Open Let's Explore Eterna Forest!

[E.K.A.N.S.]

Rachael

The golden sun filtered through the treetops. Encroaching darkness tested the edges of the forest expanse, and Rachael's patience. She was a Psychic, yet even she couldn't have foreseen waiting till sunset for her escort to arrive. It was getting cold, and she wore neither shoes nor socks. Her clothes were limited to a purple robe fastened to her waist by a single black sash and a pack containing her travel essentials.

She'd visited the Floaroma Town Guild a few days ago and formally requested that someone guide her through Eterna Forest. It was an F-rank job, open to anyone, and sure enough, the guild got back to her the next day letting her know that someone had accepted it. She'd meet whoever it was on Thursday, and the two or however many there were would set out.

But today was already the day, and no one had shown up to accompany her.

"Are they just running late or something?" Rachael wondered aloud, tapping her foot impatiently on the grounds of Eterna. "Ugh, whatever."

She left the entrance behind and started into the tall grass, clutching her Pokeball containing Psyduck tightly in anticipation of a Pokemon encounter.​

 

[Merciless Medic]

Ramona Serrano​

Date: Day 1, Thursday
Location: Eterna Forest, Sinnoh
Pokemon Team: Luchamar the Ralts, Terretuga the Turtwig, Lanuda the Minccino, Menaje the Tandemaus, Cabadura the Charcadet, Psijaro the Flittle

Interactions: Rachael (@E.K.A.N.S. )

The rambunctious soon-to-be-graduated Pokemon Ranger had made her way through Sinnoh from Almia, got her first badge with the only Pokemon willing to fight for her in Oreburgh City, and got lost as she tried to find her way to her next gym. This journey was supposed to be a learning experience to understand herself, people, and Pokemon. Despite Ramona's intelligence, self-awareness was certainly not a gift she held.

So, as she finally stumbled her way through Floaroma Town, she saw someone had set up a commission. Being an up-and-coming Pokemon Ranger, Ramona wasn't going to say no to someone in need, so she took stock of herself and her Pokemon (even though five of them didn't even want to help her to begin with) and crashed for the night.

The next day, she made her way to the gateway to Eterna Forest, which was between her and her second badge. Making sure her green School Styler could be grabbed quickly just in case they came across a wild Pokemon who couldn't be beaten, she treaded confidently into the forest.

That's when she noticed someone ahead. Having seen the picture of someone who made the commission, she ran up to her. "Hey, wait a minute!" She charged on ahead, then skidded to a stop as she caught up, her accent a mixture of Paldean and Almian. "I'm Ramona Serrano. Pleased to meet you. You must be the lady who posted that commission, yeah? I'm a Pokemon R-OW!"

Her Pokemon - a Charcadet - had popped out of his Pokeball and kicked her ankle, making her bounce as she held onto it. "Hey, that wasn't nice..." She pouted, earning a defiant huff from the little bipedal fire monster, the creature giving her sass as he put his mitts on his hips. Sighing, she looked back to the lady after standing normally. "Heh, sorry about that. I'm a student Pokemon Ranger." She glanced at her Charcadet with an unamused expression before looking back at the Psychic. "And this is Cabadura, my Charcadet. Anyway, I'm close to graduating, so I'm just a couple steps from being a big deal." She gave a confident grin, hands on her hips.

"So, all you need is an escort, yeah? I'll gladly help with that. Before we get too far in, what are you concerned about so I may be of assistance?" Her Charcadet looked around with his arms crossed, keeping a keen eye out for any potential encounters.

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

Deep in Eterna Forest, there was a shrine. If the average person saw it, they clasped their hands in prayer, as that was what people did at shrines. But to whom were those respects paid? As far as anyone knew, these woods didn't have a guardian deity watching over them. So to the passing worshiper, the purpose of the structure remained a mystery.

But not to Rachael. She, along with other Psychics from the Eterna City Guild, had built it a year ago. They'd imbued paper seals with their spiritual power and tagged the shrine with them, so that if it were ever damaged and they came undone, every Psychic who'd placed one there would know about it.

That was what had brought Rachael to Eterna Forest. The seal that she'd left at the shrine, which gave her a read on the energies surrounding the woods, had been broken. There was a disturbance in the air, and Rachael was the only Psychic available to investigate it. Team Galactic had stopped the others who lived in Eterna City from entering.

