Chapter 8
The Johto region sure was beautiful. That was the thought that was running through Ash's mind as he and Gary climbed the top of a large incline, and the sight that laid out before them took his breath away. A sea of trees and leaves were laid out as far as the eye could see. The land was bumpy and unsteady like the waves of the ocean, and in the backdrop, a large mountain rose up and touched the sky. It was like a scene straight out of a painting. "Oh, wow!" Ash breathed, and for once, Gary agreed with him.
"You said it," Gary said. "And we're gonna have to travel through it to get to the other side."
"C'mon! The sooner we get started, the sooner we get to Violet City!" Ash stated with a smirk of determination. He tightened the curl of his fingers, but his focus was instantly lost when the whole earth beneath them began to shake. Both Ash and Gary let out a cry of surprise, then of fright when the cliff to their left began to crumble, and small rocks clattered down in a rock slide. Their legs moving faster than they could register, the pair of Pallet Trainers hurried backwards out of harm's way, and let out a sigh of relief when the earthquake stopped. "I guess we're getting off to a rocky start, huh?"
"We should get moving in case it happens again," the auburn-haired Trainer suggested, nervously glancing up at the cliff while he ran his sleeve over his forehead to get rid of the nervous sweat under his locks. Ash quickly agreed, wanting to get away from the cliff as soon as possible.
Luckily, they didn't seem to encounter any more earthquakes. They found a nice path through the woods that provided a nice bit of sunshine, as well as space between the valley so that they didn't have to worry about any rock slides in case an earthquake did happen. The thoughts had almost left their minds when they heard something rustling through the bushes just up ahead a little off the path. "I heard something..." Ash muttered, coming to a stop.
Wanting to investigate further, the dark-haired Trainer stepped off the well-traveled path and peered around a bush. A large, gray bottom met his eye, and attached to it was a gray Pokémon with its face in the bushes. Hearing the pair approach, the gray Pokémon turned and looked at them, revealing a long snout that was a darker gray. The plate ran from its trunk all the way down its body to its tail. "Hey, it's a Pokémon!" Gary whispered in a hush.
Ash recognized it from a battle he had with a Trainer while training for the Pokémon League competition in Kanto, and took out his Pokédex to learn more. "Let's see..."
"Donphan, the Armor Pokémon. With its strong tusks and tough skin, Donphan is known for its powerful Tackle attack. The length of Donphan's tusks indicate its level."
"Sounds good to me!" Ash replied, and hurriedly replaced the Pokédex with a Poké Ball. "Now, I just gotta catch it!"
"And what makes you say you can catch it?" Gary asked with his hands on his hips.
"What do you mean? I saw it first!"
"But look at its tusks," Gary pointed out. "See how short they are compared to the image on the Pokédex? That shows that it's just young, and a young Pokémon needs to be raised by a competent Trainer, like myself."
"I'm just as competent a Trainer as you are!"
"Don't be selfish, Ash! Think about what's best for that Donphan."
"I'm what's best for that Donphan!"
"Then let's do this fairly," Gary suggested. "Let's draw sticks, and whoever picks the shortest stick gets the Donphan."
"Ha! You're on!" Ash scoffed, and his eyes fell to the ground and he quickly looked around to try and find a pair of similar-looking sticks.
"I choose you!" he heard his rival cry, and Ash gasped and shot up as a flash of light appeared in front of him, and Gary's starter Pokémon appeared with called out.
"Saaauuurr!"
"Hey! You tricked me!" Ash accused, and Gary only smirked back.
"You snooze, you lose, Ashy-boy." The older boy turned and looked back at the pair of Pokémon ahead, with Donphan looking curiously at Venusaur.
"Dopha?"
"Venusaur, use Vine Whip and send it flying!" Responding quickly, a pair of vines shot out from the plant on Venusaur's back, and flung out at the Ground Pokémon as fast as lightning. Before Donphan even had a chance to react, the vines wrapped around the Armor Pokémon's front legs, and with a huff from the Grass-type, Donphan was thrown into the air. The Donphan cried out as it flew through the air, but quickly recovered, and tucked its body so it was curled into a ball that resembled a tire, and began to spin rapidly. As it landed on the ground, it shot at Venusaur, and before Gary could order a counterattack, the attack hit Venusaur directly in the face, sending it sprawling backwards. "That was fast!"
