Once the hilarity of their situation wore off, Slate and April picked themselves up off the floor and headed into the Pokémon center in search of some water, a place to rest their tired legs, and a healing cycle for their weary Pokémon. Sitting on the crowded Center’s sofas, they chatted with others and learned that Melissa had defeated her opponent’s Sercuit in just two moves.
It turned out the contest winner was the same Howie that Slate had fought just over a month ago. Moreover, Howie had apparently traded his contest-winning Larvex for cash. The transaction had supposedly included a weak Chumster to make it official in the eyes of the Pokémon League, but to Slate, it sounded an awful lot like Pokémon selling, which was against League rules, at least in Kanto.
Slate dwelled on this that evening. The dislikable boy who had once bragged about his family’s wealth had won the Bug-Catching Contest’s pricey Hyper Ball and Hyper Potion prizes—which was irksome enough in itself—then essentially sold the Pokémon that helped him win them. The thought of it just rubbed Slate the wrong way, which made him further regret his loss to Howie.
When the time came for Slate and April to turn in, they learned that they wouldn’t be the only Trainers camping out that night. Due to the Center being full, others had started pitching tents on the battlefield. They found a spot near the edge of the practice space and fished their capsule tents out of their tightly packed bags.
“I forgot to ask you about that,” said Slate airily, catching a glimpse of the metallic container in April’s bag.
“About what?” April queried.
“Your egg. The professor told me you got one too, and you’ve had it a while now. Do you think it’s close to hatching?”
“I don’t know. I think I felt it move once.”
“You know the Pokémon your mom used to raise, right? Do you really not know which is inside?”
April shook her head, “The eggs were almost identical. I know what I hope it is, but I don’t want to say. Just in case. I’m sure I’ll be happy either way.”
Slate nodded in agreement as he activated his capsule tent for the first time. It was a yellow hand-held device that resembled a Poke Ball but shaped like a cube. It popped open and a red one-man tent unfurled from within and erected itself before him.
“Cool!” he remarked, marveling at how the same fabric used in his Trainer Gear could be squashed into such tight spaces but made to take form when a mild electric current passed through it.
“What about you?” April asked as her green tent popped up unaided. “I know you don’t know the Nuteran starters, but they have Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle in Kanto, right? Did you have a favorite back home?”
Slate smiled and stared off into the distance as he considered this old question for the umpteenth time in his life. “Nah! I liked them all. I think I was leaning toward Squirtle since my brother chose Charmander. I never did settle on one, though. Not knowing what’s inside our eggs is probably a good thing.”
“I agree. Any of the Nuteran starters would make a good partner to start a journey with. Though, I think I consider Rodenki to be my real starter,” said April, releasing the said Pokemon from its ball, who shivered adorably before jumping into April’s tent.
“I guess I think the same about Cryote. And Eevee too,” said Slate. Then, as his memory was triggered by the talk of starting their journeys, he pulled out his Rotom Phone and pulled up his Pokédex records. “There’s something else I meant to ask you. Do you know what Pokémon this is?”
Slate held out his device, so April could look. The girl squinted at the blurry image on-screen. “That’s a Pokémon?” she asked with a dubious expression.
“I saw it this morning, but the Pokédex couldn’t identify it,” Slate explained, recalling his close encounter.
“My mom’s Pokédex or the Silph one?”
“Your mom’s. It flew really fast, though, so might not have had a good shot. It left this glittering blue trail behind it.”
“Weird! Mom’s Pokédex should be able to identify any Nuteran Pokémon that gets in range of its camera, even one that moves fast,” said April. “I don’t recognize it, but how could I when it’s just a gray blur? And I can’t think of any flying Pokémon that leave trails like that. But text the image to my mom. I’m sure she’ll know.”
----------------------------------------
After texting Professor Larch, and activating his capsule sleeping bag, Slate turned in for the night with Eevee to hug for extra warmth. When he awoke the following morning, he was surprised by how soundly he had slept. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been, though. After all, it had been a rather eventful and active birthday. However, just as he reflected on this, he was abruptly roused from his peaceful state by a piercing scream.
