It's been an excellent two weeks. Partially at Ursula's insistence, and partially because we all wanted a break from the constant hiking we had done since departing Floraroma Town, we did stop at a small mountain village that nestled on the outskirts of Eterna Forest, where Ursula managed to get her second ribbon, though the achievement was somewhat diminished by the fact that only eight people participated in the event. That meant the contest was held outside of the local Pokémon Center, with only one camera recording it, and there were no eliminations in the appeals phase, with everyone being seeded into the contest battles. Still, Gible and Surskit managed to pull out three straight victories to put her in a contented state, so much so that she did not even argue about traveling through Eterna Forest like Lucas and I wanted to do, instead of looking for an alternate route.

I figured that there was no way this universe was going to let me skip going through this massive forest. That's not how Pokémon games work. Lucas wanted to go look for a Pokémon called Burmy, though I can't understand why. Imagine having four different evolutions, all with different typings, and every single one of them being terrible. But after a whole week of wandering through the forest, Ursula's patience had reached its limit.

"Perhaps now you two will reconsider, and admit that we are lost and should turn back rather than wandering in circles in this maze of a forest?" Ursula gripes, her face obscured by shadow, though I know it must have a sour expression on it. All of our clothing had caught on something over the past week, but Ursula by far has had the worst luck, with her dress being caught multiple times on protruding plants and us having to backtrack for an hour one day to find her cardigan, which she hadn't even noticed had gone missing.

"We saw that sign pointing out Eterna City is a day away, so we must be nearing the end of the forest," I reason.

Lucas raises his hand unhelpfully. "Er… that was two days ago."

Seriously? I've been in this forest for so long that I must be starting to lose track of time in addition to my location. The easiest way to orient yourself in-game when you're lost, in any dungeon, be it Victory Road or a villainous team's base, is to look for new trainers. If you keep having battles, you must be going the right way. There's only one problem with that strategy here. "Weird that we haven't seen any other travelers we can ask for directions," I say, knowing that Lucas would pick up on my train of thought.

His eyes slide towards a nearby bush, as if wondering if something is hiding there. "The Pokémon here have been acting really strange as well," he hedges.

Ursula looks between the two of us impatiently. "How can you come to that conclusion when we hardly have seen a trace of a Pokémon in this forest?"

"That's the problem," Lucas admits darkly. "With how underdeveloped Eterna Forest is, this place should be overflowing with Pokémon. But instead…"

"Every one we find runs off at the sight of us," I finish for him. "Something has these Pokémon scared stiff, isn't that right?" I look down at our Pokémon ambassador, the sole member of our traveling party who has been overjoyed at the fact that we get to travel through a dark, murky forest.

Oddish agrees, but with a serious expression on her normally cheerful face.

"You could barely get a word in with the last Shroomish you talked to. It wouldn't even let you reply before it ran off. I've never seen a mushroom move, let alone run like that in all my life," I think out loud to my Pokémon, recalling our last wild Pokémon encounter. My mind is instantly drawn to that powerful wild Whiscash that has almost eaten Oddish when I had first caught her, but there was always the chance that this could be something human related, like some illegal harvesting of trees from the forest. "Say Oddish, was it warning you about Pokémon, or humans?"

I get two nods in response from my Grass-type. Pokémon and humans? That didn't make any sense. Even if a super-powerful trainer decided to turn this forest into a training ground, those guys have respect for the environment and the Pokémon who live there. They wouldn't tell their Aggron or whatever to decimate the forest with Hyper Beam for fun.

I know it's not the complete answer, but I throw out a hypothesis about the wild Pokémon anyways. "You think it could be a flock of Honchkrow? They would dominate all the Bug and Grass-types in this forest, and they mean enough to do it, too."

Lucas shakes his head. "Honchkrow are too proud to gather in a flock, or to actually do any of the dirty work themselves. They like to assemble a squad of Murkrow to do their bidding. And Murkrow is far too common in this forest to scare wild Pokémon like this."

"Team Galactic then?"

Lucas looks more troubled than I had ever seen him before. "I don't know. Team Galactic is way more… flamboyant with their activities, so I don't think it's them either. I agree that we have to stay and find out and try to fix it if we can. Whatever it is, it's throwing the entire forest into chaos."

"Aha!"

We spin in unison at the sound of Ursula's voice.

"Did you find something?!" I ask urgently.

"Why not come and look for yourself," comes the proud reply.

Ursula has stopped a few paces back, but when we join her, there is no sign of a mysterious wild Pokémon: not its tracks, not its den, not its sheddings. Nothing.

Lucas takes up position on my other side, scanning around with one hand to his forehead. "There don't seem to be any indications of any Pokémon around here…"

"Not that," the coordinator corrects us, gesturing triumphantly to her right. "I found a proper landmark! Now we will at least have some point of reference instead of aimlessly walking in circles."

I humor her and look over to the so-called landmark. To my surprise, it is something memorable, and there would be no way we could miss it in the future. Ursula was pointing to a huge boulder, easily triple our height, and with its entire surface covered in the thickest moss I had ever seen. You wouldn't know what color the actual stone is, because the entire rock is green from top to bottom, and on all sides.

As we walk over to take a closer look, I am having the strangest sensation evoked within me, by a rock of all things. Just looking at it, I feel totally at peace, like I am one with nature, like I happened on the purest, most beautiful grove, with a babbling stream and a leafy canopy, all of which has never been seen or disturbed by humanity in a thousand years. It's a unique sensation, one that I didn't even get when I was in the Floaroma flower gardens, laying in the field with nothing but flowers as far as the eye could see. I can tell Oddish can feel it too. She walks up in a trance, staring at the boulder in wonder.

The last time I felt something like this… it was the day Eevee evolved into Glaceon, from that iceberg rock. I can still remember what it felt to look at that one. I imagine that I felt something similar to the people who first arrived in Antarctica, to see the harshness of the land, feeling the bitterness of the cold, and the raw, natural danger that it all presented, and knowing somehow, that there were creatures that had managed to adapt and live and thrive in even the most difficult of circumstances. It was the same wild, untouched beauty that I felt from this rock, even though the places my mind was transported to couldn't be any different. This has to be the Leafeon rock. There's no other explanation.

"This rock makes Pokémon evolve." I say without preamble, hovering my hand an inch from the surface, as Lucas does a double-take behind me.

