Chapter 33: A Chaotic and Complicated Situation
"Ah, wait for me a moment."
As the two reached the doorway, Takuma slapped his forehead as if remembering something, stuffed the bag containing the gas masks into Rio's arms, and hurried back up to the second floor.
Rio yawned, vaguely hearing Takuma inside the house seemingly talking about something.
Before long, Takuma returned, now with a bulging fanny pack around his waist, and holding a bell and a circular device in his hand.
He attached the bell and the device in his hand together, then looped the cords on both sides and hung the contraption around Rio's neck.
The bell hung together with Rio's necklace, making a faint "ding-ling-ling" sound as they touched.
"I've installed a sound amplification device on this bell. When the time comes, you just need to hold the top of this device and shake it to increase the bell's chime," Takuma explained simply.
"As for this fanny pack," Takuma noticed Rio's gaze fixed on his waist and grinned. "These are some good treasures that can come in handy at crucial moments."
Then he whispered in Rio's ear, "Quicklime and stuff, can be used to blind eyes."
Rio gave a thumbs-up. "You kid, you look all thick-eyebrowed and big-eyed, seemingly carefree, but I didn't expect you to be quite so devious, huh."
"Hehe."
Takuma touched his spirited short black hair and smiled rather shyly.
"Let's go."
…
The scene shifts. Newmoon Forest was exceptionally unpeaceful.
A mysterious figure arrived at a swamp permeated with dark purple smoke. Strolling as if through a leisurely courtyard, it passed by various frenzied, red-eyed Pokémon and stopped before an imposing Pokémon covered in spikes. Several other Pokémon of different forms also stood beside this spiky Pokémon, all glaring covetously at the mysterious person.
Sensing the ferocious aura of these Pokémon before it, the figure nodded with satisfaction, and a purple light flashed from its hand.
And this group of Pokémon, originally irritable and wanting to attack the figure before them, actually stood there dazed after being enveloped by the purple light.
The mysterious person took out several Poké Balls, drew the Pokémon into them, and then released them again.
The ferocious and cruel faces of the Pokémon now showed a hint of restored sanity. After being released from the Poké Balls, they respectfully knelt and kowtowed to the mysterious person.
"...Go, go and bring me the powerful Pokémon in this forest!"
The mysterious person seemed to issue some command, then finally waved its hand and disappeared into the black smoke.
"Roar—"
The most imposing giant beast among the Pokémon roared at the sky and led the remaining few Pokémon, along with a large contingent of others, out of the swampland.
…
And the mysterious figure also arrived at the center of the forest in a certain corner, subduing the certain madly eating Pokémon and that figure soaring in the sky using the same method.
…
And so.
Heavy footsteps and the beating of wings echoed from the east of the forest. Figures, large and small, advanced towards the west and south of the forest with a terrifying aura. Leading these figures at the very front were three massive dark shadows.
Upon reaching the southwestern junction, the contingent split into two columns:
Heading west was a tall figure, its body covered in thick spikes. Its ferocious tail swung about, snapping the trees and bushes in its path in half. Its heavy feet left deep claw prints, and the ground trembled slightly with every small step it took. Behind it, a group of Pokémon of varying sizes followed with frenzied expressions.
The direction this contingent was advancing was unmistakably Sunrise Valley.
On the other side, heading south towards the forest, was a round, rolling figure. Though its limbs were short, they were full of power. As it advanced, it continuously swung its heavy fists, smashing all obstacles in its path. At the same time, a giant figure soared in the air above, its wings broad, three feathers on its head extended against the wind, leading a flock of airborne birds fiendishly towards Crescent Lake.
And in the shadows of the forest, a figure clad in a black robe moved unhurriedly.
All of this, whether it was the Golduck Leader in Crescent Lake or the Squirtle Boss in Sunrise Valley, was a scene they had never anticipated.
Not to mention Takuma and Rio, still waiting at the forest entrance.
