Unlike a normal Apex Pokemon which claims an area as its territory, Snorlax doesn’t care for ephemeral things like territories. They tend to wander off in search of tangible benefits like food.

Most Pokemon ignore the dad bod Pokemon due to their size and power but wherever they go chances for an Apex showdown will always be present, making the league assign special rangers to keep tabs on them.

‘What’s the name of the hill I am in?’ I mused before discarding the line of thought. Due to my low budget, I am cut off from Pokenet to use things like GPS.

‘I mean Xatu would have warned me or at least checked my surroundings before leaving… right?’ Even I was not convinced of my reasoning as generally areas near routes are considered safe, so people, or Xatu, in this case, generally take safety as given.

Maybe she assumed it was safe and didn’t check.

Maybe I am far away from Snorlax.

Who am I kidding, I AM on Sanda Hill.

I decided to take shelter until the league said it was safe to enter the route near Sanda Hill and the hill itself. Knowing my luck, I didn’t want to take risks.

I glanced above, measuring the time to reach an even surface, even though the said surface is only three person-wide pathway snaking around the hill.

‘10 min climb, I will be safe.’

As if taunting me, the whole mountain shook.

“Snoorr”

“Goool.”

Two roars resounded followed by the sound of a rockslide.

Numerous rocks were rolling towards me crushing everything in their path.

‘Mew’s fluffy tail, why are these falling this side, wasn’t there a track made for the mad tumbling,’ I cursed, trying to squeeze myself into a crack that had a small ledge sticking above it, hoping it would act as cover.

‘Shit! Shit!’ I couldn’t fit in the crack.

The rocks hit home with the sound of thunder in their wake.

Boom! A rock hit the ledge and deviated away from me, but the tension in my body grew worse due to the fine cracks spreading on the ledge.

The ledge became a detailed masterpiece just after taking one hit.

Boom!

Another hit, the rock blasted through the ledge to mow me down.

Time stretched as my heart hammered painfully in my chest. I stared at my death as it slowly moved towards me.

The rock slowly let out an odd cry, making a bitter smile grow on my face.

An Azure bird, Cet, hit the Geodude, tossing it away.

The world resumed its normal speed, rocks tumbled past me. The only difference between the rocks and the Geodude was the rock Pokemon were letting out odd sounds as they rolled away leaving thunderous sounds in their wake.

‘It could have been worse.’

“Good job, Ce-”

Boom!

The sound of rockslide started again and this time the sound was exponentially higher.

‘Stupid! Always raising death flags.’ I cursed seeing the dust cloud above me part way to give rise to a large boulder, followed by many more boulders.

‘Grav’ ‘Grav’ ‘Grav’

This time the Pokemon cries reached first as multiple Graveler were rolling towards me looking pissed.

“Cet! Gust, try to change their path,” I yelled as the Zubat released gales of wind just after it heard the word Gust.

There was no visible result, the Graveler were moving towards me like the forceful gales were absent.

“Come to me, Cet,” I yelled, searching for a way out.

I scrambled across the rock to move away from the Pokemon path, but it was futile I couldn’t move out of their way, there were too many.

“Gust side, Cet” I yelled and jumped away from the rock I was hanging onto.

Cet caught me and used gust to push us even farther.

The Graveler tumbled past us as Cet struggled to bear our weight.

“Let’s slowly fall, ready a Gust,” I yelled, happy that the imminent threat got eliminated.

I will just have to imitate my fall from the Wild Elite meetup, and I will finally be safe.

As me and my Pokemon were falling in style, the whole world shook.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Damn!” I yelled truly desperate.

Tree logs, boulders, and rocks were falling towards us from the top and unlike Geodude Pokemon, they aren’t as keen to just roll on the hill.

I hugged my legs to my chest, to make my body small and closed my eyes leaving everything to Cet as he lifted me clutching my shoulders.

I didn’t give up; I was hoping to find my Aura as any advantage is better than nothing.

Cet screeched in rage just before some object brushed past my knees making me open my eyes.

Thankfully nothing broke. But in a couple of seconds, we were going to face the brunt of that things can crush me like a bug even without moving with the momentum of a train.

The world turned intense white before I was forcefully jerked away from the hill.

“Gol..bat.” Cet roared in exhilaration and defiance.

Cet’s legs that were curled around my shoulder turned into two short legs that gripped my collarbone and backpack.

The wind tousled my hair as Cet picked up speed like I weighed nothing.

“Woo!” I yelled excited about my starter evolving.

But sadly, I couldn't see Cet due to the position I was in.

Each flap of Cet’s wing displaced a massive amount of air, and with incredible ease, I was carried from the hill.

“Cet, go around the hill” I shouted, using the short reprieve to continue grappling with my flying-type energy.

We hovered above the path made by Geodude for their daily rolling.

The path had a clear view of the top of the hill which was the source of the racket.

The hill’s top was covered in many cracks.

A huge figure with short limbs stood at the top of the hill, its body blocking the way to the tumbling track made by the rock Pokemon.

The Snorlax slammed its leg on the ground with speed belying its size.

More fissures and cracks erupted across the rocky surface of the hill.

“Goo..”

A rage-filled roar echoed across the hill as the Golem dashed towards the Snorlax while multiple Graveler got into a crouching position touching the ground with intense looks on their faces.

