Chapter 4 : Eterna forest' stranger and the Old Chateau

After walking for a while, the vast green trees of eterna forest was seen. The forest was a very peaceful one and we could hear many pokemons doing their usual business. The air was fresh and occasional sunlight pierced through the thick feuillage of the many trees. While walking around, I bump into two enthusiastic trainers who kept insisting to do a double battle. As I didn't have a lot of experience in double battle, I tried to decline their offer but they would hear none of it.

Great. Now if my pokemons get injured before I reach Eterna city, I'll be in big trouble… I sigh as I prepare to take out two of my pokemons.

"Hey! Mind if I join in?"

I turn to where the source of the voice is and I see another trainer that looks my age standing next to a tree.

"I've been watching these two and they tend to gang up and pick on trainers with weak pokemons. They've been doing that all day" she continued.

"Pardon? Have you been stalking us young lady" replies one of the two in shock

"We've just been training together, that's all" added the other.

"Anyways. Point is, are you guys going to battle us or not?" asks the first one, impatient.

"Fine, let's do that" I answer.

The two then take out their pokemon: a Wurmple and a Pachirisu. Although not so threatening at first sight, the two Pokemons do look well trained and pumped to battle together. They really does seem to have battle together quite a lot. I take out my Monferno and the other girl send out a strange Pokemon I've never seen before. After scanning it with my pokedex, it revealed to be a Sceptile, one of the Hoenn region. The duo made the first move with a strong thunderbolt added with string shot. Monferno skillfully dodged the string shot and countered the thunder with ember. The girl's Sceptile cut the string with leaf blade and countered with bullet seed. Monferno then used flame wheel on the Wurmple, taking it out, and Sceptile sealed our victory with leaf storm, making a direct hit on Pachirisu.

"No way! Our pokemons taken out just like that?" one said reaching out for a second pokeball and releasing a Beautifly.

"If you think you can beat us, you better think again!" said the other one releasing a Silcoon.

This time, we made the first move. Monferno first hit silcoon with ember, and Sceptile dashed towards Beautifly before hitting it with a strong leaf blade. The Beautifly then used gust, restraining our movement and Silcoon, while we weren't paying attention, planted us to the ground with string shot.

"Great. Now what do we do?" I ask, a bit annoyed.

"You deal with the Silcoon and I'll take care of Beautifly." replied the other girl.

She then told her Sceptile to leaf blade his way out of the silk and countered Beautifly's gust with leaf storm. Meanwhile, Monferno also managed to get out of the string by burning them with ember and macho punched Silcoon into the leaf storm, knocking them both out. With no more pokemons to battle, the duo quickly make their way back whilst shouting something about a rematch and revenge.

"Wow, your Sceptile sure is tough" I said, after putting Monferno back into his pokeball.

"Thanks, your Monferno wasn't half bad either." replied the girl, doing the same thing with her pokemon.

"Are you on your way to Eterna City?" I asked, curious

"Yeah, but I got lost on the way and I don't have a map with me…" she sighs

"Oh then you can travel with me if you want, I've got a map" I offer

"Really? That'd be great!"

"Not a problem. Although we're gonna have to take a break soon because it's almost night. We can camp out and continue the walk tomorrow if you don't mind."

"Sure, although we could check out that Mansion I passed by earlier, and maybe spend the night there since I'm not a fan of camping" she suggested.

"Okay, lead the way..er...what was your name?" I ask, realising that we haven't introduced ourselves.

"Oh yeah, we have yet to to the introductions. I'm Lu from Hoenn and I'm travelling in Sinnoh to beat the Elite Four and visit the three lakes." she starts

"Really? That's awesome! I'm Haru and well, I came from Twinleaf Town, which is south to Jubilife city. We have pretty much the same goal, I aim to beat the Sinnoh Champion as well."

"That's great! So, when do you plan on going after Eterna city?"

"Hmm I think I'll be headed to Veilstone City. That's where my third gym is."

"Oh… I'm headed to Oreburgh City. I already beat my first gym and visited lake Verity, so I'm on my way to the second one."

"You've been to Lake Verity? That's right in front of my town! Did you meet the professor in Sandgem town too?"

"You mean Professor Rowan? Yep! He's the one who gave me the Sinnoh pokedex. Oh hey! We're here! This is the Mansion I was talking about" Lu said, pointing a rather somber mansion in the middle of the woods.

"Hmmm let's see here. On my map it says: Deep in the forest is the Old Chateau. It is falling into disrepair after being abandoned by its owner." I read out loud. "Not a very comforting description if you ask me.."

"We never know until we see for ourselves right?" she said while walking towards the Chateau. "Oh, it looks like those trees are blocking our path. Oh well, not a problem."

The "trees" were in fact a special kind of plant that could only be cut down using a pokemon. I had come across many walking inside the forest but I didn't have any pokemon that could cut it down. After getting them out of the way, Lu hesitantly stepped towards the mansion.

"Umm Haru aren't you coming too?" she asked, turning around

"Ermm to be quite honest, I'm really bad with these kind of creepy places. Mind if I take out my pokemons? I'll feel less creeped out haha" I ask

"Sure go ahead"

After taking out Shinx, Monferno and Budew, I join Lu and we enter the mansion.

The Old Chateau was exactly as map described. Furnitures were dusty and lots of spiderwebs were seen in the corners of the ceiling. To make matters worse, the dark and heavy atmosphere was emphasized by the presence of what seemed to be ghost type pokemons. After hastily scanning them with my pokedex, they revealed to the Gastlys, which all had quite a scary face. We quickly made our way up to the second floor, which is where the bedrooms usually are located, and didn't bother to check the rooms on the first one. After walking up the large stairways, we found ourselves at the entrance of a dark corridor.

"Do you think there are ghosts of the people who actually lived here?" I ask, more frightened than curious

"I don't know but I sure do hope not" Lu replies, as creeped out as I am.

"Hey look! It seems like there are lights coming out from that room" I point out

On the end of the corridor, a small source of light could be seen coming out from a room at the very end. The floor made creaky noises as we slowly walked to it and pushed the door open. Inside was a small bedroom and a bookshelf filled with dusty old books about pokemons and myths.

"Well, it seems that we'll be sleeping here for tonight. Unless you want to sleep in the room next door" I ask, feeling chills at the thought of sleeping alone in this place.

"No thanks. I'll sleep in the same room." Lu declines, much to my joy.

We settle down as I take out the blankets from my backpack and roll them down on the floor. Lu takes out two cups and heats some milk.

"You want some moo moo milk? It's straight from Johto, and it's supposed to help you sleep at night." she offers

"Sure! Thanks a lot" I gladly accept.

After drinking the milk, I put my pokemons back into their pokeball and drift asleep to the sound of the windows shaking and the creaking of the wood.