Northern Hoenn, Chapter 56

If Route 114 was the most beautiful route in all of Hoenn, eternal war between Pokemon aside, then Route 113 was something of the opposite. Soot from Mt Chimney seemed to always fall over a good portion of the route because of the winds, especially in the fall. As a result, the grass was gray, the trees that weren't already bare were also gray, and Pokemon were somehow much easier to spot in the tall grass. Aside from the abundance of Sandshrew, I also spotted a few Spinda trying to hide from me. Despite their odd appearance, I was tempted to catch one, but fought the urge as usual. I had recently added Wurmple to my roster, and hadn't even given him the chance to prove himself in battle.

That's why when a wild Sandshrew crossed our path, I held Vulpix in place and released Wurmple to face the wild critter. This was the perfect chance to see what my Pokemon was capable of. The Sandshrew readied its claws, while Wurmple aimed the stinger on its head.

"Wurmple, Poison Sting!"

Wurmple charged forward, drilling his stinger directly into Sandshrew's soft underbelly. To my surprise, the Sandshrew chose not to fight back, and instead ran away! There was something of a look of fear on its face before it ran, but I couldn't be sure what he was afraid of. Wurmple was half his size!

"Well that was weird," I said to myself. Wurmple crawled back to my side, feeling victorious nonetheless. I stroked the back of his neck.

"Guess you're so cool even the wild Pokemon are afraid of you, boy!" I put him back in his Pokeball.

A short walk later, we stumbled across a small house on the side of the road, or rather, what would be the road if it weren't covered in soot. The sign outside read 'Glass Workshop' after I wiped away some of the soot covering it, as well. Curious, I knocked twice before letting myself in. Compared to the cold winds outside, the house was insanely hot, but a welcome bit of heat for the moment.

"Oh! Didn't hear you come in," a middle-aged man said from the other side of the small house. I walked over and introduced myself politely.

"My name is Star, and this is Vulpix. We're just passing through."

"Neal, the Glass Worker. Tell me, you're passing through towards Fallarbor?"

"No, I just came from there. I'm on my way to Lavaridge Town. Why?"

"Well, there might be a small problem with that plan, Star," he said, moving towards his window. I followed him to see what he was talking about. He banged on the glass a few times, shaking off all the soot that was blocking the view. The window gave us both an almost clear view down the route, where a pair of rock formations made a pass to the next Route. However, something big and blue was blocking the pass.

"Yup, a problem alright. See that big thing on the road? It's a sleeping Snorlax." I was more amazed than worried, however, as I pressed my face to the window to get a slightly better view of the Pokemon.

"Really? I've never seen a Snorlax up close before! I saw one in Kanto before, but it was pretty far away. It won't try to eat me, will it?" I had a strange feeling this very question is what kept me away the first time.

"Highly unlikely, but it's not unheard of," the man said, which left my jaw dropped. He then chuckled a bit after seeing my reaction. "No, Star, it won't eat you. Only because it probably won't wake up anytime soon."

"And I'm pretty sure there's no way around the Snorlax, is there?"

"You could try climbing over the beast, but if you disturb it too much it might wake up a might cranky." Then it really would try to eat me. Or Vulpix!

"So you're saying I have to wait? How long?"

"As long as it takes you to collect some soot from outside!" The man produced a plastic sack from his pocket, and forced it into my hands.

"If you collect enough soot, I can make you a glass flute to play for the Snorlax. Once it wakes up, it'll move out of the way, and you can continue on."

"I see," I said, nodding my head. Something about all this felt off, though. "And you won't charge me anything for this? I mean, it is still work, right?"

"Let me be honest with you: I love making things out of glass, I just don't like scavenging for soot outside. People gather soot for me, I make them small trinkets or gifts for free, I make a few glass trinkets for myself to sell and make a living. Everyone wins, no?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I said laughing. "So, how much soot do you need?"

"Fill that bag up as best you can, then come back inside. Shouldn't take me more than a few hours to make the flute for you!"

~o~

Though I was okay with the plan at first, after nearly an hour crawling through the soot covered grass I was regretting my decision. I saw now why Neal didn't like collecting soot for himself: it wasn't easy at all! It was like trying to clean up a mess of sugar you spilled in the kitchen, only instead of the sugar falling down again, it was carried off by the wind. Neal didn't even give me a proper shovel or anything to pick it up, like he expected me to just waltz through the tall grass and it would magically fall into the sack.

Luckily, Vulpix was having more than enough fun for both of us keeping the wild critters away. For every few steps I took, it seemed like there was a Spinda or Sandshrew out to stop me from collecting soot. Meanwhile, my joy came from kicking a rock ahead of me everytime I moved forward in my soot collecting.

Sometime into my collection quest, Vulpix jumped in front of me, and started growling at something up in a tree. I looked up, and saw a large metal bird perched there. Its eyes drilled holes into me, but I couldn't stop myself from digging up my Pokedex to scan the critter.

"Skarmory, the Armor Bird Pokemon. Its sturdy wings look heavy, but they are actually hollow and light, allowing it to fly freely in the sky."