"Are you saying this boulder is a giant Leaf Stone?" he asks in amazement.

I shake my head slowly, pulling out Glaceon's Pokéball to make him understand, before I reconsider. It quivers slightly, and I can tell she feels it, even from inside her Pokéball. Would she have been drawn to this one too, or would she have always known that my heart wanted a Glaceon? "It's the same as that day Glaceon evolved, in Twist Mountain, when we came upon that Iceberg Rock. I'm getting the same feeling. If another Eevee were to touch this rock, it would evolve into a Leafeon. I'm one-hundred percent sure, even if I don't know if it's a Leaf Stone or not."

"Several trainers have reported their Eevee evolving into Leafeon while in Eterna Forest," Lucas thinks out loud, coming to stand next to me. "If you're certain that this is the cause, then that is an amazing discovery. I have to take a sample of this moss and send it to the professor once we get to Eterna, so they can analyze it at the lab." He procures a test tube and a pair of tweezers from his backpack, selecting a small patch of moss and dropping it into the sample container. He screws on the lid tightly. "There. Let's get out of here as fast as we can, so it stays fresh for as long as possible."

"Hey! You guys are in our spot!"

Lucas almost drops it in fright, as my trance is broken. A number of people emerge from the undergrowth, some of them little kids with t-shirts, torn pants, and little wooden cages, while the others are significantly older, wearing khaki outdoor pants, collared shirts with pockets on both sides, and mirrored sunglasses even in this dark forest. They all have on a round outdoors hat and are wielding large catching nets in one hand. The kids I can pretty much say with certainty are bug catchers, since they match the getup of the other ones I had run into, but these other guys look weirdly professional, and probably are older than me. Is that what a bug catcher turns into when they get older?

"What have you done?!" Ursula whispers furiously across me, as Lucas shakes his head in denial.

"I didn't do anything!" Lucas mutters back, but apparently too loud, since someone speaks up to refute him.

One of the kids gives a childish stomp and points an accusing finger at us. "Don't try to deny it! You guys are trying to cut in front of us, so you can catch the best Pokémon!"

"Alright," I interject, before this bug-loving brat can make any more inaccurate accusations. "We aren't interrupting or trying to one up you. We're just passing through."

One of the older ones gives an unimpressed scoff, fixing his glasses before he responds. "A likely story. Are we to believe that you coincidentally arrived on a Thursday, the only day we hold our hunts, at our precise starting location as well? Do you take us for fools?"

"That's the truth!" Lucas insists, holding up his arms to try and peacefully negotiate. "We aren't here to mess with whatever you guys are doing. We don't have any clue about it! If you point us to the proper direction to exit this forest, we'll gladly leave you alone."

One of the younger bug catchers finally gives a dissenting opinion. "Derek, I think they're being honest," he tells the central one, who must be the leader of these guys.

Derek looks around at his followers. "That may be… but we can't let them leave here without being educated on the greatness of bug Pokémon."

"We understand Bug-Pokémon perfectly well, thank you." Ursula grumbles in irritation.

"You haven't even broken through the exoskeleton of what a Bug-type can achieve," one older bug catcher argues hotly. "Bug-types…" the dude practically moans, struggling to finish his sentence. He cuts off with a strangled noise in his throat as one of his legs twitches madly. "Are incredible," he finally pants.

Did talking about Bug-types actually get this dude so worked up that he ca– you know what, I'm going to banish that thought and pretend like nothing happened. Just ignore this guy, and that rapidly growing dark spot on his khakis, in the upper thigh region…

I plaster my gaze on the canopy above them, doing my best to not make eye contact with any of these freaks. "Like she said," I say to no one in particular, "We know all about Bug-Pokémon. Now if you'll excuse us…"

"Either you defeat our Bug-types in a battle, or you participate in our weekly ritual yourselves. Both of them should give you a better appreciation for the best type of Pokémon," the leader Derek challenges us. He gives me a sinister smirk as I return my eyes to look at his mirrored lenses. "If I were you, I'd pick the second option. You won't stand a chance against my team."

"Yeah! Derek has some of the strongest, most unbeatable Bug-types ever! He's better than Aaron of the Elite Four! You won't even come close to defeating him!" one of the bug catchers adds for good measure.

Hyperbole much? Even being the weakest of the Elite Four puts you in the top five trainers in all of Sinnoh, after all. Derek has nothing but utter confidence in his face as he pulls two Pokéballs from his satchel. "I see that you're not convinced. Allow me to change your mind." He throws them up into the air, and two Pokémon that I have never seen before materialize.

The first is a giant red and brown centipede, with a fiery X on its face, but the second somehow looks even more dangerous. That one is a person sized mantis-looking Pokémon covered in what appears to be stone, with two wicked looking axes where its claws should be. I knew Bug-types had consistently been getting stronger with each new game that was released, but these two looked on another level, both of them looking like they were itching for a fight. I pull out my Pokédex to see what we are potentially dealing with.

I scan the centipede first, ignoring the snide comments about me not knowing much about Bug-Pokémon. "Centiscorch, the Radiator Pokémon, and the evolved form of Sizzlipede. While its burning body is already dangerous on its own, this excessively hostile Pokémon also has large and very sharp fangs."

Well, that sounds terrifying. And if that weren't bad enough, its typing is Fire/Bug and it could potentially have Flash Fire as an ability, making it immune to Fire-type moves altogether. Where the fuck did this guy get this kind of Pokémon?

I almost don't want to scan his other bug, but I do anyway. The Pokédex buffers for a whole two minutes, way longer than it should, before it pops up with an unable to find screen. Huh? It can't be out of charge; the silly thing was working a minute ago!

I wave it in the air at Lucas, who is looking past me at the axe-wielding mantis with a totally ashen face. "Oi, your Pokédex can't find this thing," I say pointedly.

Lucas still doesn't look at me while he replies. "That's because it's not in the modern Pokédex. That Pokémon is called Kleavor, and I only recognize it from a history book that I had read. It… Scyther used to evolve into it in the olden days, before this region was even known as Sinnoh. Where did you get it?" He raises his voice to question the bug catcher, though he can't keep a tremble out of it.

