Eva blinks, glancing down at the elephant after Matias’s comment. She hadn’t considered that. Sure, she probably could have used her Arcanine but The Phanpy was eager enough to get out and flex its trunk.

“They’re great trackers, look at that snoot!” she motions to the pokemon as he proudly lifts his long trunk into the air for Matias to inspect, “Get to work, buddy,” she encourages, shooing the Phanpy forward down the road with his trunk sniffing and surveying the path.

“We did,” Eva agrees, nodding along as she follows the Phanpy. This seems different . . . A snap of a twig beside the path makes her jump lightly and snap her head in its direction. There’s nothing, “I don’t know why, but I’m very on edge,” she admits with a sigh, turning back towards the road to follow Phanpy deeper into the woods.

MATIAS SILPH

Cute snoot indeed. And it pressed to the ground, waving back and forth in a sweeping motion canines just couldn’t accomplish with their short snoots. Every now and then the Phanpy would pause, focused on something, lifting his snout into the air to catch a scent and follow it further down the path.

Matias’s question is triggering. She hadn’t thought about that in weeks and it is for the best, considering it did give her a lot of anxiety. Now the heaviness of it rushed back, “I – no,” she wasn’t at first, but the crease in her lips and subtle furrow in her brows told Matias otherwise. She is now.

Phanpy catches a scent, trumpeting in victory as he gallops off of the path and into the dark woods. It’s too late to turn back now. Phanpy seem to be following a shadow that nimbly dashes between the trees, disappearing.

MATIAS SILPH

Thankfully, she doesn’t have much time to dwell on it, but the fear would hang over her like a dark cloud as they ran through the forest. She follows behind Matias, her short legs make it a bit difficult to keep up but she manages. All the while, she feels as if the forest is playing tricks on her.

Every now and then she catches the nimble shadow. Phanpy trumpets again, picking up the pace as the scent grows stronger. Until . . . it disappears.

The Phanpy skids to a halt in a small clearing. There’s a clearly confused look on its face. The scent had been to strong, so clear up until this point. He presses his trunk back to the ground, sweeping it back and forth in a familiar motion, frantically searching for the scent again.

Eva trots forward, further into the clearing. It’s almost unnatural how perfect clear it is. Tall, dark trees tower at the edges, leaning forward ever so slightly as if peering down on them from above, “What’s wrong? You lose the scent?”

Her gaze moves up towards the dark purple sky, “This doesn’t look like the Petalburg Woods I know,” she muses out loud. The FULL MOON cast strange shadows across the clearing. One shadow, in particular, flexes and stretches a clawed hand across the forest floor.

The subtle glow of Morellul dot the periphery. One waddles forward, greeting the doctor with a small, innocent smile. Eva being. . . Eva doesn’t think much of it until a puff of SPORE knocks her on her ass.

MATIAS SILPH

“Huh? I-“ The realization to step away comes too late. The SPORE puffs right into her face and her eyes roll back as her body falls. Matias is quick to grab her, but she’s already asleep and falls limp into his arms. Phanpy trumpets in distress, the young pokemon’s eye wide and confused. The Morellul fade away, scurrying back into the brush.

Eva’s pokeballs have disappeared as well. It seems they’re only left with the young Phanpy whose nerves are quite shook. The shadow of a claw continues to stretch out, using Matias’s confusion as an opportunity to wrap around Eva’s leg. A sudden tug tears her out of his arms and towards the shadows. She’s thrown over the shoulder of a grinning Grimmsnarl that laughs manically before dashing back off into the forest, Eva in tow.

Phanpy squeaks in surprise, jumping from the shadow rather then running towards it. He looks desperately towards Matias with a very knowing expression: What the fuck do we do?

MATIAS SILPH

Phanpy hesitates for a moment, taking another small step back away from the shadows that crawl into the clearing. Shadows OBSCURE the path the Grimmsnarl trotted down and instill fear in the young pokemon. He blinks at Matias, twitching his snout. Scent would be the only way to track her. With a deep breath, he nods, cautiously trotting forward with his snoot sweeping across the forest floor. The Grimmsnarl’s scent is strongest, so he follows it deeper into the woods, hoping Matias is close behind.

It’s the BLUNT FORCE of the Grimmsnarl tossing her into the dirt that makes her wake up. The fall pushes her breath out, and she gasps for air when she awakes. There’s a dull pain in her chest and the world spins for a moment. Eventually, her vision clears and she’s staring up at the face of Liam.

”They got you too, huh?”

Overall, he looks ok. His face is smeared with dirt but at least he’s smiling.

Eva rolls over, glancing out past the Grimmsnarl that blocks the escape from their little shelter. She spots a small group of Morellul hovering around the feet of a tall, elegant Hatterene. A sweep of her arm sends the Morellul scurrying away.

“I think she’s the one causing all this,” Liam muses, following Eva’s gaze. It makes sense, Hatterene are powerful psychic-types. A pink hue of psychic energy bleeds from her dress and curls into the ground, spreading like roots across the forest floor, ”Not sure what she wants, though. She’s been trying to use that stone thing. Tried to get me to use it too but nothing happened,” he points towards a staff leaning against a tree. In the center of the headpiece, there is a glistening megastone that mirrors the colors of the Hatterene.

MATIAS SILPH

Hate him? The Phanpy looks at him quizzically before he grabs a hold of the baby and yeets him right into the field. He trumpets in distress, flailing helplessly in the air before tumbling onto the ground. A few rolls later, and he’s scrambling to his feet.

A hiss of annoyance leaves the Hatterene’s puffed cheeks at the sudden sight of the ground-type. Phapny rises on shaking legs, nervously backing away from the Hatterene and Grimmsnarl that that oppose him.

“You got this, little dude!” Eva cheers from the sidelines, eagerly awaiting Matias’s entrance. The Phanpy lets out a rather weak and pitiful trumpet before folding into a DEFENSE CURL.

With the Grimmsnarl on the offensive towards the Phanpy, Eva scurried out of their hole, closely followed by Liam.

The matriarch isn’t as easily fooled as the Grimmsnarl. She narrows her dark eyes, scanning the perimeter as a TRICK ROOM starts to seep through the clearing.

MATIAS SILPH