Rya Hallot's Story

Ryan's jaw fell before the massive purple beast in front of him. He'd never seen a Nidoking before, let alone battled one. The monster practically cracked the ground when it walked. Ryan had his work cut out for him. He looked around for his friends, the were nowhere to be found. The sound of the machinery and the heavy smog that filled the air made it impossible to see past the little battle arena he'd created, so there was no way of knowing exactly where they were, but he was sure they were doing fine. He really only had to worry about himself right now.

Nidoking was busy stomping about, and the enemy trainer was busy admiring his Pokemon, but Ryan was surveying his pokemon and deciding on strategy. "Lets see," he whispered to himself. "I've got Chloe, Constantine, and Hector. Dio's probably tired from the first battle, so I'll let him rest, I'll have to make it work with the others." He checked over their attacks. "Hey, that would work... I think." He nodded to himself. He had a plan.

"Alright you big purple bastard, lets see what you've got!" He reached for his belt, retrieving the last two Pokeballs. "C'mon out guys!" He shouted as he tossed Chloe and Hector into the fray. It was dangerous sending out Chloe against this mountain of a Pokemon, but he'd need her.

It was a three on one battle. Nidoking vs Chloe, Hector, and Constantine. The odds were in Ryan's favor, but he had never battled Nidoking before. He wasn't sure what moves it had and even what level it was at. "Nidoking! Use Hyper Beam!" Nidoking reared his head back, charging up the beam. "Constantine! Mud Bomb!" Constantine fired his shot just as Nidoking fired his Hyper Beam. The two attacks collided in the middle, exploding on contact. Chloe ducked behind Hector, who had receeded into his shell, as the concussion of the explosion spread across the field. Once the dust cleared Nidoking stood opposite Constantine, neither one willing to submit. "Keep him busy Constantine!" Ryan shouted. The Quagsire nodded and charged off to the left trying to lead Nidoking away from Hector and Chloe.

Hector had come back out of his shell and was trying to calm down Chloe, who was hiding behind him in fear. Ryan crouched down next to the two. "Ok guys, this is what I need you to do. Just listen to me, do what I say, and don't be scared. It will all work out, I'll keep you safe." Chloe and Hector nodded silently. "Get ready guys."

Constantine was having a hell of a time. Nidoking was right on the Water Pokemon's heels as he trotted around the arena. "Constantine!!! Return!" The Pokemon was pulled away by the red beam right as Nidoking pounced on him. The beast turned back to Ryan and focused his attention on the last two. It headed toward them with murder in his eyes. "Chloe! Use Fake Tears!"

The bear Pokemon, sat atop Hector, began crying loudly. As the Nidoking approached the Teddiursa it seemed to slow a bit. Ryan could tell it didn't want to attack the poor crying Pokemon. But it had to follow his trainer's instructions. "Nidoking! Use Hyper Beam on Teddiursa!" Ryan gritted his teeth. What kind of monster... "Hector! Use Bide!" Hector nodded and pulled his extremities in as the Nidoking charged up the deadly attack. Chloe rolled off Hector's back and hid behind him. Ryan clenched his fists in anticipation. 'I hope this works!'

Nidoking gave a loud roar and then sent the screeching beam toward Ryan's Pokemon. Ryan had never seen a Hyper Beam before. It was the brightest thing he'd ever seen. He turned away to shield his eyes as the beam connected with Hector. The impact caused a massive cloud of dust to spring up, cloaking the arena. Ryan couldn't see what was happening. The fear of his Pokemon's death dropped into his stomach. Could this be it?

The smoke slowly cleared. Ryan peered in, he could only see shadows and silhouettes. The two figures were still there, but were they alive? His thoughts were interrupted by a tremor. He looked toward the source t see Nidoking had dropped to it's knees. The Hyper Beam must've taken a lot out of it.

"Teddi?"

The small voice somehow made it through the commotion. That was Chloe! She was alive! The smoke was finally dissipating and he could see his Pokemon. He only had a little time left to finish this up.