"My turn!" Ash declared, jumping in front of Venusaur with a Poké Ball in hand. "And I'm gonna try something new! I choose you! Heracross!" Flying through the air at the Donphan – who had since uncurled itself and was pawing the ground in preparation for the next strike – Heracross emerged from its Poké Ball with a cry.
"Herla-cross!"
"What do you think you're doing?!" Gary yelled as his Venusaur pulled itself to its feet beside him, but Ash ignored him.
"Heracross, try a Tackle attack, now!" Heracross landed on the ground, and used the momentum to spring forward, and it drove its shoulder straight into Donphan. The Armor Pokémon let out a cry as it was thrown backwards, but it landed on its feet and skidded in the dirt and grass. Heracross raised its arms in a battle position, and its opponent leaped into the air before tucking itself into a ball and spinning towards it again with another Rollout attack. "Quick! Stop that Donphan with a Horn Attack!"
As the Donphan came down at Heracross like a meteorite, Heracross pulled its body back and then pushed its head forward, driving its horn into Donphan and stopping it in the air. With a quick jerk of its head, Heracross rerouted the momentum of Donphan's Rollout attack to its left, and the Ground Pokémon went flying into a tree trunk. The Armor Pokémon unfurled upon contact and sank to the ground on its stomach. "Great job! It's getting tired, Heracross," Ash commended his Pokémon. "One more attack and that should do it!"
"Herla-cross!" The Single Horn Pokémon accepted the praise by raising its arms in the air.
However, before Ash could open his mouth for his follow-up attack, a young woman with messy forest-green hair came hurrying out of the trees and threw herself between Heracross and Donphan with an angry look on her face and arms spread wide. "That's enough!" A mask of confusion appeared on Ash's face, and as the Donphan struggled to stand behind her, she knelt down and blanketed her arms around it. "Donphan, are you all right?"
The Pokémon looked at her as it managed to stand up, and the worry in her eyes quickly disappeared to make room for fiery anger, and her eyes shot back to Ash and Gary. "So! You thought you could steal my Donphan!" The two boys let out a nervous groan, and she stood up straight. "I should turn you in to Officer Jenny!"
"Please! Don't do that, miss," Ash appealed with a hand resting on the top of his head. "We didn't know that Donphan belonged to you; honest!" He chuckled after the explanation. "My friend and I thought it was wild. Isn't that right, Gary?"
"Yeah," Gary concurred with a nod of his head. "We're no thieves."
The explanation seemed to satisfy the young woman, and she nodded to show she accepted it. "I should go," she said, and held out her hand to them just before turning away. "But, please don't try to catch any more Donphan here, cause they belong to me."
"Okay, we won't," Ash promised, giving her a smile. "But since you're a Trainer, how about if you and I have a battle instead?"
"Thanks, but I think this little one's had enough battling for today," she replied sheepishly, and looked down at it. "Come on; let's go home now."
"Dopha dopha!"
"Hey, wait! How 'bout tomorrow?!" Ash begged, but the girl ignored him, and disappeared into the woods from where she had come from. "Oh well, it was worth a try..." His hand lowering in defeat, he fished out his Pokémon's Poké Ball and pointed it at Heracross. "You were great, Heracross! Return!"
"You too, Venusaur. Thanks!" Both Pokémon were recalled back into their Poké Balls, and though Gary put his Poké Ball away, Ash looked down sadly at his.
"Don't you worry, Heracross: we'll win a real battle soon."
o 0 o
During the rest of their trip through the valley, Ash and Gary saw glimpses of other Donphan, and kept their promise of not battling or disturbing them. It was only a day in the valley when they learned the 'earthquakes' they were feeling upon arrival weren't actually earthquakes at all, but the young woman's Donphan using their Tackle attacks into the side of the cliffs to knock rocks down. The reasoning for it was unknown, but all Ash knew was that he was sad he didn't have the chance to catch one.
