"Hope this shift ends quickly." Said Takeshi, the whistle of the forest wind camouflaged his words from the night.

  The last 3 months have been hectic, many of the more older trainers were recruited by the Kanto league. The first few weeks were for preparation. They showed us videos of what the Johtoians were doing. We can't trust them, they showed us what they did with the bodies of the people in the plant. It was a massacre with a lot of civil casualties, a lot of people who were working in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unforgivable.

  "We have work to do, Taki. Focus on it," said Daichi, he glanced at Takeshi. "Just remember what happened last week."

  "Yeah, yeah, you don't have to say it twice, but it's kinda underwhelming, I haven't seen nothing since I got there with you." Takeshi responded.

  The older man grabbed Takeshi's shoulder gently, "It's better that way son." He sighed.

  "Oom"

  The Gloom that ever accompanied Daichi was beside him, looking toward the meadow that separated the big forest in this route.

  "Aight old man you're right, I will shut up for the rest of the night." Takeshi said.

  A few minutes passed like this, the three of us in a scrambled formation with a separation of 10 to 20 meters. Takeshi and I were sitting and supposedly scouting the other side of the meadow, his eyes were closed time to time when I looked in his direction. His weight shifted and his head struggled to stay up. I really couldn't blame him, I would be just as bad if my body didn't remind me I was supposed to be protecting the border every 10 seconds, also the fact that a person could appear from thin air at any time helped keeping me awake

  "Stay in formation. Both of you." Daichi said sharply looking towards Takeshi. The latter made a show of being alert and watching the perimeter, but we knew.

  "This is so boring. When are we going to see some action." Takeshi muttered low enough just for me to catch up.

  Daichi was kneeling besides a tree, every 15 to 30 minutes we would turn and leave out our flying types to scout the gloomy night a few hundred meters ahead. I would say his Pidgeotto alone would be sufficient for the job with the amount of energy it displayed every time I saw it.

  The humid smell was a constant reminder of where I was, every week since last month we would have to be in guard duty for some nights near the camps. The hedor of the bark from the trees, the sudden sounds from the nearby fauna made the place weirdly eerie some times. A few hours ago a group of Zubats were preying in a Caterpie. The problem was that suddenly a nearby Beedrill appareantly thought that its children was being attacked by the same group of Zubats, and a small full fledged war happened. It ended just as fast as it started, the group of purple creatures flew away at the same time when they got attacked by the giant insect. It was lucky it didn't saw us because it would have made us fight it or forced us to move further ahead if we didn't want to made more sounds that exposed our location.

  Hours passed, Takeshi stood up and walked towards Daichi who was at the center of the formation. I got closer to know what happened too, "Uh, guys? I kinda need to take a leak. Like, now." He said.

  "Seriously? Just go. You don't need an audience." I retorted, was it really necessary? He pissed me off when he did things like this. What's next? He needed someone to clean his ass too?

  "Leon, enough" Daichi said to me, my face betrayed my thoughts. "We are still a team in a forest, we don't know if we are alone. What do you need?" He shifted his gaze towards the youngest in the group.

  "Can you just go with your Pokemon?" I whispered. Takeshi's back straightened, his eyes flickered between each of us. "Spearry don't likes the dark, he would freak out if I left him out right now, and Charmy don't like to get out if he is not fighting something. Come on dude, it's just a few minutes." The last words were clearly directed at me.

  "Alright, I will go with Takeshi. Leon, its your Golbat's turn for scouting. Stay sharp, we don't know whats out there." Daichi declared as the superior of the group. I sighed loudly and released Golbat, he was kinda tired by the rounds he already did. "Hey boy, just one more. If you do it fast enough you can rest earlier." I whispered while getting closer to him, his purple body made it really difficult to spot it at night, more so when he was flying high in the darkness of the sky. He fluttered his body as if preparing to take flight. "Baat" he squeaked and jumped as his wings propelled him up. He quickly gained speed to a point where I couldn't see him moving with the darkness camouflaging his figure.

