He lunged at her.
Before she could scream, the attacker was already on top of her. One knee pressed hard against her chest, pinning her to the ground, while both his hands wrapped tightly around her throat.
“I’m s-sorry,” he stammered. “I don’t want to do this.”
She struggled, pushing against him with shaking arms, but her body had nothing left to give—no strength, no leverage.
“B-but I need to… otherwise I-I wont…”
Her legs kicked uselessly against the dirt. She twisted, clawed, thrashed—nothing. His grip only tightened.
“I-I promise… this is for the good of all,” he whispered, as if trying to convince himself more than her.
(I don’t… I don’t want to die! Please!)
Her vision blurred, edges darkening as oxygen slipped away.
(No…)
It didn’t take long before everything collapsed into black.
…
…
…
Darkness swallowed her, thick, smothering, absolute.
She couldn’t see. She couldn’t move.
She was dead, wasn’t she? Or at least… she would be soon.
…
“NO!”
The darkness itself roared.
“Remember what you said! You would never give up! I know you wouldn’t!”
A… voice?
It sounded close… familiar. A memory?
“I don’t know if you can still hear me… but it can’t end like this!”
“Please! You have to get up!”
“Please… I beg you…”
Her eyes snapped open.
Heat surged through her—fierce, wild, instinctive. She opened her mouth and before she could guess why, a blast of fire went out and shot straight into the attacker’s face.
“Agh!”
He recoiled, stumbling back as the flames forced him away. “Wha-what?!”
(How did I do that!?)
She wheezed and coughed, but finally her limbs obeyed her. She pushed herself to her feet, trembling but standing.
“H-How…?” said the Charmeleon “D-doesn’t matter, this time I’ll get it right-”
Before he could take another step, she felt it again, the heat building up and rising to her throat. Opening her mouth once more, she unleashed a blast of flame even stronger than the last, which knocked the attacker to the ground.
Another coughing fit, now followed by smoke coming out between breaths. (Did I knock him cold?)
No, the Charmeleon started to get up with relative ease, not looking too hurt by the looks of it.
(Of course, he’s a fire type as well) could she beat him? A part of her wished to try. (No, are you mad? You don't know how to fight! I have to get away—now.)
Stealing one last glance at the stunned Charmeleon, she turned and fled. Stumbling at first, tripping over her own feet, but soon enough momentum carried her into a desperate, uneven run.
“H-hey! Wait!”
He didn’t chase her.
“Y-you can’t!”
Adrenaline was coursing through her whole being, allowing her to power through the pain, the fire in her tail rippling strongly for the first time since she woke up.
(Where to go, where to go, where, to go) losing him was her safest bet, as she doubted she could outrun him forever (Come on! there has to be somewhere… ah there!)
Moving away from the river, she headed for an area filled with trees. Zigzagging through them, she finally ventured far enough in to lose sight of the distant fire of the Charmeleon.
Not wanting to take any risks, she didn't slow down, moving deeper in the woods. Her tail twitched rapidly from side to side, scattering small embers that fell to the forest floor, scorching the earth. Branches snapped underfoot as she ran, hardly inconspicuous at all. Somewhere around her, the sounds of disturbed wildlife echoed through the night.
She vaulted over fallen logs, tripped, crashed to the ground—then forced herself back up. When she dared to look behind her, there was no sign of him.
“Agh!”
Distracted, she ran straight into a spider web that clung stubbornly to her face.
“G-get it off me!”
The web was thick. Sticky. Stronger than it had any right to be.
“W-what are these made of?!”
“Pff… pff…”
Finally free, she staggered to a tree and leaned against it, sliding down until she hit the ground, chest heaving.
“Did… did I lose him?”
As her breathing steadied, she let out a shaky laugh.
“Ha… ha… okay… I need a moment…”
She adjusted slightly, feeling her tail pressed awkwardly beneath her.
The pain returned—sharp and insistent—now joined by a burning sensation along her neck, where she was certain the marks of the attack remained..
“This has to be a nightmare”
She clung to that thought desperately, to the fragile comfort that this was all a trick of the mind. But the world refused to cooperate. A light breeze carried the dry scent of soil and sap which invaded her nostrils and stirred loose leaves against her being.
“Right?”
Passing a paw over one of her arms, she felt her claws scrape against the scales, an unfamiliar texture that only deepened her despair. As she tried to steady herself, the sound of her claws dragging against dirt reached her ears, retreating the ground and soul far too easily, the sharp scrape something mere fingers could never produce.
All too real.
“What was that voice anyway?”
She closed her eyes, trying to recall it.
(It somehow gave me the strength that I needed… It said that I wouldn't give up)
Flap, flap, flap.
(Huh?)
To her right, several small birds were perched on branches—Pidgey—staring down at her with curious intensity.
“Oh… just a couple of Pidgey. Can you understand me too?”
Silence. They only stared. Feeling foolish, she sighed.
“Guess not… Maybe I just imagined the whole thing. The voice… that Charmeleon…”
She hadn’t.
But believing that was easier than accepting someone had just tried to kill her.
Hsssss…
The Pidgey scattered upon hearing another sound this time to her left.
From the shadows emerged an arachnid Pokémon. Massive, towering over her, an Araquanid. A sphere of water encased its head, and its huge mandibles clicked with unsettling rhythm, opening and closing in anticipation.
“Oh… uh… that wasn't your web by any chance right?” Intimidated by size alone she staggered back to her feet.
The Araquanid lowered itself, its many legs spreading as it studied her with cold, predatory focus. The bubble encasing its head churned violently, water sloshing inside as its mandibles clicked.
Perhaps, if she slowly backed away…
As soon as she tried, The Araquanid shrieked. A piercing, high-pitched tone that forced her hands to her ears.