"Chloe, Use Lick!" Chloe hopped over Hector, who was still storing energy, and charged at the fatigued monster. She reached it and dove onto its face, licking every square inch. Once the Nidoking had recovered from the Hyper Beam Chloe hopped off and ran back to Hector's side.

"Nidoking! Use SuperPower! Wipe that punk off the map!" Nidoking began to use the move but stopped in it's tracks. Ryan smiled. "Nidoking! What's Wrong!!" the enemy shouted.

"It's Paralyzed." Ryan cheekily retorted. "And Just in time for my Bide attack to connect." Almost on cue Hector extended from his shell and fired a Hyper Beam back at Nidoking, at double the power.

It was over. Nidoking lay on the ground, smoldering from the attack. Ryan glared at the opponent. "Get lost" The man was speechless. He dropped to his knees and pounded the ground in anger. Ryan turned his back and walked away. "C'mon guys, you deserve a rest" He returned his Pokemon to their balls and left the area.

After a little bit of a walk he saw the entrance to Viridian Forest, and all of his friends standing together, reveling in their victory.
"Guys, I think it's time we set up camp. I'm sure we all have some wounds to mend." Hector must be in some serious pain from that Hyper Beam. At least that was over though...

Jack stood up and greeted his friends as they trickled towards the city exit. As each one arrived he had Karma heal their wounded Pokemon each time saying. "No need to thank me. We have to help each other when we can." Ryan was the last one to arrive. Jack got his Pokemon out and prepared to heal them as he had the rest. "Ryan what happened? Your Pokemon look they got hit by a Hyper Beam or something! This is gonna take some time to heal. Karma, Nami do you best to get them back to full health."

As his Pokemon went to work healing Ryan's Pokemon he heard Rayn say that they should set up camp for the night. "I'll help you guys set up camp, but I don't want to stay in this city any longer than I have to. Once camp gets set up I'm going to start working my way through the forest. My Pokemon are back at full health already we can make it through the forest before night fall and Pewter is just beyond the forest." Of course his friends didn't agree with his plan at first favoring that the group stay together. "We won't be able to stay together through the entire thing. We'll have to split apart at some point. Whatever has been causing this I can't believe that it's coming from a single source. Brock is our first lead but there will be more. We have to solve this before it affects the entire planet."

'One way or another I'm going to leave this city today. I need to keep moving forward.' Once camp was set up and Ryan's Pokemon fully healed Jack stood returning his Pokemon to their balls. "Stay safe everyone. I'll see you all in Pewter City." Jack turned and walked through the city gates going into the forest.

Before the door could close behind him he heard someone running up behind him. It was Jessica. "I'm coming with you. I can't stay in this city another minute."

He turned and looked at her. "Alright. Teams it is then. Ryan you take care of Rya." He smiled to Rya. "Rya make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. See you guys on the other side." Jack turned with Jessica following him closely as they stepped into Virdian Forest.

When Ryan arrived at the campsite he saw Karma healing everyone up. Ryan let out his Pokemon, who collapsed, all except for Constantine, who simply sat next to his partners sadly. They were a sorry bunch right now, in no shape to go anywhere for a while. He thanked Jack for his help in healing, he nodded and stood. "I'll help set up camp, but I don't want to stay in this city any longer than I have to." Ryan hadnt had time to catch his breath before Jack got ready to leave again. "But Jack..." nope, Jack wasn't having it. He was getting a bit too hot headed, there was no need to speed off. They need to keep themselves well rested, but obviously Jack just wanted to move on. . But what could Ryan do about it. He couldn't force him to stay. Ryan just knew there was no way in hell Ryan was going into that forest at night.

Jessica also headed off after Jack. Ryan wasn't sure how he felt about that, but at least Jack wasn't alone. He was sure theyd be alright. He just hoped he'd see them again soon. Splitting up wasn't what he had in mind.

"Jess, just make sure you guys stay safe!" He yelled as she ran off after Jack. She seemed to reply, but she was already into the forest.

