Booth and his team go through the valley fighting solo pokemon and hordes. Altogether they fight about 20 pokemon. Hours of walking and battling go by and it's 5 o'clock. By now the group is starting to get tired.
Cole's group sent the location to Damon's phone beforehand, so it's just a matter of time until they find the art stone. Damon gives everyone a break here and there, but it's not enough to feel refreshed. Booth asks Damon a question to get an idea on their progress.
"How much further do you think the art stone is?"
"If we don't run into any more pokemon, then we should get there in 12 to 15 minutes. Do you think we should take another break?"
"No, I'm good to keep going if you are." Booth replies as they walk.
"Alright."
While traveling the forest Booth learns to recognize signs of pokemon faster than before. Being able to notice things that the team overlooks, is helpful in a couple ways. Things like footprints and territorial marks that a pokemon leaves are some of the things Booth learns. He can't quite pinpoint which pokemon makes each mark, but he can make a decent guess based on their size and shape. Thanks to this his group moves faster than before.
Booth makes a note in his mind. 'I'll definitely want to do some more research on pokemon footprints, nests, and such. It's more useful than I imagined.'
While the group is paying close attention to their surroundings, the scenery changes slowly. The soil becomes darker while the plants start to have an eerie bright green color. Like the time when Booth encountered the Chieftain Granbull, an unknown pressure makes their steps heavy and their breathing a little disturbed.
Booth looks at Ben, and Ben confirms Booth's feeling with a nod. The team becomes quieter, but doesn't slow down.
Eventually Damon breaks the silence. "It's here."
"Amazing…" Ben stares in awe at the sight.
A sickly red glow covers a massive orange rock. The stone monument is over 8 feet tall and almost 4 feet in length. This stone monument has one simple marking on the front. The marking isn't glowly as brightly as the rest of the rock, which makes it stand out.
"It doesn't seem to be activated yet." Booth says.
"How can you tell?" Ben asks.
"The mark on the face of the monument isn't glowing yet, the monument I used had the mark glowing. You can try it to make sure, if you want to give it a go."
"Is that alright?"
"Yeah, you can just share the technique with us later." Damon responds.
For tiered trainers sharing techniques is extremely simple. By teaching a technique to another trainer's pokemon, the other trainer can learn the technique from another trainer. It's not as great as learning the technique directly from the art stone, but it's not limited by the amount of people who can learn it.
Ben brings out his pokemon and sets up his link. While Booth tries to figure where the unknown pressure is coming from.
'I heard Cole's team did some damage to pokemon here, but it seems odd for it to be this quiet.' Booth thinks some more and looks at the monument directly 'The pressure could be from the monument instead. I always thought it was weird how plants don't grow too close to the art stones, maybe it has some kind of energy that makes this happen.'
Ben completes his link and has Buizel touch the art stone. By the look on Ben's face, the art stone doesn't seem to be activated.
"Crack!" A sound alerts the team from ahead.
Booth and Damon bring out their pokemon without delay.
"It looks like something didn't want us touching the art stone." Booth comments.
"Seems so." Damon says. "Booth put up a smokescreen."
"I'm on it." Booth is used to this kind of situation already and gets to work.
Booth sends out his Pansear and sucks in as much air as he can. His chest puffs up, while power fills Pansears throat. Booth blows a large mass of smoke into the air as steadily as possible. In a matter of seconds the area in front of Booth is obscured by smoke.
Quietly, Damon sends out his Morgrem along with Pansear. He concentrates and builds his link before searching for an opponent.
Booth understands his strategy and looks for the intruders on his own.
"Whoosh" Booth catches the silhouette of a pokemon moving near Ben and his Buizel. Booth moves to the area to assist Ben.
When the pokemon comes out of the smoke it redirects itself and turns to Buizel. It recklessly attacks with a Night Slash when its target is in sight.
'A Galarian Linoone!' Booth spits a few Incinerates at the Linoone and relies on Ben to attack on his own.
Ben defends against the Night Slash, and attempts to counterattack while the Linoone is distracted by the Incinerate. Instead Linoone turns sharply and charges back through the Incinerate to escape.
Booth is astonished by the Linoone's quick thinking and strong movements.
The Linoone gets away from Ben, but Booth is still on its tail. Booth picks up a rock from the ground and uses Fling.
The rock strikes Linoone on the head and causes it to bleed. At the same time Ben follows up from behind with an Aqua Jet.
"Guuraah!" Linoone's powerful cry shakes Ben a little, but his attack keeps coming.
Ben's Aqua Jet lands, and Linoone takes it surprisingly well. Booth makes a mistake by moving in too quickly and is hit by a Headbutt. The bleeding on Linoone's head gets worse.