Then it launched a barrage of bubble projectiles, fired at incredible speed.
(Move!)
Instincts took over. She dove aside, barely avoiding the attack, the bubbles smashing into the tree she was just resting on. They clung to the bark like glue.
If one hit her, she’d be trapped
And become this Pokemon food.
Barely managing to push herself up, the Charmeleon stumbled away as another volley whizzed past her, bursting against rocks and roots this time.
(What's—wrong with this world?!)
She couldn't believe it; ever since she woke up, everything had been against her, as if the world itself decided she didn't belong.
“Just leave me alone!”
Her legs trembled, exhaustion pulling at her thoughts, her body begging her to stop. Fighting wasn’t an option. Winning wasn’t either.
So she chose the same tactic.
Lose her foe.
Facing the monstrous spider once more, she gathered what little strength she had left, preparing a fire attack—not to win, but to cover her escape.
The Araquanid anchored itself to the ground, legs digging in as it waited for her move.
There!
The heat rose in her chest, climbing toward her throat! ready to—
“hhk—hhk—hkk—!”
Her body betrayed her.
A violent coughing fit wracked her frame, smoke spilling uselessly from her mouth.
“Aaa— not now!” she rasped, waving both arms desperately to clear the haze. “Work with me… please…”
The Araquanid didn’t hesitate.
Using its full mass, it lunged.
The impact knocked the air from her lungs as she was slammed to the ground, pain exploding across her side. Before she could recover, the Araquanid loomed over her, its mandibles spreading wide, rage vibrating through its frame.
(Nonono!)
Just as it reared back—
A blade of pure energy cut through the air.
It struck the Araquanid cleanly, forcing it back with a shrill shriek as it skidded across the forest floor.
“Here! Take my hand!”
Another figure stepped into her blurred vision.
A Gallade.
“There—can you run?” Gallade asked, scanning the forest with sharp urgency. “We need to get out of here before more come.”
She answered with a shaky nod. Seeing it, he offered a brief, reassuring smile and motioned forward.
“Then let’s go. I’ll watch your back—just follow the dirt path.”
Without a moment to lose, they both took off racing with Charmeleon in the lead while the Gallade followed closely behind. In her exhaustion, she was sure that he could outpaced her with no problems, yet he didn't.
The forest, once merely disturbed by her presence, now felt fully awake. Branches creaked overhead. Shadows shifted where nothing should have moved. Eyes glinted from the darkness between trees. What she had thought was a simple escape from the Araquanid quickly became something far worse.
Pokémon emerged from all sides—mostly Bug-types—no longer lurking, but chasing. Hunting.
A Heracross burst from the undergrowth, horn lowered, aiming straight for her chest. It never reached her. A blade of psychic energy tore through the air, striking the beetle Pokémon mid-leap and sending it crashing, collapsing in the dirt.
However, for every Pokémon that Gallede managed to knock down, three more appeared to took its place. With no clear exit from the twisting forest.
“We won't be able to outrun them at this pace” Gallade said, forming another glowing blade between his arms. Psycho Cut, she somehow knew. “We don’t have any choice left.”
He glanced forward.
“We have to enter the dungeon.”
Taking the initiative, he took her arm and led them both through the relentless barrage of attacks that seemed to come from all sides. Jaws, clawing limbs, and bursts of hostile movement, they somehow come out alive.
Making one last sharp turn, he headed for an area where the trees were even denser, if that were even possible.
No… it wasn’t just that.
It was as if the forest itself had been compressed into something unnatural. The trunks stood so close together that passage between them was impossible, and at the end of that suffocating corridor lay a wall of thick mist—absolute darkness, where all light seemed to be swallowed whole, where life itself appeared to end.
“Don’t let go!”
Before she could question either Gallade or the phenomenon ahead, they plunged into the mist.
And everything around her changed.
For some, rest was impossible.
They had heard the stories, of course—how could they not? It was all anyone talked about back in the capital. The endless cold. The failing land. The last harvest. Still, they had never paid much attention to it.
How they wished they could take that back.
Why had they been chosen? Because they were the closest? Because someone else’s task had been deemed more important? No support had been sent. Not this time. Not ever.
A failure. They knew that was how they were seen.
And now… the target was gone.
Gone because they had hesitated. Because fear had rooted them in place. Because the forest itself had felt wrong, oppressive, alive. Because they were someone incapable of playing the role assigned to them.
If they returned after another failure—especially one of this magnitude…
No. They couldn’t allow that line of thought.
They would fix this. They would find her. And next time, they would not fail.
There was still time. They weren’t meant to meet for several days.
High in the branches of a tree, a Pidgey perched in silence, eyes scanning the forest below as the search was abandoned—for now.
(This form isn’t quite right,) they thought. (I’ve never managed to copy anyone perfectly.)
Fatigue crept in slowly, insidiously, until maintaining the shape became impossible.
(But it doesn’t matter… not if they don't know I even exist.)
The Pidgey’s form began to sag, feathers warping and melting as though made of wax. Limbs lost definition, the body collapsing inward in a grotesque, silent unraveling.
(They’ll be proud. I know it.)
What remained was nothing more than a small, amorphous creature—featureless, gelatinous.
A Ditto.
(I will reach paradise.)
Notes:
I completely underestimated how long it would take me to write this chapter. Initially, I planned for it to be at least 6,000 words, but I decided to cut it down. Hopefully, the next chapters will be a bit longer. I'm truly impressed by writers who can write chapters of up to 10,000 words; my respect goes out to them.
Also, it took me perhaps too long to research whether Araquanid could spin webs. In the end, I thought, "Hey, it's an arachnid, I'm sure it can."
I also made about two edits to the previous chapter—nothing major—and I appreciate that the errors in this last one were pointed out to me.