Ryan sighed. "Some team..." He dropped to the ground and sat next to Dio. The Quilava looked up at him solemnly. He obviously was upset at the separation as well. Ryan rubbed Dio's head. "Don't worry bud, We'll see 'em again soon enough." Dio sighed in response. Ryan returned the other three to their balls, they needed some rest. He held the three pokeballs in his hands. "You guys did great. Thanks" He placed them on his belt.

He looked to Rya, who had asked what to do. He wasn't sure. He didn't expect Jack to head off like that. "Uhh, I guess we should get some rest and we'll catch up to them in the morning." He answered. There wasn't much else to do.

Ryan saw Rya shiver. It was getting kinda cold. "We should build a fire Rya, It'll get pretty cold tonight." He pulled himself to his feet and walked over to Rya, holding out his hand to help her up. "Let's go get some wood" He said with a smile, "Then we can hit the hay" He wouldn't be able to sleep tonight with all these thoughts about Jack, and the Nidoking running through his mind, he needed a little distraction.

After helping Rya to her feet Ryan released everyone else so they could help out as well. They all separated except Hector and Chloe. Those two were always together. Chloe lied on top of Hector trying to sleep. That was understandable, she wasnt much of a battler, and the last fight probably tired her out. Hector was sauntering across the ground like usual, and was collecting rocks into a circle to define a fire pit.

Constantine was plodding quietly behind Rex, collecting large tree trunks as well. Dio had gravitated toward the other fire Pokemon Ziphina and was following behind her as they collected firewood.

Ryan hoisted a small tree onto his shoulder and began to dag it back to camp. Rya said something about her Grimer surprising her today. She couldn't think of a name for it.

Ryan smiled and tossed the tree into the pile with a grunt. He wiped his brow. "how about Squishy" he said with a chuckle. "Eh, in the end it's all about what he looks like and what he'd be happy with." he answered as he dropped to the ground next to their little pile of branches. He looked back to Dio, who was hanging with Ziphina. "They seem to be getting along" he said to Rya.

"Dio, give us a flamethrower would ya.. but, maybe... one-fourth power ok?" He didn't want to burn the forest down, or to ignite the fumes that were still probably hanging around. Constantine had plopped down next to Ryan. Ryan turned his head. "You're on fire hose duty Constantine." The Quagsire nodded with a smile and turned back to the fire.

The two huddled around the fire with their Pokemon. Ryan couldnt get the others off his mind. They were supposed to stay together, in one group. Splitting up was never part of the deal. It would be so much easier to watch each others backs when there were four of them. The Pokemon spread would be better as well. It would have just been smarter. Splitting up never works. Nevertheless, he hoped Jack and Jess were doing ok.

He nodded to Rya, "We should hit the hay. Were probably gonna have a big day tomorrow. Ya know?" He returned all of his Pokemon to their Pokeballs and laid down.

The sky... It was just... empty. He was sure that in the past you couldve seen every star in the sky from here, but the smog from Viridian destroyed all of that. He had a feeling this was only gonna get worse.

The new smaller group huddled together for warmth. Rya couldn't deny she felt awkward in her environment.
Even though they has passed the city she could still feel the smog at the back of her throat, it was disgusting. How could they save a world that had become so damaged by jealousy and greed.

Rex was closest to Rya and let out a small sigh. He probably wanted to go to sleep but was far to proud to say it.
It was lucky for him that Ryan suggested the two get some rest.
' Yeah. If we don't go to sleep now I doubt I ever will.'
She followed Ryans example and returned everyone to there Pokeballs.

Rya lay bag and examined the bleak sky. Where her and Ryan strong enough to get through this?

--Time Skip--

Its morning in the Viridian Forest. Pokemon are crawling from their dens, groggily seeking out breakfast. The two young adults lay beside a smoldering pile of ash. It's not very bright. The sun is barred by the ceiling of smog hanging above their heads.

A flock of singing Pidgeotto flew overhead, waking the two students.

Ryan rubbed his eyes, adjusting to the relative brightness of the sun through the smog. He sat up and tossed his hair, letting out a lazy yawn. He slowly gauged his surroundings, no present danger or anything. The fire was still going, only barely. He'd take care of that later.

