It did not take long for the barbed wires, bitten and gnawed, to be left behind with a bottle of Repel in one hand and a hunting knife in another. The light faded gradually as I tread carefully upon the dirt road that led further into the dense forest, cautiously eyeing my new surroundings.
The trees were malady brown, their bark begrimed by grains of poison and entangled by creeping vines, glaring like silent sentries at unwelcome intruders. The perfect abode for those who slither in the dark.
In dense shadows, I spy tiny green spiders clutching their snare-strings, their webs shimmering like meshed steel dipped in silver.
Spinarak. Extremely patient hunters. Capable of staying motionless for days on weeks for unsuspecting prey to be tangled up in their intricate webs of silk. Webs that can support the weight of stones without snapping such that fishermen nets were once made from them. Still are.
Although Spinarak venom are not fatal to children, they can still kill small Pokémon like Greedent with ease. It is Ariados, active predators of the night, whose venom can render full grown adult's dead within as little as two minutes, and of whom I must be wary of.
Continuing the weary path, I come across centuries-old trees with sprawling limbs, choked by coiling mist, their bark mottled and splotched. Dangling from their rotten boughs I take notice of clumpy combs of wet moss while lethal larkspur pepper the muchly floor underneath them.
They are not the only poisonous plants that I take notice of though.
I passed by attractive hooded blue flowers that took root in damp ditches (Wolfsbane), shiny black berries residing aplenty in the thick growth of stunted thorny shrubs (Black Byron) and umbels of small, white, five-petalled flowers that dotted the rare sunny moist areas (Fool's Parsley).
Every now and then, I pause, listen, and observe before moving on.
Much deeper, resting under damp shade, lie clumps of Morelull.
Light pink in the centre, purplish-blue on either sides. Wary of disturbing their sleep, I silently move away in case a few wake up, scattering their sleep induced spores that would explode in bright glittering pulses, alerting its own kind and other denizens of the forest, slimming the chances of my own survival.
Regardless of their medical properties, I steer well clear of families of orange insectoid creatures scuttling across the floor of the mottled-brown forest, lest their paralytic and heavy sleep-induced spores leave me in a long-term coma. Wherever there are families of Paras, a Parasect is sure to be close behind, one of the few Pokémon that naturally learns the move Spore.
Inwardly, I shudder at the thought of Spinarak, eyes-a-flame with hunger, slurping the hot blood out of my veins. Parasect or Morelull taking root in my cold, dead corpse sucking out much-needed nutrients.
These dark thoughts riddled my mind as I came across a rotten carcass, maggots and flies feasting on its flesh. It did not help that I knew of a move called Leech Life whose description details the user literally sucking up the blood of their opponents to restore themselves to a healthy state.
Having never been so close to the dead, I retched my brunch in the nearby thickets. After I cleansed my mouth of vomit, I continued my way onwards as ghastly ferns pockmarked the forest floor where grisly spores, sprinkled like gremlin dust, glittering as wickedly as the devil's pennies.
Dirty streams, shadowy groves, dusky wealds. Bewailing sounds occasionally ghosted through the trees where wise owls rested seemingly undisturbed.
Truly, 'tis was a haven for those creatures attuned to such darkness, and nothing short of nightmare-inspiring to adults, much less adolescents.
No wonder this was the most dreaded area in the Wildness, and despite there being no magical balls of string to secure my path home, no Ariadne to my Theseus, I still venture deeper and deeper into the dark forest, carving symbols along the way, entranced by mystique.
Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat. Fortune favours the bold.
***
The sound of many a buzzing rings in the air. I crouch immediately, heart pounding, Repel at the ready. Perhaps at another time and place, I would make a snap judgement and capture one of them.
Alas, sentimental reasons aside, I dared not to with what little means of protection I had.
***
Bristly hairs and large compound eyes, its body oozed poison. I scurried away from the hollow tree that I was about to rest in, cursing my lack of attention.