Derek gives us a slow smile, one that I am quickly growing tired of. "When you have the passion I have for Bug Pokémon, there is no end to what I will do to acquire rare and powerful ones," he drawls. "Have you come to any decision?" Kleavor and Centiscorch look like they were waiting for a Pokémon to challenge them so that they could tear it apart, but based on Centiscorch's typing and ability alone, it would beat my whole team, to say nothing about a Pokémon from ancient times that no one had seen before. Who knows what it's capable of?

"What's this weekly ritual then?" I mutter, not pleased that we had been backed into a corner like this.

"It's rather simple," one of the nameless older catchers explains. "You must simply head into the forest and catch a bug Pokémon so we can inspect it."

"Yeah, it's super fun!" You can only bring back one though, so make sure it's the coolest! And to make it a challenge, you're supposed to try to only use a single Pokémon!"

This was starting to sound painfully familiar. "What, you guys are trying to replicate the bug-catching contest they have in National Park here in Sinnoh?" Why the need for all these dramatics if this is all they were up to?

Everyone turns to look at me in surprise. "Why are you all staring at me?" I say defensively. "It's super famous in Johto."

"You're not from Johto." Lucas points out.

"Yeah, but I saw it on TV."

"Whatever the case, she is correct. That contest is the ultimate inspiration for us. You will each have one hour to catch the best Bug-type Pokémon you can find." Derek holds up his hand, and one of his friends sends out a mercifully normal Ledyba. "We will use Flash so you can find your way back here when the time expires. Do you have any other questions?"

"Are we supposed to use our own Pokéballs, or do you have some?" I ask, not wanting to run out and then have to battle this guy and his Pokémon.

"You can use your own," he replies, but gestures at another one of his friends, who throws a bag at my feet. "And you can also use these."

I ruffle through it, pulling out and expanding a ball with a camouflage pattern, and a quick glance confirms that every other one looks the same.

"You guys took these from the Safari Zone?" I question, somewhat impressed. Did they fly out of there as soon as they started?

"As I said, we are committed to replicating the original contest as closely as we can," Derek answers vaguely.

I count twenty balls and look over at my two companions. "How many each do you guys want?"

Ursula sniffs. "I do not require any, because I alread-"

"Have a lot of Pokéballs!" I anticipate what the coordinator is going to say and cut her big mouth off before she can go and spill the beans. "But it's good to take some more, just in case," I say as I thrust four Safari Balls into her arms.

"I don't need to participate in this foolishness! Surskit is a Bug-type!" she hisses, as if I didn't already know.

"So be a good actress, wait an hour, and show up with Surskit at the end!" I loudly whisper back.

Understanding dawns on her, slowly creeping onto her face as I give her a knowing look. "Marvelous idea," she mutters. "I shall return in an hour with my newly caught Pokémon."

That's two of us settled, considering I have faith in my abilities to catch something, even if it's a lowly Caterpie. All that remains is to see if our capture-challenged companion is up to the task. I stuff six Safari Balls into my pockets and shove the bag at Lucas.

He looks somewhat ill, but Monferno should be more than up to this. "Hey." I try to give him a little pep talk. "You don't have to go for a specific Pokémon. Anything will be fine."

"Your faith in me is astounding." He takes the bag from me, gripping it tightly. "How can you be sure that we will be able to find anything to catch? The Pokémon in this forest have been acting strangely since we have been here!" he directs at the assembled bug catchers.

You'll find some Pokémon to capture," Derek says ominously, leaving no room for debate. "I guarantee it."

Lucas still seems troubled, but he and Ursula leave as soon as the time starts, though I hang back at the moss rock. "How do you judge Bug Pokémon, anyways?" I ask, wondering if there is a prize like the actual contest had. My approach is going to be the exact same. I'll catch the first Pokémon I can, and if I can catch something better, I'll swap it out. If not, I'll still have something to bring back.

"Allow me," says one of the older ones in a nasally voice, walking a bit too close to me for comfort. "When it comes to evaluations, size is very important. I have compared my worm side by side with many others, and mine is suitably more impressive. Careful inspection indicates mine is two inches larger, on average, compared to the average bug maniac."

"Aha… that's great," I lie, backing away slowly.

"And that's not all! By pressing them flush together, I calculate that the circumference of both the head and the girth in general is larger as well!"

… Right when I thought it couldn't get worse.

"See for yourself!" he declares proudly, fumbling with his belt.

I nearly trip over my Pokémon in my haste to get away, making excuses the whole time as I run straight past the Moss Rock and into the forest, Oddish hot on my heels.

----------------------------------------

The bug maniac finally managed to extract a Pokéball from his belt, but the trespasser girl had already vanished. "I only wanted to show her my impressive Wurmple!" He looked to his companions in confusion. "Was it something I said?"

----------------------------------------

"I guess it's been a while since someone has joined us, huh? It's been a long time since I caught you. Should be a good time to add someone new," I converse with Oddish as we trudge through even more of Eterna Forest. How big was this place, anyways? It was difficult to tell, considering it all looked the same.

Oddish, who is totally at home in a place like this, trips up slightly at my last sentence, though she tries to play it off like it was nothing. I eye her speculatively. "You're not nervous that I'll forget about you if we catch a new member, are you?"

My Grass-type shakes her bulb sideways, but her expressive face tells me that I've hit the nail on the head.

I squat down as low as I can so she can see my eyes better. "Listen. I won't ever forget about you, Oddish. You're the first Pokémon I ever captured. You'll always be special to me, no matter how many Pokémon I end up having. Don't worry about things like that."

That gets her cheerful expression back, and I pat her on the head, and give her a poffin for good measure. "So, let's find that Bug Pokémon and get out of here, alright?"

I stand up and survey the area. It certainly looks like somewhere bugs would like to live, with the entire forest floor being covered in dead leaves, a significant amount of underbrush, and even a rotting log from a long-fallen tree. "Why don't you use Sweet Scent to lure one out?"

Oddish hops on top of the log and ruffles her leaves, before she opens her mouth and fills the area with the pleasant scent of perfectly ripe fruit. I don't think I had ever once used Sweet Scent in-game, but even the most useless of moves have their moments. Soon enough, one of the bushes starts to quiver like something is inside. Oddish hops down from the log as I pull away the branches and leaves to see what we're dealing with.

I'm confronted with one of the ugliest Pokémon I've ever seen. It's a black and gray head on top of a white furry body, which has patches of color throughout. The Pokémon's large beige eyes look at me fearfully, and the whole Pokémon quivers into itself.

