Gapejaw Bog really wasn’t far from our campsite in the Golden Lowlands. Budew, Roselia, and Croagunk were everywhere, though we did pass by a meadow with skittering Pachirisu on the way over. I had Golett out with me and Akari’s Oshawott held the rear, but none of the swaggering poison types ever attacked so long as we strayed out of their favourite ponds.

When we arrived, our sandals squelched in mud and a flooded scene met our eyes. Rivulets of earth were separated by expansive but shallow ponds of clear water framed by the hills off into the distance. Pillars reminiscent of those in Spear Pillar jutted randomly in varying states of decay out of the ground. I wondered if they were the same architecture. They certainly looked it.

Annoyingly, the cocky-faced Croagunk around here had started to feel we didn’t belong, and kept sprinting towards us whilst making this terrible, cringe-inducing noise and puffing out their cheek-sacs threateningly. Each time one would charge, Golett met it halfway and would silently take a Poison Jab or two before the Croagunk realised it was outmatched and fled. Akari watched the clay-Pokémon with a conflicted expression. “When I saw them in Unova as a child, I always thought they were the epitome of evil… but…”

It seems whoever built this particular one had more moral intentions in mind than war. From the snippets I had heard about Unova, there were three sides to the continent’s conflict. There was the side of the White Beast- or Reshiram- that represented a so-called ‘truth’ in which Pokémon and humans should exist as separate entities. There was also the side of the Night Terror- or Zekrom, whose purple lightning could act as a second sun in the night- that represented trainers’ ideal world in which Pokémon and people coexist. Finally, the third side- those who had designed and mass-produced Golett and their evolution, Golurk- who simply wanted the two Legendaries dead to end the war.

From what I heard; all three sides were in the wrong. Reshiram had apparently charred Akari’s entire village as a child and Zekrom eviscerated thousands with its electricity. Evolved Golett- Golurk- stood as tall as two-story buildings and would mindlessly crush anything that stood in their way- settlements and people included- in order to achieve their master’s task.

“I suppose it depends on who holds the power.” I said.

I could tell that Golett was getting taller with experience. It had already grown a foot and would likely to continue to do so during its gradual evolution into a Golurk. Akari’s Oshawott was also mid-evolution, too. He was taller and broader. He had a Bibarel-like tail and had gotten himself a second shell at some point. Sharp whiskers were protruding from his cheeks, where his freckles grew more and more faded with each day. He overall looked fiercer and more confident in himself.

Bidoof was also rapidly growing larger. My continuous feeding was starting to pay dividends. Bidoof was plumper and his tiny ears were starting to retract into his body. His fur started to glean as it slowly built up its waterproof sheen and what used to be a stub-like tail was now growing rapidly into the flapper-like limb Bibarel were famous for.

My only regret was that Starly was behind. She had calmed down around me enough that Laventon could verify her as a female, but despite her good diet, she had simply filled out a little. I vowed to keep her out of her Poké Ball more often from now on. Pokémon couldn’t grow cooped up in a stasis. They needed to experience the wild.

We arrived at what looked to be the crumbled ruins of some sort of structure. Akari had opened her mouth to say something, but it was at that point that three Ralts teleported themselves directly next to our feet and started to clutch at our ankles. Golett was thankfully smart enough to realise they intended us no harm. In fact, I was often shocked at how intuitively it knew when Pokémon would attack. Sometimes it would act before I even knew of the danger.

“What the-?” Akari panicked slightly and hopped in place at the sudden appearance, but she immediately calmed down when she saw the tiny trio cowering behind us.

From a particularly large pond, seven Croagunk gave chase. They waddled from side-to-side like hooligans and their mocking laughter-like cries grated at my ears. I had quickly realised what was happening. Those Croagunk had been hunting our new friends and the Ralts had sensed our emotions and fled towards us, knowing we’d defend. I had expected quite the annoying search for my newest team member, but it looked like they had come to us.

Golett was already moving to intercept and I knew it could easily solo the colony of Croagunk, but I highly doubted all seven would wait around. Some were bound to skirt past to try and reach us instead. I released Starly and Bidoof and told them my instructions. “Bidoof, use Protect if any of them come near and Tackle them away. Starly, harass any that run past Golett, but please stay safe for me!”

