"Doing alright, Cill'," Juana grunted, climbing up the roots while trying not to drop the Sewaddles. Bounsweet saw the Dugtrio readying a Mud Bomb, and fired off a stream of Razor Leaves at it to cut apart the orb of wet dirt it was amassing.
"I gotta watch out for those nests of yours, huh?" she said to the Sewaddles, who were quavering in abject terror. Apparently this incident with Dugtrio was quite familiar to the colony. Juana turned and called up to Cillian and Tora. "I'll stall 'im while you work on hoisting us out. ¿Comprenden?"
Tora tossed the ball containing Dewpider. "Dewpider, Bubble!" she shouted.
The little water spider shot bubbles at the Dugtrio, causing the trio of conjoined moles to become a little disoriented. Meanwhile, Bounsweet fired off Razor Leaves to drive the Dugtrio back.
Juana got up and patted Bounsweet. "Okay, through the trees it is, then!"
They had their rest, and then they started off. Juana looked at the ground; the damp soil had several heavy footprints set in it; meaty, round footsteps that belonged to a three-toed Pokémon.
There was a faint, sweet-smelling aroma about this part of the woods, and the chirping of bugs was a little bit louder. Juana looked around for any signs of disturbance possibly caused by large-ish canines.
"Hehe, hey look. There's a whole bunch of Sewaddles and Swadloons here," Juana remarked, pointing into the boughs. Indeed, the yellow-and-green bug Pokémon were gathering, spinning their silk into crude configurations that resembled sewing.
Bounsweet looked around.
Juana turned back. "Hey, d'you all feel like we're getting close?" she asked. "Or should we--"
Then she disappeared.
WHUMP
Where Juana had stepped, there was a thin gossamer web covering up a rather large, somewhat deep hole. Juana had fallen in.
There was some loud scraping as Juana and Bounsweet hung on to Skorupi, who had come out of its ball and clawed onto the wall, slowing her descent to the bottom of the pit. She slowly got down from the wall and checked Skorupi for any injuries. Thankfully the Pokémon wasn't hurt.
"I'm OK!" she called up.
The hole was about as deep as the end of a swimming pool, and took up about three parking spaces' of diameter. The ground was crudely tilled, and roots were visible out of the walls.
A concerned Leavanny peered over the edge of the hole, staring at Juana in shock. Down below, Juana realized that there were several Sewaddles stuck in the pit with her.
"Oh. This must've been a bridge for the Sewaddles," Juana deduced. "I'm gonna guess people don't walk around this part of the forest very often?"
Juana gently picked up the Sewaddles under her arms, and clung onto one of the roots.
Behind her, however, was a growling noise and the tilling of dirt.
She turned around, and immediately a myriad of very colorful and somewhat rude words flashed through Juana's thoughts.
She was face-to-face with a Dugtrio giving her a very, very dry glare. It was hard to tell in the dark, but the mole Pokémon's eyes were sort of glazed over, as if in a trance.
The Sewaddles shuddered.
"Uhh, could use a little help?" Juana asked, looking up at Tora and Cillian.
Juana considered the two options before the three of them. "You got a point. Highly doubt a kid like a Penny would HM up her Granbull with Surf." Juana looked over at the brook. "It doesn't look very deep, but my Slurpuff didn't appreciate getting its feet wet. I think it might be a 'dog' thing."
Bounsweet turned and looked intently beyond the trees. It raised one of its sepals as if listening for something.
It turned and shrugged.
"Well, what do you think, Tora?" Juana asked, turning to face Tora."
Juana held on tight to her Pokémon. The Nidorino, shaking its head and recovering from the Flame Burst it took, shot out a bunch of poisonous barbs that scattered on the ground in front of Pezi. "Shoot, it's Toxic Spikes," Juana muttered. "Nobody move!"
The Nidorino charged again, scattering the poison barbs as it ran towards the Trainers.
"Skorupi! Stop it!" Juana called. Skorupi let out a hiss, pulled itself out of the vines, and landed on Nidorino's face, obstructing the angry Pokémon's vision. The Nidorino veered off and tripped into a bush, tangling itself in brambles. Skorupi wasn't bothered due to its hard exoskeleton, but Nidorino struggled to escape.
"Okay. Bounsweet, Rapid Spin. We gotta get rid of those spikes," Juana said.
Bounsweet whirled around and around, blowing the barbs away where they wouldn't harm anyone.
"Great job!" Juana shouted, calling Skorupi back. Bounsweet grabbed onto Juana with its mouth as she passed by, and the three Trainers were able to escape.
When Pezi let go, Juana collapsed on her bottom and took a deep breath. "That was way too close," Juana agreed. "Nice save, Tora."
She looked back at the direction from which they came. "That Nidorino... I know muy loco when I see it, and lemme tell you, that Nidorino was definitely muy loco. I'm beginning to suspect there's a little more going on here than a dog running off. Because that wild look in that Nidorino..."
Juana stood up. She pressed the button on her newly-captured Togepi's Poké Ball, and the spiky Pokémon popped out.