  I decided to be more proactive and grab the binoculars I had in my backpack now that both of them are gone. The zipper got stuck as I was trying to open it, I decided to sit with my back on a nearby tree to open it faster with better leverage. The twigs in the floor snapped loudly below my boots, I sat down and looked towards the meadow again. The shadow of a tree a few meters ahead of me caught my attention. It moved? Or-? I released Diglett with a red beam from the Pokeball. "Hey little guy." I patted his head, "Could you wait for Golbat with me?" He nodded and focused where I was looking before. The scene was the same I saw 30 seconds earlier. Maybe it was just my paranoia getting the worst of me. I shifted my attention towards the backpack again and tried to open it, I probably wouldn't be able to open it completely without cutting or breaking the zip. Right, Dai's binoculars. He was using ones before, hope he didn't bring them for their bathroom trip. I moved towards where he was making guard. Found it, I was bringing them up just before a sharp whistle alerted both of us, coming from the air above. A purple figure lost its momentum in a few flaps. My heart pounded in my chest and I relaxed the tense muscles in my legs, Diglett loosened too as he saw who it was and got closer to greet him. Something was wrong, Golbat seemed too anxious, his wings were tense and he was obviously tired. "Gol" he squeaked lowly. Right, he came back at a way faster pace than the rounds before. "What happened?" He flapped his wings and moved his tiny legs. He made 3 marks in the dirt beneath. "Shit, 3 of them?" He nodded eagerly, "In which direction? point me quickly." I said louder than intended.

  Golbat flew ahead a few meters and looked in a direction, I moved with him and used Dai's binoculars. There where them, Johto's scum, slightly illuminated by a flashlight pointed to the floor. Two woman and a man were walking a few meters into the forest where the circular meadow started at the other side, the man was carrying a big backpack behind him. I fixed on it, it was highly unpractical bringing that kind of bag if it wasn't with a purpose. A wire stood out from the backpack, and following it to where it originated-. He tripped, and both of his companions helped him up. I caught a glimpse of a orange patch on the backpack though. "Inflamable." It said, we were in deep shit if we didn't react in time. Should I wait for them? Should I just leave and run to the camp to alert everyone? Fuck.

  The silence of the forest became deafening, a chill ran through my back. Just as I was putting down my hand with the binoculars I heard a branch snap beside me. My heart spiked, it was Daichi and Takeshi. Thank god. Why would I get scared? Golbat and Diglett would have alerted me if was anything else.

  "Quick, quick! get down and shut up." I whispered as loudly I could. "Look there." I pass the item in my hand to his rightfully owner and directed him with my finger towards the location of the 3 people in the other side of the meadow. "Shit, did you see his backpack?" He said, his hand trembled and his back straightened. A loud from a nearby tree startled the 3 of us. "What's wrong guys?" Takeshi stuttered. I look straight to Daichi's eyes, implicitly deciding we needed to make a decision, and fast. He understood. We couldn't explain to him and make anything meaningful in time without potentially losing them. Before I could even mutter something, he said "Order your Diglett to follow me silently, we will run to intercept them further north in the forest side closer to us." He pointed to my Pokemon. "We need him to make some holes where we can hide from them." I nodded my head to Diglett as saying 'You heard him', I got closer to him and patted his head. "I will be right behind you, now go." I said.

  "Oh no, you misunderstood. You will wait a few meters away and pincer attack them." He said while looking at my belt with my Pokeballs. "Its the only way if we want to win, look at how restless we are right now, they are too close to the camp to just go and alert everybody."

  Takeshi didn't understand what was happening but Daichi promised him to made him catch up while they ran towards the location. I patted Diglett one last time before Daichi returned me his binoculars and we started running.

  First, we went 40 to 50 meters heading east. Then we started running straight northwards with the deep forest helping to hide our presences. Daichi released his Pidgeotto to scout a few meters ahead of us. Some time passed like this and Daichi looked at me.

  "Stop here, look your way for a good place to attack their flank when we start." He pointed to a zone a few meters ahead of us behind some trees. "There, we are going to be there." He said before turning his body to make his way tailing Takeshi to the spot.

  I dropped my backpack and hide it behind some bushes. I walked slowly west for a few seconds hiding behind each tree hoping there was nothing to alert them of my position. The rhythm, the pounding on my chest grew with each beat. My hands and forehead sweated. DAMN IT, THIS IS NOT THE MOMENT TO BE ACTING LIKE THIS.