To his left he saw Rya stirring as she awoke. He carefully pushed himself to his feet, wobbling a bit as he stood. He stretched his back and arms a bit and started to walk the sleep away.

He opened his bag and retrieved a Pokeball. He tossed it and was greeted by a still sleep focused Quilava. Dio grumbled quietly, obviously displeased at his wakeup call. "Ahh get over it." Ryan mused.

Dio shivered a bit before igniting his flames. This helped to wake him up, and had become a bit of a habit for the Pokemon.

She ran through the forest. It had been following her for quite some time. Preying on her Pokemon. As each pokemon dropped from the safety of her bag the large frightening bird screeched and snatched at her.

Rya awoke. She was staring directly above and caught the flock of Pidgeotto flying above. That would explain the dream.

Ryan was busy stretching, she guessed the birds had woken him as well.
'Morning.' Rya said as she stretched out.
She took out one of her Pokeballs and released Tai. The tiny Aipom systematically placed himself on top of her head and balanced there.
Rya wobbled slightly before standing up and releasing Osha. Rya handed her a small pot which the water typed filled.

Rya splashed her face with the water. It was cold but at least it was clean. She handed the remainder of the water to Ryan.
It was as close to a shower as either of them was going to get.
' I doubt we will find a pokemon center anytime soon.'

He took the water from Rya and splashed himself as well. He ran his wet fingers through his hair slowly, pulling loose tangles out. Once he was done grooming himself he met with Rya. She was fixing herself up, getting ready to head out.

He tossed a Pokeball, releasing Constantine. It wobbled around a bit before "Constantine, Water Gun the fire pit." Constantine nodded and shot a stream of water, dousing the fire. "Nice job bud" He returned the Quagsire to it's ball and put it in the bag. He lifted it onto his shoulder.

"Ready to head out Rya?" he asked. He was spinning slowly, getting his bearings so he'd know which direction to go in. Pewter City was directly north of Viridian. Obviously the thinner the smog was, the closer they were to Pewter, so he settled on following the smog.

"We've gotta get to Pewter by tonight" It shouldnt be a hard trip. Ten year olds made this trip all the time, with low leveled Pokemon back in the day. There shouldnt be too much trouble.

Rya began fixing herself up.
She brushed her long red hair into a ponytail. Aipom hung onto her arm as she did so.
' Osha I think you should stay in your pokeball for this walk. It's going to be a long one '
She returned the large penguin Pokemon to her Pokeball and fumbled around trying to find Tai's ball.

The small monkey made chuffing sounds. He clearly didn't want to go back into his Pokeball. However, Rya decided it was for his benefit and returned him anyway.

' Ready if you are partner ' She joked in reply to Ryan. She had no idea where she was going so she was glad Ryan had some idea. The only thing she was certain of was that it was going to be a long walk.

Ryan made a comment about the trip not being so hard which calmed Rya slightly. His optimism defiantly brightened the situation.
' I am sure if it a long journey Ziphina will help us out '.
The fire horse would gladly help carry the tired trainers one at a time if it all became too much.

Ryan nodded to her with a smile. They were, in a manner of speaking, in quite good spirits. Although it was kind of hard to get Jack and Jessica out of his mind. He was sure theyd meet up later on though. It would be ok.

The duo headed deeper into the forest together, with quite a bit of optimism.

--Yet another Time Skip--

About three hours of walking had put them pretty deep in the forest. Ryan stepped over a fallen tree and felt a sharp pain in his left leg. He looked down and noticed that he had stepped through yet another brier bush. "Agh!, I'm so sick of these stupid bushes" he growled. Dio stepped carefully along the ground, setting controlled fires in front of himself to not run into the same problems as Ryan. Dio blew an ember up into Ryan's view, letting him know the the Quilava enjoyed his misfortune. "Ooh bite me Dio" he responded as he pushed a branch out of the way. He looked back to Rya, who was trailing close behind.

He stopped at a thought. Dio looked up quizzically. He was wondering how close they were to Pewter... a birds eye view would be very helpful... Rya had stopped behind him, also obviously confused.

