His query was answered by the most shrill and un-manly Tarzan yell the world had ever witnessed, as a feminine figure descended from the trees, swinging on a long vine. "A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-AAAHH!!" The figure in question landed on the ground, staggering a bit until she regained her footing, before assuming a combat-ready stance, nails outstretched as if preparing to claw at the man.

Memo had definitely met this woman before, although her appearance was sheerly different this time; Her tribal getup consisted of a skirt made of blades of grass, while a large leaf folded around her chest served as a makeshift bra. Her feet were bare and caked in mud. Her face and several inches of exposed skin were decorated with warpaint, making her look like an angry, half-naked Kabuki actor.

"Aha! You were ensnared by my trap, and now I'm gonna feast on your flesh! Trust me, it's nothing personal, it's just nature taking its course!" Andrea declared in an overdramatic manner, her eyes glinting with primal madness. Upon taking a closer look at the swarthy youth, however, she blinked. "Memo...?" She relaxed her stance. "This throws a wrench into my plans. I can't eat a friend, after all!"

Andrea's trusty Deino appeared beside her, greeting Memo with a joyful yap. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Are you taking the island challenge too?" The girl asked, casually brushing over the fact that her hardcore survivalist drive had almost turned her into a bloodthirsty cannibal.

Guillermo Marceliño

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Andrea plugged her own ears - sparing her eardrums from the metallic bird's incessant screeching - unplugging them only after the source of the noise was gone, just in time to hear Memo's question. "Oh, this?" She gestured at her revealing outfit which would make for a great addition to a gacha game (wink). "I actually lost all my clothes while I was taking a bath at the river. You look like you could use a bath too." She observed, pointing at the man's disheveled state after he'd literally rolled in the mud.

"Anyway, I made this by weaving together blades of tall grass that Chomper helped me pick up." The woman further explained, pointing at her grassy skirt. "And I made this bra out of a really big plant I found. It's tied behind my back with a piece of my own hair! Pretty cool, don't you think?" She remarked, gesturing at her ample chest area. It's a good thing Memo was gay, or he might have died from intense nasal hemorrhaging at the sight of those large tropical fruit.

Ever the gentleman, he did offer to give her one of his shirts. "That could be helpful. I hear it gets chilly around here at night." The young PokéManiac replied. Her ruby-colored eyes then lit up, as if remembering something. "Oh! While I was walking through the jungle, I stumbled upon something really cool! Wanna see?" Before the freelance artist even had a chance to respond, the tribal-dressed girl had already run up ahead. "Follow me, this way!"

Guillermo Marceliño

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"Nope, no more pitfall traps! Watch your step just in case, though. I forgot where I placed some of them." Andrea casually warned him, as she kept running forward with nary a care in the world, Chomper eagerly following her like a canine chasing a car.

Still, as they delved deeper into the jungle, Memo wouldn't be able to shake off the feeling that they were being watched. And the myriads of trees that surrounded them... it was almost as if he could hear faint whispers coming from them. Yet, should he try to inspect more closely, the whispers would be gone, vanished. Had he gone mad from the tropical heat too, or had he hurt his head when he fell earlier?

Eventually, the aforementioned 'Tarzanette' skidded to a stop, pointing up at a tall tree. "Up there! See?" Intertwined in the branches of said tree was a dilapidated fighter plane from ages past that had likely crashed on this island a long, long time ago. Its parts had gotten all rusty and unusable, while whatever engine it had was now infested with vines and cobwebs.

"That's not all. See that drawing over there?" Not too far from the tree, an abstract mural adorned the base of the mountain. It looked similar to the cave drawings people made in ancient times, indicating that whatever civilization had left this behind was at least somewhat primitive. It depicted a bunch of small, human-like figures standing in a circle with their arms raised. In the middle, a lone figure was lying sideways with a heart symbol floating over their chest, and above the whole composition a massive circle loomed, surrounded by the artist's interpretation of flames. A giant meteor perhaps?

"Who do you think made this? What do you think it represents? It's so mysterious and shrouded in mystery!" Andrea mused, placing a hand on her chin as she pensively stared at the ominous artwork.

Guillermo Marceliño

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"No, I'd definitely remember that. I only drew these." Andrea said, pointing at the tribal markings covering her face and body. It seemed neither of them were any closer to solving the mystery of the ominous mural and the crashed plane. Could those two things be connected somehow?