I guess it sorta looks like a bug? Let's make sure. Spewpa. The Scatterdust Pokémon, and the evolved form of Scatterbug. Spewpa lives hidden within thicket shadows. When predators attack, it quickly bristles the fur covering its body in an effort to threaten them."

This is the second time the Pokédex has failed me today, because this wild Spewpa isn't doing any of that. I haven't even called for Stun Spore, but it's absolutely paralyzed in fear.

I slowly pull out a Safari Ball and it finally moves, flinching back. "Oddish, tell it that I don't want to hurt it, and we'll return it to its home if it wants."

Oddish looks a bit disappointed, but my Pokémon relays my words regardless. The Spewpa still looks afraid, so Oddish talks to it some more, before the Bug-type finally says something back. They then have what appears to be an interesting conversation, with Oddish getting more and more animated by the second, and Spewpa's voice getting equally softer and lower, before something it says gets Oddish totally fired up. She jumps up and down madly, almost hitting the hand that was holding the empty ball, before pointing all her leaves straight at the wild Pokémon.

I guess that means it's okay to catch it? I hit Spewpa on the head with the ball, and after several seconds of wobbling, the Safari Ball pings and stays still. I do a cursory scan with the Pokédex.

Male, and with a movepool consisting of… Tackle, Harden, String Shot, and Protect.

Oh dear. It seems I've caught some region's equivalent of a Kakuna or a Metapod. At least it knows Tackle. I pocket the Pokéball in disappointment, planning to release Spewpa regardless of if we find something better or not, but Oddish, somehow divining my intentions, stands in front of me disapprovingly, and loudly voices her displeasure.

"What's got you all in a tizzy? You were so worried about a new Pokémon joining, but you've done a total one-eighty!"

Of course, I don't actually know what she's saying, but for some reason Oddish was adamant about me catching the Pokémon, and now for keeping it.

What a mess. I pinch the bridge of my nose in irritation. "Fine. We'll keep it around for a while." Oddish looks very satisfied at that, and I can't help but feel annoyed. If she keeps this up, I might just use whatever bug Spewpa evolves into against Gardenia instead.

My plotting is abruptly interrupted by a savage screech, and then a pained cry. Both noises sounded like Pokémon, but for all I knew, it could be one of my friends and their Pokémon. Oddish and I go to investigate, poking our heads around a nearby tree, Team Rocket style, to see what the commotion is.

It turns out to be a Pokémon battle, though it looks like it had been an utter beatdown and is coming to a finish. One of the combatants was an Ariados, that looked rather large for its species, but the spider Pokémon was in full retreat in the face of its opponent, another giant centipede, this one a Pokémon I recognize, with dark red with purple rings and a black underbelly, that looked absolutely infuriated with the other Pokémon.

Scolipede stares its opponent down with pure rage, as Ariados backs away, trying to appease the larger Pokémon. Scolipede's horns glow a sickly purple and it charges the spider Pokémon, who spits out a defensive web to try and entangle the centipede. But the Scolipede uses those horns to slash the web to bits, rearing up and coming down savagely on the abdomen of Ariados with its forelegs with a sickening crunch, even as the spider tries to defend itself with a jagged jet-black beam fired from its eyes.

Even having asserted its dominance, Scolipede is not done inflicting injury on its opponent, scooping the spider up with its horns and flinging it into a nearby tree. Its frontal spikes glow white before a barrage of Pin Missiles are fired at the twitching spider before Scolipede charges it again and again, leading with its glowing purple horns. I've never seen a Pokémon with such anger. Even if Ariados tried to make a meal out of it, after the larger Pokémon had walked into its web, once Scolipede had made sure that its opponent knew that the centipede was not to be messed with, it should have let Ariados scurry away, not viciously maim it repeatedly.

Ariados is flipped over, totally unmoving, and it might actually be dead. The Scolipede jabs it once more for good measure, before wiping its horns clean of the spider's blood on the tree bark. An action that puts me squarely in its view. I delude myself for one moment into thinking that maybe its appetite for blood has been sated, but the monstrous centipede lets out a battle cry and its horns start glowing purple once again.

I grab Oddish, holding her to my chest as I make a run for it, but Scolipede bursts out of the underbrush far too quickly for comfort, with bloodlust in its eyes. I hold out Oddish like I'm trying to appease a god with my first-born child. "Stun Spore!" I yell, and Oddish sends out a cloud of yellow dust to try and paralyze our opponent.

Scolipede does not make the mistake of running right through and getting a mouthful of the spores. Instead, it curls into a ball like its pre-evolution and starts revving like a car's tires at a racetrack, kicking up dust and cutting through the spores with the airflow it was generating.

I scramble out of the way, hiding behind the largest tree I can find before Oddish and I get steamrolled with my heart feeling like it's going to jump out of my chest. A few seconds later the impact of the attack shakes the whole tree to its roots, and a Cascoon drops from the branches, staring at me with one unblinking eye.

The wild Scolipede's furious screeching behind me shakes me back into action, as I squeeze Oddish tighter to me and make a run for it once more. I hazard a look back and see Scolipede's entire body darkly glowing as it starts to pursue me through the forest, regardless of how many directions I change or obstacles I try to put in its path. I carefully readjust my grip on Oddish so I can hold her with one arm, but I can't get any of my other Pokémon's balls out of my pocket while I'm running, and I really don't want to stop even for a second. But my adrenaline can only get me so far. I can't keep up this pace compared to a Pokémon. So, I have to create an opening somehow, enough so Oddish can get a Stun Spore off.

I narrowly duck a branch that would have hit me clean in the forehead, but that gives me an idea. I grab a branch of the next small tree I see, but it breaks off. I throw the dead wood behind me, and spy a younger, healthier tree instead, pouring on the speed and repeating the previous action as I run past. This time, the wood bends back all the way until I release it, sending it catapulting back. I hear a thwack behind me, and I turn around, hoping for the best as I hold Oddish away from me again. "Stun Spore!

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Scolipede had taken the branch in the eye, and this time it doesn't react in time, inhaling the paralysis-inducing spores and stumbling to the ground in front of me with its locked-up legs. I don't give it a second glance as I try to put as much distance between us and the wild Pokémon as I can before it starts moving again.