"Hey Rya, We need a flying type...."

In a nearly scripted entrance a flock of Pidgeotto burst through the trees ahead. "Rya I might need help here."

"Dio! Use Ember on the Flock!" A burst of flames flew up to the Pidgeotto as they were flying over. They werent happy.

The flock all dove to Ryan and Rya's position. It was about five Pidgeotto, all coming to destroy him. They were definitely toughened by the harsher surroundings of the forest as of late. They were all tearing down at top speed, coming after Dio.

"Dodge!!" Dio replied in kind with a dive to the left, missing attack by an inch. The five birds landed and squared up on Ryan and Dio in some kind of, backwards military formation. They obviously werent happy to be disturbed. The biggest one was in front, staring Ryan down. Must be the alpha male. Ryan returned the glare with a smile.


"Rya can you take care of these four while I try to catch this one." He was not gonna be able to fight through all five of them without knocking them out. And he was really hyped to catch this one.

The two headed into Viridian forest just as Jess and Jack had done the night before. Rya couldn't help but worry about those two, how could they be sure they would find thier way back to the group.
I guess all she could do for now was hope. Plus Ryan seemed awful chipper and his mood began to rub off on her.

-Timeskip-

Three hours deep into the forest. Three hours of Ryan getting cut to bits on awful thistles whilst Dio burnt a path for them. It was beginning to seem like getting through the forest was a lost cause. Rya wiped the sweat from her forehead, working this close with a fire type was beginning to take it's tole.

"Hey Rya, We need a flying type...."

Rya snapped out of her daze once Ryan mentioned needing a flying type. She let out a small chuckle as none of the group had entered Kanto with a flying Pokemon.
' Your right' She replied 'But where will we find one. I can barely see anything '.
Just as Rya spoke a flock of Pidgeotto flew overhead. It was if by magic but Rya was not about to question there sudden luck.

As Dio hurtled an ember into the flock, Rya braced herself and quickly released Ziphina. She didn't have any Pokemon that had a particular advantage to a flying type, she just trusted Ziphina to get the job done quickly without showing off.

Ryan instantly knew which bird he wanted. It was now Rya's job to take care of the remaining four. She didn't want to knock them out so she also released Aipom too.

' Ready when you are Ryan! ' And for the first time she felt confident she could do this.

Rya had let out Zephina, decent choice. None of her pokemon were strong against flying. "Go ahead, lets do this."

"Use Quick Attack Dio!" Quilava disappeared in a yellow blur. The Pidgeotto darted its gaze back and forth, trying to spot Dio. It was too late. A hard smack, and the Pidgeotto was tumbling through the dirt, with Dio landing solidly on the ground. Ryan didn't give Pidgeotto the chance to return to its feet. "Dio! use Ember!" The small flames peppered Pidgeotto, causing it to lose its balance and fall to the ground again.

"Weve got it! lets go Dio!" He reached into his bag, searching for an empty ball. "Use Flame Wheel!" Dio nodded and dove into the air. He tucked into a ball, engulfed himself in flames, and barreled toward Pidgeotto. Direct hit!

What? Pidgeotto evaporated into thin air! Dio popped out of his roll and began to furiously scan the environment. Ryan racked his brain trying to figure out what was happening. OH! "Dio! watch out, its Double Team!" No sooner had the words left his mouth than a ring of Pidgeotto came pouring out of the brush, surrounding Dio.

"Pay attention bud, find the real one!" Dio stared down each one, desperately trying to discern the true Pidgeotto. A blast of wind out of nowhere knocked Dio off of his feet. He scrambled to his feet as the clones dissipated. Pidgeotto landed. It winced and took weight off of one of its legs. It was burned. Ryan smiled.

"alright Dio, one more attack should do it." Dio nodded quietly and focused on his foe.

"Quick Attack!" Again Dio disappeared and barreled full force into the Pidgeotto, knocking it onto the ground once more. This time, it was unable to pull itself up.

"Back off bud, Its my turn" He took a step forward and pitched the Pokeball. It hit Pidgeotto in the wing and sucked it inside. It bounced to the ground and began to roll around. Ryan wiped his brow as he counted the seconds. "One... two... three..."