"Togi-togi..." Togepi whimpered, rocking back and forth on its side and shivering.
"Poor guy..." Juana muttered, picking up the frightened Togepi and cradling it. She checked her Pokédex.
"Togepi. The Spike Ball Pokémon. Fairy-type. Ability: Serene Grace. Nature: Timid. Often lost in thought.
"As its energy, Togepi uses the positive emotions of compassion and pleasure exuded by people and Pokémon. This Pokémon then stores up feelings of happiness inside its shell, then shares them with others."
Juana gave Togepi a concerned look. "Sure doesn't look very happy right now," she said. She looked up at Tora and Cillian. "Okay, um, so do you guys want to take a break right now? Our Pokémon look kind of winded, and quite frankly I'm a bit fried after almost getting gutted by a Nidorino."
Gotta be more careful next time, Juana thought to herself.
To calm Togepi down, Juana dug into her tool belt and produced one Rare Candy. She unwrapped the candy and fed it to the Togepi. The fairy Pokémon's shivering slowed a bit as it lost itself in the sweetness.
Given the fact that stuff like Torterra and Nidorino exist in this place, Juana thought it best to raise Bounsweet's level one as well, and as such, she fed a candy to the fruit Pokémon.
"Is everybody else feeling alright?" Juana asked. "I hope that wasn't too much... trouble. Phew."
Ahead of the three Trainers lay two more branching paths. One led across a small brook, and the other through a thick grove of trees.
"My family has a Slurpuff and an Alolan Raticate," Juana said to Cillian. "They help out around the house. We treat them almost like people, haha."
Corphish gave Hazmat this blank derpy glance, before going back to threatening whatever came from the bushes.
Juana walked over to Cillian and gazed at the herd of Nidos.
"Hm. Well, I'll probably have to pass. Don't wanna anger a Nidoking and get a poison spike driven up my rear," Juana replied.
The crunching noise was turning into a heavy plodding. Juana spotted a huge tree moving amongst the--
"Oh, wait, that's a Torterra," Juana said, whapping her forehead.
The Torterra appeared to be quite placid, with several smaller Pokémon resting its tree's branches, as well as on the miniature mountains jutting out of its shell. There was a flock of Spritzees perched in rows on the rim of Torterra's carapace.
Trailing behind Torterra was a limping Togepi.
"Twee-pee!" Togepi wailed, limping along as it scampered after the Torterra. But the little spiky egg Pokémon was too slow, and fell flat on its face. It wanted to ride, but couldn't.
"Aww," Juana said. "It's sad."
Suddenly, a Nidorino broke from the pack, a wild look in its eyes. It rammed into the Togepi, launching the poor Fairy-type into the bushes where Juana, Tora, and Cillian were. The Nidorino locked eyes with the three Trainers and pawed the ground furiously.
"Uh-oh," Juana gulped. She gritted her teeth and pulled out her Poké Ball with Skorupi. "Skorupi, let's go!"
The scorpion Pokémon popped out of its ball as the Nidorino made rounds toward the small Togepi. Skorupi lashed out and pinced the Nidorino's snout, causing the larger Poison Pokémon to veer off and crash into a bush. The Pokémon flitted off from the Torterra's back in shock.
Juana instinctively pulled out one of her empty Poké Balls and hurled it at Togepi, encapsulating it where it would be safe from getting mauled by the wild, and apparently raving, Nidorino. Juana dashed to pick up the ball as Nidorino turned around and tossed Skorupi away.
"Skorupi, get up! Leer!" Juana called, scooping up Togepi while the ball was still shaking and flashing.
Skorupi skittered up the tree and gave Nidorino a menacing glare. The Nidorino returned with a mangy stare.
"Bounsweet, back up Skorupi!" Juana said. Hopefully Skorupi will keep Nidorino occupied, I don't want Bounsweet getting poisoned.
She tossed Bounsweet's ball, and the grass Pokémon popped out and fired off Razor Leaves at Nidorino.
Ah, geez, Juana thought to herself as the sky began to gray, signaling the beginning of daylight. "Tora, Cillian, wait up," she called, dashing after Tora.
The forest was filled with the chittering of bug Pokémon in the early morning light. The Pikipeks' beaks were thut-thut-thutting against the sides of the trees. There was the low droning of Beedrill and Combee; Juana made sure to stay away from the bushes.
Juana patted her hands against her cheeks to slap herself awake. Corphish scuttled by her side, giving a leering glare to each passing bush, daring anything to leap out at them.
"I'm not sure which way the Granbull went, but given that it's a strong Pokémon, we can probably look for thrashed bushes and stuff," Juana surmised.
This area of the forest was quite unharmed, however.
Eventually, the three of them would come to a clearing, where a couple of Parases were resting at the base of a tree. Beyond one side of the tree, Juana, Tora, and Cillian would be able to see a slight ethereal glow. From the direction of the other, however, there was rustling and crunching, as if something heavy were making its way through the brush.
"So," Juana said, "which way do we check? I'm leaning towards the crunching noises; if that Butch is on the move then we'd better go after him."
