The World Without Them || Original Pokémon Fanfiction ✓

Chapter Twenty-Five: The City of Dead Blossoms

 It wasn't food or water that ran out first.

 It was patience.

 The days leading up to their arrival in Brightwood City were nothing short of excruciating. There never seemed to be a shortage of hindrances.

 The first step in resuming their travels was to locate their destination. Frost hadn't realized how far inland they had come, making it difficult to pinpoint the direction of the ocean and use it as a landmark to get them on the right path. Sage managed to figure it out eventually by studying the moss on trees, remembering that it always grew facing north. This allowed her to turn them northeast and head towards Brightwood. 

 However, every day brought new dangers. Helicopters had begun to patrol above the forest, confirming what he and the girl had feared from the start. It was obvious that they were searching for survivors of the Tanna raid, and that the authorities had come to the conclusion that he, Sage, and Mana were roaming somewhere outside of Valcoast.

 Frost bit his lip and tightened his grip around Mana, who was situated inside his jacket to provide an extra layer of warmth. The Pokémon whined into the fabric and curled up into a small ball. The drop in temperature was getting to all of them. Mana was having a hard time adapting to the change in conditions. Her normally smooth, rubbery skin had started to wrinkle and sag, and she was completely drained of energy. The cold was taking a toll on her human comrades as well, seeing as neither of them were especially dressed for the weather either.

 "Don't you think we should take a break?" Frost inquired, shuddering as a chilly breeze blew by.

 Sage, who was positioned in front, shook her head.

 "No. We passed Valcoast awhile ago and should be entering Brightwood anytime now, so there's no point in stopping. And besides, we'll just get colder if we sit still."

 The blue-haired boy sighed under his breath but didn't object. He was just as ready as she was to get out of the forest, even if that meant having to sneak into a heavily populated area. It was already mid-afternoon, and the last thing he wanted was to endure another freezing night outside. Their supplies that were meager to begin with were running low, and surviving off the woodland when everything was dying or already dead was close to impossible.

 I hope this Foxglove character gives us something to go off of, Frost thought. Sage needs some kind of closure.

 The Silverkeep native watched the girl climb over a fallen tree trunk and temporarily leave his sight. He couldn't help but feel some sort of admiration for her; the wounds left by the burning of her home were still fresh and deep, but she carried on in search of anything that could lead her back to her roots.

 Sage wanted to know why her family and friends had been murdered, and Frost felt sorry for any poor soul that got in her way.

 "We're close," she whispered after he and Mana had rejoined her. Frost nodded, and she continued. Her right hand hovered over the handle of her gun, which prompted him to have his own weapon at the ready.

 Brightwood City wasn't anything like he expected it to be. As the humans knelt down at the edge of the woodland, the boy peered around the tree he was hiding behind. The trio had a perfect vantage point from where the forest abruptly stopped and dipped down to the suburbs. The region appeared to be flat, with houses forming neat rows and farmland running along the outside. Frost was impressed by the sheer number of residences; they stretched on for miles.

 The Valcoast native frowned. "How in the world are we going to find this person? Brightwood is pretty big and we don't have any leads on where Foxglove could be. The letters only said that they were somewhere in the city."