Suddenly, a flying spear pierced the ground near the two humans. "Eek! What was that?!" The young woman cried out in shock. Chomper bared his fangs, ready to take on whoever was responsible for this. Just then, a football-sized berry hit his face hard, knocking the diminutive dragon backwards. "Oh no! Chomper!"

The berry bounced back into the hand of a certain lemur-like Pokémon: Passimian, though one wouldn't be able to tell at first glance, since it was wearing quite the unusual getup; A purple onesie of sorts with a hood that resembled a cartoony dragon's face. "Wait a minute, he's wearing MY clothes! You were the clothes thief!" Andrea declared in an accusatory manner.

The costumed monkey took one good look at the scantily-clad girl and, without warning, reached out its arm and grabbed her, hoisting the helpless human over its broad shoulder. "W-what are you doing?! Chomper! Memo! HEEEEEEELP!" The girl cried as she was taken captive by the clothes-stealing Passimian, who jumped from one tree to the next, quickly gaining ground over the rest of the group.

Guillermo Marceliño

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Shivani's search of the crashed plane would reveal no personnel inside. Judging from its broken, outdated hardware, this must have been a very old model that was no longer capable of flight. Curiously, tucked behind the windshield she would find a worn out, sepia tone photograph. It depicted a male pilot bearing the insignia of the Unovan Air Force on his uniform. Next to him there was a Pokémon, whose characteristics couldn't clearly be made out due to the picture quality having deteriorated over the years. It seemed to be sporting simian features.

Back in the A Plot, Memo had succeeded in subduing the woman-kidnapping monkey. More like, his Skarmory and Zigzagoon had bullied the pajama-clad lemur into submission. Chomper contributed to said bullying by brutally nibbling on the monkey's ankles until it screamed and flailed its long arms, begging for mercy.

Andrea's landing had been anything but smooth, having rolled in the hard soil, grazing her knees and elbows in the process. She graciously accepted her savior's hand, grabbing unto it and lifting herself up. "Yeah, I'm okay. Wait, no... I might've sprained my ankle." The girl winced in pain, stumbling a bit.

Just then, the two of them were completely surrounded by an entire pack of wild Passimian, far too many for them to take on as they were. Rather than coconut-like berries, these monkeys wielded handcrafted spears, just like the one that had been thrown at them earlier. Not entirely unheard of for Pokémon to be intelligent enough to craft human weapons.

Taking advantage of the drastic shift in power dynamics, the Passimian that had stolen Andrea's clothes got up and regrouped with its own kin, who prodded the humans and their Pokémon with their pointy sticks, while gesturing up ahead. "I think they want us to follow them?" The young PokéManiac mused. Not like they had much of a choice anyway.

Guillermo Marceliño

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And so, the group marched on. The spear-wielding apes cared very little about Andrea's leg injury, growling at her if she slowed down even a little. "Hey, I'm going as fast as I can! Sheesh!" The girl objected with a pout, holding unto Memo for support while hopping around on her good foot. Chomper looked ready to give those Passimian hell, but the moment he tried to attack one of them, the monkey pointed its spear at Andrea's throat as a warning, forcing the little dragon to back down.

After trekking through the incredibly dense jungle for what felt like hours, a light shone through the trees and interwoven vines. What they found on the other side defied explanation; A secluded village filled with makeshift huts made up of wood, mud and palm leaves, housing an entire community of Passimian. "They're... living like humans." A stunned Andrea observed. "If Ms. Yvette could see this, she'd go crazy!"

One of the scouting Passimian blew a horn, letting the entire village know of their arrival. The two humans were ushered into the center of the primate settlement, where a large temple made of ancient stone stood. It was shaped like a pyramid, an altar resting at the very top that emitted an ominous aura. Could this mysterious structure have been built by a tribe that predated the Passimian?

A white-furred, orangutan-like creature emerged out of the temple's front gate, met by raucous cheers from the entire monkey tribe. He must have been their chief. The Oranguru gazed at the humans with a steely expression. Being pierced by those technicolor eyes was like looking back at the abyss itself.

The horror... The horror...

Cold sweat filled Andrea's forehead, the girl stumbling backwards from the sheer intimidation factor. "H-hello there! Nice village you have! I'm Andrea. This is my friend Memo. Can we help you?" She hollered at the silent chief. Meanwhile, Chomper's body tensed up. Something about this didn't feel right... There was no way they had brought them there just to have a friendly chat.

Guillermo Marceliño

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