Slate shot upright, and the Eevee next to him sprang into a defensive posture, its head darting around the small tent for signs of trouble. Coming to his senses, he realized the nearby continuing shrieks must be coming from April. He quickly unzipped his tent and darted out in his black boxers and undershirt. “April! What is it? What’s wrong?” he said upon finding the girl spinning on the spot, shaking her leg like she was doing some crazy dance.
“Get it off, get it off, get it off!” she squealed.
Nearby Trainers who hadn’t yet departed were emerging from their own tents to observe the commotion. Some seemed to be enjoying it.
“Would you hold still?” Slate snapped, trying to get a look at April’s leg. She stopped her spinning but continued flailing her leg, trying to fling a green clump of…something off her right shin.
“It feels like a plant,” said Slate, touching his hand to the fuzzy clammy mass. “I… I think it’s a Pokémon.”
“Just get it OFF!” April ordered with an exaggerated shudder that spectators found very amusing.
A second later, Eevee emerged from Slate’s tent with his Rotom Phone held gently between its teeth. “Good job, Eevee!” said Slate.
*Ping*.
SPECIES
Stolen novel; please report.
#042 Mossym
DERIVATION
Moss + Symbiote
CATEGORY
Symbiotic
COLORING
Green
Light Green
Dark Green
TYPE
Grass
-
ABILITIES
Insatiable
Water Absorb
Solar Power
DETAILS
To make up for its limited mobility, it seeks out suitable objects to attach itself to. Once attached, it can be difficult to remove as its chosen habitat can determine how it evolves.
“Rodenki, get it off! Use Nuzzle!” April ordered.
“Err, April, I don’t think you should do—” started Slate, but Rodenki was already rubbing its red electric cheek pouch against the Mossym. As he predicted, April too was electrified by the ensuing shock. He only hoped that the unrelinquishing Grass-type’s natural resistance protected her a little.
The onlookers roared with laughter as April yelped, and her long untied brown hair was statically charged, pointing out at all angles. “Oooaaargh!” she screeched angrily, then reached into her tent, pulled a Silph Ball from her bag, and smacked it against her shin. The green Pokémon’s cells were scattered, removing it from her leg, and absorbed into the capsule.
April flung the ball away, worried that the Pokémon within would escape and seek to rejoin with her leg. However, the ball shook a few times, and then its blinking red light dimmed.
“Err… Nice catch?” Slate remarked with a nervous smile.
April stared daggers at him. This, combined with her hair standing on end, had the effect of a Scary Face or Mean Look. Apparently, Slate wasn’t alone in thinking this, as the Trainers watching from across the battlefield got busy in a hurry when she turned her monstrous gaze upon them.
With a final indignant huff, April returned to her tent, which she zipped up aggressively, leaving Rodenki pawing at it from the outside.
Slate picked up the tiny creature and his Eevee and carried them into his, whispering, “Come on, guys. I don’t think she’s a morning person.”
----------------------------------------
After dressing, packing up, and using the Pokémon Center’s facilities, Slate and April set off for Pistachion City. Remembering that the path through Hazell Woods was a long one, Slate had packed bottled water and a cereal bar, which he munched on after their first hour’s walk in near silence.
April was clearly still angry about what had transpired that morning, but knowing it wasn’t wise to poke the proverbial Ursaring, Slate thought it best to let her stew. When she calmed down, he would remind her that she had caught a new Pokémon. Once again, it had been under bizarre circumstances, but a catch was a catch.
Perhaps it was because he was there with someone else, or else because there wasn’t the added pressure of the contest, but Slate’s second visit to the dense wood wasn’t nearly as spooky as his first had been. It appeared to be true that if you stuck to the wide, winding path, the wild Pokémon didn’t bother you.
Regardless, Slate kept his eyes peeled for movement, interested in what other species might inhabit the wood. Not that it mattered. Even if he spotted an interesting-looking creature, he was all out of Silph Balls and League Points with which to buy them.
