Painted Ghouls

Chapter 24

WARNING: violence

Lowering himself toward the grass, Lucas glanced back at Athena, who still sat on his back. With a shaky breath, she scooted herself off of the male, planting her feet against the ground. Gripping tightly onto Brendan's hat, she stared at the wasteland of Mauville City. A giant, dirt path tore through the pathways of the area, signaling that he purple beam has been here before. She shouldn't be surprised at such a discovery, as this had also happened to Fallabor Town, but she couldn't help but stare in shock at the ruined city.

The place hardly looked like a city, needless to say. It was all just a giant pile of rubble. There were few remnants of the once lively world, however. A few booths of sorts were still in some form of less-than-decent condition, and even some pieces of charred furniture. Despite that, however, most of the construction had been burnt to a crisp, or simply destroyed. Not only that, but similar to Fallabor Town, there were no signs of humans. There was simply silence to occupy the haunting image of the land.

For a few moments the two would stand still, in a stunned silence, before the Combusken had the audacity to take a couple of steps forward. As she approached her last step, she grimaced at the cold, gritty dirt beneath her. She was standing above the dirt path now, her talons scraping against the charred minerals. The area around her was cold and lifeless, but at least it was a bit warmer than Fallabor Town. They had to travel farther south, after all, although the distance between the two ruined areas wasn't too grand.

Thick pieces of metal beams jutted out of several heaps of rubble, providing a decent enough shelter when it came to rain. Silently, the young fowl Pokémon took note of the safest-looking beam there was. It appeared to be a little farther into the ruins of the city, but it had several other debris supporting it, holding it up. It would certainly make a good shelter.

"I suppose I should go scout for berries now," Lucas spoke up, drawing the female away from her thoughts. Glancing back at him, she nodded, grateful for his offer. Hopefully he would find some berries in this mess. Blinking, the dragon-and-psychic type would flap his burly wings, before floating over the Combusken's head and toward the city. Silently, she followed suit.

Sauntering toward the charred, ruined city, Athena kept her vision fixated onto the path in front of her, fiddling with Brendan's cap nonchalantly. Glancing off to her left, she noticed a single booth that appeared to be in some shape. It was destroyed completely, needless to say, but the giant rectangles of wood were still laid across the area. She couldn't help but wonder if there was anything hidden beneath the pile. Halting in front of the ruined booth, she dropped her trainer's hat, attempting to use her claws to push away a beam, but to no avail. Those beams were heavy; only a strong Pokémon would be able to break- let alone move- them.

Almost right after did she scoop back up the cap did a sweet, tempting aroma waft through the air. Despite having a horrible sense of smell, she managed to pick up the traces of the invisible essence that danced around her. Blinking, the young fowl Pokémon would attempt to follow the smell, curiosity getting the best of her. The aroma smelled sweet and pure, as if it was coming off of something that could only bring good. Did it belong to some sort of food?

The dirt path was still beneath her as she ventured farther into the ruins. Surely if the smell was this strong, then that means that there was a bountiful amount of whatever there was? Picking up her pace, she tried her best to chase after the smell, hope sprouting in her chest. If the smell belonged to food, she and Lucas wouldn't be hungry for quite some time.

Halting, the fire-and-fighting type hesitated at the sight of a giant metal beam laid out in front of her. The smell was the strongest it has ever been in this location- that meant that the smell must be coming from this beam. Why would the beam smell so sweet, though? Pausing, she uncomfortably shuffled her taloned feet around as she heard a squirming noise come from behind the metal. Tightening her grip on Brendan's cap, she cautiously inched forward.