I start sucking wind, hands on my knees when I finally feel safe enough to let Oddish down and take some rest. "That was. Way too close," I say in between pants.

"Odd-ish!" she agrees.

I check my Pokétch, and there's still a little over twenty-five minutes remaining, but now I really don't want to go back and look for a different Pokémon, considering what could potentially be out there. When I hear another scream though, this one high-pitched, female, and human, I just hope that Scolipede isn't back for round two.

I eventually find Ursula in a frenzied panic. She and Surskit dash over to Oddish and I, with the coordinator clamping onto my arm. Her haughty persona is thrown to the wind as she points in fear to the shadows, where something is slowly emerging. "Thank goodness you're here, Luna. You need to help us get rid of that thing!"

Said thing is a Pinsir, and its massive spiky horns and sharp horizontal teeth promise a bad time. Her grip on my arm tightens. "I swear we didn't do anything to provoke it. It caught sight of us and attacked!"

That sounded familiar. "I believe you."

"I've tried everything! Gible was knocked out by it, and all of Surskit's attacks aren't enough to beat it! And I can't send poor Meowth in! He's not meant to battle!" I'd debate that statement another time. For now, let's focus on getting out of here in one piece.

On closer inspection, Ursula's claims rang true. Pinsir was covered in strands of silk, like it had cut through a cocoon. The beetle also had some ice crystals on its carapace, as well as water droplets sliding off its body. I start to smile. Gible had gone down swinging, because I see a giant bite mark on one horn, likely from a Crunch, and a scorch mark on its abdomen from a Dragon Rage.

Perspective is an amazing thing. In Ursula's view, this monster of a Pokémon has endured every attack thrown its way and is still chasing her like some eldritch abomination. But I could see Pinsir was on the ropes. This thing is operating on sheer anger and stubborness at this point, and a couple solid hits should be more than enough to finish it off.

"Does it have any ranged attacks?" I ask, observing our opponent slowly stagger towards us, almost zombie-like in the sheer tenacity and slowness of its movement.

"I don't believe so. Everything it tried to do was to grab my Pokémon with its horns or claws, even while they were keeping their distance."

So, in summary, a purely close-range attacker, already unhealthy, with its movement greatly slowed? All there is for me to do is make sure I don't accidentally knock it out, so I can give this victory to Ursula.

"We've got this," I say confidently, shaking my arm out from her grip. "Get ready, Oddish," I tell my Pokémon.

"Oddish?!" Ursula questions in alarm, looking down at my Pokémon. "Not to question her fighting skills, but wouldn't Charmeleon defeat this Pinsir more easily?" She whispers, out of the hearing range of my Pokémon.

"Oddish is perfect for this battle." I reply back. "Use Acid, Oddish!"

Oddish spits out a purple blob that leaves a red burn on Pinsir's body, the perfect soft spot for someone to target.

"Alright Ursula, tell Surskit to aim for that red spot on Pinsir's abdomen. Its defense is poor in that particular area."

She looks at Pinsir, which is still several feet away. Then again, Icy Wind, Bubblebeam, and String Shot all slow a Pokémon down, so it's not that surprising it's moving so slowly. "You want me to attack?"

"Yup. It's almost finished anyways, so don't bother saying anything about not accepting handouts or not needing help or whatever. You did most of this by yourself, so it's only right that you land the final blow."

"When you put it like that…'' she mutters speculatively, bravado returning. "I do suppose you are correct. My Pokémon and I did manage to wear down this brute considerably. Surskit! Bubblebeam attack aimed for where the Acid landed!

Pinsir finally takes a lunge at our Pokémon, but a spray of bubbles pops painfully one after another on the reddened spot on the beetle's abdomen. It attempts for one last swipe with its clawed hands, but another Bubblebeam from a much faster Surskit has Pinsir hissing in agony and clutching its side, before falling to its knees and collapsing face down in the dirt.

We wait for a few seconds to see if Pinsir is playing dead or something, but it seems the beetle Pokémon is well and truly finished, so we indulge in our victory. "Exquisite work Surskit! You have really grown strong!"

"Surskit!" The water skater agrees happily, before her entire body suddenly starts glowing a brilliant white. We look on in hushed awe as Surskit's four legs grow shorter and diamond shaped, and two large wings sprout on either side of its head, until a totally new Pokémon is sitting in its place.

"Masquerain!"

What I thought were legs are actually her wings, as Ursula's newly evolved Pokémon hovers a few feet above the ground like a helicopter before eventually coming down, trying to get a feel for flying before her trainer cups her hands reverently in front of her as a landing pad. Masquerain flutters on there, before surprising us all by taking one more flight to land on Ursula's head.

I wasn't an expert on contests, but this looked like a perfect finishing pose, even if Ursula's pink hair didn't quite match the striking orange and purple pattern on Masquerain's antenna, which had a striking resemblance to the pupil and iris of an eye. I could totally picture Ursula posing with her new evolved Pokémon on her head; it just seemed natural.

"Congratulations, Masquerain!" I say genuinely, as Oddish agrees, bouncing up and down.

"I still disagree with wandering through this forest… but I suppose all of this work did result in an outstanding reward…" Ursula says slowly, trying to look up at her new Pokémon without jostling it off her head.

Am I hearing things? Ursula, making a concession? "Are you saying I was right?" I ask, drawing out the last word mockingly.

She narrows her eyes, but a smile is present on her face. "For once."

My, what a monumental moment. I dig out my notepad and pen to record it down while narrating it to Ursula.

"Thursday, unknown time, in Eterna Forest, Ursula admits she is wrong." I draw a line on the bottom and hold it out for her signature. "Sign right there for me."

"You're ridiculous," she scoffs, but she actually humors me and does it.

I admire it for a few seconds. "Now it's in writing. I might even stick it on my fridge once we get to my home in Eterna."

"As I said, you are ridiculous."

I assume that she doesn't want Pinsir for her team, by the way she hasn't even bothered to reach for a Pokéball, but before I can confirm, a beacon of light appears over our heads, signaling the end of the contest.

If she doesn't want to catch it, then it's not right for me to butt in and steal her thunder by taking it for myself, even if I would rather have this than a Spewpa.

