Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 13: Deep in the Forest

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Forest Grotto, Sinnoh

Jacob trudged out of a large forest, letting out a satisfied sigh. He leaned up against a nearby tree, looking down at the surroundings. "Finally..."

Oliver was close behind, reading his map to make sure that they were going in the correct direction. He kept reading his map, so he didn't notice that he was nearly going to fall down a steep incline.

Before he fell, a hand grabbed him and managed to stop him. It was Sophie, who looked around at the sights with slight amazement. "Oliver? You might want to see this."

"Yeah, it's amazing!" Jacob exclaimed, looking around excitedly.

"What's going...." He soon trailed off as soon as he looked up from his map. "...On?"

The Oshawott's confused expression quickly turned to an excited one as he looked at the town ahead. He nearly laughed, so glad to finally be there.

"We've finally made it to Forest Grotto!" Jacob exclaimed, throwing both of his paws into the air. "What should we do first?"

"Well first, I was thinking that we should split up for a bit." Oliver answered, "Me and Sophie could go get us stocked in food while you go sightseeing."

"Why just me alone?" The Pikachu asked.

"Because we know if we brought you to the store with us, you'd complain." Sophie answered bluntly. "By doing it this way, we all get what we want."

"I guess when you put it like that, it makes sense." Jacob nodded, "Well, I guess I'll see you two later."

"We should meet back at the entrance." Oliver suggested. "That way we book a center room together."

"You got it." The Pikachu nodded.

Oliver and Jacob bumped paws before they began to head in opposite directions, Sophie walking with Oliver.

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Jacob walked through the grassy floor of Forest Grotto's walkway. He wore a soft smile as he looked around at the sights, but couldn't help but notice that he could see metal sticking out of the ground in front of the doors to each place.

He also noticed something else. There were barely any Pokémon walking around, despite the large size of the place. But the Pokémon he could see were all looking at him with fear and uncertainty.'

Something was obviously off. Even he could notice that. Why weren't there many Pokémon walking around, despite it being the middle of the day? Why were they looking at him like that?

This annoyed him a bit, as he had always hated being looked at as though he was crazy. It was a personal pet-peeve of his.

Jacob walked up to another Pikachu, but before he could ask anything, the Pikachu quickly ran off, looking back at him occasionally. The Pikachu wore a fearful expression, almost as if Jacob had walked up to him with a gash on his face.

His paws clenched, trying to hold his carefree smile. He shook, trying to control himself. He noticed a parent looking at Jacob, shielding her child from him the second he looked over.

Jacob let out a sigh before continuing to walk, trying not to think about it too much.

The Pikachu was so conscious of the multiple pairs of eyes watching him, that he was unable to notice that he was being watched from above.

In the branches of a tree above Jacob, a group of Pokémon, nearly Jacob's age, were watching him closely.

"What do you think?" An Aipom asked, her tail keeping her suspended from one of the branches. "Friend or Foe?"