Ding!

The ball stopped rolling around and settled calmly in the dirt. Ryan grinned from ear to ear as he approached the ball. He retrieved it and held it up. "Welcome to the team..." he paused as he thought of a nickname.

"Leon... That's it.. Welcome to the team Leon."

Two against four still didn't seem all that fair of a battle but Rya was confident these two could make an impressive double team.

The Pidgeotto has cornered them. Aipom began to breath heavily, he knew it was came time.
' Right, Ziphina stomp and Tai use swift. .

Ziphina began to charge forward surrounded by stars that resembled a ninja's shurikan. The fire hoisted her body high into the air and landed her two front hooves directly onto two of the Pidgeotto. Each bird winced it pain, they had been two busy dodging the swift attack to notice the ponyta charging towards them. Or course that didn't knock them out but they both flinched and flew into a high tree.

The remaining two were already unleashing a new attach. The two remaining birds flew directly into Ziphina. The horse was knocked off balance.
' Tai Double-hit. Help her out'

The small purple monkey dashed forwards and struck his tail. He only managed to hit one bird b as the other flew back in reaction to it's partner being hit. Rya could see that the attack had not inflicted too much damage onto the birds but it was enough time for Ziphina to regain her balance.

' Flame wheel and astonish! Go guys '

Both of her team flew forward. Ziphina charged and Tai sat neatly on her head. As she released the Flame wheel the small monkey jumped through it landing an attack into one of the Pidgeotto's. The other was hit directly by Ziphina's flame wheel.

Rya seemed to have this under control, but Ryan figured he could pull his weight. After all, he only fought Leon.

"Dio, youve done enough, have a rest" He returned the Quilava and tossed another ball toward the tree housing the other two Pidgeotto. "Constantine!" The Quagsire sat comfortably at the bottom of the tree looking up at his foes.

"Use Slam!" Constantine spread both arms wide and brought them together on the tree trunk in a flash. The trunk splintered and begin to tip, throwing the Pidgeotto off balance and into the air. The tree hit the forest floor with a loud boom, sending dust, branches, and brush flying in all directions.

The Pidgeotto had zeroed in on Constantine and were both coming in with a Peck attack. "Use Slam again!" Constantine raised both arms in the air, and just as the Pidgeotto were about to connect he brought them down, slamming the birds into the dirt. Once the dust settled it was clear to see that both birds were down for the count.

"Good work bud, cmon back" he returned Constantine and headed toward Rya, who had just finished up as well.

"Well that was fun" he said with a chuckle. He surveyed the surroundings. They tore this area up, they should probably get out of here before the indigenous Pokemon came after them. "We should get to Pewter." he smiled at a sudden realization. "Oh yeah! C'mon out Leon!"

Leon was not quite rested enough to fight, but that's not why Ryan called him out. "Leon, can you fly up high and check if were goin the right way?" Leon nodded, if not a bit reluctantly. He'll warm up in time. He's probably still a little shocked at being captured.

The bird flew high in the air, and returned shortly after. He pointed his beak in the correct direction. "Thanks bud, we'll get you healed up soon"

He returned the Pokeballs to his bag and turned to Rya. "Ready to go?"

Rya returned her Pokemon into their balls.

Ryan had helped finish off the wild Pokemon after successfully catching Leon.

She watched as he sent his new bird Pokemon into the sky to scout out the best route.

'I'm ready to go if you are Captain' she joked briefly, before following Ryan.
The forest was thick but the trees gradually began to let the light shine through. Well, if you could call it light. The air was still thick with fog, the new pidgeotto had been a god send as it helped direct the way. Without him the pair would have wandered the forest aimlessly.

As the clearing came into vision, Rya let out a sigh of relief. Maybe the pair would get some well deserved rest once meeting Brock.
Though she didn't say it out loud, even in her head the thought of getting any rest in this horrible land sounded like a joke.

' I can't believe we made it' She said as the exit became clearer.

