Chapter 39: The Trackers Under the Ground
Newmoon Forest is the largest forest in the entire Ist Region, occupying more than 60% of the region's area. Such a vast territory naturally formed landscapes of varied scenery within the forest. The west, bordering the continental mountain range, formed a ring-shaped valley. The south, continuously scoured by a waterfall day and night, naturally accumulated into a huge lake, simultaneously generating various rivers that flowed in all directions of the forest, with the largest branch flowing towards the east of the forest. The eastern terrain is low-lying and has long been traversed by rivers, resulting in poor surface water drainage. Coupled with the accumulation of various substances carried by the rivers in one place, over time, the moist and sticky ground and the decay of matter formed a swampy area in the forest, permeated with poisonous mist.
Tracking the Pokémon from the Toxic Swamp, the further east Rio and Takuma went into the forest, the sparser the trees became, and their height continuously decreased. The originally verdant green leaves also progressively turned withered yellow and shriveled.
"Crap, we can't dig any further ahead."
Rio had been digging forward until, with one swipe of his claw, he no longer hit hard earth but sticky, wet mud. This wet mud was clearly not solid enough to support the underground tunnel.
"Hmm? They've stopped."
Fortunately, good news came from Takuma.
After a long trek, it seemed the Pokémon from the Toxic Swamp had also returned to their own territory.
"Ah, this is the place! I escaped from here back then," Takuma exclaimed in a low voice.
"Let me see, let me see."
Rio painstakingly switched places with Takuma. Because Rio had dug a relatively narrow tunnel with [Dig] to save energy, it was fortunate that one Pokémon and one human, both being relatively small, could pass through this narrow passage.
Putting on the visor, Rio peeked out through the small holes in the mound of earth.
On the far side of the tunnel they had dug was a vast swamp. The mud in the swamp bubbled, and various miscellaneous garbage and filth emitted a rotten stench. Wisps of purplish-white dense fog swirled above the swamp. And on the opposite side of the swamp was a rock wall, into which various caves, large and small, had been carved.
The Pokémon of the Toxic Swamp also returned to their respective lairs. The Poison-type Pokémon—Ekans, Koffing, and the Nido-family—passed through the pervasive poisonous fog as if it were nothing, returning to the swamp, while the Ground-type Pokémon—Sandshrew, Rhyhorn, Diglett, etc.—returned in groups to the caves in the rock wall.
Machop, Scyther, and Flower (Vileplume), who had at some point been tightly bound by vines, were escorted by Sandslash and imprisoned in a cave situated further inside.
Merely looking out with his eyes, Rio already found that the poisonous fog of the Toxic Swamp was making his eyes sore.
He took one last deep look.
"Let's go, back first."
…
Bumping along all the way back to the entrance of Sunrise Valley, Rio and Takuma immediately and eagerly broke out from underground.
"Whew, I was suffocating!"
Taking deep breaths of fresh air, Takuma vigorously stretched his body.
Due to limited energy, the tunnel dug underground earlier was only about the size of one person. The two of them were squeezed inside, already filling up the small space, let alone having any room to move. As a result, maintaining one posture for a long time had made their muscles stiff.
Rio tapped the frame of the visor by his ear, and with a "swoosh," the visor and the oxygen mask retracted.
He glanced around. Seeing the devastated valley entrance, he couldn't help but sigh.
During the battle earlier, he and Takuma had been hiding in the nearby grass. When Hegemon Nidoking used the indiscriminate, wide-area attack move [Earthquake], the strong shockwaves toppled many of the trees around them. Unfortunately, several of the falling large trees were right in their direction. Coupled with the ground beneath their feet cracking and crumbling, they were instantly buried. However, in their misfortune, they were lucky that the fallen trees and the upheaved ground coincidentally formed a triangular structure, supporting each other, so that Rio and Takuma, buried underneath, did not suffer too much impact. But by the time the two of them had finally cleared the debris above them and returned to the surface, they already saw the scene of Machop, Scyther, and Flower being captured by the enemy.
Rio knew very well that with his mere lv16, he had no chance of winning against a group of Elite Pokémon in their 20s, let alone a lv40 Hegemon Pokémon nearby. So, he chose to remain hidden and bide his time. Only when the Pokémon from the Toxic Swamp gradually departed did he pull Takuma along and use [Dig] to excavate a tunnel underground to follow them.
"The data for this group of Pokémon all show the titles (Berserk) and (Mind-Controlled). According to the Pidgeotto, Snorlax, and Pidgeot Leader encountered before, Pokémon with the (Berserk) title would generally appear to have lost their sanity and be completely unable to communicate normally. However, whether it's Hegemon Nidoking or its subordinates like Arbok and Nidoqueen, although they are still cruel in nature, they can possess reason and communicate verbally, and their mental state also seems very clear..."
"What on earth is this (Mind-Controlled)? Is it a move?"
"Or is it the ability of certain Pokémon?"
Rio organized his thoughts. He knew that the Pokémon world ran deep. Leaving aside the various miraculous abilities among humans that were practically wonders, even some powerful Pokémon mastered various god-like powers—for example, Ho-Oh possessed the power of resurrection, Celebi could travel through time, Jirachi could grant wishes, and so on, not to mention the legendary Creator God Arceus, who watched over the world with thousands of avatars. Putting aside these legendary Pokémon, even among ordinary Pokémon, many had unique abilities—for example, Absol, which could predict disasters; Musharna, which devoured dreams; Rotom, which could change forms by inhabiting home appliances, and so on.
"Comparing (Berserk) and (Mind-Controlled), their common point is that they are both a kind of mental change. And the mind is closely related to Psychic-type abilities. In that case, the culprit causing these two states should be a Psychic-type Pokémon with powerful mental strength. And if it's that one Pokémon, everything seems to make sense..."
Through continuous analysis and deduction, Rio vaguely felt that he was approaching the truth.
Just as he was about to delve deeper into his considerations, Takuma's voice sounded.
"Rio, let's go into the valley and take a look. I haven't seen what Sunrise Valley is like yet."
Takuma had already heard Rio describe the situation in Sunrise Valley when they were in First White Town. As the son of scientists, he was naturally quite curious. After all, wild Pokémon communities were not easily explored by humans.
Therefore, even though the area around the entrance of Sunrise Valley was littered with destructive craters, broken trees, and drenched earth, this chaotic scene did not diminish Takuma's curiosity in the slightest.
Seeing Takuma's eager expression, Rio was also curious about the current state of Sunrise Valley. So, he and Takuma cautiously passed through the semi-collapsed valley passage and entered Sunrise Valley.