'What happened? I was sure Ben hit him with an attack.' Booth only takes a second to think about the cause. 'It used Parting Shot. It happened so quickly, I thought it was a normal cry.'
While Ben and Booth are fighting, Damon completes his link. He dashes in with Morgrem, but stops midway when he notices another presence.
To his left he sees a Mismagius slowly and silently floating towards the group. Ben and Booth hadn't noticed it yet because they were busy, but to someone with their link active it's hard to miss. The pressure being given off is unfamiliar to Damon, but he can easily recognize it as a pokemon chieftain.
Damon is distracted by Mismagius' strong power for a short while. When he organizes his thoughts, he spreads the news to Ben and Booth.
"There's a Pokemon Chieftain. It's a Mismagius, you might want to finish up."
Booth peeks to the side, and jumps a little. 'How did I not see that coming.'
Booth gets a little more aggressive with the Linoone and hurls a couple more fireballs its way. Linoone howls in pain and decides it has had enough. It puts away it's greed and runs back into the forest.
"Not so fast!" Ben calls.
Ben stops it with a Water Gun. The Water Gun hoses Linoone with an intense stream of water, which causes Linoone to tumble over. Ben doesn't waste any time and throws a pokeball. The pokeball hits Linoone directly and swallows it into the ball. The pokeball vibrates violently as linoone struggles inside, then the ball grows still.
"Chik!" The Linoone is successfully caught.
"Damon, we're coming to help." Ben responds after picking up the Linoone's pokeball.
As the Mismagius continues to get closer, Damon stops waiting and attacks. He uses his Art, Bad Company, and swings a punch. Mismagius swiftly pulls back and dodges. Booth is the second to join in. He collects power for an Incinerate, and throws each fireball from his palm.
Surprisingly, Mismagius doesn't try to dodge his attack. The fireballs twist and tremble as they get near the ghost's body. When the fireball connects with Mismagius, the pokemon gives an eerie smile.
Booth shivers. 'Do all chieftains have such a bad attitude!'
Mismagius uses its first move and is swallowed up into the ground. The ground where Mismagius disappears seems deformed and slightly darker than normal.
Booth is the first to recognize the move. He sees the ground behind Buizel start to change and calls out to Ben.
"Ben, behind you!"
Ben and Damon hear the warning and react as fast as they are able, but it's not fast enough. Mismagius comes out of its hiding place and slams Buizel. Ben grunts and tries to get back on his feet.
Damon and Booth move together and try to tackle the Mismagius before it is able to recharge. A Fury Swipes comes from Booth, while Damon uses Bad Company again. Mismagius is caught between the two attacks, and is given serious injuries
Booth is filled with relief when he sees the large gash and bruises on the Mismagius. The arrogant Mismagius becomes furious.
Mismagius gathers its power and creates a dark energy. The power clumps together and spins into a large ball. Booth grows increasingly worried as the 3 foot ball suddenly shrinks and starts to glow. The ball makes a sinister sound in the wind, which sounds a bit like whining and screaming.
'That's Shadow Ball, no doubt! Terrifying doesn't even begin to explain it.'
The Shadow Ball shoots towards Pansear, the wind screeching all the way. Booth isn't able to dodge and feels the burning impact. The Shadow Ball explodes and Pansear is flung into a rock. Nothing breaks, but Booth and Pansear have trouble standing after the hit.
"Ugh." Booth meets a similar pain to Ben.
Mismagius, on the other hand, is restoring its injuries with power. The gash and bruise on its side heal at a visible rate. Damon checks on Booth and Ben and makes a decision.
"We're getting out of here."
The group is already tired from the hike, and fighting the Linoone has only exhausted them further.
Booth thinks about the situation. 'Going on like this definitely won't be in our favor. Our team is in no condition to take advantage of our 3 vs. 1. Forcing things could put us in serious danger, especially if another pokemon shows up.'
"Alright." Booth replies.
"But the art stone!" Ben asks.
"It will take some time to activate anyway. We can come back when we are better rested." Damon states.
Ben nods and the team slowly retreats. The group is breathing hard trying to keep Mismagius in check while running away. Mismagius chases them for a few minutes, but gives up when they get too far away from the art stone.
When the group is sure that they got away, they finally allow themselves to relax.
Damon speaks up, eager to talk about the chieftain. "So what did you think about the Mismagius?"
"We did our best." Ben says, laying flat on the ground.
"Haah, sure. We'll get him next time." Booth adds, pumping his fist in the air weakly.
Damon is tired as well, but he is more excited to review their battle. After seeing Booth and Ben's condition he decides he can wait a while.
"Ahem, you guys can take a rest first, we'll start making a strategy later."
Damon chuckles and keeps watch while his team takes a break without a care.