A minute later, the creature slowly twitches awake. It chitters and snaps up unfortunate insects that happen to hover too close. Once full, the creature falls silent, waiting 'till night falls to become active again.
***
Round and heavy lidded, it has a dark green segmented abdomen, with a rather pronounced hump attached to it. With four pairs of stubby black legs, and two short feelers it is brutally aggressive, containing poison strong enough to paralyze large bird Pokémon.
One or two I could handle. More than a swarm, I could not. I shake the Repel slightly. Not much left. Standing still, waiting with abated breath wouldn't be the wisest choice, but the most foolish thing to do would certainly be to flee immediately. Motion, in particular air vibrations is how they hunt after all.
Picking up a few stones I assess the situation carefully before making my move.
***
I was hungry, and tired, but still wary of the shadows lurking in the corner of my eyes.
I raise my head and stop, waiting patiently for avian creatures with funny black hats to pass by.
Caw...caw...caw
The ominous cries of a Pokémon known for misfortune resounds clearly through the misty fog, and already a few doses of medicine were used, the days rations running out.
I can only wonder if it is true that misfortune and fortune come in pairs as I hurry along droplets of rain making themselves known; the fog, increasingly heavier, extinguishing further what dim lighting I may have to guide my path home.
I can only hope what marks I've left behind are not ruined or washed away...
***
I am trapped by strong adhesive silk, struggling to break free but not yet dead. I am not the only victim here. Frustrating cries and frequent whimpers oft echoes within this lair of adhesive silk. Fortunately, although fear grips me, death certainly never been so close before, I am still alive, not yet a shrivelled-up potato.
As my attention wanders to my backpack, somehow miraculously still with me, a spark lights within my mind.
I loosen the backpack off one shoulder and without looking, my right-hand roams inside, searching for a familiar rough texture of a stone, dark grey in colour.
However, before I can do anything meaningful, chaos runs rampant outside my cocoon. This, however, does not set back my plan, and if I play it right, I may hit two birds with one stone.
***
Silk may not melt, but it still burns. And burn it does.
However, with the recent downpour, the distraction may not last long.
Fearing discovery, I do not gaze and admire my handiwork. Instead, I run through the forest, making muddy splashes along the way throwing caution to the wind. I ignore the piercing howls, furious shrieks, and venomous hisses resounding far behind me as purple moth like creatures hone in on these flames that still hold strong but will soon die out like a candleflame.
I have no doubt of what I just caught. Black fur with tufts of red. Dark blue feathers with a yellow underbelly. And though I nearly fumble the two Pokeballs when my foot is caught unawares by a gnarly root, I am hurt, tired, but not down.
I grit my teeth through the pain, adrenaline pumping through my veins, the metallic taste of blood at the back of my throat and do my best to avoid both stumbling onto the ground and coming across unwanted encounters.
***
Familiar barbed wire gave me much needed respite as I broke through the treeline. And yet I still sprint towards the city walls of Fiore, for a cold gaze still lingers behind me. I know not what it is, but I ignore the pain, rushing high on adrenaline, and push myself forwards. Upon reaching the city gate, I bang on it with all my might.
"Open the gates!" I all but screamed.
I spot someone looking down at me from the top of the gate who signals to someone on the other side. As soon as the opening was big enough, I slipped through, falling to my knees on the other side. I looked up as I saw someone walking up to me, the gate closes behind me. It was the trainer that escorted me here this morning.
"Welcome back" he said sourly. "I lost 40 Fioran dollars because of you. I had my money on you not making it back at all."
Too mentally exhausted to retort back, I settled for a deadpan expression.
He grunted at me. "Well?" he asked.
It took me a moment to realise what he wanted. Once I got it, I took out two warm pokeballs from my pocket and handed it to him. He examined them, studying the buttons, which was blue instead of white or red, showing that while the pokeballs had contained a Pokémon, it was currently unusable since they were not registered to a trainer yet. He grunted again.
"Congratulation," he said. "You pass. You're the third one to make it back to the city state."