Now, how was she going to explain all that to the soon-to-be Pokemon Ranger who'd introduced herself as Ramona Serrano? Rachael would take her time, like the girl had in getting here.

"You're late," she stated matter-of-factually. "But I can't say I'm displeased to meet you. The name's Rachael, and if you couldn't tell, I'm a Psychic."

She reached a hand into her bag and pulled out a copy of her favorite mystery novel, bookmarked with a seal. Then, she removed the white slip of calligraphy from the pages and showed it to the student Ranger.

"This is what I'm concerned about," Rachael said. "It's a talisman into which I can channel my power. I develop a spiritual connection with whichever location I stick it and can monitor the place from afar. There's a shrine deep in these woods, where I put a tag just like this one."

She didn't notice the Murkrow that had begun to circle overhead as she spoke.

"It broke, which means something about these woods is off. First, I want to check on the shrine. Then, let's head to Eterna City. If you want to be of assistance, keep the wild Pokemon away from me."

Rachael managed to finish her sentence before a Murkrow swooped down and snatched the book out of her hands. The rest of the flock descended on her and Ramona right then, as the one that had stolen from the former flew away.

"Hey-"

The swarm of birds cut the Psychic's exclamation short. Rachael dropped her Pokeball as she covered her head with her hands, inadvertently sending out her Psyduck but not quite ready to give commands. Even if she were fit to battle, though, the orders wouldn't have come. The Pokemon of Eterna Forest had never attacked her upon entry like this, and it caught her by surprise.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Ramona Serrano​

Date: Day 1, Thursday
Location: Eterna Forest, Sinnoh
Pokemon Team: Luchamar the Ralts, Terretuga the Turtwig, Lanuda the Minccino, Menaje the Tandemaus, Cabadura the Charcadet, Psijaro the Flittle

Interactions: Rachael (@E.K.A.N.S. )

Ramona was displeased with the matter-of-fact statement of her untimely arrival, but she tried to maintain a professional air about her. Rachael being a Psychic was a surprise to her, her eyebrows shooting up.

Psychics exist? She thought it was some silly character trope with powers in media. She didn't know if this girl was telling the truth though, but if what this girl was saying - if it's true - meant that she would have to get serious. But why make it sound like it was a simple escort through the forest? This was a bit above her paygrade.

Her Charcadet stared up at the Murkrow flying overhead while Rachael explained her psychic... bookmarks? Stickers? Tags? And Ramona nodded along as if she understood, even though she didn't fully comprehend what she was looking at or hearing. Again, her explanation sounded quite farfetched, but she wasn't about to say that she didn't believe Rachael. Again, if this was serious and something is happening to the forest, Ramona would be remiss if she just said 'see ya later' and left.

For Rachael to try and hide this though... Maybe the guild wouldn't have sent the commission because it sounded ludicrous if the details were there. Or, this was a set up.

Still, she was hear on a commission. It would look back on not only her, but the academy she came from. She just gave an easy smile. "Well, we'll see how screwed the forest is then. I'll keep them- AH!"

The Murkrow attacked, and the Charcadet was too slow to intercept the book-thief. Still, the Charcadet blew flames above, which fanned out a little. The Murkrow were scared off from Ramona. Using her styler, the disc shot out and she used the wand on her device to guide the disc and loop around the Murkrow in small fast circles to protect Rachael.

A flash of white, and Ramona's aura - as well as the aura supplemented by the styler - helped calm the Murkrow. The few who stayed afterwards perched on the tree branches beside them, and Ramona sighed.

This was... going to be tricky. This was simply a school styler, the actual styler could help send a command to a wild Pokemon, making them feel obligated to follow it. This school styler only gave supplemental calming aura, but even though her own aura was in it, it wasn't enough to create a connection... Meaning she couldn't actually command them to do anything. She could try, but it was a toss up if they'll ever listen or if they just fly off.

How could she explain that to Rachael? Better keep it hidden for now.

She walked up to Rachael, looking over the girl's body with her golden hazel eyes as she bent over slightly due to nearly being six feet tall. "You alright? They didn't hurt you too bad, did they?" Ramona just had a few scratches on her forearms and shoulders, and her long chestnut brown hair looked tousled something crazy. She was otherwise fine. These scratches honestly looked like they'll be additions to the scars already on her tanned skin.