The only way I would be able to justify catching it was to have a backup in case Lucas does what he usually does and manages to come up empty. While that might be the most optimal choice, assuming that I could slide it over amidst all those four-eyed bug maniacs, it's also the most pessimistic one, the one that basically spits in his face and tells him that I have zero faith in him. I'm going to have to put my trust in him.

Ursula and I split up, so it doesn't look like we were collaborating. I dawdle back as she walks a few minutes ahead of me, but someone grabs my arm and pulls me out of view right before I can make it into the clearing past the Moss Rock. Thankfully, it's Lucas, though I still give him a piece of my mind for scaring me like that.

"What's the big idea? You nearly gave me a heart attack back there," I complain, once I realize who it is.

"Sorry," he mutters, though not very apologetically. "We don't have much time, and I need you to be ready."

"Ready for what? Don't tell me you didn't catch a Pokémon! I even left one behind because I believed in you this time! Good luck fighting that bug maniac and his Pokémon. Centiscorch is Bug and Fire, so that will be a tough matchup, but maybe Monferno can take Kleavor." It would be tough against a fully evolved, never seen before Pokémon, but Monferno did heavily resist Bug, so that's a start.

"Kleavor is Bug and Rock, so we aren't favored in that one either. But that's not the point. Neither is you not bringing back anything extra, though I thank you for that."

"Then what is the point?"

Have you run into anything that you wouldn't expect to normally be here?" he asks, deadly serious.

"Ursula fought off a Pinsir, which is a somewhat uncommon Pokémon, but yeah, I did run into a Scolipede. Think Centiscorch, but Poison-type and more bulky looking."

He curses uncharacteristically. "Did it attack you without any provocation?"

"Pretty much. Unless you count looking at it the wrong way provocation." I can still remember my heart skipping a beat when that thing saw us with its rage-filled eyes. "You're saying you were attacked too?"

"Monferno and I were attacked by an Armaldo. We managed to drive it off, but I had to spend most of the time using all my potions fixing him up…"

I cut off his excuses for not catching a Pokémon, because that first sentence isn't right.

"Lucas," I say dumbly. "Armaldo are revived from fossils. We saw it with our own eyes at the Oreburgh Museum. And even if there is some population that managed to survive for all these years, they come from the sea! There's no way that they live in a forest like this."

"I know what I saw," he insists.

I don't doubt his eyesight or his knowledge of Pokémon, but something isn't adding up. "Then explain how you managed to run into an extinct Pokémon in a habitat opposite from where it's supposed to be found," I argue.

Lucas fixes me with a knowing look. "What did the head guy, Derek, say to us right before we started?"

"He personally guaranteed that we would find Bug Pokémon." The answer is starting to become clear. "Are you insinuating these guys are stocking the forest with exotic Pokémon for their stupid catching contests?"

He doesn't respond directly to my question, mulling over the scenario with a faraway look in his eyes. "It wouldn't be all that hard to organize, now that I think of it. Derek probably showed up one day with one of his rare Pokémon, telling all the other aficionados that if they pooled some money together, he could create an event where they could get their own. He uses that money to go out and get Pokémon from other regions, puts them here, and voila."

I stay silent, as the lab assistant continues with righteous anger in his voice. "Of course, stealing Pokémon from their homes and dropping them in an unknown environment makes them hostile and aggressive, which terrifies the original inhabitants. Bug Pokémon evolve quickly in the first place; couple that with the nonstop fighting, and it's no wonder the whole ecosystem is off."

"What do we do then? We already established that beating him in a battle is going to be near impossible."

"Be ready to send out Charmeleon and use Smokescreen if this turns ugly. Hopefully, some of the others will see reason come over to our side when I reveal what their leader has been up to."

Ugh. What a clusterfuck. Lucas and I arrive at the starting point to thinly veiled glares from most of the assembled bug maniacs, who probably thought we were taking extra time to steal some of their bugs.

I sidle up to Ursula, who mutters in my ear. "These imbeciles bought your ploy, but I am glad you have decided to make an appearance."

"Get ready to run," is the only thing I say to her in response, which earns me a sharp look. I don't trust myself to elaborate, because my hand is itching to send out Charmeleon's Pokéball and make a run for it, but hopefully Lucas can negotiate us out of this mess.

"Enough chatter. Show us what Pokémon you managed to capture," Derek orders sternly.

I throw out the Spewpa I had caught earlier, but instead of freezing up, my new Pokémon gives an absolutely terrified squeak and immediately retreats behind me. Oddish tries to talk to him, but Spewpa is hysteric, and Oddish jumps up, knocking the Safari Ball out of my hand so Spewpa can press his head against the button and disappear into the safety of the ball. Spewpa doesn't seem like the rare and powerful Bug-types these guys seemed to crave, but it was certainly likely that he had been scooped up from his actual home and dropped here. It's no wonder he's frightened of his own shadow.

We only met an hour ago, and my heart is already starting to feel for him. We'll cross the battling bridge when we get to it. For now, I'll be happy if I can show him the world isn't as scary a place as he might think.

"Sorry about that," I apologize, picking up the ball and pocketing it, though I would much rather curse these guys out for what they were doing, intentionally or not, to Pokémon. "I checked on my Pokédex and Spewpa is a Bug-type…"

Derek waves me off in disinterest. "I know. I was surprised to see one of those things still around."

What?

Before I could ask what that meant, he turns to the last member of our traveling group. Lucas looks very composed for someone who might have to battle a stone axe-wielding mantis and a giant flaming centipede. Derek gestures to him impatiently. "Well? Where is your capture?"

Lucas shoves his hands in his pockets. I can imagine him clenching his fists in rage. "I didn't catch anything," he manages to say evenly.

That statement creates all sorts of hushed conversations amongst the assorted bug trainers. One of them is a bit too loud with his whisper, mentioning something about "disrespecting Bug Pokémon," a phrase that sets Lucas off.

"You're the ones disrespecting Bug Pokémon!" he explodes, directing a series of rapid-fire statements at their leader. "Tell them how you set this up, Derek. How you kidnap all these Pokémon from their homes so you can play your little hunting game. You just had some new Pokémon delivered, didn't you? That's how you knew we would run into some today. Well, what you and your friends are doing is positively criminal. You've managed to mess up this entire forest, because all the bugs you've imported are angry and hostile, and they're attacking everything they can see."

One of the kids speaks up, though some horror tinges his voice. "That- that's not true! The Pokémon are contained in this area, right Derek?"

