CHAPTER 42

"Let's get the big three out of the way first," Instructor Anders said. The powerpoint changed to pictures of three bug type Pokemon, two of which I was familiar with. "Scyther, Dustox, and Parasect."

Louis raised his hand excitedly.

"Why the hell are you raising your hand for? This isn't fucking elementary school. I do the talking, you shut up and watch," He snarled. Louis audibly gulped and pulled his hand down. "I don't care what kind of shitty Scyther, Dustox, or Parasect you've seen in the past, Pokemon in the forest are just better, and stronger. They're fighting in life-or-death situations their entire lives. Let's start with Scyther. They'll be on your ass before you can even get your Pokedex out, that's how fast they are. Luckily, you won't have to deal with any poison with them. The moves you have to watch out for are Fury Cutter, Slash, and X-Scissor for the really tough ones. The rest is usually just icing on the cake."

Instructor Anders explained to us what each move entailed, and the effect they'd have on us if they hit.

"You want a fast Pokemon out that can counter the thing before it gets to you— and it will aim for you. Eterna forest's wildlife is the most aggressive in all of Sinnoh, save for Mount Coronet and Victory Road," He said. "If you don't have a fast Pokemon or a Psychic type that can hold them in place, turn back and don't enter the forest. Next up, we have Dustox. Unlike their counterpart Beautifly, they are vicious. Approach one of their colonies, and you get a Poison Sting or a Poison Powder to the face. Luckily their other attacks aren't that threatening— relatively speaking. Just watch out for the poison. Never approach them, and watch your fucking step. If you step on one of their Wurmple, they'll kill you. Let me play their cry."

He pressed forward in the powerpoint, and we heard an eerie, high-pitched noise that I recognized from my one encounter with the Pokemon.

"Unlike Scyther, Dustox like to be loud and announce their presence to let other Pokemon know not to approach. Usually, they usually live in groups of two or three, but they've been observed to gather in numbers as high as ten. They protect a dozen or so Cascoon, and even more Wurmple. Their only natural predator in the forest is Scyther. Lastly, we have Parasect," He said, switching to another picture. The Pokemon's eyes were dull and lifeless, and it had a huge vibrant mushroom growing on its back. I had never seen it before today. "These fools started showing up here twenty years ago as an invasive species after some dumbass trainer brought in a couple of Paras, and we still struggle to cull their population. They're too big and bulky for Scyther to aim for, and they're resistant to most poisonous attacks Pokemon use to hunt around here."

He paused, grabbing a flask from his hip to drink.

"They'll throw anything at you. Spores to poison you, to make you sleep, to paralyze you, you name it. And while you're writhing on the ground, unable to move, or sleeping, they'll cut you up. Luckily for you, they're relatively slow. You can outrun them easily, so as long as you don't get caught by surprise, you should be okay. Now, I see a few of your eyes glinting. Do not try to catch one of these if you value your life. You're better off just getting out of the forest as soon as you can. Keep your head down, travel in groups, watch each other's backs, and you will make it through. Now let's move on to the less threatening Pokemon…"

Instructor Anders kept on going for four hours, teaching us about the most common wild Pokemon we could find, the ways to fight them most effectively, and how to respond to being hit by all kinds of attacks. For Poison Sting, for example, if you were hit on the arm or the leg, you needed to make a tourniquet— which he taught us how to do— around the poisoned area to prevent the poison from spreading too fast and get back to the Pokemon Center as fast as possible. He also went over the rules of the forest, asking us not to fight the endangered Pokemon like Beautifly or Gossifleur. We all absorbed the information rigorously, not letting one bit past us. Lastly, he told us what general direction we should head toward, along with the landmarks and tree markings to follow. The exit was apparently somewhere toward the northeast. By the end of the lesson, we got our tickets, and even though I was scared of what was to come, I also felt more confident than ever.

Some were not as ready to go as I was, however.

"I can't do this," Emilia said.

I had looked at the girl during class, and she was practically crying the whole way through. She was even more terrified than before, and honestly, who could blame her? The instructor had really beaten the notion that death or a life-changing injury was a real possibility in the forest. Even Louis and Justin seemed unsettled. Denzel looked nervous but excited. Cecilia had her usual poker face on, and Pauline was playing with her hair, like usual.