Making sure Rachael was fine, Ramona looked up to see the Murkrow she 'tamed' (for now) were still watching them. Could she command them? No, if it comes off as a command, they would just be scared off. Time for a suggestion. "Hey, you guys are birds of a feather, yeah? How about you help us find that book one of your friends took? I'll make it worth your while." She said with a generous smile.

Then again, she was compensating, as a proper Pokemon Ranger with a proper connection wouldn't need to do this to a wild Pokemon they tamed briefly.

The Murkrow looked at each other, cawed, and then flew off. In different directions.

Ramona sighed, a defeated expression on her face. There was a third of a chance that one of them would help, and even that was a 50/50. Great...

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

From her accent, it was obvious that Ramona wasn't from Sinnoh. That explained her tardiness. Foreigners had a different idea about time.

But Rachael wondered what backwater region she was from to raise an eyebrow when she mentioned that she was a Psychic. Where didn't they exist? Check out a history book from the Canalave Library, and you'd read all about how Pokemon and humans were once one species. The two diverged over many years, but some Pokemon, like Machop, retained human characteristics. Similarly, some humans inherited Pokemon abilities. If one read Pokedex entries, one would learn that Kadabra had transformed from a boy with psychic powers.

Rachael was beginning to form a clear picture of her escort. Ramona didn't do a lot of reading. Rachael would daresay she was uneducated. She'd known it from the last question she'd asked her: "What are you concerned about so I may be of assistance?" In response, Rachael had diligently explained how her charms worked and her desire to investigate the shrine. Ramona would have known these details had she read the job description more carefully.

Rachael's fingers were stained with blood when she touched her hand to the spot where a Murkrow had pecked her head. Piercing, like her eyes, red, unlike the blue in them. There were scratches on her arms and legs, which stood out more on her pale skin than on Ramona's tanned one. She rose from her crouch and stood at her full height. She wasn't as tall as her escort, but when she raked a hand through her long, black hair and found no blood, Rachael was just as fine.

"Thanks to you, they didn't," she answered pithily. She gave credit where it was due. Had it not been for the action of Ramona's styler, she would've sustained more serious injuries. Then, Rachael's mind returned to the book. She'd checked it out from the Floaroma Town library, and was supposed to return it at the end of the month. They had to get it back. Not only for Rachael's sake, but for Ramona's. She, who couldn't read, would stand to gain so much more than the former if it were returned to them.

Rachael smirked at Ramona.

"If we find the book, I'll lend it you. Hopefully you'll read it more thoroughly than you did my commission."

Most trainers were members of the guild. It was a place where they could submit requests for assistance in all matters other than battling. Someone might have a clogged toilet, or gotten stuck underground. They might've whited out in a cave and needed a picnic basket brought to them. Those who took these requests were known as "adventurers," ranked according to the points they accumulated from having completed missions. Rachael was an F-rank adventurer who'd accomplished S-rank feats, such as building and tagging a shrine in Floaroma Meadow all by herself. Still, she was the bottom of the barrel, likely of a lesser standing than the one who'd taken her job. Nevertheless, she felt confident enough to tease Ramona.

The Murkrow flew off in different directions. Rachael didn't know what had compelled them to attack her. Perhaps it had something to do with the darkness that originated from Spear Pillar and blackened the sky a year ago...