…
At the entrance of Newmoon Forest stood a wooden sign warning pedestrians to enter with caution.
Bored with waiting, Takuma simply emptied the gas masks from the bag and began checking each one for flaws. Rio, a bit impatient on the side, craned his neck, looking around, checking if the Pidgeot Leader had arrived.
"Why is it taking so long? Didn't we agree to wait at the forest entrance this morning?"
It was already noon, and the sun was blazing, magnifying Rio's impatience several times over.
"No more waiting. Let's go directly to Sunrise Valley. With this equipment now, our travel speed won't be slower than the Pidgeot Leader's."
Rio weighed his options and decided that rather than wasting time waiting like this, it was better to head back sooner and try to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
"Beep—" With a few soft sounds as Rio summoned the armor from his [Backpack], the pitch-black armor "clack, clack" equipped itself onto Rio. Takuma also bent down to activate his jet sneakers and dashed off first.
Aided by the propulsive force of the jet streams, the two advanced through the forest at extreme speed, weaving left and right. Rio had discovered early on that his Speed stat not only made him agile but also enhanced his dynamic vision and reaction ability. Therefore, even during high-speed movement, he could keenly detect obstacles and then rely on his superb reflexes to change his body posture and dodge. And Takuma, relying on his previous experience parkouring in the forest, kept pace with Rio, speeding through the forest without falling behind in the slightest.
Soon, they approached the center of the forest—"Sky Nest"—the place where they had fought the Pidgeot Leader last time.
"Wait!"
As if noticing something, Rio braked in time and simultaneously called out to stop Takuma.
"Look at the ground!"
Pointing his claw at the ground, Rio's face looked a bit grim.
Following his direction, they saw the ground densely covered with footprints of various depths. The soil in the footprints still looked relatively fresh, indicating that a large number of Pokémon had passed through here not long ago.
Moreover, the direction of the footprints was towards the southwest of the forest.
Undoubtedly, this large number of Pokémon footprints could not have been made by Pokémon from Sunrise Valley or Crescent Lake.
Then only one possibility remained.
"The Pokémon from the Toxic Swamp have all come out," Rio said gravely. Something beyond his expectations had happened. He had thought the Pokémon of the Toxic Swamp were all in a berserk state and, having lost their sanity, would at most fight among themselves in the swamp. He never expected them to now be seemingly led, invading the only two remaining normal places in the forest.
"Let's go. Let's follow them first and see what the situation is."
Two fists are no match for four hands. Rio didn't think his mere lv16 self could contend with so many other Pokémon, especially those frenzied ones. Even with his high-tech armor, it would only slow down the rate at which he'd be beaten into a punching bag. So, he decided to put away his noisy jet armor and, with Takuma, carefully trail along the direction of the footprints.
Arriving at the southwestern junction, the two also discovered that the footprints split into two trails.
Rio decided to head back to Sunrise Valley first.
"Crescent Lake has the Golduck Leader and several other very strong Elite-level Pokémon. I believe they can hold out for a while."
Rio explained simply to Takuma, as Takuma hadn't had contact with these two Pokémon communities.
"But on Sunrise Valley's side, because we fought the Snorlax Leader before, our leader was inadvertently injured. Both logically and emotionally, I have to go back and help."
When Rio first arrived in this Pokémon world, he was quite unaccustomed to it. It was the Pokémon of Sunrise Valley who warmed him with their tolerance and enthusiasm, allowing him to live peacefully in this brand-new world.
He thought of the mischievous Oddish in the valley who were always talking about sneaking out, the lazy Caterpie who often lay under the trees unwilling to move, the enthusiastic Geodude and Machop who pulled others into sparring matches everywhere, and those Poliwag, Goldeen, and Squirtle who complained about Rio polluting the water source but couldn't help frolicking with him. Thinking of those familiar faces, Rio's worry intensified, and his pace quickened.
"Please, please let nothing have happened to them."
There was no God in this world, so Rio silently prayed to Arceus.