Gah! I'm so sorry this took such a long time to come out. With my newfound job and my stressful advanced placement classes, I haven't had any time for this book and it makes me sad :(
B u u u t
Firstly, I want to say that I do want to finish this, and that finish will come soon!
Second, I will try my best to start uploading more for this. And if I don't within a week, I give you all permission to spam comments and make me.
Of course, that's a joke, haha, but still. I'll try my best. Anyways, have fun reading!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kylie had a lot on her mind as of late. Travelling has been an interesting experience for her, with Raboot. Yet, she still hadn't figured out what it was she wanted to do after her journey was over. She's seen a lot of people and met just as many. Marshall and Lucas, her companions, were also very unique people, but she didn't want to pursue a career as a Trainer. She, at the very least, knew that much. Thinking about the boys, she directed her attention to them, which, at the other side of the campfire that they had taken 30 minutes to painstakingly create, were talking. They seemed to be relaying fond memories of their childhood to each other. At the very least, she knew they were cousins, but past that, not much else. Marshall was very reserved. She only knew that he was out travelling, from what she remembered, to search for something. His mother, she thought, also wasn't very involved in his life from the looks of it, but she wasn't entirely sure as to why. She had thought about asking a few times before, but they usually got caught up in other shenanigans that distracted her from the thought. Now, though, she believed she had the chance. She thought it'd be better, however, to wait until Lucas went to sleep first, since she knew that he would head to bed first. Meanwhile, said person ripped Kylie out of her thoughts.
"Kylie!" He shouted.
Agh, did he really have to shout so loudly?
"Yes, Lucas?" She replied, keeping a calm front.
"We've said your name a few times now, you seemed almost worried about something. Are you alright?"
"Oh dear. Yes, I'm alright. Thanks for your concern." She replied to Lucas quietly. "And just a suggestion, don't shout so loudly."
"Um, uh, sorry, Kylie." He said.
"So." Marshall began. "This journey has been a bit hectic, hasn't it?" He said.
"Just a little bit, but it's really not a big deal; It's been fun travelling with you and Lucas." Kylie began.
"Yeah, and I get to see my little cousin again." Lucas said.
"I thought we came to an agreement for you NOT to call me little cousin?"
"You're younger than him?"
"Yeah, you'd think-"
"That he was the older one." Lucas said implying Marshall.
"Huh. I guess you learn something new everyday." Kylie conveyed, looking at the pair curiously. She noted several similarities that made them look very polite. Same short stocky build, although Lucas was taller by a few inches. Same hair color. Both of their hair always had a messy outlook- Though Lucas's was curly while Marshall's was not, and their eyes were practically identical in color.
"So, Marsh. I've got a few questions for you though."
"And I, perhaps, might have a few answers for you."
"What made you suddenly change your mind about becoming a Trainer? Like, I get you wanted to have a Pokémon, but you said you were never going to travel. Why did you?"
"Well, let's just say a few things went down at home." He replied evasively.
"Did you and your mom get into a fight?"
"No."
"Then what happened?"
"Nothing you need to know- It's not even that important." He retorted a little aggressively. Lucas flinched slightly, not expecting the tone.
Kylie studied Marshall's outlook. He obviously did not want to disclose this information to the pair, but Kylie was extremely curious now backed with the little bit of information provided by Lucas. Then, she remembered Team Lunar. Maybe they drove him out of his home, maybe he made some sort of smart remark that made them upset? That seems a little childish, but it was really the best she had to go on.
"Did Team Lunar chase you away?" Inquired Kylie.
Marshall didn't respond.
There was a silence.
Then a quiet sniffle as Marshall stood up. "I'm going to my tent." He said as he disappeared into the tent.
Lucas looked down at his feet a little guiltily.
Kylie, meanwhile, was deep in thought. She thought about everything she's seen the last couple of weeks. News reports, photos, everything. She perked her head up and looked at Lucas.
"Lucas, your cousin is the boy Team Lunar chased out of his home."
"Well, we knew that-"
"No, the boy. The one on the news every day because he's reported missing."
"What?"