She went deeper into the forest, her Psyduck in tow. The sun was a lick of light on the horizon now, as slim as her chances of recovering The Strange Lights of Route 14 in the dark. The farther into woods she went, the sleepier Rachael became. She turned to Ramona and stifled a yawn. Perhaps it would be better to set up camp for the night. If Ramona was as great a mind as she thought herself, then she'd think alike.

~~~

Killian was a mere Galactic Grunt, but he'd been given an important mission. Search the woods for any Water-type Pokemon. His fellow grunts had closed off the Eterna City entrance to the forest, stealing Water-types from trainers they denied entry and ensuring that he could complete his part of the task. He didn't know why Team Galactic was gathering Water-types, only that when he obtained them, he was to contact HQ in the city. Then, he, the commander, and all the soldiers of his team would descend on the forest.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Ramona Serrano​

Date: Day 1, Thursday
Location: Eterna Forest, Sinnoh
Pokemon Team: Luchamar the Ralts, Terretuga the Turtwig, Lanuda the Minccino, Menaje the Tandemaus, Cabadura the Charcadet, Psijaro the Flittle

Interactions: Rachael (@E.K.A.N.S. )

Almia never really had widespread knowledge of Psychics. Sure, Almia was just south of Sinnoh, but that didn't mean they had the same curriculum. Most of what the Academy taught her were the normal academic classes like math and science, the type chart, what type a Pokemon was, what abilities they had and what they do, what moves they have and what they do, which Pokemon were great for certain field use when you capture them with a styler, how the stylers work, and how to be a Pokemon Ranger. Anything else about history, Ramona never really paid attention.

The stories relating to a boy turning into a Kadabra or the popular 'Pokemon-Human Evolution Divergence' were rumors and theories. Ramona wasn't taught and paid to shill conspiracies, she was taught and paid to save people. Granted, when she did look at the commission, she had taken it without reading anything regarding it. The big thing she read was 'escort', and skipped the description.

Still though, regardless of whether Psychics existed and where they came from, it was clear that Rachael was still a living person who could bleed. Ramona wasn't going to let this girl get anymore hurt. She felt a surge of pride for at least stopping the attack before it got any worse. But a part of her nagged that she should have been more diligent.

As Rachael told Ramona about the book, Ramona scoffed. "Well, if it's non-fiction and if it'll help me learn something about this world, I'll take it." Ramona at least had the wherewithal to not make herself sound anymore willfully ignorant.

Ramona had just taken the commission, as she had no idea a guild existed until she made her way to Floaroma Town. So, of course she signed up. And of course, she was a pretty low rank, her status as a student Pokemon Ranger not helping. She was even warned about the difficulty of the mission, and left the bewildered staff with her obstinance about helping someone.

Granted, she didn't really give them much of a choice.

As Ramona traveled deeper into the woods, she became more and more awake. The darkness made her uneasy, her Charcadet getting equally uneasy. Ramona looked down at the Psyduck, wondering if this duck was going to end up causing issues. She did remember that Psyduck were notorious for ESP-inducing migraines.

She paused as she saw Rachael yawn. She looked tired. Looking around, she released her Tandemaus. "Let's find a place to rest. Help us, Menaje."

The two white non-descript mice nodded, and began to hop away in tandem while holding each others' hands.

After a short moment, the Tandemaus stopped by sheer hill with an entrance. This looked new.

With the Charcadet, the two Pokemon ran into the entrance, having Charcadet light the way as they went to look if there were anyone living in here. Since there was no one here, they ran back, alerting Ramona that it was clear.

Ramona smiled, looking around at the ground floor to make out any potential tracks. She couldn't see anything though, due to its darkness. She sighed. "Well, can't really tell if a Pokemon will come back, but we need to rest somewhere that isn't in the middle of a forest. Too dangerous. At least here, there's only one way they can come see us. I'll make a small fire, just enough to give some warmth and give minimal light. I don't want to smoke us out."

At least she learned how to survive. "Cabadura, Menaje. Stay. Rachael, got food for yourself and your Psyduck? If not, I brought plenty." She smiled, despite her seriousness.

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

"Based on a true story," she said, referring to the stolen book. "Close enough, right?"

There were two things Rachael loved. Mystery novels, and cute Pokemon. When Menaje emerged, she nearly gushed over the adorable mice. But she was quick to compose herself, mirroring her escort's serious demeanor.

"We're fine," Rachael answered her question, producing a box of Poffins for her Psyduck and one containing gimbap for herself. She'd prepared it in the Floaroma Town Pokemon Center's kitchen, where she'd stayed for a night as she carried out her business. "But thanks for the offer, Ramona."

She returned the other girl's smile, her bright, blue eyes twinkling in the firelight. It was the perfect setting for the telling of a story, Rachael mused.

"Have you done this survival thing before?" she asked between bites of her food. "You seem to know your way around."

She wondered if Ramona had any interesting experiences in her time as a student Pokemon Ranger that were worth sharing.