Now with the valley of Donphan behind them, they found themselves trekking through a thick forest. The Johto region seemed to be filled with rich, thick forests. While that was good for the environment, it wasn't good for Ash and Gary, both of which didn't have a good background when it came to navigating forests. Ash was used to relying on Brock for helping them through the woods, and Gary was used to traveling by car.
And of course, both were blaming each other.
"Don't tell me: we're lost again," Gary sighed, putting a hand to his forehead.
"We're not lost exactly..." Ash murmured quietly, his brown eyes scanning the tree trunks as if they would point him in the right direction.
"We're not lost, we just don't know where we are! The sun is starting to go down, and I don't exactly like the idea of camping out in this spooky forest for the night."
"Don't worry, Gary!" Ash assured him with a more-than-forced grin. "Come on! Let's go!" And without waiting for an answer, Ash hurried off in a seemingly random direction.
"Go where?!" Gary called after him.
"Just trust me! You'll see! Our troubles will be over in no time!" A loud, fake laugh filled the air as Ash ran further away, and Gary's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
"That was how we got into this mess in the first place..." Despite this, he ran off after his traveling companion, not wanting to lose the younger boy in his haste. But as time went on and the sun soon disappeared beyond the horizon line, a chill settled into their bones. The moon above them wasn't helping in the slightest, and though it did help provide them with a little bit of light, it constantly made them feel like they were being watched.
Ash finally came to a stop, and his head turned this way and that. But now it had become so dark that they couldn't even see past the trees that surrounded them. "And just where are we now?"
"Now we're... lost..." Ash admitted with a nervous chuckle. A groan of frustration left Gary's throat as he let his head fall back.
"This is what I get for letting a loser like you in charge of where to go." Gary's eyes shifted around the leaves, and though he was wearing a mask of stone, there was a bit of worry glittering behind his eyes. "Guess we'll have to wait until the sun comes up."
As if to add to the spook-factor, the moon that was providing them light disappeared behind, leaving them in complete darkness. Ash could only just make out Gary's outline, as well as the rustling leaves as the wind picked up overhead. Anxiety and fear gripped his heart inside his chest as he hoped for his eyes to adjust to the darkness soon, but suddenly, a low moan sounded from all around them. It was haunting, and echoed from all directions.
"Cut that out! If you're trying to scare me, it isn't working," Gary snapped.
"That wasn't me..." Ash whispered, and turned to look out into the woods. "Who's there?! Come on out!" The forest responded with another moan, this time louder, and a fog appeared around them. The fog had almost a luminescent quality to it, and lit up the trees around them. When it did, their eyes shot up at the trunks of the trees, and a sinister face appeared in its bark. Ash could have sworn his eyes were playing tricks on him, but then the tree moaned and cackled.
He let out a scream, and to both his surprise and dismay, Gary let out a scream behind him as well. The two took off in the direction behind them away from the tree, but more fog appeared where they were heading, and lit up another tree. This one too had a ghastly face. They screamed and quickly turned and ran in another direction, but the trees there had faces too. Soon, they were trapped in the middle of a horde of evil-looking trees, with moans sending shivers down their spines coming from each of them. "We're surrounded!" Ash screamed, stepping backwards and falling onto his backside.
"I wonder..." Gary murmured, and then took out a Poké Ball. Holding it firmly in his hand, he reared his arm back and threw it. "I choose... YOU!" The plasma that was released from the inside of the red and white Poké Ball lit up their surroundings momentarily, and the light came together to form a round brown Pokémon with bright red eyes.
"Hoo!" it hooted, fluttering to the ground.
"Hoothoot, Foresight!" the auburn-haired Trainer commanded. Hoothoot let out another hoot, and its eyes lit up and sent out a red beam like a flashlight. The light fell upon the trees, and as soon as it did, the moans and faces disappeared. Its little wings fluttering into the air, Hoothoot spun around, casting the light of its Foresight all around them and casting away both the fog and the evil that surrounded them.
When all was quiet, Ash pulled in a sharp intake of air; his heart still pounding against his chest. "W-what was that?!"
