wouldn't have to pay a cent, as Dr. Reiland's staff had already covered the cost beforehand.
"Standard procedure for all official business, you'll be happy to hear." he explained.
Her joy quickly faded when they arrived at the Roost. The place had certainly seen better days. Half of the neon sign that announced its presence to the world was broken off and missing, with the remaining half barely functional. The once pristine white paint that adorned the sides of the building was worn and peeling off. The windows were filthy and looked as if they hadn't been washed in nearly a year, and thick weeds sprouted from the foundation of the building. At the very least, the staff who managed the motel were friendly and accommodating as they pointed them to their room.
As they entered, the first thing that hit them was the overpowering stench of mildew that wafted towards the door. Andrea covered her nose with her hand. "Eww, gross!" she shouted. "It smells like a gym locker in here!"
Patrick was unphased by it. "Yeah... it's pretty bad... But I've been in worse." he said as he ventured further into the room. "You'll get used to it before the night's over."
She studied the wall beside her and noticed the dark splotches that were spreading up the water-damaged wall. "I don't think so."
"Trust me, you will," he said as he dropped his backpack onto a table. "I'd hate to say it, but we could be here awhile. We could get lucky and figure out the problem within a few hours, but it's more likely that we'll be stuck here for a few days while we work out what's happening at that farm."
"There's mold growing on the walls!" she protested.
"Yeah, I can see it. If you want to camp outside, be my guest, but at least it's warm in here." he said. He realized his words meant very little as he watched her timidly inspect the room, so he tried to reassure her. "This is part of the job, Andrea. You're not at your university anymore. When you're out in the field doing real work, there is no sterilized lab, no properly maintained dorm room to return to at night. This is the real world, and unfortunately it's not all that great sometimes, so you have to make do with what you've got."
She sighed as she tried to put the room out of her mind. "I guess... I still have a lot to learn, don't I..."
He wandered over to the couch in the corner of the room and gave it a swift kick. The cushions lurched upward and then outward, exposing a mattress that sprawled across the floor. "If it makes you feel any better, you've got the bed tonight. This'll do for me."
"I still don't see why we couldn't get separate rooms," she commented as she sat down on the bed. Much to her surprise, it was nice and soft, perhaps the only appealing thing about the room.
He crashed onto the couch and tried to get comfortable. "Dr. Reiland runs a tight ship, and one of the corners she cuts in order to keep all of our projects funded is stuff like this."
"That's not the most reassuring thing to hear..." she muttered. "But I guess I won't be on the road much..."
"Hopefully not. It's true, we do a lot of field work, but most of our employees spend a majority of their time at the lab."
"Most?" she asked.
"That's why I said that you should get used to it. You never know when you'll be out of town." he said. "Well, I'm hoping to get an early start tomorrow, so I'm gonna get some shut eye. You'd be wise to do the same."