He had planned to do some training along the way and earn some LP in the process, but between April’s last words to him, “I just want to get there A.S.A.P.”, and the lack of wild encounters, that plan was out the window.
“Want one?” Slate asked sometime later as his attention began to wane due to the endless greenery. He opened the extra bag of potato chips, purchased the previous day from Hazell Bakery, and waved it under the sulking girl’s nose, teasing, “Go on, they’re Clauncher Cocktail flavor!”
“You only had breakfast a couple of hours ago! And a cereal bar!” April chastised with a pronounced frown, just as he had expected. “And eww! Who eats Clauncher Cocktail flavor?”
“I do! What flavor do you like, then?” he replied contentiously to keep her talking. “Don’t tell me. You like them plain, right?”
April’s jaw dropped. She looked affronted by the very idea that she might have such boring taste. “No! If you must know, I like those Sweet Chili Torchic ones! Oh, you almost made me miss it!”
“Huh?”
“We’re not far from the exit now, but there’s something I wanted to show you first.”
Slate followed April off the path and through a gap in the tree line, his interest piqued. They soon came upon a small clearing, where a hush fell over them, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. At its center stood a towering, stone obelisk. Beyond an unattractive chain link fence that encircled it, the yellowing stone column had no symbols or distinguishing features that one might expect and no base to speak of. It looked to have emerged from the earth itself.
“Wow. What is it?” Slate asked in awe, staring up at the cracked, rocky visage of what was surely an incredibly old relic, and wondering how far its length continued below ground.
April looked pleased with herself at having impressed the boy. “The short version is, we don’t know.”
Slate rolled his eyes, and sighed, “And the long version?”
April cleared her throat, and explained in a lofty manner, “It’s one of the Five Pillars of Nutera. There are four more of them, just like this one, scattered across the region. There are a lot of theories about the pillars, but nobody knows for sure what they are or where they came from. Humans only settled in Nutera in the last decade, or so we thought, so who made them is shrouded in mystery.”
“Cool,” said Slate, observing the apex of the spire with intrigue, where a group of wild Mystyke could be seen floating around it like ceremonial dancers.
“Yeah, they do that sometimes,” said April, tracking Slate’s eyes. “Mom first moved us to Nutera to study the pillars as part of her field research. Archaeologists and other scientists haven’t been able to find an answer, but Mom thinks they might be related to Pokémon. She’s only seen two of them in person. This one is easy to reach, which is why we lived in Hazell town—and why Mayor Douglas had the fence erected—but the others are in rough terrain or isolated spots. They’re supposedly identical, though.”
Before they returned to the path and continued onward, Slate took some photos of the strange monument with his Rotom Phone. His mother would surely want to see the pictures…when she was better. Apparently, Nutera’s mysteries were not limited to its Pokémon or Team Shade’s activities. The region itself had secrets to uncover. Should his journey allow it, visiting each of the Five Pillars was an interesting notion.
“Ah, here’s the exit,” April pointed ahead.
Light could indeed be seen pouring in through a natural arch of tree branches. “Is the city much further?” Slate asked.
“It’s not too far now. We’ll see the main road in a few minutes, then the power plant, then Pistachion City. I can’t wait to see your face!”
“Really? Why?”
April smiled coyly. “You’ll see!”
It was with some relief that the pair followed the path out onto the other side of Hazell Woods, and Slate felt the unobstructed light touch his face and forearms. He was suddenly reminded of his training days on Almony Island, where he welcomed warm rays of sunshine after his sprints through the tree-covered wilderness. That relief, however, was short-lived.
“Well, well, well,” said a sneering voice. “Look who it is! The happy couple!”
“‘Happy couple?’” April repeated indignantly.
“Ready for a rematch, losers?”
Slate’s brow furrowed. Standing before him, with a contemptible smirk on his round young face, was the boy who had bested him in the Bug-Catching Contest and in battle before that; his first official Pokémon League opponent, Howie.
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