"It was nothing," Gary replied, drawing Ash's attention. "Everything we saw and heard was an illusion." He then bent down and petted the top of his Pokémon's head. "Good job, Hoothoot." The light around its eyes faded, and the Pokémon waved its wings happily at its praise.
"Hoo-hoo!"
"What's a..." Ash began, standing up and fishing his Pokédex out of his pocket.
"Hoothoot, the Owl Pokémon. Hoothoot stands on one leg, but uses both its powerful to see clearly through the darkest night." As the Pokédex spoke in its electronic voice, Hoothoot lowered its hidden leg and bounced around, encircling its Trainer and looking for any more of the illusions.
"When did you get that?" Ash asked his traveling companion. "I never saw you catch a Hoothoot."
"That's because unlike you, I actually pay attention to my surroundings," Gary answered. "I caught it just on the outer edge of this forest the other night while you were sleeping. I read in the guidebook that this forest has a reputation of being haunted, and the only way to get through it is with the help of a Hoothoot. Now I see why."
"What do you think is making the illusions?" Ash asked, looking around the forest. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
"I have my theories, but I'm gonna keep them to myself for now," Gary responded. "I think what we should focus on is getting out of this forest. Hoothoot, I'm counting on you to get rid of any illusions that pop up."
"Hoohoo!" the Owl Pokémon responded happily.
"I'll be counting on you, too!" Ash said to it full of glee, kneeling down and giving the Pokémon a grin. Hoothoot's eyes glared in Ash's direction, and it leapt up and began pecking Ash's head with its small beak. "Hey! Ow ow ow ow!"
o 0 o
The pair – accompanied by Hoothoot – wandered around the forest for some time. Whatever had cast the illusion upon them when they first saw them hadn't shown up since. As such, they were still stuck with the first reasoning of why they were here: they were lost. But it was comforting knowing that Hoothoot was there to get rid of any illusions that would creep their ugly heads up and dispel them instantly.
But they were both on edge. The slightest noise made Ash jump, and though Gary would make fun of him for it, Ash could see through his peripheral vision that he too would jump slightly. But, to their relief, the thick stretch of trees began to lessen with each step. Were they finally making their way out of the forest?
They finally found what looked like to be some semblance of a path, or at least a part of the forest floor that seemed to be worn from some walking more than the other areas, and continued up it, as it was the only guide they had at the moment. The trees parted on either side, and soon they stumbled across a stone structure of some kind. It rose high over the path, almost like an entryway of sorts. "That's weird that a stone megalith would be out here in the middle of the woods," Gary observed through calculating eyes. It almost resembled a shrine of some kind.
"Do you think it is an illusion?" Ash asked. They stood in silence, waiting for more to happen. Would the structure rise out of the ground and chase them? Would it form a horrifying face and laugh at them?
Instead, they saw a figure come out from the darkness on the other side of the megalith and slowly approach. Both stopped their breaths in their throats, and waited as the figure revealed itself as it got closer. It was hideous, and Ash couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman – its hair was long past its shoulders, but it had a faint brushing of a mustache on its upper lip. It glared at them, and wore a strange pink outfit as it walked closer to them with its hands behind its back. Finally, the gnome-like creature stopped and simply stared at the two.
"This has to be an illusion!" Gary declared.
"You think so?" Ash questioned quietly, sending a strange look over his shoulder.
"I've never seen anything more scary in my life," his traveling companion replied matter-of-factually.
"Guess so; something that ugly only shows up in my worst nightmares..."
Gary nodded, and looked down at his Flying-type Pokémon. "Do it, Hoothoot."
"Hoohoo!" the Normal and Flying Pokémon cried, and sent out its Foresight at the short creature. The brown-haired goblin flinched back as the light enveloped it, but much to their surprise, it didn't disappear. Hoothoot continued to shine its light upon it, and suddenly, it reacted loudly and screamed.
"WILL YOU STOP SHINING THAT LIGHT ON ME?!" it screeched, and Ash and Gary both screamed in shock. It wasn't an illusion: it was a real human!
"You're a real life person?" Gary asked once he had gathered himself once again.