I knew Bidoof was reliable, but I had no idea how Starly would react. It was her first time in a battle, after all, and she barely even knew me. However, she seemed to have understood me and she immediately started to fly overhead Golett.

“Oshawott, stay with me and the Ralts,” Akari gave out her own instructions. “Use your shell on any that get near and trust Bidoof’s ability to keep you safe. Water gun them from afar if you can.”

“Don’t!” I immediately shouted. “Some might be immune to water.”

Some Croagunk absorb water like a sponge. That was why so many enjoyed hanging out in ponds.

Sensing Akari would act as their main defender, all three Ralts grouped up around her for protection. Closer now, the seven Croagunk had met with Golett and were trying to wear it down to no avail. I watched as Golett kicked up mud into one’s face and sent a darkness-wreathed Shadow Punch into another’s stomach. The force of the move blew the poor Croagunk hard into the ground and it didn’t get back up.

Starly was running interference, disrupting Poison Jabs with hit-and-run Pecks and was freely using Growl since it had no effect on Golett at all. When four of the Croagunk split off to charge Akari and I, Starly kept harassing with Scratch. My chest constricted at the sight- both in pride and in anxiety. I was horrified of Starly getting hurt, but the little flying type was deceptively fast.

As the four reached us, I glanced at Golett. It had picked up a flailing Croagunk and sent it flying into the air with a powerful throw. The sight of a Croagunk sailing through the air was strangely hilarious, but I didn’t have time to watch it splash into a nearby pond. The others were here.

Starly immediately diverted one of them by landing on its head and digging her tiny talons into Croagunk’s rubbery skin. Pecks to the forehead and face sent the Croagunk into a panicked frenzy and it stopped to try and jab Starly off of its head.

The other ran face-first into Bidoof’s Protect and he followed up with frontal Tackle straight into the middle Croagunk’s gut. The poison type staggered back with a wheeze, but its two friends ran around Bidoof to reach us with a triumphant cry. A Poison Jab would’ve connected with one of the Ralts had Bidoof not manifested a Protect in front of its venom-coated fingers and it bounced off the shimmering forcefield with a cry. Akari’s Oshawott was ramming his shoulder into the second Croagunk and used his shells to slash at its skin. Bidoof bounded closer to conserve his energy- long range Protects were more costly to use- and in the near distance I noticed that Golett had dispatched the rest of the Croagunk and was slowly making its way over. The Ralts were thankfully not defenceless and were sending lightning-fast streams of psychic energy at the Croagunk that Bidoof had Tackled.

I gritted my teeth as another Croagunk was barely stopped by Bidoof’s Protect. We needed to stall until Golett could reinforce us, but the clay-Pokémon either had no sense of urgency or simply couldn’t move any faster.

It all started to fall apart when Oshawott took a mean Poison Jab to the stomach and doubled over, allowing Croagunk to Low Kick his feet from under him. The three Ralts immediately started to Psybeam the poison type, but while they were effectively stunning it continuously, there were still three others to deal with.

Bidoof was forced to Tackle one of the other two Croagunk while his Protect was regaining power whilst Starly was slapped away with a weak Poison Jab and flew high to recover herself. Thankfully, Bidoof’s extra bulk made his Tackles quite powerful and he was able to alternate between Protecting and Tackling to delay the three attacking Croagunk. By now, Oshawott had recovered and was aiding my Bidoof against the three, though I could tell he was severely weakened and was behaving cautiously.

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“Rei…” Akari blanched at the sight of her near-fainted Oshawott.

My instruction to flee was interrupted when Golett got close enough to suddenly launch itself into the air. A blast of light from beneath its feet exploded in a blinding daze and provided Golett with the lift to arc through the air and down onto an unsuspecting Croagunk. It fell elbow-first straight onto the poison type’s head with a devastating Heavy Slam I didn’t even know it had, and it immediately Shadow Punched another out of the way when Bidoof very deviously tackled his opponent right into Golett’s reach. Starly saved Oshawott from a surprise Astonish when she sacrificed her flight to barrel straight into Croagunk’s back with a high-momentum Tackle and Bidoof was able to Protect her from its vicious counterattack while she was vulnerable on the floor. Working together, the two were able to continuously harry it until Golett clambered over and finished it off with a Shadow Punch. The remaining Croagunk finally succumbed to Ralts’ combined Psybeams and fell onto the mud.

