Chapter 12:
Into Ilex
First thing in the morning the team made their way towards Ilex Forest, a sprawling maze of woods and trees covered in fog and saturated in mystique and legend. There was an element of nervousness and excitement as they approached the forest. At the entrance there was a stand with several Hoot-Hoot in a giant cage. Nathan approached the salesman.
"We have Hoot-Hoot for sale! And Hoot-Hoot for rent! Take your pick!"
"I was given this certificate…"
The sales person reviewed it carefully.
"It seems you have a golden ticket for a free rental. These are hard to come by. You must have worked pretty hard for it. Take your pick young man."
Nathan investigated the Hoot-Hoot carefully in the rental cage. Four of them were darting around the cage, one was sleeping and the other was sitting there staring. Nathan pointed to the one that was staring.
"That girl right there is a strong one, but she can be a bit jumpy. Are you sure that's the one you want?"
Nathan nodded. Within moments the salesman took the Hoot-Hoot out and handed her to Nathan.
"They can be pretty fast. They are all able to defend themselves. We aren't the greatest trainers, but we love our Hoot-Hoot. You will meet my brother at the exit of Ilex and he will take this girl back. Enjoy your trip!"
After a few more minutes they entered Ilex Forest. The air was muggy and foggy and the shade from the trees made it so dark the team could barely see in front of them. Hoot-Hoot's eyes lit the path. They know that if they hadn't had Hoot-Hoot they would be completely lost.
In another part of Ilex Forest Brett and Betty were stepping slowly with their arms hanging down and exasperated looks on their faces.
"We have been walking for hours Betty. Do we even know where we are? This was a terrible idea. You are not allowed to make decisions on where we go anymore."
"Shut up Brett! We will find our way through this forest!"
"That's impossible! I told you we should have stolen one of that fool's Hoot-Hoot!"
"Shut up Brett!"
A wind began to blow. Thunder slammed together in the sky.
"Oh no."
Rain began to fall all over the forest. Nathan looked at Kathy.
"You wouldn't happen to have an umbrella, would you?"
"Why would I?"
"I don't know, don't girls plan for this stuff?"
"Even if I did, I wouldn't let you use it. You would just melt it like you did my bike!"
"Oh… you haven't forgotten about that huh?"
"No I didn't Nathan Elm! And I won't forget about it until you buy me a new one!"
The wind began to blow on again on their side of the forest. Thunder crashed in the sky once more. Hoot-Hoot began shaking.
"It's okay girl. We'll get through this." Nathan encouraged.
They pushed forward for a little bit longer when they reached the middle of the forest, they came across a small stone and wooden house that resembled a shrine of some sort. Thunder crashed again. The sound echoed through the forest. Hoot-Hoot, terrified of the sound, flew off.
"Hey! No! Get back here!" Nathan yelled.
"Oh no. What are we gonna do now you blockhead!?" Kathy screamed at Nathan.
Phillip calmed the two of them down.
"Guys… arguing with each other is not going to help us in this situation. Nathan you go that way. Kathy, you go over there, and I'll go this way. We'll find Hoot-Hoot. She can't have gotten far. We'll meet back here in about fifteen minutes. Hopefully, one of us will have caught Hoot-Hoot by then."
Just then Hoot-Hoot darted across Brett and Betty's head and landed in a nearby shrubbery.
"Hey! That's a Hoot-Hoot!" Brett yelled.
"I think our luck is about to change Brett."
They called out their Pokemon. Lightning struck all around them as the Hoot-Hoot flew to another tree. Team Rocket set a trap. Betty scared it and Spinarak webbed it up. Team Rocket was now in possession of Hoot-Hoot.
Phillip, Nathan and Kathy met back up at the little hokora. They looked at each other with disappointment. Just then a massive lightning strike cracked onto the hokora. The three trainers flew back. Waves of hallucinations flew all around them. As the trainers fell to the ground Phillip saw the shadow of a fairy-like creature with round toeless feet, three-fingered hands, and wings on its back and a round head that came to a curved point.
Just then Phillip was translated to a battle scene. The foggy vision slowly becoming clear. Phillip scratched his head as he focused on the sight in front of him, where was he? What happened? In an instant, a pale, silver-white dragon looking bird darted into the sky. A gold and red feathered Pokemon was right behind it. Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos followed it. The five birds soared over a massive tower made of brass. A large gray draconic Pokemon with gold half rings circling the back of its neck, with a gold crown-like object surrounding it with two large horns pointing sideways flew opposite them. A black, bipedal Pokemon resembling a dragon or dinosaur, with dark patches on various portions of its body flew alongside a white-colored, bipedal Pokemon with draconic, avian and mammalian traits, it bore a long, voluminous wispy mane streamed out from the upper side of the snout and outwards from its head.
The eight Pokemon faced each other for a while. Three shadows of a two legged dragon with a pair of long, thin antennae sprout from the top of its head with a small horn set between them loomed over the head of Phillip. All three of them with eyes burning different colors. One with burning red eyes, another with shocking yellow eyes and the final with shining light blue eyes. As Phillip took in the sight the eight magnificent Pokemon floating over the tower of brass, fired powerful attacks at each other. The attacks collided in the air rebounded downward knocking all the Pokemon back and igniting the tower with a powerful fire that Phillip could feel in his chest.
After the tower burned for awhile the silver and white dinosaur bird darted into the sky and it began to rain and put out the fire. Without hesitation the gold and red bird flew back to the tower and launched a move that Phillip had never seen before. Within seconds three four legged beasts hurtled out of the tower. One made of ice that, one made of fire and a shadow of a quadruped, yellow, tiger-like Pokemon with a thin tail with sharp angles and a spark-shaped formation at the end with electricity emanating off of it looked right at Phillip and pounced towards him.
Phillip was riled by the vision he popped up gasping for air. The lightning and thunder subsided as Kathy and Nathan arose. Brett and Betty approached the three trainers who were getting up slowly.
"Now's our chance Betty. Let's kick them while they're down, capture that Cyndaquil and send it to the boss."
"Go Zubat!"
"Go Spinarak!"
Phillip saw the two Pokemon flying at Kathy and dove to push her out of the way. Phillip rolled over on one knee clenching his fist and grinding his teeth.
"Team Rocket!"
They quoted their motto and got ready for battle. The three trainers threw out their best Pokemon.
"Exeggcute! Confusion attack now!"
"Cyndaquil! Fire spin attack now!"
The confusion attack from Kathy's Exeggcute stopped Spinarak and Zubat in their tracks. Cyndaquil's fire spin attack trapped the two of them making them immobile.
"Now, Tyrogue! Finish them off with a seismic toss!"
Tyrogue bounced off two trees hugged both Spinarak and Zubat and launched into the air spinning. Tyrogue drove them into the ground as they reflected towards Brett and Betty. Just then Hoot-Hoot was set free and launched a gust attack that sent Team Rocket flying through the trees.
"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIINNNNN!"
Hoot-Hoot flew to Nathan. He embraced her with a big hug. Hoot-Hoot returned to its perch on Nathan's shoulder. The team began to walk away from the hokora when they stopped and looked back at it.
"Did anyone else have a weird experience?" Phillip asked.
Kathy and Nathan nodded. None of them wanted to talk about it. They continued their journey in silence. They contemplating their experiences.
"There's something special about that little house isn't there Phillip?"
"I think so Nathan."
After a few hours, with Hoot-Hoot as their guide, the team arrived at the Ilex Forest exit.
What mysteries were held by our three heroes in Ilex Forest? What is in store for them on their journey?
To be continued…