Silence permeates the forest, the ground being slushy and being slowly absorbed by the growing plant life underneath, preparing to rise again when the warmth of summer comes.
Anya awoke around noon, it has been hours since Ninetales and co. had left. She looked around in silence reminiscing these past months and she was already missing the company of the shy and clingy Eevee and the ever energetic Vulpix.
She cleared her head and packed everything she had missed the day before. She strapped the sack around her shoulder on top of her silk clothes and left.
Leaving the burrow she found herself following the nearby stream heading downstream towards the same direction as Samuel Oak had gone, hoping to reach Pallet town.
Wandering alongside the stream, Anya could feel the serenity, the calmness of the forest. She could hear the sounds of pokemon every now and then. She wondered why she hadn't bothered to listen before, the sounds calming her uneasy heart.
The journey was proceeding without any significant problems, the forest was full of berries, most wild pokemon kept away from her, most likely because of her bug-typing with their infamous reputation thanks to the hyper territorial Beedrill colonies.
It was a bit sad as every time Anya caught a glimpse of a wild pokemon, they were already running away from her. She could recognize the local pokemon quite well. Their appearance matching surprisingly well to the 'digital' version from the games, only some minor details were missing that were unnecessary for the games. She still wasn't sure if all pokemon came out of eggs or were they delivered depending if they were mammal-like or not.
--------------------------------
Anya came across a grounded Pidgey, the resting Pidgey soon noticed Anya walking nearby and started screaming in panic.
"OH NO, NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! Not like this!" It screamed, dread filling its eyes.
Anya noticed that Pidgey's left wing had been damaged and it looked to be incapable of flight.
"Calm down" Anya said "If you wave your broken wing around like that, you might injure yourself even more"
The Pidgey stopped, its body froze while its eyes were looking at Anya in disbelief.
"Good, I think I might be able to help you heal if you want, but! IF you don't want any, then I will be on my way..." Anya continued when she noticed the Pidgey calming down.
"Please leave" the Pidgey quickly chirped in agitation showing on its voice.
"Okay" she nodded and walked past the hurt bird "Take care..."
She continued onward. It was getting dark as the sun had disappeared behind the forest, she stumbled upon the remains of a campfire, most likely Samuel's she thought, The small amount of charred wood remains in the ring of stone all wet and cold from the melting snow. Anya decided to rest at the camp for the night.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Anya tied up some silk sheets around a tree, using her sticky silk to further reinforce its hold, she had made a simple hammock where she could sleep the night away.
That night Anya barely got any rest, the noises of the nocturnal pokemon kept her from falling asleep. When the morning rays of the sun hit her eyes, she rose up groggily.
Continuing her travels after a light breakfast berry or two she still had with her. 'I should restock some berries, when I get the chance' she thought.
Rest of the way went without any problems and soon she arrived into an open grassy plains littered with snow here and there, she had finally left the forest. The stream still continued through the plains, all the way into the horizon. As she had no clear directions to go she just continued following the stream through the grasslands.
Her legs carried her forward, she curiously looked around as she spotted a pack of wild Growlithe running around in the plains chasing something small hidden in the taller grass, something that Anya couldn't identify from this distance.
-------------------
Anya heard a sudden growl and froze in place. She looked around and saw a single Growlithe growling at her all ready to fight.
She put her hands in front of her and said "Hey, Don't mind me, just passing by" trying to calm down the fire dog.
The Growlithe barked "Fight me!". Anya was flabbergasted and asked calmly "Why?"
It barked back "FIGHT! ME!" and dashed towards Anya and opened its mouth, showing its canine teeth, preparing to bite at her.
Jolting from the sudden action Anya put her cutters in front of her face to block the direct attack. The Growlithe pounced to the side and bit her leg causing burning pain to spread from the point of contact, she screamed from the sudden pain. She subconsciously stabbed her cutters down to push her attacker away, A pained yelp later the Growlithe released its bite from her leg and backed away. She noticed that the pain had soon disappeared from her leg and her body was invigorated all of a sudden.
Anya was surprised by the sudden energy welling all over her body and noticed something to activate within. She felt like she could do anything at the moment.
Her eyes focused on the Growlithe, who snarled at her, flames leaking out of its mouth. Anya knew it was preparing a fire attack, she had seen these kind of flames from the young Vulpix from before, Her awareness of her cutters were also heightened as they were glowing in a faint white light.
The Growlithe spit out a series of tiny fire balls, whistling through the air aimed directly at Anya, who quickly dodged to the side, evading the incoming attack. The attack wasn't that fast Anya thought as the Growlithe spat another bigger singular ball of fire. This time just as Anya was about to dodge she stumbled and fell face first towards the incoming projectile. Anya screeched as searing pain flashed on her face, the pain only lasting for a moment, until another ball of fire hit her side. Her mind reeled from the sudden wave of pain, soon she heard the familiar whistle of another ball of fire coming towards her and she decided to push with her cutters as much as she could manage.
Anya launched herself to the side with the sudden increase in force. Forcing herself upright and glaring at the hostile Growlithe, Anya took a sudden sprint towards her opponent, who flinched from her glare. Less than a second later the Growlithe braced for the incoming impact, it was thrown far away by the incoming attack as Anya had launched a football kick to its head disorienting it for a moment. The sudden increase in distance allowed Anya to flee from the fight and continued to sprint alongside the stream, luckily, the Growlithe didn't follow after her.
----------------------------
Anya found herself panting as she had ran for who knows how long, lying on her stomach near a small pond where the stream passed by.
'So, that was a real pokemon battle' Anya though as her head cleared, surprisingly her body was only slightly sore from the battle, barely feeling anything on her face or her side where the fire had impacted.
She inspected her coat and letting her know about a blackened spots all around. There was also some holes and tears in the fabric.
Looking around from her current location she noticed something in the distance, something that was resembling a building. A smile creeping to her face, she had finally found her destination.