  I breathed slowly a few times behind an oak to calm myself, I looked straight up when I heard some leaves moving. A little Pidgey was there looking straight to me, I just nodded my head and he flew out making its way in the darkness of the night. Finally I got to a spot where I could see clearly the zone where my companions planned to attack. If I squeezed hard enough I could resemble what I could imagine was the figure of Takeshi sitting down into the ground. Great, they did it. Now, find the 3 others.

  I got to the spot and kneeled next to a big rock that covered my left side. I brought out the binoculars and started searching, a few seconds passed and there they were. They were roughly a few hundred meters from the location we were going to ambush them. Great.

  Okay, they were right on track. In a few minutes, we would strike. This was going to be clean. We had the element of surprise. Everything was going according to plan-.

  Their feet were following the same pattern and pace. The flashlight flickered. When it came back a strange shadow appeared. Weird. Something was wrong. I focused again on their feet.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Their boots didn't press the grass.

  Their faces were too still.

  No.

  No no no no-.

  There was no emotion on their expressions. It was like, like... Like the illusions of a poor executed double team.

  My stomach turned to ice. My fingers clenched so hard I could hear my own bones creak. The air in my lungs felt too thick, too heavy. My legs wanted to move. My brain screamed at me to run. But I was frozen.

  My heart stopped, now I knew what was wrong. Why the forest felt this way. I need to alert them. We need to fall back all the way. I started running in a curved line away from the illusions and towards the direction of my group.

  I tried to swallow, but my throat was dry. The air around me felt... heavier. Colder. Like something was watching us.

  Every step was heavier than the one before, my legs started hurting, my quadriceps and glutes couldn't keep this pace with the darkness of the night and the pressure of the unseen threatening my back.

  My right leg got trapped with a tree root, I tripped and fell hard. My eyes tried to open, my brain couldn't catch up to what happened after I got to the floor. Suddenly my vision cleared but the peripherical still was blurry. It was like trying to take a picture with a unfocused lens. Something warm was in the right side of my face. My arm shot up and I glanced at it. Crimson painted my palm and fingers. I tried to put my legs underneath me and get up, briefly looking at the big tree where my head probably crashed with. The sky illuminated heavily for a fraction of a second, a lightning struck near. Probably the Johtoians, we didn't have any electric type. I need to get up and help them. Fast.

  I released Golbat, he tried to help me up. His wings fluttered near my face. I could hear a faint screeching coming from his mouth. He dropped down and pressed the button of my remaining Pokeball while I got up supporting myself with the tree where I fell. The red beam showed my Golduck. Thank god Golbat did that, I didn't even remember I had him. Diglet? Where is him? I have to find him fast. We need to fight together and watch our backs. That did the trick and I stabilized on my feet finally.

  A deep gorging cackle made its presence behind me. My skin prickled and goosebumps ran all over my body. I tried to turn my back fast enough. Golduck reacted earlier, he turned to where the sound came from. Splashing sounds behind me. He was protecting me with his water shields. I finally turned back and watched the purple hue and deep smile of our predator. A Haunter. It phased through the trees. Golduck could make this, I knew it. "Golduck its all yours, make a signal if you need help. I trust you." I muttered the final words. I got back to where I was going originally while Golbat took the lead. I walked a few meters and the scene unfold right in front of me.

  The body of one of the girls that accompanied the man with the backpack was splattered in the ground a few meters to the right of Daichi. My stomach stirred, the red that painted the ground someway felt different than the one that came out from my head. Before I couldn't even say something to Diglett or Golbat, I saw the figure resembling a large boulder, with a rugged and uneven surface, 2 big arms in each side of its body. Its face was set deep within its body, beady eyes were scanning the floor beneath it. The Graveler grabbed part of the ground near where it stood up, dirt fell from the piece of earth it grabbed. In a fast twitch of its body the rocks were above its head and was throwed at high speed. Takeshi was struggling to leave the hole in the floor--

  A terrible crunching noise.

  The remains of the torso of Takeshi were broken at an odd angle. My stomach convulsed, my mouth retched and I feint to throw up. Something deep inside me decided I couldn't waste time on this. I need to focus. Focus LEON. FOCUS DAMN IT.

  I blinked, Daichi moved closer to me. He screamed something, I couldn't make head or tails of what he was saying until he pointed somewhere. There was the backpack, and the man with the Graveler was in front of it. I understood what he was saying to me, but what was the price? Would we be able to leave after?