Such delusion gets me to snort. Regular animals didn't stay in one place, let alone Pokémon, which are way more intelligent. "You can't be serious. These are Pokémon, not statues. Do you really think that they sit in one place waiting for you to show up every Thursday to catch them? Hell, I bet he brings new ones all the time, not just to keep you interested, but to make sure there's Pokémon in the forest!"

The younger bug catchers run off in tears, their fantasy shattered, and even some of the older ones look a bit nervous. But their leader is undeterred. "So what? You don't have any proof. Anyone could be releasing these Pokémon into the forest. We might actually be doing a favor by catching some of them."

"Actually, we do have proof," comes a totally foreign voice from out of the blue.

Everyone turns to see an Officer Jenny in full uniform approaching, holding a grainy photograph of Derek and a man I don't recognize. Whether it's convenient timing or coincidence, I'm glad to see her. Just the sight of the police officer sends most of the bug maniacs packing, leaving only Derek and what I assume are his two most trusted lieutenants. "We captured this picture the other day. This man is a known Pokémon Hunter, and I think with what I've overheard, I can safely say that you are a client of his. Which means that you're under arrest for Pokémon poaching!"

I have a split second to consider her words. Pokémon poaching kinda sounds like that Team Rocket plot in Johto where they were trying to cut off Slowpoke tails and sell them, but this seems different.

"That's what you think! You two deal with them," Derek snarls, gesturing to the three of us while tossing two Pokéballs in the direction of Jenny. "I'll take the police bitch! Go, Centiscorch! Go, Araquanid!"

"Arcanine, Manectric, it's time!"

Derek sends out his fiery centipede and a giant spider with a bubble of water on its head, while Jenny chooses two canines of fire and lightning. The two Bug maniacs close in on us, throwing their own Pokéballs to summon their Pokémon.

Please don't have anything crazy, I think, as Lucas and I mirror their actions.

"Charmeleon, let's go!"

"You can do it, Monferno!"

"Parasect, cut them to pieces!"

"Tear them up, Durant!"

Thank fuck. This is more of what I expected from some bug maniacs. The morons both chose Pokémon extremely weak to fire as well!

"Parasect! X-Scissor!" The one on the right roars, as his Pokémon's claws glow blue and the mushroom insect scuttles towards Monferno.

His partner doesn't want to be left out. "Use Crunch, Durant!

Lucas and I lock eyes, and I can tell we're thinking the same thing. What a terrible opening. "Use Fire Spin! The vortex of fire surrounds Parasect, and even though it doesn't converge on it, it has the enemy Pokémon chittering nervously. "Now use Flame Wheel! I raise one eyebrow. I knew they were working on it, but I hadn't expected Monferno to master it already. The fire monkey somersaults forward while expelling fire from his mouth, so his whole body is eventually covered in fire. Trapped as it is, Parasect can't take advantage of the time it takes to charge up the Flame Wheel, and Monferno flies forward, straight through his own Fire Spin and destroys the incredibly fire weak Parasect easily, leaving it charred and fainted.

As for our opponent… "Dodge that and use Flame Burst!" Durant lunges for Charmeleon with its metal jaws, but as usual, it totally whiffs on its attack, and gets roasted in response. The armored ant is still twitching, so Charmeleon, perhaps not wanting to get left behind by Monferno, breathes fire on his hand until the whole thing is alright, slamming his fist into the Durant, using our work in progress Fire Punch. He wrings his hand in pain, but not because he burned it, giving Oddish and I a betrayed look when he hears us giggling behind him.

"Sorry, Charmeleon. I'll make sure to warn you next time before you try to punch something covered in metal."

He rolls his eyes at that, as the bug maniacs, not quite done yet, recall their Pokémon and send out two more, this time a Beedrill and a Mothim. Both of them take to the air instantly, and it seems our opponents have learned their lesson.

"Use Twineedle!"

"Air Cutter attack!

The two Bug-types are now staying well away, peppering us projectiles, and their movement in the air is too quick for us to hit them with our return fire. Right as I'm about to recall Charmeleon for Glaceon to slow them down, someone steals my idea.

"Masquerain, use Icy Wind!"

Ursula's newly evolved Pokémon's attack isn't as strong as Glaceon's, but it's doubled in strength from the last time I've seen it, and neither insect is having a good time flying with all the ice crystals on their wings. Seeing the new threat, they immediately turn on Masquerian.

"Beedrill, use Cross Poison!"

"Psybeam, Mothim!

"Hit it with Mach Punch before it can attack!

"Block that with Metal Claw!"

Beedrill tries to swoop down and slash the lower-altitude Pokémon, but Charmeleon jumps in the way, negating the Poison-type attack with his Steel-type move, and forcing the bee back, while Monferno takes a running start and soars in the air to clock Mothim while it's still charging energy for Psybeam.

Which is enough of an opening for Masquerain to fire off two scythes of air that drop both bug Pokémon, well, like flies.

Neither Beedrill nor Mothim makes any move to get up. "Our… our precious bug Pokémon," they mumble in unison, before recalling them and vanishing into the forest.

I turn to Ursula and her Pokémon, impressed. "I think that was Air Slash, Masquerain. Thanks for the assist."

Ursula tosses one pigtail in pride. "I wanted to show them how to properly battle with bug Pokémon."

"Well done to you both, but I think we should help Officer Jenny."

Arcanine and Centiscorch are locked in a stalemate, with neither of them able to hit the other with a Fire-type move, and while Manectric should be advantaged against what looks like a Water-type, it looks in far worse condition than Araquanid does.

Derek notices that his lackeys have been sent packing and swears in frustration. "Kleavor! Lokix! Make sure those guys don't interfere!" He roars, grabbing another two Pokéballs on his belt and flinging them towards us.

If he wasn't a total scumbag, I might be more impressed by his arsenal of rare Pokémon. This latest one is a ninja looking grasshopper with spiked legs. "On second thought, maybe we should stick to the plan and run."

Officer Jenny agrees with me. "You guys get somewhere safe! I've already called for backup!"

I nod to Oddish and Charmeleon. "You heard the lady. Give us some cover!"

They put up a fog of smoke and paralyzing spores, and a gust of air from Masquerain pushes it into the two opposing Pokémon, while we make a run for it. I notice Charmeleon stopping and looking back every couple of seconds, as if hoping either Kleavor or Lokix would emerge for him to fight.