"Yeah. It hasn't been on as of late, because people have seen him, but, before that, he's been considered missing for weeks."
"Why didn't he say anything?"
"It must be really tough for him. I'd imagine he misses his mother dearly."
"But I thought they saw each other?"
"Yes, but she, I'd imagine, left for his safety. He also was in the hospital, in comatose."
"That must be rough."
"You think?"
They fell silent again.
"Maybe we should-"
"Head to bed?" Kylie finished.
"R-right." He said.
"Sleep well, Lucas." Kylie said, as she rose to her feet and walked to her tent. Lucas went to the tent he shared with Marshall. Kylie waited for Lucas to close his tent, and then walked back to the campfire. Aside from being obligated to stay to make sure she didn't accidentally start a forest fire, she wanted to think to herself for a bit. Is that why he's been running away from everything? Why would Team Lunar want anything to do with someone so obscure? (Well, he isn't exactly obscure now..) Nobody even knows what their goals are... It'd be better to sleep on it and talk to him tomorrow, she thought. We've got things to do anyway. She thought. Just like that, Kylie rose, put out the last remaining bits of the fire, and then headed to her tent.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Lucas awoke the next morning to movement from his right. He blinked a few times and then kept his eyes open long enough to figure out it was just Marshall moving, getting out of bed.
"Marsh, slow down, you woke me up." Lucas told.
"Sorry." He said blandly as he left the tent.
Lucas rose from his place in the tent, stretching. It seems like a frigid morning, he could see his own breath.
Might as well get up now. He was already awake anyways and couldn't get back to sleep if he wanted to, so he clambered out of the tent with a sort of clumsiness, as if he didn't go camping very often.
"You're getting up too?" Marshall asked. He seemed a little nervous, as if he got caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.
"...Yes, why?"
"Nothing. I was just going to figure out a way out of here."
"Why were you going to go alone?"
"I wanted some space after last night." He said simply.
"You know it's not safe." Lucas added grumpily.
"Well, whatever. It's not like we've got anything else that we can do, right?"
Lucas just sighed and shook his head. He knew his cousin was a little stubborn but today seemed to be a day like no other for him. Giving up on trying to get him to be somewhat decent, Lucas turned and walked a little bit into the forestry. He decided to collect some firewood to keep warm for the morning and then get started on whatever trials await them in the forest. He leaned down and picked up some of the dry pieces of wood he could find, before coming face to face with a Foongus.
"Oh..Hello there, little Foongus. Are you alright?"
The Foongus made a slight whimper but aside from that didn't seem to be afraid of Lucas. He smiled a little and put some of the wood he collected back over the Foongus to shelter it once more. He stepped back, and then tossed a Pokéball. "Come on out, Combusken." He said. Combusken thumped onto the ground and cocked his head slightly at his somewhat mud ridden Trainer. "Would you mind helping me find some firewood?"
Combusken nodded and so the two split up. After around a quarter hour, they returned to where he had sent Combusken out and they then returned to the camp where they set down all their collected firewood. Once that was finished, they set the fire alight and then sat down. Kylie still seemed to be asleep and Marshall had gone off into the forest.
Later...
Marshall returned to see the firepit blazing and Lucas and Kylie sitting around it. Smiling slightly, he took a seat with his friends. "So, we have to do some sort of trial, right? Where are we supposed to go?"
It appears nobody had thought about that.
"I'm not sure." Lucas replied. "But I think it'd only be best if we tried exploring around and seeing what's up. We might figure something out."
"Doesn't this all seem a little strange to you guys?" Kylie blurted out of nowhere after a few moments of unbearable silence. The two boys of the trio turned their curious gazes to her, the firepit crackling.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, we're stuck in a forest with seemingly no way out with some mysterious voice speaking to us. Isn't that the least bit unusual to you?"
"Well, yes, but this past 3 weeks have been a little unusual, don't you think?"
"Yes, just...something about this doesn't sit right with me. Like, there's something seriously strange about this forest."