  Fuck it.

  "GOLBAT! STAY IN FRONT!, DIGLETT COME HERE AND PROTECT US FROM TH-" I almost ended. Diglett was coming my way quickly, Daichi released his Gloom to help the earth Pokemon going on the defensive for us. A purple Arbok was coming our way in front of us. I knew we could stop it. I fixed on something else. The other girl, she was screaming. Where? What was she saying? I glanced the direction her voice was going, I saw a Raticate charging to us, trying to flank from the south.

  Pidgeotto moved quickly, probably used quick attack. Raticate did the same to get faster to us. Daichi decided to release his last Pokemon behind us at that moment, it wasn't a moment to keep triumph cards hidden. He muttered 2 words to his Pokemon. Probably talking in some kind of code. Slowbro shot a water jet towards towards Raticate that made it stop its momentum. Pidgeotto and Golbat made their move, The bird descended at a high speed with its wings cutting the air, directing one of them to the right side of the Rat. Golbat followed up with a confuse ray and left the rest to Pidgeotto. Right, we won that little fight.

  I saw the final member of the team of Daichi appear from thin air just in front of us. His ace, a Kadabra. Golduck returned quickly after that. Probably the psychic helped him fighting off the ghost.

  Kadabra made a barrier that kept us from the worst from razor leaves from a Weepinbell that was fighting Diglett and Gloom. Our front was losing poorly when a Sneasel appeared and the ice type was just too nimble using the darkness of the night. Every claw was covered by ice energy. We moved further south where Pidgeotto was ending the Raticate, Golbat and Golduck finally got to the front line where the latter was focusing on the Graveler. Pikachu tried to run quickly towards Pidgeotto, trying to take advantage of the confusion with the new arrivals. Diglett followed. He knew, that was his job. He was the only one that could stop the yellow rat without muscles spasming after each attack.

  We made our move. Golduck and Slowbro stayed in front of us. Kadabra teleported behind their Pokemon, they didn't expect it. He was going to crush both of their minds, I saw it. We discussed what we could do in this kind of situation, go for the trainers and react, even if that mean that their Pokemon would go berserk. Kadabra was just starting the confusion attack towards the big man's mind, when I saw the purpleish shadow ran fast towards it, Haunter came back. They didn't finish it. Kadabra changed its course of action on a whim. He teleported again, the ghost Pokemon passed through the space he was just standing. The strained smile from the Pokemon chilled my soul. My muscles tensed just from watching its direction.

  The nearby bird Pokemon in the trees that were away enough from our fight flew. Our Pokemon stayed in place. The world stopped in this fraction of a second. Every pokemon looked towards their respective trainer. And then-

  The floor rumbled, the nearby trees swayed in a way I have never seen, I stumbled towards a kneeling Daichi, he helped to stabilize me. What was the chances of an earthquake right now? There is no way this 3 got a Pokemon with that kind of power, right? When I could move just enough to recover my vision to the battlefield I saw every pokemon on the ground. Pidgeotto and Golbat were flying toward us. Golduck and Slowbro tied to stay up while getting close to us. Graveler was laid on its back, Gloom was on the floor and Kadabra was a few centimeters above the floor with a strained face beside us. Where- Where was Diglett?

  Daichi tackled me. What was happening? Why would he do that? He moved me to the floor and put his body in front of me.

  A big explosion ensued. The backpack. Every fiber of my being was burning. Then I felt wet, I opened my eyes briefly to see Kadabra putting a big barrier around us, where the orange of the explosion stopped, Golduck and Slowbro just outside of it were straining to water us and themselves. Golduck's skin started to blacken until it stopped. My ears rang for a few moments until I couldn't heard with my right ear anymore. A sharp whistle ran in my left one. My head pounded. The trees were charred, the grass was no more. I knew my Pokemon could resist this. All Pokemon were resistant. But--but they were too close, I need to find Diglett and get out of here. Fast.

  Daichi was on top of me. I moved him, I slapped him in the face a few times, Slowbro watched me indifferently from the side. He waked up. Finally. I got up, my body didn't hurt. My legs were fresh as if I slept for 20 hours straight. The adrenaline. I need to get our pokemon and get away. Fast.

  The ground felt... off. Like a drumbeat underground.