"Well, he doesn't look very happy to see us, Vulpix," I said, slipping the Pokedex back into my bag. The large bird let out a sharp cry, which made me jump a bit. That same cry caused all the wild Pokemon around me to scurry away in fear. Vulpix held her ground, growling at the bird. Skarmory spread its wings, which scared me even more.

"Vulpix, maybe we should go..." I started walking backwards slowly, hoping not to anger the bird further. My clumsiness got the better of me, though, and I tripped on that same rock I had kicked aside just a moment ago. My sudden tumble, along with my yelp, was the last straw for the Skarmory. The bird took to the air, swooping down at Vulpix.

"Watch out!"

Vulpix dove into the grass, kicking up a cloud of soot that got into Skarmory's eyes. The bird lost control for only a moment, and it crashed into the ground just a short ways off. I stood up, and Vulpix rejoined my side. Skarmory stood up as well, looking in my direction, now angrier than before. Its wings started to sparkle in the light, and it charged us.

"Vulpix, Flamethrower!"

Vulpix blasted the metal bird with a spray of flames. I had almost forgotten that fire was effective against the steel type, and the Skarmory quickly realized the threat Vulpix posed. Hurt and maybe even burned, Skarmory took flight away from us. Once it was out of sight, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Boy, that was close," I said, looking to the soot sack. "I lost a bit of the soot when I fell, but I think this should be enough for Neal. Let's head back to his house, Vulpix."

~o~

"This is everything? I thought I asked you to fill the bag for me!"

"Well, I wanted to, but this Pokemon attacked me while I was out there, and I lost some of the soot," I half-lied, prepared to expand on the tale if Neal asked. Aside from the fact that I didn't want to collect any more soot, the scuffle with the Skarmory really did set me back a while.

"Well, I suppose I can make what I need with this much," Neal said, putting the sack on his table. He walked over to his work desk, and picked up a completed blue flute. "Here is your flute."

"Wait, you mean you already had one ready? Why'd you make me go out and collect all that soot for you?"

"I told you, Star: I don't like to get it myself. That, and I wasn't charging you for the flute, so the least you could do was help me out." I sighed, not wanting to even think about soot anymore. Once I was out of Route 113, I never planned on returning again. I thanked Neal for the flute and was on my way before he cooked up some other scheme to get me working.

I set out towards the pass where the Snorlax was sleeping. I was expecting a short stroll, and soon be out of this route and its never ending soot. Of course, my wants and desires rarely matter in the universe. This time, it would be a trio of nasty Pokemon out for revenge. I was halfway down the road when Vulpix's ears perked up and her gaze shot toward the sky. Before she could start barking to get my attention, I looked up in the same direction, and saw what she did. It was the Skarmory from earlier, now with two companions. On impulse, I reached for Vulpix's mouth, locking it tight before she could start barking.

"Be quiet, Vulpix," I whispered, keeping my head and voice low. "If we can sneak over to the Snorlax without them noticing, we'll be fine."

I let go of Vulpix, and she nodded. We started crawling towards the pass, trying not to shake or move too much so the soot that fell on us made for a makeshift camouflage. Every few seconds I'd look back to the sky, seeing the Skarmory flying about, but not spotting us. The reason for that Sandshrew running away earlier when I battled it with Wurmple was suddenly clear. These Skarmory were the dominant critters in the area. The entire time I crawled along, I was more afraid of the possibility that we'd run right into another wild Pokemon, and the startle would pit us in an unavoidable battle. Thankfully, my luck sufficed this time, and we made it all the way to the Snorlax without any hitches.

Once there, I reached for the flute in my bag, staying as close to the wall as I possibly could. I didn't want the song from the flute to wake Snorlax and have him roll over on me. I put the glass instrument to my lips and started blowing softly. I had never played an instrument before in my life, so I was pretty much playing notes at random the entire time. I guess the Snorlax just likes music, because through my terrible performance he started to rouse from his slumber, letting out a loud yawn as he did. What's more, his yawn drew the attention of the Skarmorys in the air, and they finally spotted me.

"Vulpix, rain down Embers on them!"

Vulpix leapt onto my head, then up on Snorlax to get better distance on her attack. The small flames hardly reached the incoming metal birds, but it was enough to slow their descent. The fire also startled Snorlax, who immediately began to rampage towards the Skarmory in self defense. I hugged the cliff wall to avoid being crushed in the process, and once Snorlax was out of the way, I made a mad dash down the pass. As I ran, I looked back, seeing the heavyweight critter doing battle with the Skarmory. Normal types usually had no chance of facing steel, yet it looked like Snorlax was holding his own.

After a short while, I slowed down to catch my breath. The pass had finally ended, and converted to a small field headed south. Nearby was a sign by the side of the road, so I walked over to read it.

"'Route 111: Connecting Fallarbor, Lavaridge, and Mauville with Hoenn's famous desert'. Not exactly something to be proud of, right girl?" Vulpix shook her head, though I wasn't sure if she was agreeing with me or disagreeing. Being a fire Pokemon, I'm sure the heat of a desert would've have bothered her as much as it would me.

"Well, from here we just have to head south a bit before the road forks. We're heading towards Lavaridge, so we'll be getting on Route 112 soon enough," I said aloud, reading the map on my Pokenav. "According to this, the road splits before the desert begins, so let's get moving."