I let out a breath of relief. The surrounding scene looked like a massacre of Croagunk had taken place. One had been sent into the ruin’s walls by Golett’s Shadow Punch and another lay face-first deep in a Croagunk-shaped hole after it was Heavy Slammed. Ralts’ victim was drooling in its unconscious state and I spied Golett’s second victim floating face-up in a semi-deep pond.

Akari and I quickly rallied. Golett was utterly unharmed save for a minor scratch on its left arm, but its internal furnace had dimmed and its torchlight-eyes were flickering. Launching itself up into the air like that had probably cost the clay-Pokémon a lot of its built-up energy. Bidoof had taken a couple of hits but was otherwise fine. Oshawott was exhausted and was at his limit, but still standing, while Starly was healthy but unfortunately poisoned. I recalled her to stall the poison’s effect but allowed Bidoof and Golett to remain out. Bidoof because he still looked hale and Golett because I knew he’d need to remain out of his Poké Ball to recover energy.

I wasn’t surprised when Akari recalled her Oshawott. “That was close…” she muttered to me with wide eyes and sheet-white skin.

I was faring much better. Instead of scared, I had felt liberated. The thrill of the fight was like a potent tonic of endorphins and adrenaline, and I really felt for the first time why trainers enjoyed battling so much. “We did really well.” I replied with a smile. “Really, really well.”

I wanted to scavenge a pecha berry for Starly, but the three Ralts demanded my attention. All three were unhurt but clearly exhausted. They gathered around my feet as if somehow aware of my intentions to keep one and chirped one after another from left to right.

“They’re getting your attention to see which one you’ll chose,” Akari realised with wonderment. “When you look at one, they all gauge your emotional reaction to see which of the three you respond the most positively to.”

I didn’t really know what she had meant by that, but she sounded like she knew what she was talking about so I took her word for it. Evidently, the three Ralts had decided for me. Two chirped in unison and Teleported away, leaving the middle Ralts by my feet. “Is it you?” I asked the tiny Pokémon. It was humanoid with hard helmet-like skin wrapping around the upper half of its face and had wide footless legs that dragged cloth-like material behind it. “Do you want to stay with me?”

Another shrill chirp. I interpreted that as a yes and used one of my two Poké Balls to capture it. Like Bidoof and Shinx, the ball barely wiggled before that tell-tale hiss reached my ears.

“Great!” Akari exclaimed breathlessly. “Now please let us go back.”

We did so, and while I couldn’t find little Starly a pecha berry, Arezu had some sort of topical balm that she offered us back at camp. “Use this on her,” she handed me the latticed tub. It felt coarse and firm in my hands. “It’s anti-venom and works wonders for Croagunk. You can use it on humans, too.”

“Fascinating!” Laventon had met Akari with a relieved smile when we returned safely, but had trotted over to peer curiously at the balm. “You’ll have to tell me how to make it.”

Arezu’s cheeks reddened. “I- I don’t know myself. You’d have to ask our doctor. She’s the one who makes it.”

I took the balm and released Starly to apply it to her wound. She chirped at me in relief and, for once, didn’t flee at the sight of so many people. In fact, I could see a fire in her eyes. It was as if battling those Croagunk had awakened an untapped confidence.

“That’s a cute Pokémon,” Arezu pulled a mopey-looking face. “And what’s that standing next to you?”

“Oh?” I lowered my gaze to my Golett, who was standing silently by my legs. “That’s-”

Arezu’s sudden giggling caught me off guard. She flinched and cringed away from Starly who’d started to fly around her with loud chirps and squawks. I grimaced when she almost lost balance of herself and scolded at Starly to stop. Starly… complied. Sort of.

“What’s she doing?!” Arezu laughed and angled her head to keep an eye on the Starly that was now sat atop her shoulder.

I blushed hard. “I am so sorry. I’ve never seen her do that before. It’s my fault! I apologise!”

Mai watched the exchange with a gentle grin. I could tell she was happy that Arezu was smiling again. Maybe Starly’s strange insubordination had actually been a good thing.

The next morning, we set off for the Diamond Clan settlement. We were left well alone by the Pokémon around the Golden Lowlands, but after we’d crossed the small log bridge into the Scarlet Bog, things started to get dicey.

