Blast Pit

Tomorrow?”

Both Ben and Max were at a loss for words. The Sudowoodo denied everything. She maintained the fields, cared for the plants, and kept pests away. None of them could identify a clear cause for the sudden blight.

 

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Ben sighed, removing his sunhat, “but there seems to be nothing we can do.”

 

“I… I understand.” Her voice trembled, strained from crying, and she lowered her head, covering her eyes with branches.

 

A moment of silence fell over them as they hung their heads in sorrow.

Metallic footsteps approached, and they looked back up to see Gordon, unperturbed, walking up to them with a carrot. 

 

He held it out, showing how disfigured and repulsive it was. Next, he crouched down and retrieved a second carrot from the ground. Although still twisted and oozing, it was not as severely affected as the other one.

 

“It wasn’t like this last night… What could be causing it?” the Sudowoodo asked, puzzled by what Gordon was trying to say. A moment later, Max’s eyes lit up with realization.

 

“Wait! If the carrots are worse over there, it means they’re closer to the source!” He paused, carefully choosing his next words. “And maybe, we can eliminate that source.”

 

“It’s probably also responsible for bringing everything else here too,” Ben added, eyeing Gordon suspiciously.

 

“If we eliminate the source, the invasion will end, we can all return home, and perhaps, everything will be alright.” Max smiled with a newfound optimism and a determination for vengeance and normality.

 

“Hey, do you remember what that guy said when we first arrived?” Ben dully asked.

 

“Uh, ‘fire at will’?” Max teased.

 

“No, the other part.”

 

“…”

 

“He mentioned that if we ever needed help, we should visit his office.”

 

“Okayyyy…?”

 

“Wow, you’re even more clueless than what I remember. What I’m trying to say is, we should talk to Roger and see if he can offer us any help.”

 

---

 

“I want you three to go out and investigate it,” Roger stated firmly.

 

“What?” Ben nearly stood up from his chair.

 

“You heard me. I’ll provide you with the necessary supplies. Your task is to investigate and identify the cause.”

 

“But…”

 

“This is an emergency! You’re the only three here that aren’t doing anything else useful!” Roger leaned in, tapping his desk. “We must pursue any leads that could shed light on the situation. If we discover the cause and put a stop to it, countless lives will be saved!” Roger concluded, cutting off any further questions. 

 

Roger whistled, and instantly a group of Pokemon entered the room.

“Woah! What’s this?” Ben exclaimed, fearing being forced into the task. The other two shared his uneasy look until Roger ordered them to serve breakfast and pack their bags, creating a small sense of goodwill among the team.

The meal prepared for the three was delicious, not only because they were hungry, but also because it was genuinely delicious. 

 

However, having to leave so soon afterward made it bittersweet.

 

“Hey, how are you three holding up?” The Sudowoodo asked as soon as they stepped foot onto her property.

 

They found themselves drawn to the edge of the woods, across the fields they had seen their first day. There were damp patches in the dirt leading off into the grass path they would have to take.

 

“Could be better,” Ben rubbed his eyes and adjusted his backpack. He had a tired look in his eyes, but with just enough energy to get it over with.

 

“Couldn’t be better!” Max was the opposite of his brother, wholeheartedly believing that this was the break they needed. He was ready to do whatever it took to get back home.

 

With the two of them having spoken already, they turned to Gordon, expecting him to answer.

 

Silently, Gordon extended his hand and revealed a compass hidden within his suit’s wrist. Aligning the compass with the withering crops, it pointed towards the pine woods. He crouched down, lowering the compass so that the much shorter Ben and Max could see it.

 

There was a pause before Ben tried his hand at interpreting for them.

 

“I’d take that as he just wants it over with.”

 

“Well, I wish you the best of luck,” the Sudowoodo sighed. “I’d love to help get my crops back, but as you can imagine, being part plant myself, I’m afraid of what would happen to me.”

 

“Don’t worry about us. Just continue doing what you’re doing; you’re helping more people than you could ever imagine,” Max comforted her, smiling for a moment before turning back around and following the others into the woods.

 

The atmosphere of the forest was unsettling. There were no chirping birds, no grasshoppers, no animals of any kind. It was like they were hiding from something much, much larger. Without speaking, they ventured down the trail with a familiar sense of paranoia. 

 

A large branch fell from a nearby tree, causing all three to jump.