"Last time I looked I was," the human – its voice confirming she was an older woman – answered. She took out a flashlight and shone it underneath her face. Though she was trying to show them that she was indeed a real person, the light was only deepening her horrifying features. "The name's Hagatha. I came this way because I heard screaming. But it looks like you've already got yourself a Hoothoot."
"Yes, ma'am," Ash nodded, and pointed up at the megalith. "We're sorry we thought you were an illusion; it's just strange to see something like that in the middle of the woods."
"That, sonny, is the entrance to my home," she told him, and shone her flashlight to her left and Ash and Gary's right. Off to the side, there was a stone statue of a Hoothoot erected behind it. "I rent out Hoothoot to travelers that want to get through this forest without getting lost forever."
"Just what is making those illusions in those forests?" Gary asked.
"Mischievous Pokémon," she answered bluntly. "And you've seen them once, but you'll see them again." Hagatha let out a sigh. "But, since you two already have yourselves a Hoothoot, looks like I won't be making any money off of you after all."
"Is there any way that you could at least tell us the way out of this forest?" Ash queried.
"Fine..." she exhaled, and then her eye twinkled. "But it'll cost 'ya."
"What?! That's not fair!"
"Well, the only reason I'm charging you is because... I HEARD THAT UGLY COMMENT EARLIER YOU SNOT-NOSED LITTLE BRATS!"
o 0 o
Though it cost them a little bit of money, the path was fairly straight forward: just past Hagatha's cabin was a trail. As long as they stuck to the trail, they would make it to the other side by daylight. Though it was on the main trail, she also recommended that Gary keep his Hoothoot by their side throughout the night. There would be no way to stop the mysterious Pokémon from playing tricks on them otherwise.
Sleep was weighing heavily on their mind. Now that the rush of adrenaline had worn off from the initial scares in the beginning of the forest, exhaustion was pulling on their eyelids. But they knew that would have to wait until after they got out of the forest. And so they kept pushing forward, trying not to say much in order to attract unwanted attention. Unfortunately, that didn't last very long. Not soon long after leaving Hagatha's cabin, a chill seemed to run up Hoothoot's entire body, and it stopped in place.
"What's wrong, Hoothoot?" Gary asked his Pokémon. The Owl Pokémon pivoted on its foot and looked at him with worry in its eyes, and then a familiar fog surrounded them. Before either of them could react, multiple blue balls of flames appeared all around them. Their right mind told them that it was an illusion, but they could feel the heat coming from the flame, and feel the chill in the air as they moved closer to them. Both of them screamed and attempted to bat away the will-o-the-wisps, but the flames simply dodged their hand swipes.
"Gary! Do something!"
"Hoothoot!" Gary cried. His Pokémon chirped in response, and its eyes began to glow red. The cluster of will-o-the-wisps all separated as if sensing their oncoming demise, and gathered together some distance in front of Gary and his Hoothoot. The blue flames all combined, forming into a large fireball with white fire forming a face that looked similar to the sinister faces that appeared on the trees when they first saw the illusions. The giant fireball cackled evilly and moved closer to Hoothoot, but the Owl Pokémon didn't falter at all, and hooted loudly.
"Hoo-hooooooo!" The glowing red eyes let out a beam of light that struck the fireball and made it disappear instantly. But Hoothoot wasn't done, and spun around and around, aiming up in the tree tops. After a moment or two, invisible Pokémon appeared in the branches, with Hoothoot's Foresight revealing them.
"Haunter!"
"Gengar!"
"Haunter and Gengar!" Ash gasped, looking up in the sky.
"We're surrounded!" Gary exclaimed, his eyes flickering back and forth. There were at least eight of each species in the trees, and when they realized Ash and Gary could see them, their eyes began to glow bright blue, and a mysterious fog appeared around them once again. "They're using Hypnosis to create their illusions!" the brown-haired Trainer realized. "Hoothoot!"
"Hoo-hooo!" Once again, Hoothoot fired off another Foresight attack, and this time, this cut the attacks of the Ghost-type Pokémon short. Before they could complete their illusions, the bright red light from its eyes blinded them, and they hid their eyes behind their hands.
"Now's our chance! Venusaur, go!"