Our main issue was that Arezu was painfully slow. She was dragging her useless leg in the mud and had to lean heavily on her improvised walking stick to move. The thick mud seemed intent to eat our shoes and we were constantly having to circumvent dirty mud pools laced with Croagunk and Hippopotas. Dead trees were littered around. The entire biome looked absolutely dreadful- like something had sucked all of the colour and life from the land.

Hippopotas- quadrupedal things with two jutting eyes from atop a large fatty head and two gaping holes for a nose- were ridiculously cross with us for daring to enter their territory. They were big and had levelled off teeth the size of my thumbs. They were heavy and strong but thankfully slow. My team and Akari’s Oshawott worked together to fend them off. Golett was only just slower than them and was the main heavy-hitter whilst Bidoof protected everyone, Starly ran interference from the skies, and Ralts played support with punishing Psybeams from afar. Even Mai’s Munchlax stepped in whenever a large bloat of Hippopotas rushed in.

“How did you even traverse this without a Pokémon?” I had asked Arezu after Golett had finished off a Hippopotas by throwing it through the air. Seemingly out of nowhere, a giant Onix snaked from behind a small plateau-shaped hill and swiped it up. I felt a twinge of guilt at that.

“I went north and completely avoided this place,” she replied with a guilty grimace. She was constantly apologising for slowing us down. “It doubles the travel time, but is a lot safer without Pokémon.”

Arezu really seemed to be struggling. Both physically and mentally. She was the Warden of Lilligant before it went crazy and had tried to calm Lilligant down again a couple of days ago after she grievously wounded a couple of Diamond Clan scouts sent to check on her. Arezu kept mostly quiet and seemed largely withdrawn, but I could tell the Noble Pokémon’s mauling of her body and leg was weighing on her mind. It had seemed to me like she’d been betrayed by a best friend. It was like Bidoof or Golett suddenly turning on me, I supposed…

It took around half a day to reach Bolderoll Slope where the hungry mud was thankfully replaced by hard gravelly stone. The mud pools disappeared completely and while Bolderoll Slope itself was devoid of life aside from Geodude, Graveler, and Rhyhorn, the nearby lush hills that supposedly housed the Diamond Clan Settlement was a sight for sore eyes.

Unfortunately, like in the Scarlet Bog, the Pokémon here were incredibly aggressive. The Geodude and Rhyhorn weren’t too bad, but Graveler could tuck itself into a ball and roll fast towards us. Only Golett could stop the rock-types in their tracks and would barely even flinch when one barrelled into it at full speed. “That’s an awesome Pokémon,” Arezu had commented with wonder in her eyes after Golett finished up with a particularly nasty Graveler. Pebbles and grit were scattered everywhere after it had blasted apart Graveler’s bumpy body with a single punch, forcing the thing to retreat.

“Golett hits like a truck.” I agreed.

“A truck?” Mai cocked her head curiously. “Is that another strong Pokémon or something?”

Curses, I’d done it again…

Once we arrived at the Diamond Clan Settlement, we were greeted by a man in the signature Diamond Clan blue. He introduced himself as Prima and seemed friendly enough to outsiders like Laventon, Akari, and I. He had brown hair and lush green eyes. A mean-looking Grotle stood as an intimidating companion to the man.

Instead of allowing us in immediately, he told us to wait while he fetched Adaman. I took the chance to recall everyone save for Starly- whose presence on Arezu’s shoulder seemed to be helping the wounded woman.

The Diamond Clan settlement had been built in an artificial clearing and comprised of dozens upon dozens of blue-coloured tents the size of small houses. A central plaza was devoid of decoration save for an odd-looking stone spire, but I could see members chatting and congregating around their homes. There were all sorts of supplies strewn around. Buckets of water, wooden chairs and clothes lines, wood pikes to light at night for torchlight, all sorts. I had thought Jubilife a simple way of living, but the Diamond Clan appeared to really take it to the next level. Regardless, its denizens looked hale- but there was an undercurrent of tension running through their eyes.

Adaman arrived with Prima after a few minutes of waiting. He looked the same as he’d been at the Commander’s office and greeted us individually like old friends- even Akari, who he hadn’t even met before. But when it came to Arezu, he coldly ignored her and instead motioned us to follow him into the settlement.