"We'll get through this, Emi," Pauline said. "It's what, only three Pokemon to watch out for? The rest are all small fries that our team can easily deal with."

"Hell, with our entire team, we might be able to defeat one of the big three he warned us about," Denzel said.

"Agreed," Cecilia said. "I must tell you now, I will catch a Scyther."

We all gasped. She hadn't even said she would try to catch a Scyther, she just said she would. The amount of confidence honestly baffled the mind.

Louis perked up. "Cece, about earlier—"

"Not now, Louis. Please."

"I wasn't cheating on you—"

We ignored him.

"That's something Anders explicitly told us not to do," Justin said worriedly. "Let's not be rash."

"I will do it with you, or alone. I have wanted one since I began this journey, and I won't let the opportunity slip by."

Seeing how resolute Cecilia was, we all just let the issue go. Maybe we'd be able to convince her to change her mind when we were in the forest. I used the opportunity to bring up my own ambitions for a new team member.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"I also want to catch a grass type in the forest, I guess," I muttered. "I don't know which one, though."

Cecilia's eyes shone. "Very good! Denzel, you and I can all cooperate and catch our new Pokemon soon."

We decided to get back to the Center. In two days, we would leave bright and early into the depths of Eterna forest. I decided that it was time to warn my team about the dangers ahead. They would be the ones protecting me, so it was only right to tell them ahead of time. I released the three in my room. I sat at the foot of my bed, and Togetic settled in between my legs. Frillish hovered calmly in front of me, and Elekid announced himself with a small cheer.

"Listen up, gang," I said, clapping my hands. "In two days, we're going into Eterna forest."

I paused, waiting for their reactions. They all looked at me confusedly.

"It's an extremely dangerous place. I won't lie to you, it'll be tough. Something bad might happen to me, or the rest of the group, but I'll try to catch you up to speed."

I used my notes and recounted everything the instructor had told me during his class, making sure everyone knew how to counter and fight the Pokemon we would encounter in the forest. Even Elekid was listening intently, not letting his attention split for one second, especially since I had told him that I would be using him the majority of the time. Frillish looked more anxious than I had ever seen him. His eyes were darting all over the place, and his tentacles were trembling slightly. Togetic looked worried and chirped sadly as she sunk her head into my chest.

"Toge…"

"I know, princess," I said, petting her. "It'll be fine."

"Fri!" Frillish said.

"I know you're angry at me, buddy. I'll still use you whenever I can, I just don't want to risk you getting hit by some dangerous grass type move."

The water type huffed silently and turned his head.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me. I trust Elekid to protect me," I said with a slight smile.

"Elekid!" He screamed as he flexed his arms.

"Don't get too excited, hon. You've got the hardest job of the group."

"Kid! Kid!"

I laughed. "You can handle it, huh? How about one last day of training? You guys can have a rest day tomorrow."

Elekid clamored happily, Togetic chirped, and Frillish rolled his eyes. After thirty minutes or so, we stepped out of the Pokemon Center and walked toward a secluded area of the outpost where not many trainers were.

"You guys feeling like an Elekid versus Frillish match today?" I asked. They both nodded. "Alright. Togetic, you watch. I'll direct Frillish since Elekid has the type advantage."

Elekid got into position as Frillish lazily floated up. It was the second time Elekid was fighting on his own, and I had found that this way of training was also the perfect way to improve my team's battle instincts. Trainers didn't always have the time to yell out commands all the times. Sometimes, we froze during battle or even thought for too long, which was when our Pokemon had to take matters into their own hands and decide what moves to use for themselves.

I inhaled through my teeth. "Alrighty, let's go!"

Elekid slammed his fists together and let loose a Thundershock toward Frillish.

"Drop down and Water Sport," I ordered.

The water type dodged the electric attack and propelled himself forward as he spun.

"Don't get too close," I said. I knew Elekid would counter with Thunder Punch. He immediately stopped as the electric type's fist charged up. "Bubblebeam!"

Frillish spat out a stream of bubbles, hitting Elekid and kicking up dust from the ground. I heard Elekid yell out as a large number of stars came out of the smoke.

