Setting:
•Pokémon Center, Violet City, Johto•
•Late February, Back to the Present Day•
•Amber (Wolfe Alias) POV•
Chapter Twenty-One
The Journey Deepens
It took all of the rest of the day for my Pokémon to heal, so we ended up staying the night at the center. I woke up early the next morning and checked on my injured friends. They all seemed to be recovering well. Umbreon's neck was a little stiff, but he greeted me happily. Espeon was feeling 100% better, as was Mudflaps. Chika, of course, was on my shoulder. I could tell she was feeling better as well but still not in condition to battle.
I looked at my team and addressed them seriously. "I was planning on challenging Falkner today—but only if you guys are ready. I understand if anyone here is not feeling well enough to battle. I don't know how many Pokémon he'll use, so I need at least three of you to be in fighting condition. Chika," I said addressing my friend on my shoulder, "you'll still have to sit out. I don't want to injure you more. You need to recover fully first."
Before she could protest, and she was raising her leaf to do just that, I continued in a softer tone, "I know you want to battle, but trust me, there will be plenty more gyms where I will need you, okay?" I smiled.
"Chika…" She replied rather solemnly. I knew she was pretty bummed, but there was nothing more that I could do about it.
I then looked to my other three Pokémon. "Well? What do you say? Wanna wait another day? I'll understand if you guys do."
The three looked at each other, murmuring amongst themselves before they all faced me and nodded their heads in unison. They were willing to battle.
I smiled at them. "If that's what you want, then that's fine with me! Let's go wake up Gold and Hino first and get some breakfast. What do you say?"
Everyone was happy at the mention of breakfast. We all trekked into the Violet City center's main room where Gold was sleeping on the sofa; Hino was curled in a ball on his chest. I looked at the wall clock and noted it was eight in the morning.
My Pokémon, deciding to wake Gold up themselves, jumped on him, which caused him to wake rather startled. I laughed at the scene, at which Gold scowled at me.
"Sorry about that. They're anxious about the gym battle later today." I helped Gold up after ordering my Pokémon off of him. Poor Hino dove into the sofa, startled at the ruckus.
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•POV Shift: Amber (Wolfe Alias) -> Gold•
"Hey, Hino, its okay. Come on out buddy," Gold coaxed at the sofa.
"Quil?" A timid voice from inside the sofa called, rather muffled.
"Come on! Let's go get breakfast," Gold continued to coax.
"Quil…" Came another muffled cry.
Sighing, Gold reached inside the sofa and felt around for his Pokémon. Finding him, Gold stroked his soft, hot fur.
Wait…hot? Why is Hino so hot? I know he's a fire type, but he's never been this warm.
He felt Hino grow warmer then suddenly cool again. His Pokémon was then shivering.
"Hey, Wolfe. I think there's something wrong with Hino," he said concerned, feeling his Pokémon grow warm again.
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•POV Shift: Gold -> Amber (Wolfe Alias)•
"Remove the back cushion, and let's get him to Nurse Joy then," I replied pretty grateful we were already at a center.
Gold finally extracted Hino, who seemed to shiver uncontrollably. Suddenly, Hino burst into a brilliant white light, at which Gold accidentally dropped him onto the sofa. I noticed Hino struggling to suppress the light, and he finally did as he dropped onto the sofa, panting from exhaustion.
"Uhh, Gold… This doesn't look too good," I commented.
"No duh," he replied sassily.
"No, what I meant was I don't think Nurse Joy will be able to do anything for him unless she has a spare Everstone laying around." I corrected.
"Huh?! You mean Hino is trying to evolve?!" Gold asked in alarm.
"I believe so. Or more like, he's trying NOT to evolve," I rested my point on the "not" while Hino once again struggled against the white light.
"So what do I do, then?" He looked at me in concern. " I mean, I don't know what to do…"
"Put him back into his pokeball for now. We'll see what we can do from there." I instructed patiently.
Gold recalled Hino into the pokeball as I approached the counter of the reception desk. The Nurse Joy glared at me before asking if I needed any help. Deciding to be the better person, I responded, "Do you happen to have an Everstone or something to help out my friend's Cyndaquil? It appears to be fighting its evolution process." I smiled the entire while, showing that I could be nice even if she wanted to act unprofessional just because my Pokémon got hurt a few times over the last two days.
The nurse's face turned into a serious expression. "I'm afraid we don't have any Everstones. I don't know any places that would sell them locally, either. Let me take a look at the Cyndaquil to see if there is anything I can do."
I beckoned Gold over, and he handed Joy the pokeball. Inside the transparent top, we could see the Pokémon resting fitfully, glad to have a break from fighting the evolutionary process.
"I don't get it though. Why would Hino refuse to evolve?" Gold asked rather baffled.
Before Nurse Joy could respond, I replied. "Some Pokémon, Gold, are terrified of the thought of evolution. Either they just want to stay the way they look, or they think the process might hurt, or they may change so much their trainer might not like them anymore. I don't know what Hino's reason is, but given he has a timid nature, he may think that if he evolves, he will become awkward. Hiding wont be as easy if he's a larger Pokémon, and you just got him too, so maybe that might scare him just a bit."
Nurse Joy nodded in agreement. "Your friend is right. Pokémon are just like people in that they have feelings and minds of their own. Your Cyndaquil may be physically ready to evolve, but he might not be mentally ready for what it entitles. Evolution means your Cyndaquil will have to adjust to a whole new form and new strengths, which even he will not quite fully grasp. Also, he may be frightened that if he evolves, you will abandon him. I've seen many Pokémon with similar phobias."