The forest seemed to just disappear. Once they broke the tree line they were in a field with large rocks on each side, the whole thing seemed to be nestled in the far corner of a huge mountain. It must be Mt. Moon. He had heard stories about it, and the Moon stone. They'd have to cross through at some point. It was the only pathway through Kanto unless they wanted to backtrack to Pallet Town.

The field was different from what they'd seen of Kanto so far. It was actually alive. Just a quick scan and Ryan could see flowers that couldn't have survived in Viridian City, or Pallet Town. The air was fresher and the sky was blue. The pollution from the factory must be getting throttled by the trees of the forest. They were seeing a much brighter Kanto here. Though, something in the back of his mind made him think there wouldn't be much more of this kind of thing.

The field crowned the horizon. Pewter must be on the other side, once they reached the top of the hill they'd be able to see it. It felt like they were actually making progress.

"Its just over the hill Rya!" he said with a grin. The two climbed the hill eagerly. Ryan just wanted a warm bed, or a shower, or a hot meal, or something like that. Upon reaching the top of the hill they both stopped walking and stared down at Pewter City.

"I... I dont know what I expected..." He couldnt think of anything else to say.

It was about ten or twelve buildings, all surrounding a larger building. Ryan recognized it from pictures. The Pewter Gym. Most of the others seemed to be houses, except for three. Ryan could spot the Pokemon Center that still stood. In the far back of the town there was a long building sitting on top of a hill. The third was a Pokemart that sat on the east side. The whole town was maybe half a mile across and back, and surrounded by tall fences. Ryan could loosely make out figures standing at the fence at about 10 yard intervals.

"Its a Military Base..." Ryan and Rya seemed to realize this at the same time. They looked at each other with reluctance. Ryan didn't know how to approach this situation. Fortunately it wasnt his call, because before either of them had time to make a decision before the ground opened up below them and they fell.

It was only a few feet, but it was enough to incapacitate them long enough for two men in brown militia uniforms to arrive. Each man had a Sandslash by his side. One of the men spoke into an earpiece.

"Yes sir, we got em. Bringing them in now."

Ryan pulled himself to his feet, and helped Rya to hers. He nodded, acknowledging that he was ok, she did the same. He rubbed his head. "What's going on?"

One of the men smiled. "Youre going to meet Brock."

At the end of the forest the pair ended up in a large field.
It was green and living. A complete breath of fresh air for Rya. Frankly, she was sick of breathing in the stank air of Daemin corps fuels.

A smile spread from ear to ear. She couldn't help it, this was the first living environment that they had seen.
Rya stepped forward and began to jog around a little, there was so much room. For a brief moment she forgot where they were.
' Ryan can you believe that there is anywhere this beautiful compared to what we have seen'.

Once Rya had settled her excitement she noticed Mount Moon first. Her father used to read stories to her about the moon stone. She missed that man and her mood went right back to what it was before.

' Its a military base...

In all honesty it wasn't till that point that Rya really noticed Pewter City. It was surrounded by barbed wire. The warm feeling she once had was definitely not coming back.
' How could this of happened' She whispered. The fields the pair once stood in, now felt like a war zone, she had been stupid enough to think there was any hope of beauty in this region.

Rya turned to Ryan giving him a reluctant look. This was the very place they had been told to go but now she felt stuck. In fact Rya wished the ground would just swallow her up so she didn't have to step forward.
It was almost like her prayers were answered as the pair tumbled down into a hole. Though it wasn't a very deep hole, Rya still has to check for grazes.

Two men appeared above. They each had a sandslash, something which Rya had never seen.
Ryan helped her up. Neither of the pair knew what was going on but they both preyed it wasn't trouble.

One man mentioned Brock and held his hand out to help the pair out. Rya took his hand first and he gave her a small tug out of the hole.
Ryan was brought up shortly afterwards.

' We have no choice but to trust them ' Rya muttered as she linked Ryans arm. There was no way she was letting them get separated.

The smaller man of the two stepped forward.' Boss mentioned something about four of you. Where are the other two?'

Rya shifted uncomfortably. How on earth were they going to explain the split?