--AN) 10+ chapters on https://www.patreon.com/c/invayne --
Ivy made her way down the same path she always took. The forest had been split up into sections, a kind of honor system, amongst the families in the village. Each section was designated per household. Ivy had her own section as well, which she had inherited from her parents.
But Ivy's main issue at this time was the lack of anything to eat. Even the weaker pokemon that she could catch in her traps were scarce. It was not just her either but also other sections of the forest were starting to show signs of lower edible plants. It was not like the families over-harvested the forest either. They made sure to leave some of the edible plants of each type so that they could spread their seeds and even some times cut down trees to make new homes for fungi as well.
"Still nothing." Ivy looked at her last trap in worry. She had not found more than just a few bites of mushrooms to eat this morning. She did not like to bother the other families all the time and she had been eating at her aunt's house for the past two nights already. Her aunt's family did not have much food either. If it was harvest season, it would be alright, but the fields had just been planted a week ago. This meant food was scarce this time of year.
Ivy looked out beyond the invisible line of safety, the line in which no really dangerous pokemon passed, and bit her lip. She had one of two choices at this time. Beg for food again or try her luck by stepping out of the safety zone. Why most dangerous pokemon choose not to pass this line, she was not sure. Bu she had seen many poke moving around just pass this invisible line.
Normally, her traps would catch a Rattata or two, making for a decent meal for a few days, but none have been caught anywhere as of late. The whole situation did not sit well with Ivy. She was hoping for at least something to fest on without needing to beg for food.
"If it's just beyond the edge there..." Ivy was eying the area ahead of her beyond the safety zone. Her eyes had already hit quite a few edible plants. She really couldn't give them up.
Cautiously, she began moving towards the safety zone's edge. She stuck her head between two trees and looked around for a few seconds before slowly stepping through. She knew she had to be quick, so she hurried over to the finest of the planets she wanted to harvest and began carefully pulling them up by the roots. She wanted to try replanting the roots on the other side of the trees in hopes of new growth.
She plucked and plucked some more. Before she knew it, her entire basket was full. The only problem was... "I moved to far away!" Ivy knew which was she had come from, but the issue was she was too far away. She had lost herself in foraging that she had forgotten she had to stay with in the safety zone line.
Ivy hurriedly got her basket on her back and made a dash towards the safety zone, only to feel her hair suddenly standing on end. Without a second thought, pretty much on instinct, Ivy dodged to the left as a bolt of lightning struck the spot she had just been standing in.
"Pika, Picka! Pikachu!" Yellow and black-furred pokemon appeared in front of Ivy, blocking her path back into the safety zone. Her expression did not look good seeing the creature.
"A pikachu! Why did it have to be a pikachu!?" Ivy knew one thing about pikachus and that was they loved to play with their prey. They would continue attacking them over and over with their lightning but purposely missing each time. It was rare to see pikachus at all, and now, of all days when she had decided to make a quick trip past the safety zone, she had to run into pikachu.
While considered weak physically their lightning attacks could kill a human like herself in a single hit. Her only choice at this time was to try to run away. Even if she knew it would give chase, she had to run away or at least try. Once a pikachu targets you, that was the end. They would not relent in their chase. And Ivy did just that, which seemed to give the pikachu great entertainment as it sat there unmoving, as if it was trying to give Ivy a chance to win.
Ivy ran through the forest, her body being cut from head to toe by thorns and other objects within the forest. Behind her was the sounds of crackling lighting with a mix of pokemon taunts towards her. "Pika! Pika!"
Ivy continued to run and run she did until she could no longer run anymore. She stood hunched over with her hands resting on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. As she caught her breath, she tried to stand up and lean against what looked like a wall with a bunch of hanging vines covering it. With nothing to brace herself up with on the other side, Ivy found herself tumbling down into the darkness of the cave she had just found.