"Don't bother dodging, you can't avoid them," I said quickly. "Water Pulse!"

Elekid ran out of the smoke plume at terrifyingly fast speeds, dodging Water Pulse after Water Pulse before sending out another Thundershock. It hit Frillish, who fell to the ground after taking the super effective move right after Swift. Elekid let out a cackle as he rushed toward his opponent to deliver a Thunder Punch.

"Hex!" I yelled out. Elekid was impressing me, so it was time to take the gloves off.

Frillish's eyes lit up, and smoke began coming out of Elekid's body. He slipped and fell to the ground before writhing in pain. I winced, but I knew this would only make him tougher in the long term.

"Don't let him recover! Water Pulse!"

Frillish let out a smooth cry as he released another ring of water, this time hitting Elekid and sending him flying. He quickly got up and dusted himself off, eliciting a smile from me. Before all of our training through route 205, he would have gone down from those two moves, but he was still standing proud.

"Kid!" He yelled out, running toward Frillish once again, albeit slower. I frowned. If he got into Hex's range, we would just use the move again, and I knew he was smarter than that.

"He's preparing a trap," I told Frillish. "Batter him with more Water Pulses, then Hex as soon as he's in range. Let me think."

Frillish nodded and issued my orders immediately. I smiled as immensely powerful Water Pulses rushed toward Elekid. We had truly come a long way from when he first was beginning to use the move. Elekid formed another set of stars above him and then released a Thundershock immediately after. My eyes widened as electricity imbued itself into the stars. Swift sped up immensely, and each hit to Frillish was devastating.

Elekid had finally mastered our new move. An electric type Swift.

I snapped out of my stupor and saw Frillish was still floating, though barely.

"Rush forward and Hex!"

"Frillish!"

He sluggishly propelled himself with Water Sport again before using Hex, and Elekid finally went down as he convulsed and shook on the floor. Frillish stopped as soon as he saw that Elekid was unable to fight. I rushed toward Elekid and grabbed him.

"You did amazing," I told him. He smiled. "I couldn't have asked for a better fight. You did awesome too, Frillish. Sorry for being caught off-guard, I thought it'd still take a while for Elekid to master that move."

Frillish nodded and waved a tentacle absent-mindedly. Togetic clapped at the great fight she had just seen, crying out happily and flipping around in the air.

"Sorry, princess, it looks like no fight for you today," I apologized.

I placed all of them back in their balls and gave Frillish and Elekid to Nurse Joy. I wanted to do one last thing before finally resting before our trip through Eterna forest, and that was finally determining which grass type I was going to catch. Instructor Anders' lesson had shown me the most common ones I would find. Paras was out of the question. Apparently, the mushrooms on their body was a parasite, and it took control of their brain when they evolved, so their entire personality would be gone. I didn't want to have to go through that. Oddish or Shroomish were certainly in the cards, although I felt like they wouldn't serve the purpose I was looking for in the team. Oddish was a long-distance fighter that fought with spores and status effects. Shroomish was as well until it evolved and turned into a close-range fighter, but it was still weak defensively. I wanted something that could take hits. My entire team right now was made out of fragile Pokemon, although Togetic was the best one in that regard. What did that leave me with?

I flipped through my notes, looking for the perfect candidate. I smiled as my hand hovered over a name I hadn't considered yet.

Tangela.

The Pokemon was one of the bulkiest grass types, and it could fight at close range easily with its numerous vines. Exactly what I was looking for. I smiled as I closed my notes. I had made my choice. I was going to catch a Tangela no matter what.

The next two days went by quickly. I spent most of them resting or hanging out with Denzel, my team, and Cecilia, which was a pleasant and exciting development. Finally, though, we stood at the forest's entrance. The trees were tall and looming above us, forming an all-consuming dark entrance that was terrifying. Pokemon cries could be heard on the inside. I clenched my fist as I released Elekid, who stood next to me loyally. We all released our agreed-upon Pokemon, and Emilia finally released her Beldum. Its color was different than usual, however. It was completely white like marble, and its three claws were yellow like gold. The metallic alien-looking Pokemon hovered silently over her head, its singular eye looking at us one by one.

Hoping for the best, we stepped into the forest.