~~~

Once upon a time, Team Galactic had wanted to remake the world. Back then, grunts like Killian weren't told the ends that they were pursuing. They were expected to follow orders blindly. That was all.

But after the mission at Mt. Coronet one year ago, he'd been made privy to a key piece of information—that the new world it had been thought that Cyrus failed to create was already upon them. The awakening of the Legendary Pokemon a year ago had caused a disturbance in spacetime, one that had opened a gateway to the perfect realm they'd envisioned.

Apparently, it was somewhere in Eterna Forest. Where exactly, he didn't know. What exactly that had to do with the collection of Water-type Pokemon, he couldn't say.

But to aid him in the completion of his mission, his team had gifted him with a special artifact it had unearthed in the Oblivia region—armor that could convey feelings to Pokemon in a manner similar to the Capture Styler. Killian had used it to control a flock of Murkrow and attack anyone who entered the woods. Eterna Forest was to be rid of anyone who wasn't a member of Team Galactic.

Something had momentarily disrupted his influence over the birds, however. No matter. His Honchkrow, which had asserted itself over the flock, would ensure that they returned to him.

Half an hour had passed with Killian having made camp in the ruins of a shrine. Apparently, it had been built by the local Psychics and damaged when the gate was opened. Enough of it was still intact to give him a roof over his head.

The Murkrow settled on the eaves, Killian's Honchkrow questioning them in Pokemon tongue. One of them had stolen a book from the intruders, who happened to own a Psyduck. Good. If they went looking for it, it would save him the trouble of finding them himself. When they caught up with him, he'd steal their Water-type and personally evict them from these woods.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Ramona Serrano​

Date: Day 1, Thursday
Location: Eterna Forest, Sinnoh
Pokemon Team: Luchamar the Ralts, Terretuga the Turtwig, Lanuda the Minccino, Menaje the Tandemaus, Cabadura the Charcadet, Psijaro the Flittle

Interactions: Rachael (@E.K.A.N.S. )

Well, if the story was based on a true story, it couldn't have been all fiction, so of course she'd take up on that offer.

Upon seeing Rachael pull out what amounted to sushi rolls, Ramona stared at the strange choice of food. Most people would carry around unperishables, energy bars, snacks, canned food if they don't mind their shoulders aching. But sushi rolls?

Weird, but if it wasn't too hot - which it wasn't as Sinnoh was pretty cool in spring and summer - then sushi rolls wouldn't spoil. It did also look fresh, so at least it wasn't some week-old sushi. Ramona nodded as Rachael declined, chuckling. "Alright."

Once the bundle of sticks were gathered by Menaje - and another one of her grey mice, a Minccino - and once Cabadura lit it up, Ramona sat comfortably. She released more of her Pokemon, a Ralts, a Turtwig, and a Flittle, who stretched and yawned. She pulled out some berries she collected earlier, putting them in front of her Pokemon based on their preferred taste. She then pulled out an energy bar, nodding at Rachael's question. "Had to, but survival is really interesting when you get down to the nitty-gritty of it. Surviving in Sinnoh is easy, just as long as it's not too cold, like it is in fall or winter. Then you have to be careful about falling asleep and sleeping for either too long or just not waking up at all. Hypothermia is a silent killer. But in a forest like this, the best way to keep yourself protected is to make sure there's only one way for anyone to approach you, like this cave here. The cave can also help retain warmth, give you shelter... It's the perfect place to take shelter, just as long as no one else lives in here or come back." She sighed. "But making a fire in a forest is dangerous. If you don't put it out when you go to sleep, it can spread and cause a wildfire. Anything green that burns creates smoke - which is great if you're trying to mask your scent behind that gross smell - but it's horrible if you don't want people to know where you're at..." She found herself rambling so she stopped.

"But yeah, I remember I was a noob at all this." She chuckled. "I would read up on what to do, but doing things is always different from reading it. So, I would make this little shelter out of leaves and sticks to protect me from the rain in a forest. Which was great, until I realized too late that my shelter looked too obvious so my teacher found me - who I was trying to keep hidden from as if he were a wild and territorial Pokemon - and the damp soil helped my teacher follow my tracks. Plus, since everything was damp and it was raining, my Charcadet couldn't do anything. Quite the humbling experience." She chuckled. "It didn't help that I wasn't told what my teacher would look like when he would try to find me, so when I saw a man in an Ursaring costume, I thought it was a real Ursaring at first. Awful." She chuckled a bit more, clearly not too upset about that event, even if she was terrified in the moment.