‘Are they holding the hill together?’ I was astonished at the scene.

‘I guess repairing their home is not new to them,’ I mumbled.

Most of the evolved Pokemon I came across had the intelligence of a dog. The Gloom from the second round and these Graveler are shining examples of such cases.

The Golem shot towards the small head of the Snorlax, the impact destroying the ground as it took to the air, aiming to crush the tubby Pokemon’s head.

The Snorlax fell backwards evading the boulder Pokemon, the Golem soared across the air and crashed onto the pathway far down the hill forming a big crater.

With a mighty roar, it pivoted back towards the hill.

The Snorlax pushed through the remaining Graveler with ease, like an adult pushing away unruly children.

Some of the Graveler started tumbling down towards my previous position, not able to stop the momentum after the Snorlax pushed.

The Sleepy Eyes Pokemon started stuffing its mouth with berries it found on the rock Pokemon lair, ignoring the attacks of the remaining Graveler.

The Golem reached the top and dashed towards the Snorlax picking up more speed.

The Snorlax was eating with its back facing the incoming rock Pokemon, just when I thought the Snorlax was going to pay for its carelessness, a blue barrier appeared around it stopping the Golem in its track.

“GOL..”

The Golem was not convinced and tried to break the barrier with brute force. But it couldn’t move an inch, deep gouges formed on the rocky surface as it tried to flatten the Snorlax by rolling over it.

The Snorlax turned around.

Just when the Golem slowed down to catch its breath the barrier broke stunning the rock Pokemon.

Snorlax ‘Body Slam’med the Pokemon before rolling down the hill.

It was halfway down the hill before the Golem could understand what had just happened.

“Cet, let’s move.”

Cet started to take me down to the route as the Snorlax took a diversion from the laid-out path, shattering trees and boulders in its path before crashing into the river that flowed at the bottom of the hill, nearly parting it in half.

As the river surface returned to its previous state the Snorlax floated up with its front facing the sky as the river continued its unending journey.

‘Is it asleep?’ I wondered as the still form of the Snorlax was carried away by the river.

Cet dropped me onto the route before assaulting me with furious licks to my face.

“Calm down, buddy” I hugged him before taking in his evolved form.

His head(Body?) that made most of his new form is of the same size as my torso.

“You are humongous, buddy,” I said patting him.

“Gol gol.”

Cet flapped his impressive wings diverting my attention to his large wingspan.

I released Nia to share the good news.

As she appeared Cet started to lick her furiously as she froze, taking in the new Pokemon.

I kept an eye on the duo as I doubted whether Nia could recognise Cet as he now could swallow her in one gulp.

Nia tried to fly away as she woke from her stupor only for Cet to pursue her.

‘She didn’t attack him after spotting him and instead froze. Hmm.. I wonder how Pokemon recognize each other even after evolution changes their body.’

Nia’s distress calls disrupted my line of thought.

I turned around to see Nia’s head poking from Cet’s mouth.

I stumbled looking at the scene and wrestled with the Golbat to release the Ducklett.

Nia looked even more traumatised than when she got injured from that Graveler, making me pat her head in pity.

The two Pokemon started their game of chase using Quick Attacks and even mixing Double Team now and then.

But unlike their previous games, Nia was the one getting chased.

Darkness covered the world making me set up camp to spend the night.

The next morning, I woke up to the tumbling sounds of the rock Pokemon.

After packing up my tent I watched the rock Pokemon, hiding behind trees.

The Golem was the first one to reach the bottom followed by Graveler, and many Geodude trailed behind them.

After the Golem disappeared up the hill, I threw a rock at a Graveler.

When nothing happened, I threw a bigger one.

“Grav..”

The Graveler stopped climbing up the hill to look around, the remaining group continued their trek not suspecting anything.

I threw a berry this time not wanting the Graveler to join its brethren and hoping to separate it from the herd.

The Graveler's eyes shined on seeing the berry, it let out a surprised growl before reaching for the berry unaware it was being left behind.

‘Why do I feel like the big bad wolf the Graveler’s mom said to stay away from?’ I mumbled, looking at the Graveler happily chomp down the berry I threw.

I threw a couple more.

After making sure the group of Graveler and Geodude were at a sufficient distance, I released Nia.

I had many thoughts about how the Ducklett would react when facing another Graveler.

Haughty but secretly afraid… running into my arms to hide… and many more scenarios, but I didn’t expect her to become frothing mad.

On seeing the happy boulder who was chewing the berry with a blissful expression with its eyes closed. Nia let loose a series of Water Guns catching the big goof unaware.

A Water Pulse followed but the Graveler dug into the ground, with the ease of a shark diving, missing it.

I climbed up the tree and watched the battle using leaves as cover.

Nia took flight and started circling the battlefield, waiting for the Graveler to pop up.

The Graveler popped up and rolled aside missing the water guns. It tossed a rock that shimmered with rock energy.

Nia dived and fired a water gun at the Graveler.

“Look out,” I yelled, but it was too late.

The rock curved and hit the Ducklett catching it unaware.

The Rock energy passed onto the Ducklett making her plummet.

“Not again,” I murmured. Nia plummeted down irrespective of how hard the Ducklett flapped her wings.