 

When it turned out to be just a normal branch, there was a collective sigh of relief. Looking around, Ben realized something unusual about Gordon.

For the first time ever, he saw Gordon with his fists clenched, no weapon in sight. Leaving behind the Leafeon’s tail was the obvious choice, but Ben hadn’t expected it until now. 

 

“Hang on, what’s that?” Ben asked his brother, breaking the silence. When looking at where Ben was pointing, Gordon saw a small pink object placed up against a tree. Without hesitating, he ran up to it, beating everyone else there.

 

Max was next to reach it, followed by Ben. From there, they saw an Espeon’s body lying dead on the ground, torn limb from limb. It was covered in blood and scratches, missing its tail and an eyeball. Thankfully, decomposition hadn’t started yet, and their noses were spared the horror.

 

Gordon hunched over on a tree, trying to hold back vomit as he was overcome with nausea. Max cringed at the sight, but tried to not have any outwardly visible reaction.

Not wishing to stay for long, Ben shook his head and stood up, ready to move on and ignore the whole thing. Everyone else had the same sentiment, and after one final nod of respect, they walked away like nothing had ever happened.

 

But something did happen. Something, somewhere had killed them, and judging by the lack of bite marks, it wasn’t interested in food.

 

As they ventured deeper, the leaves disappeared, leaving only bare branches to compensate for the lack of foliage. With nothing to block it, the wind howled past them, becoming the only accompanying sound to their footsteps.

 

Feeling tired, they sat down and took a short break.

“Hey, is the food good?” Max joked, pulling out a package of peanuts. It took a death stare from Gordon for him to realize how accidentally insensitive he was being. “Sorry- just- I didn’t mean for it to sound like that”

 

“Wow, you suck!” Ben teased his brother like all siblings do, much to his disdain.

 

At the speed of a whipcrack, the grass stood straight up, and the world itself was on edge. The wind stopped, and their talking was replaced with shallow breaths as they desperately tried to listen.

 

Rustling.

 

Not daring to breathe, they readied their weapons and waited for whatever it was that was hiding to come out and fight.

 

There were no bushes or leaves to rustle, only dead and barren branches.

 

Branches.

 

An Arsonist dropped down from the trees upon Gordon, covered in blood and wielding a crowbar.

 

They fell to the ground and a battle for control of the crowbar began. Drenched in sweat already, Gordon pushed back up against the crowbar inching closer and closer to his face.

 

Fighting a man his own size with no weapon to help him, Gordon was quickly losing the fight.

 

If Gordon was defeated, Ben and Max would surely stand no chance on their own. The prospect terrified them, so just as it appeared Gordon was about to fold, the Pikachu brothers took off their backpacks and dove in, shoving the Arsonist off of their friend.

 

Ben and Max swung at him over and over again with their stun sticks, taking out every limb until they were unable to stand, and they collapsed onto the floor. 

 

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Gordon was sure to not make the same mistake twice, and he looted the body to take the crowbar with him.

 

Now even more cautious, they slowed down their pace until the morning faded and turned into afternoon.

 

Feeling hungry, they decided it was time to eat. They set their bags aside and began searching for their lunch within.

 

“Hey, who packed this thing?!” Ben exclaimed, pulling out a navy blue down jacket that was lazily stuffed into the bottom.

 

“Roger and his lackeys!” Max responded, rummaging through a brown paper bag for food.

 

“It was a rhetorical question!” Ben seemed slightly annoyed, but his focus remained on the contents of his bag. 

 

After zipping up his jacket and feeling rather stylish, he settled down onto a tree stump to eat.

 

Although Gordon’s lunch was twice the size of theirs, he devoured it with astonishing speed, faster than even the wildest of Pokemon.

 

As they progressed even deeper, the grass was the next victim of the mysterious force, and all around them it gradually receded until they found themselves walking on bare dirt. 

 

The once towering trees now lay fallen more often than not, curiously all leaning away from their destination.

 

Upon reaching the summit of one final hill, a terrifying sight unfolded before their eyes. 

A purple beam of light pierced the blue sky, emanating from a colossal stone pillar situated in a steep valley below. The pillar was hollowed out, revealing a metallic structure hidden within. 

 

Just as it seemed that it couldn’t get any worse, Max squinted and spotted something moving around at the bottom of the valley.