  Whatever did that big earthquake wasn't something we could face. Daichi did the same. Both of us started to walk towards our remaining Pokemon on the floor. We returned them to our Pokeball. They would be safe in there until we get to a center. Diglett was nowhere to be seen.

  Daichi grabbed me, his mouth was moving fast and wide. I couldn't hear anything. We struggled like that for a few moments. I saw his eyes widening, focusing behind me.

  He grabbed me again, when he saw I didn't phase an inch. He left. He started running away. I knew I was being dumb. I turned back. The first thing I saw was the remains of the man who was protecting the backpack. One half-burned shoe. My mind decided to focus further away and I saw them. The last girl from their group was there, with the legs blackened, awake with her Sneasel and Pikachu limping in front of her.

  The moonlight seemed to glow brighter.

  Standing beside her, two imposing figures. A deep blue and a purple one with muscular frames. The blue one was slightly smaller, its head was adorned by a small horn, its small eyes pierced the smaller girl and both of their Pokemon on the floor. She probably passed out at some point. Her Pokemon tried to fight off the intruder, the bulky armor wasn't even fazed. Spikes on her back an tail accompanied each attack. Just the physical prowess of the blue beast was enough. I felt the floor rumbling again, The Nidoqueen stomped on the body of the girl. I moved my gaze away before it happened. I have something to do. The Nidoking was moving towards me, each stomp was larger than the one before, the floor shook slightly with each step.

  Finally, I found what I was looking for. There it was, on the floor. The small figure of my Pokemon. I needed to bring it fast. I tried to reach fast for his Pokeball. Just as I was going to press the button. The Nidoking stepped in front of him while walking towards me. I knew. I knew I couldn't do nothing. I need to run. My knees threatened to fail. My vision blurred, just as I was going to try to go right to get a better angle to return him, Nidoqueen reached Diglett. I knew what she was going to do. I couldn't abandon him. No. Never. NEVER.

  A figure flared from the edge from my vision. Fast, like a ray of fury and claws. Pidgeotto attacked the eyes of Nidoking. In the same moment, arms grabbed my chest. I knew who it was. I knew. With the strength of someone that have lived too many shit, he made me turn.

  He grabbed my arm. He shook me so hard I felt my teeth rattle. 'MOVE, DAMN IT!' I didn't. I couldn't. I needed to-

  Slap.

  I felt the irritation of my skin. The blood on my mouth. He grabbed a Pokeball and directed it to the air, a red beam flew from the ball. His hold on my arm dragged me away. He glanced behind every once in a while. When I tried to look back once he stopped and grasped my chin. I could understand his mouth twitching. 'Keep moving' it said. I turned off.

  I think I could hear a squeak on the air. My feet were moving, but my mind stayed behind.

  A few minutes passed, we kept running. My legs were burning and we needed to rest for a little bit. We found a cave beside a hill. Golduck and Slowbro were awake and could battle off a weak wild Pokemon. Both of them advanced with us for a bit into the cave. The air inside was damp and heavy, carrying a faint, metallic smell. Golduck's eyes glowed faintly, illuminating the jagged walls. Something felt... off. This place gives me the creeps. All of this fucking forest was like this?

  In the dim light, we saw them—two large eggs, their shells cracked and oozing a faint, glowing fluid. The remains of what could have been life lay scattered around them, tiny fragments of purple and blue shells glinting in the darkness.

  "Oh no... no, no, no. This is bad. This is really bad." I muttered.

  "Quiet, Leon. We need to think. If those Nidos find us here..." Daichi answered. His face turned contemplative as his eyebrows furrowed.

  I sat on the ground, my legs giving out beneath me. My arms covered my face, the smell of my palms sweat, dirt, and blood hit me like a punch. "This... this is why they attacked us, isn't it? They thought we did this." My voice cracked, the words sticking in my throat. I couldn't stop staring at the broken shells, the faint glow of the fluid seeping into the ground. Did someone from our side do this? Did we?

  "Or they're just protecting was left. Either way, we are not safe here." Daichi knelt beside me, his hand resting on my shoulder for a moment before he stood again. His face was hard, but I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his eyes flicked toward the cave entrance.

  He moved toward the eggs, his footsteps careful and deliberate. "We need to get out of here. Now. If they come back, we're dead." His voice was calm, but his hands were clenched into fists at his sides.