She looked up at Rachael. "So, got any stories about being a Psychic?" She asked before eating more of her energy bar, wanting to make sure being a Psychic is an actual thing and if there were any interesting stories about being one. Despite her skepticism, she was quite curious and seemed open to hear Rachael's experience.

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

When Ramona recounted her run-in with a man in an Ursaring costume, Rachael cracked a smile of her own. Her excitement at seeing so many cute Pokemon in one place, she suppressed.

She'd given the other girl an introduction to how her powers worked earlier, explaining the seals into which she could channel them. Those were her abilities in their most controlled form—harnessed through the use of a foreign object. But Rachael normally didn't talk about the full extent of her Psychic faculties, except to the fellow Eterna-City espers in her adventurers' party. The truth was, her powers had been more trouble than they were worth.

"Where do I begin..." she wondered, looking up at the near-lightless night. There was a long pause, the words coming to her slowly, like the stars that trickled through the clouds onto the dark canvas of sky.

"Let's just say I didn't grow up in the most cordial household," Rachael shared. "My parents would fight all the time, and I'd silently bear it."

She recalled her attempts to keep the pieces of her perfect childhood together even as they were falling away. She'd been thirteen years old when her parents' contentious marriage was on its last legs. One night, they got into a particularly nasty fight when Rachael was present. She remembered the cup that her mother had thrown at her father. She recalled the emotions that swelled within her right then, the demand for them to stop that had quietly burned within her until it boiled over. She recollected how she'd squeezed her eyes shut, and how the sound of breaking glass never reached her ears. For when she opened them, the cup had stopped in midair, and her parents' gazes had frozen on her.

"...Until one day, when I stopped a glass one of them had thrown at the other with the power of my mind," she continued, smirking as she told the tale. Her face then turned to stone. "That was when I first awakened my abilities."

Finishing the last of her gimbap, Rachael set the empty box aside.

"Needless to say, my parents stopped their quarreling. But they were wary of their own child from then on," she resumed. "They sent me away to a boarding school on Mt. Coronet, which taught kids with special talents like mine. There, I learned to control my power and use it for the benefit of society."

She glanced at her Psyduck, which had drifted off into a light slumber beside her. Rachael had met her at the local pond, shortly after she'd graduated school and taken up residence in Eterna City. She lived in a suite with other alumni and offered psychic readings to the populace, a much more peaceful life than her tumultuous upbringing.

"Like for your entertainment, Ramona."

The smile returned to Rachael's face and Psyduck's Pokeball, to the palm of her hand. She trained her eyes on the enlarged sphere, willing it to rise. First, it moved only slightly, just enough to attribute it to sleight of hand. Then, it shook some more, nothing that a Pokeball wouldn't do. After a few more seconds of Rachael focusing her power into her palm, it lifted, slowly, and began to hover over her outstretched hand.

The capsule dropped back down. Rachael had yawned again, covering her mouth with the hand that had guided it upwards. Were she experiencing some strong emotion, she'd have had more power at her disposal and not needed to concentrate so hard. The only one that she felt now was an overwhelming desire to sleep, a consequence of using her ability.

"Hope you enjoyed the performance," she quipped, hugging her knees beside the fire.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Ramona Serrano​

Date: Day 1, Thursday > Day 2, Friday
Location: Eterna Forest, Sinnoh
Pokemon Team: Luchamar the Ralts, Terretuga the Turtwig, Lanuda the Minccino, Menaje the Tandemaus, Cabadura the Charcadet, Psijaro the Flittle

Interactions: Rachael (@E.K.A.N.S. )

Ramona wasn't expecting to hear Rachael's entire life story. Her eyes widened, completely enraptured by her history. She honestly felt horrible for the poor girl. Ramona wished she could say she came from a similar background, but she was surrounded by people who adored her. The most she could say was that actions she's done in her past nearly got her killed a few times.

Hellish, that life must have been. But, Rachael at least had a power that could help. She watched with a low 'whoa' slipping from her lips as she watched Rachael lift her Pokeball with her mind. All six of her Pokemon watched just as amazed. Even her Ralts clapped his hands, congratulating her.

