Timeline of Errors

Part 14 - Hero

Soon, the three of us found ourselves in the woods. I said woods, but really, the trees are barren with most of the leaves having fallen to the ground. The dull, dry grasses grew a little bit taller the further we went into the forest. The young girl sighed as she took a moment for herself before walking into the tall grass. The sound of grass rustling can be heard from underneath our feet, as wild Pokemon were scurrying in the tall grass around us. Kricketune led the way finding more wild Pokemon after another and warding off one after the other.

Hours passed of us going through the tall grass and warding off a bunch of Bunearies, Staravias, Wormadams, Kricketots, and Swadloons. Occasionally, we ran into some Aipoms and Kecleons, but that was pretty much it. After huffing and puffing for a while, the young girl finally decided to sit down under the tree. Drenched in sweat, the girl took off her hoodie and downed a bottle of water from her backpack.

"You alright?" I asked and knelt down.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just a bit... tired," she said as she returned my gaze with a weak gaze. She then looked down again and began plucking some seeds and blades of grass from her hoodie.

"Maybe they spawn at night?" I asked Matias.

"No, they are active during daytime," Matias replied, "...just exceedingly rare,"

"I heard they go into cities to look for food sometimes, so maybe they're just not around at the moment," Gista added.

"They do," Matias said, nodding, "so, what do you suggest?"

"...let's try going into the city following the track it would have taken," Gista said as she stood up, "it's not going to take the human route, knowing how shy it is. So it's probably gonna go..."

Gista looked around before stopping to the right path - dark and overgrown with dense vegetation.

"...that way," she said, "cos the city's in the east, right?"

"That looks promising," Matias said, nodding, "you want to head now?"

Huh? I thought as I turned to him, then to the dark path, was that path there before?

"Yeah, let's go," Gista answered and headed towards the path.

"Hey Matias," I said.

He shook his head and nodded towards his left. I followed his gaze and found nothing but trees and tall grass surrounding us. Green, luscious bushes with flowers and berries grew to our calves. Bright green, wick leaves adorned the branches up ahead, blocking the sun's warm rays from sight.

This is an illusion, I thought and put my hand on Clefable's Pokeball, it's here.

"Kricketune, let's go," Gista said and called out to Kricketune.

However, the cricket Pokemon moved no muscle as it stood still. Moments passed as we watched it staying petrified on its place. The wind and the tickling blades of grass tried to persuade it to move on, yet Kricketune kept to itself, like a statue.

"Kricketune?" Gista called out as she walked over to it. The young girl with light brown hair tapped the creature on the shoulder, only for it to not respond and remained still on its spot. She turned to us, looking baffled, before turning to her Pokemon again. "Hey, are you okay?"

However, Kricketune did not respond at all. Gista turned to us again, this time with wide eyes. I walked over to her warily, however, I felt my toes hitting something and suddenly I found myself drawing closer and closer to the ground. An acute pain spread from the tip of my nose and my teeth to the back of my head. I could feel the sharp edges of the grass all over my face and smell the scent of the ground from the distance.