Pokemon: The Journey

(AN: I am tired. Losing the saved progress on this chapter delayed the release. Writing this fic is looking less like a hobby and more like an escape from reality now. Is it normal for your department to give you assignments 10 days after the submission deadline? And after pointing it out, they say it is for theory and leave without explaining anything? What do they want us to do? Read minds? Time travel?)

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Tense silence descended upon the group.

The dull light of the campfire pierced the night and the dark forest.

The group's faces were illuminated by the fire as they looked at their leader.

None of them dared to make a careless move or sound.

They kept vigilance around the camp.

The calls of the various Pokémon in the forest as they went to sleep came as a haunting melody in the background.

The crackle of the burning wood.

They waited for the signal with bated breath.

Anything.

Ash contemplated their next move while boiling the Salveyo weed in the pot. The perpetrator might as well be in the forest or will come to check on the girl's condition. They might be attacked here tonight as well, or it may be afterwards.

After rescuing her, he just could not abandon her and leave her to her fate. It would be too cruel for her.

Roshi kept silent. It was up to him to think of something. Anything.

He was still not able to think of anything.

Sighing, he concentrated on boiling the weeds. The girl would need to breathe in the vapors to help in curing her paralysis from the spores. The berry paste he had applied before to her would act as an anti-inflammatory and would heal her wounds, too.

Sniff...sniff.

Smelling the mild stench that still came from her old clothes, he looked at them with disdain. Here he was, trying to think of how to get out of this precarious situation, and he was getting distracted by it. Seriously, anybody could follow them here with the smell.

His Pokémon watched as he stilled in his position with widening eyes.

Following the smell?

Smell?

Of course!

Rising from his seat, he started to walk towards the place where he kept the clothes with a plastic bag in his hands that he had kept in the bag after he was not able to find a bin to throw it in after getting out of the mart.

The clothes had the girl's smell on them, if they...

Taking the clothes in his hands, he saw there was a small red smear on her dress.

How?! There were no signs of bleeding on her!

There was also a faint sweet smell coming from the dress...

He had smeared Razz berries on her to take care of the smell for a bit.

He discussed it with Roshi, who said it might be possible to do it.

Going back to the group, he took out a berry and showed it to Pidgeotto.

"Pidgeotto, do you know where we can find these Razz berries?"

Looking at the berries, Pidgeotto nodded.

Looking at his partners, he said, "Pikachu, Caterpie. You are coming with me and Pidgeotto. Spearow, you are the second strongest in the group. You will guard the camp while we are away. Chansey, keep an eye on her Pokémon and her condition. Let her breathe in the vapor to help with her breathing and paralysis. Give her little sips too, after it becomes warm. Okay? Let's go, everyone!"

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Following Pidgeotto, Ash, Pikachu, and Caterpie left the camp in Spearow and Chansey's capable hands(limbs?).

Their shadows and silhouettes merged with the shadows of the trees in the dark forest.

The low hum of the wind blowing through the trees.

The sound of shaking leaves.

Crunch...crunch...crunch...crunch...

The soft trampling of leaves on the forest floor.

With the cloud-covered crescent waxing moon and the stars in the sky as silent sentinels, they moved through the forest.

The bright flashlight would have brought them unwanted attention in the night. So, they improvised. Caterpie used String Shot and covered the flashlight's head with a thin layer of it. It diluted the light enough that it was possible to see the surroundings in the faint light they had gotten used to. They followed Pidgeotto's soft wing flaps and calls. Pikachu's hearing and smell guided them behind her. Caterpie kept his antennae prepped for any danger. Ash's greater athleticism for his age kept them moving.

They twisted and turned around the exposed gnarled tree roots, their monolithic trunks, searching for their quarry.

In due time, they came across a small cluster of Razz berry plants. There were 3-6 berries per plant. Collecting around 15 of them, they collected them in a spot and had them wrapped in Caterpie's String Shot.

After doing so, Ash looked around for any more trees when the faint light from his flashlight landed on something a few distances away that they had not noticed when they arrived here. They were busy looking for and collecting the berries.

Prepared and cautious, they approached the shape with a cautious gait.

Upon reaching the shape, they saw that it was human-shaped, and they turned it.

The flashlight fell from his hands on the cold forest floor.

He opened his mouth to scream.

"AAAMmmmhhmmm"

Only for his mouth to be closed by Catrpie's String Shot.

Looking in panic at him, he and Pikachu saw that Caterpie looked unfazed at it. So did Pidgeotto. They had seen this scene many times before. They had seen the dead bodies of people in the forest so much that they did not seem fazed by it. The girl they had saved before must have been the same to them beforehand, and they were just following his orders.

She wasn't a living being to them who could be saved.

She was a number.

A statistic in a never-ending cycle.

After calming his heart down from the scare, he looked at the skeletal remains of a human around his age, if the size of the skeleton and Roshi's mental words were to be believed. The person was a girl if the tattered remains of clothes that looked like it has been chewed by something were to go by.

He reached out for her torn bag for anything to identify her by. There was only a torn card which had the word "Lass" visible and nothing else. None of her Pokémon were there. She must have either released them or they left her.

Discussing it with Roshi, he reluctantly ordered with a heavy heart to wrap her remains in String Shot after tearing her clothes.

They carried the remains and the berries back to the camp, where they made some preparations and started moving again. This time, back to the place where they first found the girl.

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After reaching the spot.

Ash placed the skeleton in the way the girl was found. Taking out the knife, he cut the String Shot.

He dressed the skeleton in the girl's garments and took out a box, dropping its contents into the skeleton.

The box was filled with chopped-up pieces of meat mixed with Razz berries. He also smeared the clothes he dressed the skeleton in with the berries.

Taking out another container, he spread and dropped its contents on the body and its surroundings a bit. It was a red liquid.

Fake blood.

Made using the red paint he bought from the mart for painting targets for practice, the loam near the stream, the water of the stream, and the Razz berries.

He took out some strands of blonde hair he had cut from the girl's hair and spread them over the setup.

After doing so, he had Caterpie release his stench. It was unexpectedly strong. Pidgeotto blew it over the spot with Gust as they retreated to the camp.

The Rattata will do the rest.

After they went to sleep, it was only Pikachu who noticed Ash's silent sobs in the tent while he was taking care of the girl.