Pokémon Journey: Hoenn

Chapter 8: Lost in the Woods

Chapter 8: Lost in the Woods

Route 104 (Petalburg Side), Hoenn

10:03am, 10th April 2006

"Looks like we've reached Petalburg Woods," James said, gazing around at the forested hills surrounding the valley they were walking along. "Once we're through this village, we're into the woods."

"Great, so now we get to navigate that mess," Richard sighed, eyeing the point where the road ahead disappeared into the trees with caution.

They'd deliberately set off earlier than normal that morning to allow for the difficulties of travelling through the dense wood. Apparently, most of the paths were well-marked and easy to follow – this was no Viridian Forest! But at the same time, it was still a wild area and there was no telling what could happen once they were inside. Though the woods didn't stretch too far and could easily be passed through in only a couple of hours at a fast pace, there were plenty of issues that could arise and delay them. If needs be, they even needed to be prepared to camp out for the night.

Nicola had been quite alarmed when James had first mentioned this the previous evening, apparently assuming that there'd never actually be a need to use the tent. James, contending with Richard and Will poking fun at Nicola's misgivings, had managed to convince her that preparations for camping out were for the worst-case scenario and that odds were that they would be through the forest long before evening. Richard had scoffed at him, pointing out that he was tempting fate by saying that.

Still, they'd made it from the last town to the outskirts of the woods without any trouble. As long as they stuck to the paths in the woods themselves, there shouldn't be any real issue with getting through the woods, even if they decided to stop to look around or search for pokémon while they were in there.

"So, does the guidebook say anything about Petalburg Woods?" Will asked.

"It's a pokémon reserve, sort of," James replied.

"Sort of?"

"Well, it's an unofficial one – there are a number of pokémon that live there that can't be found anywhere else in Hoenn. We need to be careful not to disturb things too much while we're passing through."

"Are there restrictions on catching pokémon in Petalburg Woods?" Nicola asked.

"It doesn't say that there are," James replied. "And I haven't seen any warning signs around here saying that you can't either. It shouldn't be a problem."

"You thinking of trying to catch a pokémon again?" Richard grinned at her.

"Yeah!" Nicola replied enthusiastically. "Now that Will has caught Turkey, I want to catch my first pokémon soon too!"

"Sounds good to me." James nodded as he returned his guidebook to his backpack. "We've got plenty of time to get through Petalburg Woods, so you can take your time finding one while we walk."

"Are they common?"

"Well, forest pokémon tend to be more secretive than most pokémon, but I'm sure we'll be able to find something interesting without much trouble."

"I wonder if there'll be any good spots to train with Turkey and Toya," Will said as they reached the edge of the trees. The already overcast sky suddenly felt a lot darker as they passed beneath the thick, green canopy.

Petalburg Woods, Hoenn

11:34am, 10th April 2006

Not long after entering the woods, the group had found themselves on a high road that wound its way through the hills and overlooked the deeper parts of the forest below. James had started to appreciate how easy to follow this main road was – if they were to continue following it, they'd be out of the woods in no time at all.