Lilith ducked behind the closest tree. Two pokemon were in battle. Pokemon cries were heard off in the distance.

The wind grew more fierce. The trees swayed as if responding to the clash.

She dodged from tree to tree, trying to flee from the commotion. Her tiny body could only take her so far. Soon it was clear that their fight was moving in her direction.

After much practice, the art of tree climbing was all but mastered. Lilith tossed her rope around the closest tree and was up the tree in seconds. A handful more, and she was motionless amidst the middle branches. The branches parted, giving her a view of what was to come.

She hoped they would miss her as she peered through the brush. The first she saw was a frog dash into her point of view. It was purple and stood on two legs. It had gray hands and feet with large orange eyes.

Croagunk kicked the ground. Dirt formed into mud as it was launched to Lilith’s left. She followed its trajectory through the air. Hidden amidst the greenery was Pansage. The natural camo helped hide his tiny body. Pansage tried dodging to the left, but was struck in the face with mud.

‘Pansage.’ She recognized the small monkey. The Pokemon who woke her on the first day of her arrival.

Pansage staggered backward. Croagunk took the opportunity and darted forward. Its hands turned purple as they sharpened to a point. He aimed for the center of mass and thrusted.

‘Poison Sting.’ She identified. ‘That’s super effective.’

Gray energy shot out from Pansage, hitting Croagunk right before he could attack. His fist slowed as a split second of confusion overtook him. The momentum lessened, lowering Croagunk’s Attack.

As Croagunk made contact with Pansage’s chest, Pansage’s hands extended. Gray claws sprouted from his fingers and let loose a barrage of attacks wildly in all directions. The mud lowered his Accuracy, so he compensated for a wider area of attack.

‘A stat lowering move and Fury Swipes?’ she thought.

Multiple Swipes landed as Croagunk and Pansage traded blows. He located Croagunk’s position. He didn’t have to use his eyes to find his long-time adversary. In some sort of combo attack, Pansage’s arms retracted and shifted to a glowing green. His arms slapped together, hitting Croagunk’s extended arm.

Both were knocked back with a bang. Pansage landed on his back and cried out in pain. An ugly purple splotch formed on his chest. Meanwhile, Croagunk only took a few steps back, injured, but still able to fight.

'He’s Poisoned.’ She knew the fight was over. It was only a matter of time until he was defeated. Lilith choked up. There was no way to help him.

That was, until she reached into her bag. With how dark it had become, there was a chance she could go unnoticed. Pansage had helped her at her most vulnerable. She was in his debt, and Lilith always repaid her debts.

Lilith reached into her supply bag and planned her next move.

‘I only need one chance for it to slip away.’ She hardened her resolve.

She aimed to create a small distraction for Croagunk so that her friend could get away. Lilith palmed her Ball of Mud. With the trajectory in mind, she tossed the ball of mud towards the ground.

Croagunk grew closer to Pansage.

It landed with a splotch. The Ball landed behind Croagunk.

"Splotch!"

He jumped with fright and turned towards the sound. Croagunk took his eyes off Pansage to investigate the sound.

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‘Come on, move!’ she chanted.

Pansage was equally confused, but it didn’t miss the opportunity. He flipped onto his belly and tried to crawl away. One agonizing second passed after another. His body became overwhelmed with pain, his body started to slow down.

Croagunk turned back to Pansage. With no enemies around, he could focus back onto the small monkey.

Pansage wasn’t fast enough. Lilith had overestimated Pansage.

Croagunk hobbled up to him as She watched intently. She had failed.

Croagunk lifted his arm, creating another Poison Sting. But before he could strike him down, something happened.

Branches snapped off in the distance.

Croagunk turned to his right and stared off into the underbrush. Lilith tried to see what he was looking at, but failed due to the trees in the way.

A pair of glowing red eyes stared back at Croagunk.

Filled with unfound strength, he turned and fled.

***

The entire situation was odd. She watched Croagunk run off and then waited for something to happen. Her confusion only grew when nothing actually happened.

Lilith watched Pansage on the ground. The grass wilted around his tiny body, the Poison spread to his surroundings. Once she was sure nothing would attack her, she descended.

She scoured the area for any other Pokemon. Something had scared Croagunk off. When nothing was found, she then fished out a Pecha berry to give to him. Pansage instantly recognized her.

“Pan” Pansage coughed weakly.

The purple splotch on his chest quickly disappeared as he was force fed the Berry. Pansage was cured of Poison.

Lilith then decided her next course of action. She had no Berries that cured Hit Points (HP). She didn’t even know how HP worked. Points didn’t work in real life. Some parts of the body were more vital than others. She also couldn’t leave him there where anything could come out and attack him. She owed him that much. It wouldn’t be a big risk for her either.

She crouched down next to the monkey.

“Pansage.” he called out

She nodded like she understood what he said, and hoisted him up.

Lilith carried him on her back.

***

Once Lilith returned to base, she stashed the injured monkey inside her tent. He would be safe from prying eyes there. She slept alongside the injured monkey.

She had slowly gotten used to sleeping in rough or weird places. The next morning, Lilith awoke to a strange sight. Where she had stashed Pansage now stood a mass of green vines. They slithered around, and were like nothing of the fauna she had seen thus far.

She poked at the vines and moved them aside. Upon further inspection, the outline of Pansage appeared.

‘Leech Seed?’ She thought

The move had no target, but still appeared to be functioning somehow. More mysteries to decipher later.

Lilith decided to leave him alone; it looked like Pansage was dealing with the HP problem himself.

The thing that dominated her mind was the green pillar. The night had forced Lilith to return home and not explore her strange sighting.

‘Today's plan is to go check out whatever that green pillar is.’ she thought.

***

Lilith packed her bag to the brim. She then checked Pansage one last time before leaving.

She knew her route and what she had to avoid. The journey to the grassy hills was much faster. The day was fair, and fewer Pokemon were spotted on the route to her destination. With the sun directly above her, she soon arrived.

‘That’s Lilipup’s hill, so I have to go over there.’ she thought.

She peered off into the distance. Lilith followed the tree line to her right. They became more sparse the closer to the mountain she became.

Only a small flock of wild Doduo were spotted in the distance. Lilith took this chance to climb a small part of the mountain. The hill flattened out into a plateau.

Tall grass lined the area. Trees occasionally sprouted from the ground where the grass receded.

Lilith spotted the pillar off in the distance. It looked like the tower was beyond the plateau, not placed upon it. The closer to the edge she got, the larger it became.

She stuck to the edges. The grass grew in an uneven pattern. Some places it reached up to her waist, others it was entirely dirt. The outer rim held the shortest of the grass; it proved the fastest and safest avenue.

Before long she reached her destination. Lilith felt a renewed hope as she reached the end of the Plateau. A sheer drop opened up before her. Down below lay buildings.