Ramona chuckled. "Hell yeah, I did. Quite the heavy origin story for the power though." But then she smiled. "But hey, you got something cool and really helpful out of it at least. And you're using it to help people and Pokemon."

Her Minccino yawned and curled up, signaling that it was time to sleep. Smiling, Ramona looked over at her Turtwig, who croaked and used Sand Tomb on the flames. Rock churned directly under the campfire as sand moved to cover the twigs and charcoal, pulling them into the rocky floor. All that was left were a bit of smoke. Now, the warmth was only coming from her Charcadet.

"Alright, let's get some rest. Luchamar, my Ralts, is quite sensitive to nearby people's emotions. If there's someone nearby, he'll alert us." Yawning, she set down her sleeping bag as a pillow and laid on the earth, not caring that she should unroll her sleeping bag. Her Tandemaus, Ralts, Minccino, Turtwig, and Flittle laid around her to sleep. Meanwhile, her Charcadet walked to the middle of the room and sat down, closing his eyes as he meditated before his eventual sleep, his flames flickering softly to help keep the two trainers and their Pokemon warm with his presence.

The sun rose, and Ramona yawned as the first rays pierced through the treetops and hit those who were in the cave. Ramona rubbed her eyes, as she looked over to see if Rachael and her Psyduck were okay. Her other Pokemon stirred softly too, stretching and yawning as they slowly got up. Her Charcadet had fallen asleep sitting up, so his back was aching a little.

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

Unused to sleeping on the ground, Rachael didn’t get a good night’s rest. The sky had just begun to lighten when she woke, and so had her complexion. She appeared paler than usual, the lack of quality sleep written all over her visage. She cleaned up as best she could, brushing her teeth as well as her long, raven hair and sitting cross-legged by the doused campfire. If there were any imperfections on her Psyduck's face, one wouldn't spot them, for she was back in her Pokeball.

Sometimes she envied Pokemon, the way they could so easily disappear from sight. Rachael, who wasn't particularly excited to meet the day, wouldn't mind a place to hide.

"Oh... you’re finally awake." She snickered. Rachael wasn't surprised that Ramona was the type to sleep in, given how she'd taken her time in getting to these woods. "Shall we head out?"

She knew better than to let her guard down when there was a disturbance in the forest. But aside from a few Murkrow that had attacked them on the way in, there was no sign of anything wrong. Rachael and Ramona had slept in a cave without any wild Pokemon objecting to their presence. If only a little, the former began to enjoy their trek through the woods.

That was until they reached their deepest part. The shrine should have been up ahead, only a few more miles in. In place of a path, however, there was a cave. One that was made of some sort of white stone. More importantly, one that hadn't been there before. Rachael turned to Ramona, concern showing on her face.

"This rock formation... I don't recognize it," she warned. "Not only are the Pokemon acting strange, but Eterna Forest looks different from what I remember."

It didn't change the fact that the only way was forward. Rachael wandered into the darkness of the cavern, feeling along the wall. Her hands made contact with something sticky, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. As she went farther in, she started to feel the substance under her bare feet too.

The surrounding black grew dense, as if they'd walked into the throat of a beast. Then it gaped, and they found themselves standing in a chamber. The sticky sensation under Rachael's fingers had turned into something hairy. When she gripped the wall, whatever she was feeling suddenly bit her.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, pulling away. The darkness did the same, retreating at the light of Cabadura's flame and revealing that her hand was touching a Wurmple. As more of the room was illuminated, Rachael saw that there was a whole nest of them—crawling up the walls, crowding the floors, and hanging from the ceiling. Realizing that what she'd mistaken for white stone was hardened string, she recoiled in shock.

Wurmple normally built their homes in the trees. But something—or someone—had compelled them to fashion a dwelling in the middle of the road, large enough to swallow this section of forest whole and form a canopy made of String Shot over their heads.

"We'll need to tread carefully from here on," Rachael cautioned Ramona. She planted her feet wherever she didn't see a Wurmple, thinking that would suffice not to provoke the Pokemon as she pressed forward. She didn't notice the thin, invisible strings that had snared her clothes and alerted them to her presence.