26: Rendezvous
by alexrusset“So… Let me see if I got this straight.” Emolga starts saying skeptically. “You’re a human in Pokemon form, and you were brought here by a Munna who has a plan to stop a monster that will destroy the world.”
“Pretty much.” I reply. “Look, it sounds crazy-“
“Yeah. Yeah it does. You sound like you’re completely high.”
“-but you have to believe me. If this is true then billions of lives are at risk. We can’t ignore that!”
“Alex…” Espeon interrupts. “It’s not that we don’t want to believe you, it’s that what you’re saying sounds straight from the pages of a novel.”
“Even so,” Dunsparce adds. “Why didn’t you tell us before?”
“Because I was afraid you’d throw me in an insane asylum. Call me delusional. That’s what they’d do back on earth.” I let out a sigh. “Please. Just trust me. I haven’t led you wrong before, have I?”
An uncomfortable silence fills Paradise Center. “…you know what? Forget it. I should have just kept it between Thunder and I.”
“Alex-” Thunder starts.
“Thunder… They’re not going to listen to us… Let’s just go. We can probably make it to Mt. Kilionea within a week if we move fast.”
“Alex. Wait.” Virizion speaks up. “…I… I believe you.” And just like that, all eyes train on her.
“Virizion?!” Emolga exclaims in shock. “You actually believe his insane story?”
“I have seen a lot of crazy things in my life. Heck, I’ve heard this sort of thing before. A human turning into a Pokemon. So there’s a seed of truth there. And the sheer magnitude of what he’s proposing… Can we afford not to trust him?”
“You have a point, Virizion.” Umbreon agrees. “…I suppose that there’s no harm in trying.”
“I suppose I’m just following my brother’s lead.” Espeon says
“…alright. I’m in.” Emolga says.
“If Emolga’s in, I’m in.” Dunsparce says
“…thank you. All of you.” I say, choking up a little. I fight to hold back tears. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”
“Alright. Enough small talk. Let’s figure out what we’re doing.”
So, after some planning, we decided on this plan of attack. There have been recent reports of a dragon type Pokemon roaming the Mt. Kilionea area. It matches the vision of Hydreigon that I’ve seen. This complicates things. We can use the Magnagate generator to shorten the trip dramatically, but we cannot set the exit directly at the base of the volcano. The colorful display would easily attract the attention of Hydreigon, leading to our demise. So instead. We will exit in the Forest of Shadows to the southwest and make our way up from there. It will be only Thunder and I going as we don’t want to risk being found by Hydreigon. A larger team is a larger target. Once we get Munna, we are to head back to the Magnagate echo we created in the forest and make our way back. Then we can discuss putting Munna’s plan into action. So, so many things could go wrong. But, if we play our cards right, we can pull through.
Everything is in place. The Magnagate coordinates are set and Thunder and I have gotten the necessary equipment. We are ready to go. Everyone was gathered at the hill, ready to send us on our way.
“You better not get yourselves killed.” Emolga says. “Wouldn’t want you to grow bored in the spirit world without me.” That elicits a chuckle from me.
“Thanks, Elmolga.” I respond. Umbreon activates the gate and the familiar red rings appear.
“It’s ready.” Umbreon tells us. “Best of luck to you.”
Thunder and I step into the gate, ready to go.
“See you when you get back… Hopefully.” Dunsparce says, somewhat unsure.
“Be safe, you two.” Virizion says.
“With any luck, we’ll see you both back here in one piece.” Espeon says.
“Ew… You mean they’d be fused together in some Arceus forsaken monster?” Emolga says, jokingly.
“You know what I mean, Emolga.”
“Don’t worry. We should be back in a matter of days.” Thunder says optimistically. “Let’s face this head on!” And with that, the gate closes, sending us off.
Our trip through the Magnagate wasn’t anything too eventful. It didn’t take long for us to reach the other end into the Forest of Shadows. In spite of the name, though, it wasn’t that bad. The place was quite nice.
We’re making great time. At this rate we’d be there and back in about three days. Of course, the sun must set. And it has. With the sun gone, we decide to set camp. A campfire and a small tent. We eat some food roasted over the fire and tuck in to get some sleep. Maybe get an update from Munna as well.
Back in dreamland. The land of swirling colors. And my connection to Munna.
“Munna. Can you hear me?” I call out.
“Alex? Are you there?” Her voice calls back.
“Loud and clear. Me and a friend of mine are a few miles southwest in the Forest of Shadows. We should be there tomorrow. How are things on your end? I’ve been hearing that something that looks a lot like Hydreigon is roaming the area.”
“He is?! But… That’s not possible… He shouldn’t know that we’re here…”
“Alright. Change of plan. We’ll have to sneak you away. Once we get into the forest we should be able to-“
“No… Oh no… No! He found me! Alex! Alex, help! Help me!” Oh, that’s bad. That is really bad. If we lose Munna we lose a valuable resource in this fight.
“Munna? Are you there? Munna, talk to me! What’s going on?!” Nothing… Silence. Is she… Did Hydreigon kill her? No… No, she can’t be dead! There’s too much riding on this! She can’t be dead! “MUNNA!”
“Alex! Wake up, Alex!” I jolt awake. I must have been doing something in the physical world, because Thunder looks thoroughly concerned. “Are you ok? You were screaming ‘Munna’ over and over again. What happened?”
“Munna was attacked…”
His eyes light up in fear. “Hydreigon?” I nod. “Is… Is she alright?”
“I don’t know. She cut out before I could hear anything else.”
“…what do we do?”
“Time is of the essence. Best case scenario, she was either wounded or is still being chased. And in either situation she doesn’t have much time. We need to go immediately.”
“You’re right. I’ll pack everything up.”
“No. Leave it. It’ll weigh us down.”
“If you say so.” And with that, we race through the night, desperately hoping that Munna somehow managed to survive her encounter with the ravenous dragon.
“There! That has to be the cave!” Thunder gestures to a cavern in the mountain wall. Thankfully the remaining distance to Mt. Kilionea was easily manageable. We had easily made it to the steep mountainside in good time. Hopefully good enough to save Munna.
“Good. If she’s not there, we’ll at least have some form of trail to follow.” I reply as we enter the cave. “Thunder, spark up. We need some light.” Thunder’s cheeks start sparking vigorously, producing light to guide our way.
Our search takes a while. We are calling out Munna’s name repeatedly. But not so loudly that we’d attract Hydreigon’s attention. Eventually, someone calls back.
“Alex? Is that you?” The female voice asks weakly.
“Yes! Yes it’s me! We’re here to get you out.” I reply, following the sound of her voice. Soon, Thunder’s light shines on her. She’s lying on the ground, wincing in pain. “How bad is it?”
“Not… Not too bad…”
“Are you well enough to get to the forest?”
“I… I think so…”
“Alright. Thunder. Grab an Oran berry.”
“No… I don’t need it.”
“Hey, don’t worry. This should help you out somewhat.”
“No. I mean that I truly don’t need it. In shedding the facade.”
“Facade? What are you-” at that moment, the cave lights up. As it turns out, we are surrounded. I count two Chandelure, four Excadrill, two Gigalith, and… No… That’s the same Toxicroak and Purugly that were hunting Espeon at the Crags of Lament!
“…Alex? What’s going on?” Thunder asks, worried.
“…I think we’ve walked right into a trap…”
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