I chimed in. "Look at Mudflaps, for example," noting the Marshtomp huddled around my legs. "He grew a lot when he evolved. Now he can walk easily on two legs instead of just four, and he gained a whole new type, too. Neither he nor I know his full capabilities yet, so it'll take time for both of us to adjust." Mud looked rather proud of himself as I glanced down at him with a smile.
"Luckily, though, given his bold nature, he embraced evolution in order to win an important battle, right pal?" I addressed my friend, who beamed up at me. "And since I'm his first human companion from the time he hatched, he isn't so concerned about me abandoning him—like I'd ever do that, anyway," I added as an afterthought.
"Stomp," agreed my mudfish Pokémon.
That reminds me…I still need to see his Pokedex data later. I added as a mental note.
"Anyway, I'm afraid the only thing you can do for now is leave him in his pokeball to rest. From there I advise you either find an Everstone somehow–wild Geodude are rumored to carry them on rare occasion—or buy one from Goldenrod's department store, which I hear stocks them," Nurse Joy commented before walking away to tend another trainer looking for service.
"Thanks, Nurse Joy. Man, this is bad. I can't let Hino out until I get an Everstone?" Gold asked himself, pretty distraught.
"'Fraid so… Hey Gold, forget my gym match for now. Hino is more important. Let's go to Goldenrod and get Hino that Everstone," I replied as I patted my friend's shoulder sympathetically.
"You sure? I mean you guys," he looked at me and my Pokémon, "were all psyched for that gym match. I know Hino is suffering, but don't change your plans just for me! I mean, I guess I can go to Goldenrod by myself."
"With only that Hoothoot of yours for protection against wild Pokémon? I don't know if that's a good idea. Besides, what are friends for, right?" I grinned.
"Well, okay I guess. So, where is Goldenrod anyway?" He asked curiously.
"Good question. Let me find out," I tapped into the map feature of my pokegear and typed in Goldenrod City. It seemed a pretty far distance away, though the gear notified me about a shortcut. "Looks like we are in luck."
"Really?"
"Yeah. According to this, all we have to do is head northwest of Violet to where we come to a three-way path. From there, just keep heading west past the National Park, and then south into Goldenrod. I bet we could get there by nightfall if we leave now!"
"Oh, awesome! Let's get going, then!" Gold exclaimed, highly enthused.
Recalling my Pokémon into their pokeballs—except for Chika of course—we left the center and headed north to the outskirts of Violet City. From there, we headed west into a nice little meadow, which appeared to be somewhat packed with various people.
"Didn't expect so many people to be around here," I commented.
"I heard that the Ruins of Alph is south of here. Maybe they're all tourists?" Gold guessed.
"Hm, possible, though that doesn't explain why there are so many people standing around. Wouldn't they be heading to the Ruins?"
Intrigued, I approached a somewhat burly man. "Excuse me, sir. Why are so many people hanging around here? My friend and I are on our way to Goldenrod, and this just so happened to pique our interest."
The man sighed before looking down at me—he was at least six and a quarter feet tall. "You're not the only one trying to get to Goldenrod, I'm afraid. We're all standing here because it appears a forest has sprung up overnight."
"A forest?" I asked.
Forests don't just spring up overnight on their own…
"Yah, take a look over there," he pointed in the direction we were headed. An immense line of strange-looking trees blocked the path leading from Violet City to Goldenrod, as well as the third path that led north from there. "Those trees are the problem. No one can go anywhere with them in the way. We've tried everything to get rid of them."
"Can't you just chop them down or something?" I asked. Clearly, I still didn't quite see what was the problem.
"You don't get it though. We've tried that. Those trees, I've never seen the likes before. They fight back. I even had my well-trained fighters try to Rock Smash 'em out of the way. And nothing… As soon as one tree falls, another takes its place like magic."
I raised an eyebrow at that. "Let me take a look," I approached the line of "trees" which really I would have called more like shrubs since none could have been taller than four and a half feet and weren't the most leafy vegetation I had ever seen. They did oddly resemble trees, though, since they had quite sturdy-looking trunks. I reached out to touch one, when suddenly one grabbed hold of me, another grabbing hold of Chika.
Struggling to be set free, Gold rushed forward shocked to see what kind of predicament I had gotten myself into this time.
"Don't just stand there, help me out!" I protested as the tree struggled to cling tighter onto me. Its bark was hard like stone and a bit scratchy.
"What do I do?! I'm not getting Zuku near those things! And Hino can't attack them," Gold retorted, obviously unsure of what to do.
"Improvise! I don't care! Just get me down!" I struggled helplessly. These trees were not going to let me go.
If I were in Gold's position, I was certain I would've found my current situation to be quite funny—held captive by a tree. I ceased struggling, since the tree held me tighter with each flailing movement I made. Once I stopped flailing, the tree relaxed its grip somewhat, though I still couldn't wriggle free.
Noting that Chika was thrashing about and was getting put into a chokehold, I called to her, "Just relax, Chika. It'll let go of you some if you calm down. Look at me."
"Chika?" She blinked in surprise to see that I was telling the truth. She stopped flailing and was able to breath easier.
Suddenly, the tree holding me began to move—walk, actually. I yelped in surprise. "What the?!"
The trees surrounding mine made a path small enough for the tree holding me to pass through.
Walking trees? This really isn't right. As soon as I'm put down, I'm getting my Pokedex out and scanning these things!
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•POV Shift: Amber (Wolfe Alias) -> Gold•
"Wolfe!" Cried Gold as she disappeared into the "forest".
He ran to the trees but was hopelessly blocked by the other odd shrubs. He kicked one in frustration, causing his foot to immediately feel a shock of pain.
Ouch! It's like it's made of rock or something. He held his hurt foot as he hopped on the other and watched the trees holding both Wolfe and Chika disappear from view as new trees replaced them. Unfortunately, they were stuck on their own since he had no way to help.