“Can we stop soon?” I called to Hudson, absentmindedly tossing one of my coins in the air. He was somewhere ahead of me, but it was impossible to see through this undergrowth.

	“What for!? We’re nearly there - I can smell it!”

	“I’m hungry. You know I haven’t eaten since this morning, right?”

	Hudson seemed to ignore me, instead focusing his attention on waddling through the plants, but a moment later I heard him stop.

	“Ya know what?” he replied suddenly. “Food ain’t a half bad idea right about now. We’ll take a rest up here.”

	I followed the sound of his voice to a small clearing. Hudson sat in the middle of it, his head deep inside his bag scrounging for food. “Keep guard,” he ordered, pointing towards the edge of the clearing. “We haven’t seen any of them crazies yet, but ya never know when one could pop out atcha.” I assumed he meant “watch out for enemies”; it was hard to tell with him sometimes. Climbing onto a rock at the edge of the clearing, I peered over the undergrowth. Here, the forest was trapped in a perpetual twilight by the thick trees overhead, making it difficult to see far. All I could make out were the plants we walked through and a few decaying logs scattered around. Still, it was nice to have peace and quiet for once, a rare treat for someone from Scale City.

	“See anything?” Hudson broke the silence.

	“No,” I replied. “I don’t think anyone’s around.” I jumped down from my rock and took the apple he offered me. “Thanks.”

	“It’s nothin’,” he admitted, carefully closing his bag. I looked around our small clearing as we ate in silence. If I was honest with myself, the plants here gave me the chills. In the mountains you could practically see forever; in here you could barely see five metres through the greenery. A Kricketot could jump out and you wouldn’t notice until it was clinging to your face.

	Hudson froze as though a Swellow had locked eyes with him. I looked toward where he was focused but didn’t see anything. “Shh...” he whispered. “Didja hear that?” I stopped chewing to listen. All I could hear was the soft sound of leaves in the wind.

	“No, what is it?”

	“Shush!” he whispered again. “I’m gonna check it out. Ya stay here, now, alright?” With his bag around his side, Hudson slowly crept into the plants. I waited for a few moments. “Hudson?” I whispered, sneaking to the edge of the clearing. There was no reply. [i]There’s probably countless bird Pokémon in this forest just waiting for a meal like him.[/i] “Hudson!?” I whispered more urgently. The anxiety started to give me a stomach ache and made my heart race; this was worse than when I got lost in the market as a kid. [i]What if something ate him? He’s only a Wurmple, for Arceus’ sake![/i] I thought, my heart beating faster as the panic rose inside me. [i]How will I get out of here if he doesn’t come back? What if he got eaten and I’m next!?[/i] Unable to control my trembling, I moved a plant aside to see the path he took. There were two identical paths leading through the undergrowth, each as big as a Wurmple. “Two?” I wondered out loud. Then it dawned on me; there aren’t two paths. I’m not seeing right. I rubbed my eyes to make the double vision go away, but it only got worse.

	“What’s going on?” I wondered. Something was wrong. I knew what panic felt like, and this wasn’t panic. I didn’t get double vision and a stomachache by worrying about Hudson. I backed away toward the safety of the clearing and spotted my half-eaten apple sitting nearby. It didn’t look or smell rotten. There wasn’t anything strange about it - except for a glossy, purple glint on the bottom. A closer look revealed it to be a hole oozing purple liquid - a hole that could perfectly fit the end of a Wurmple’s stinger. “That... No... That can’t be right...” I reassured myself, getting a bit lightheaded. “Hudson wouldn’t do that...” Suddenly I felt very exposed in the middle of this clearing. I glanced all around me at the perimeter, afraid I would see a Wurmple sneaking toward me with a threatening look in his eyes. I mean, this couldn’t have been him. He wouldn’t have poisoned me. He was an explorer after all; he had an explorer’s bag and a guild badge and everything.

	...

	A guild badge... He did [i]actually[/i] have a guild badge... Didn’t he?