"Well, I do agree, for one." Marshall said to his cousin's surprise. "To start, this forest isn't anywhere on the map for the region." He explained. "The path we took should've spit us out onto Route 310, which is on the way to Teralis Town." He stood up. "Look, let me grab it real quick." He said, returning to his tent momentarily.
...
...
"Um, guys?" Marshall said. "Do one of you have the map? I can't seem to find it in my bag. In fact, I can't find my phone or my Poketch either."
"When did you have a Poketch?"
"Nevermind that. Does anyone else have it?"
"No, not me. I saw you put it back in your bag when we got here." Kylie spoke. Lucas meanwhile, thought in silence.
"Hmm..." Lucas hummed a little.
"I don't think I've seen him think this much since we showed him a prototype Pokeball." Marshall commented.
"Marshall. I wanna ask something. When we were escaping from that hotel, don't you think it was a little unusual that Team Lunar knew we were there but instead of coming to find us, they tried to force the hotel people to give us to them?"
"...No, they basically pulled a Team Rocket. What about this is unusual if I can ask?"
"Think about it. They knew we were there. They didn't stop us, they didn't even set up any guards around the building, with exception for the ONE you knocked out. Is that not unusual? Then, when we got here, the mysterious voice said that no matter what happened, we'd have clean water and fresh food. But the one thing it didn't tell us was what the trial was or how we'd find it in this Lost Woods-esque place. Does none of this come of as strange? Seriously?"
Kylie and Marshall exchanged glances, and then nodded slightly. "Now that you mention it, it is a little unusual, isn't it? How would a mysterious figure in the woods be able to provide us food and water? Not even Pokémon really have that ability. Maybe for water, sure, but food?"
Kylie nodded. "Something is wrong here. This isn't normal. Arceus, how could I not have realized from the start?"
The trio sat in silence for a little while. "Maybe it's Team Lunar. I mean, it's a stretch, but it's all I can really get from this. Maybe a Pokémon's power?"
"What Pokémon has the ability to control dreams or cause them?"
"The only Pokémon off the top of my head I can think of are Hypno and Cresselia. But Cresselia has only been seen once in 3000 years, and that was in ancient Sinnoh. And I think at that time, Sinnoh was called Hisui. Or something like that."
"Hypno.." Kylie put her hand on her chin. "Are we..are we being hypnotized?"
"How? There's no way we could be, I mean, we'd know, wouldn't we?"
"That's the problem. It's possible that a Gengar could be manipulating our minds as well. It really could be anything.."
"Well, let's figure it out. Does anyone know how to snap themselves out of a Hypno's dream trap?"
"I think I read up on something of the like since there had been recent abductions of children from wild Hypno. But, I can't remember what the trick was."
"Well we best figure it out or we'd be stuck here forever, and trust me, I don't think I'd like that at all. Especially since I can't find any of my Pokeballs."
"It's said, from what I can remember, that the only way to signify if you're in an illusion created by Hypno is dependent on your surroundings and current possessions. That goes for any Pokémon by the way. Hypno usually takes away important possessions, and adds new ones that seem familiar but aren't. Do we have anything of the like?"
Lucas immediately spoke up. "Yes, actually."
The other two turned to their friend.
"I wasn't entirely sure where I got it, but I have this bracelet-" Lucas held it out to the other two. "Has some weird stone in it that I've never seen before. Looks real weird." He said.
"Looks like a Dynamax Band, but it has some weird rainbow esque stone in it. Weird."
"The name is on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember.."
The trio thought about it for a bit, before a resounding facepalm emanated from Kylie. "This is exactly it. The Hypno is trying to distract us now that it's illusion is failing. We just need to break it's hold over us, but I just can't remember how..!" Kylie groaned in frustration.
Lucas tilted his head. "Maybe we just need to do something equally unusual?"
"The heck do you mean by that?" Marshall asked.
"Something that would throw the Hypno off, or scare it."
"Well.."
Marshall walked over to Lucas. He bit his lip. "Sorry buddy." He said, before raising his arm and delivering a swift punch toward Lucas's nose. Before the punch could land however, everything started to blur, and go a little dizzy. It was strange. Marshall's head started to throb, and before he knew it, he blacked out.