"We're not fighting, Charmeleon," I tell him sternly. "This place isn't safe, and I'm not risking a battle against Pokémon I've never seen before. You'll get your chance to shine at the gym." Not to mention, who knows what Derek has lurking in his last two Pokéballs. Volcarona and Genesect?

As if to punctuate my point, a giant tree is felled, probably from one shot from one of Kleavor's massive axes, and Charmeleon blinks once in awe before his tail flares, looking at me pleadingly.

I hold out his Pokéball. "You can come along in here, or you can run with the rest of us. Because this is not a debate, Charmeleon."

He grumbles a bit, eventually pointing to the Pokéball with a frustrated huff. I recall him just as one more tree is chopped down, which is all the motivation I need to get the hell out of here.

We run for as long as we can, because every time we feel like stopping to catch our breath or we think we've gotten far enough away, another tree is felled, giving us the incentive to put more distance between us and our potential pursuers.

"We need somewhere to hide!" Ursula pants whilst running.

I'm equally as poor at talking and running at the same time, but I manage to wheeze out a reply. "There's nowhere to hide!"

Lucas, the best runner out of the three of us, calls back to us. "I can see some lights up ahead! Should we head towards them?"

Lights at this point meant civilization, or that police backup that Officer Jenny mentioned, and either would be much appreciated right now. The prospect of being saved is like chugging an energy drink, and we sprint towards the lights like a Venomoth to a flame. But when we arrive, it's neither the outskirts of Eterna City nor a bunch of police cars and motorcycles. Its-

"A manor!" Ursula says delightedly, looking up at the opulent mansion.

Who the hell built a place like this in the middle of a forest? Must be people with too much money and time on their hands. It certainly looked inviting, with its pale walls and mahogany finish and trim. The only issue was the massive, spiked fence, covered in forest overgrowth. The only way in is an equally tall gate, which has a padlock about halfway up, well above any of our reach.

Do the owners even lock this thing? I try kicking open the gate, but it doesn't budge.

Lucas looks behind us nervously. "I think we lost them, but I'd feel much safer if we were inside…"

"Leave it to me," Ursula pronounces, returning Masquerain to her ball and exchanging it for another. "Meowth, it's showtime!"

Ursula promptly picks him up, cuddling the Dark-type like a doll. "Meowth darling, can you go get that lock open for us please?"

Meowth surprises me twice, first by actually going to do it, and then in the way he deals with the lock. I figured he would simply slash it to pieces, but he carefully extends one claw, inserting it into the keyhole and fiddling for a few minutes until it pops open, and we can lean into the gate to force it open with a loud creak.

The coordinator almost smothers the Alolan Pokémon in affection, promising him his favorite treats for such a job well done, before she returns him to his Pokéball and turns to us sternly.

"Let me handle this. Whoever lives in this estate is obviously of the highest class and will only respond kindly to a lady. You two stand behind me and try to look respectable, and limit how much you speak. And return your Pokémon until we know they are allowed in the manor."

I still don't feel ok with this, even though I obey her words, recalling Oddish as Lucas does the same with Monferno. This place feels off. It looks well kept, other than the lawn, weirdly enough, with sparkling marble fountains and bushes cut into statues of Pokémon, and a stone walkway without a rock out of place. But everything feels lifeless to me. Why have statues of Pokémon when you could have actual ones in your fountains and in your gardens? Maybe rich people thought themselves above that?

Ursula knocks on the door precisely three times, and after waiting for several minutes, just when I was about to suggest trying it again, it swings open.

For such an enormous mansion, having a man, a woman, and their young daughter seems like far too few inhabitants, but then again, I don't know anything about wealth. For all I know, they actually need all this space. The lady is as pale as snow, which contrasts with the dark purple makeup around her eyes and matching lipstick she has on. She's wearing a matching white kimono with long blue sleeves that reaches all the way to the floor so we can't see her feet, tied with a red sash around her middle. The man is a foot taller than her, and is built like an oak tree, wearing a smart brown suit, a black undershirt and vest with a bright green tie, the same color as the man's curly hair. I'm having trouble looking at his face though, because I keep getting cross-eyed looking at him. It's like he has one eye instead of two. Their daughter looks the most normal, with a frilly dress that Ursula probably wore when she was younger, and a stuffed doll pressed close to her chest.

Ursula immediately walks up and drops into a deep curtsy. "Goodday, sir and madame. My companions and I were waylaid in the forest. I beg your forgiveness for entering your exquisite home unannounced. All we ask for is shelter for the night, nothing more, and we would be happy to perform any task required of us as payment."

I'd appreciate some food too, if I have to work for it. Don't these big mansions have an army of maids and butlers to do things for guests? Ursula's words certainly sound posh and respectful, but all we receive in response is silence.

I'm debating whether to break my silence and ask if anyone knows sign language or make a fool of myself and try to play charades, when finally, the daughter has an intense silent conversation with her doll, nodding slowly to herself. She points at me, unfortunately enough.

The lady gestures to Ursula to follow her, and the same for the gentleman and Lucas. We both look at Ursula for directions, who urges us to comply with them so we don't seem rude. I don't like this one bit, but they both quickly depart, following their respective hosts and now I'm stuck here alone.

What did rich little heiresses do for fun, exactly? She had to have known Ursula was more on her wavelength.

"Hi there," I say, unsure of how to act. "Do you have anything you like to do?"

She clutches the doll closer to her, turning and walking away, obviously intending me to follow.

As I walk behind her, I'm struck again by how dead this place is. Not one servant greets us as she leads me on, and the closest thing to any other humans I see are all these creepy paintings on the walls that seem to follow me with their eyes as I walk past. Everything in my gut is screaming at me that something is horribly wrong.

The girl finally stops at an open room, turning around giving me a yellow smile that should be on someone ten times her age. She disappears into the room and I can't help but gulp.

I'm confronted with a tea party for two, which I should have expected, though now I'd want to trade with whatever Ursula is up to even more. I could probably fake this, but she had probably hosted her own when she was this girl's age.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad to be protected from that crazy bug maniac and his overpowered army of insects, but somehow, I feel like we've gone out of the frying pan…

I stare at the hearth, where even as I watch the flames dance, I feel a chill travel down my spine.

And into the fire.