CHAPTER 19
The three Pokémon reached the familiar exploration ground, Foggy Forest. Rylan had forgotten that this place was to the northeast, but now he was feeling a bit more confident traveling to the mountain since he knew this forest well enough.
"According to this note," Wingull said as she examined a note left to them by Aggron and Gallade, "We won't be taking the usual route, which is normally a forest path used for exploring. If we're going to be heading to the mountains, we need to head into the deepest part of Foggy Forest. The trail will be dark because there are many trees, and we won't be able to see the sky."
Rylan's added confidence suddenly plummeted. "How are going to cross this route when we won't even be able to see?" he asked.
"I've got half the problem solved," said Wingull. "I've learned a technique called Defog. I can somewhat disperse the heavy fog, which should make it slightly easier to see."
"What about the lack of sunlight?" Rylan asked.
"I'm sure that's why you were partnered with us," Nidoran said to Rylan. "Most Fighting Pokémon can feel their way through the dark without having to directly see what's in front of them. We're gonna need you to be our eyes. Think you can handle this one?"
Rylan was not sure about this, but he did not want to let anyone down. He nodded his head and faced the forest entrance. "Let's get to it," he said.
Nidoran smiled and blushed. Wingull whispered something in Nidoran's ear with a grin, causing Nidoran to glance at her angrily.
The three of them entered the forest, following the path into the darker route as instructed. Wingull managed to clear out some of the fog, but that did not help much. Rylan took the lead, using his senses to guide the others through the forest.
Much to their advantage, there were not many inhabitants of this forest, and the three of them were able to combine their fighting tactics efficiently to overcome the aggressive ones.
They stopped later on to rest, eat, and refresh themselves. It felt about half a day had passed since they started.
After a while of progressing deeper into the forest, Rylan stopped walking and held up his paw to stop the others.
"Shh," he said. "I think I heard something… Something strange."
"What is it?" Nidoran asked.
Rylan took a few steps forward. Moments later, a noise echoed through the forest. It sounded like several voices screaming in terror.
"W-what's that?" Wingull stammered.
"I think that there are Pokémon in trouble!" Nidoran said. "Come on, we should go help them!"
Nidoran ran ahead of the others, Wingull following close behind.
"Wait, stop!" Rylan called out. "I'm supposed to be the eyes!"
Rylan followed the other two, who were focusing less on seeing ahead and more on following the sound of the terrorized voices.
The three of them arrived in a clearing where they could finally see the sky. The sun was setting.
"Guys, listen! Do you hear anything?" Nidoran asked.
"No, I can't hear a thing," said Wingull."
Rylan listened carefully, but there was nothing. By the time his group had entered the clearing, the voices were no more.
"First we hear screaming, and a split second later, there's nothing," said Wingull.
"Do you reckon someone's playing a practical joke on us?" asked Nidoran.
Just then, the ground beneath Rylan started to tremble. He quickly grabbed hold of a tree nearby.
"Careful! It's an earthquake!" Rylan said.
Rylan felt something shift underneath his feet, almost making him slip and fall. It seemed as though the shadows from the trees were coming together to merge to create a large shadowy spiral in the center of the forest clearing.
"What's going on?" Wingull asked. "Are you okay, Rylan?"
"Can't you see what's happening?" Rylan asked, pointing toward the clearing. "Look there!"
Nidoran and Wingull looked, then shrugged. "Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary," said Nidoran. "You sure you're okay? Maybe you just need some rest."
"I'm serious, you two! This is freaking me out!" Rylan said. "Trust me on this! I can see…something! Something terrible!"
The ground where the shadows met was now starting to sink downward into a funnel. Rylan stared in horror as an enormous, undistinguishable shadowy figure with bright, piercing eyes emerged from the funnel and started to glide towards himself and the other two with a shrieking roar.
"Run! Quick!" Rylan shouted, taking off.
"Run from what?" Wingull asked. There's nothing-"
Rylan ran a good distance away from the clearing and collapsed on the ground when he suddenly heard the frightened screams of Nidoran and Wingull echo through the trees, then quickly cease.
The earthquake subsided and Rylan stood up, shaking from head to toe. "Nidoran? Wingull?" he called out. With haste, he made his way back toward the clearing, but when he arrived, the two were gone.
"Nidoran! Wingull! Are you there?"
There was no reply. The two of them had completely vanished.
"What… How did this happen?" Rylan asked.
"Heh," said a voice. "Looks like you and I can never wander out into the forest without bumping into each other."
Boss Raticate emerged from behind a tree, his Rattata underlings right behind him.
"You!" Rylan said. "Did you do this to them?" He was not happy to see Raticate again, but if Raticate did something to Nidoran and Wingull, he had to get them back from him.
"Did what to who?" Raticate asked. "I don't know what you're going on about, but perhaps just being around me again has made you lose your mind, boy. Can't be helped, I suppose."
The Rattata surrounded Rylan and attempted to beat him down. Rylan successfully fought a few of them off, but there were too many to handle, and he quickly found himself dogpiled underneath them. He struggled, but they quickly bound him with rope and brought him over to Raticate, snickering.
"Let go of me!" Rylan demanded.
"Boss is gonna get you this time!" one Rattata sneered.
Raticate loomed menacingly over Rylan and bared his fangs.
"There's nobody around to save you this time, boy," he said. "You're all mine."
Before Raticate could say or do anything else, Rylan suddenly felt the familiar earthquake sensations he had felt earlier. Rylan yelped in fear as two piercing eyes appeared right behind Raticate.
Terrified, Rylan closed his eyes and screamed. "Noooo!" Seconds later, all was silent. Rylan felt no different from moments ago. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around.
He was still laying down in the forest clearing, his arms and legs bound together by ropes. The quake had subsided. Raticate and his goons were gone.
Rylan managed to get to his feet and hopped toward a tree. He turned around and started to scrape the ropes binding his arms against the tree trunk.
"I have to…tell Aggron…" he panted. "I need to get out of here and get help…"