"Blastoise, I choose you!" Both boys threw out their choices of Pokémon, and at the same time, their starter Pokémon appeared on either side of them. "Blastoise, Hydro Pump now!"
"Venusaur, Vine Whip! Hoothoot, Peck attack!" As Blastoise sent out a blast of water from its jets at the Pokémon in the trees, Venusaur sent six vines outward from underneath its plant. Each of the attacks hit their target – some even hitting multiple targets. Meanwhile, Hoothoot flapped its wings and shot up at a single Haunter before jabbing its beak into the Ghost and Poison Pokémon.
All of the wild Pokémon had been hit by an attack, and they quickly retreated by flying hurriedly through the air. "And that's that," Gary smirked.
"Great job, guys! You all did great!" Ash complimented the Pokémon, and smiled down at Hoothoot last. As he made eye contact, the Normal and Flying Pokémon glared and sped at him like a rocket before perching on the boy's head and using Peck on him as well. "Ow ow ow ow ow!"
o 0 o
The trees finally began to part when the sun was starting to rise. They had been up all night walking through the forest, but since they had fought back against the Haunter and Gengar, they didn't see a single sight or illusion of them. But, much to their dismay, when they saw a megalith up ahead, they both stopped and gawked with their eyes open.
"A-are we back to where we started?" Gary exclaimed in horror.
"Maybe it's another illusion?" Ash suggested, blinking in disbelief. He could have sworn they stuck to the road. Just then, a familiar figure walked up on the path ahead, and when it got closer, the pair of traveling Trainers groaned. "That's no illusion. That's Hagatha..."
"I AM NOT HAGATHA! I'M HER TWIN SISTER; NAGATHA!" the woman yelled angrily.
"Her... twin?" Gary repeated once they had recovered from the screaming, and the woman – who looked exactly like her sister aside from the white headband – smiled up at him.
"Yes, but people don't believe it because I'm so much more beautiful," she said. When an awkward silence passed over them, the woman cleared her throat and continued. "My sister called me and told me the two of you would be getting here around this time. Good to see I don't have to go searching for you two."
"Yup! We made it out of the woods!" Ash replied proudly. "And it was all thanks to me!"
"Looks like Nagatha isn't the only one who is delusional around here..." Gary murmured quietly, but both Ash and the older woman glared at him.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"
Ash:
Party:
Blastoise (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Skull Bash, Dig, Hydro Pump, BubbleBeam
Bulbasaur (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: SolarBeam, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Sleep Powder
Charmeleon (Poké Ball)
Moves: Flamethrower, Fire Spin, Skull Bash, Slash
Heracross (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Horn Attack, Tackle
At Professor Oak's Lab:
Tauros (Safari Ball) x2 (m)
Moves: Fissure, Horn Attack, Take Down
Kingler (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Water Gun, Bubble, Crabhammer, Hyper Beam
Muk (Poké Ball)
Moves: Poison Gas, Sludge Bomb
Primeape (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Thrash, Mega Kick, Scratch, Seismic Toss
Pidgeotto (Poké Ball) (f)
Moves: Gust, Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Double-Edge
Kanto Badges:
Boulder Badge
Cascade Badge
Thunder Badge
Marsh Badge
Rainbow Badge
Soul Badge
Volcano Badge
Earth Badge
Diamond Badge
Indigo League Rank: Top 4
Johto Badges:
Gary:
Party:
Venusaur (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: SolarBeam, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Mega Drain
Arcanine (Poké Ball)
Moves: Take Down, Fire Spin, Fire Blast, Flamethrower
Nidoqueen (Poké Ball) (f)
Moves: Strength, Hyper Beam, Mega Punch, Double Kick
Nidoking (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Horn Attack, Earthquake, Tackle
Pinsir (Poké Ball)
Moves: Fury Attack, ViceGrip
Hoothoot (Poké Ball)
Moves: Foresight, Peck
At Professor Oak's Lab:
200+ Pokémon
Kanto Badges:
Boulder Badge
Cascade Badge
Rainbow Badge
Seven unknown Badges
Indigo League Rank: Winner
Johto Badges: