“So, you’re sure it’ll be okay?” Ethan asked, phone held up in the corner of his neck as he prepared his things for the day.

  “It’s okay, Ethan. You could leave your ranch for a month and it wouldn’t be an issue. While Jessie and James are being held at your ranch under your care, that doesn’t mean it’s your job to control them.” Looker responded, tone measured and factual. “Although it may not seem like it, with Jennifer managing to get to your ranch and cause trouble, we do have assets in place to watch over them. If they try to make a run for it, then it will be handled.”

  Ethan stuffed enough food into his Silph Co bag to last him a week, overpreparing to the extreme. “Do I need to give you guys a heads up when I leave?”

  “While it’s not needed, it would be appreciated if it’s going to be longer than a few days. For a day trip like this? No.”

  Ethan felt some nerves rearing up as he finished packing, eyes scanning over his things for a final check. “Alright then, sorry for the questions.”

  With an audible shift, Ethan heard Looker reposition himself from the other end of the line. “Never hesitate to call…. And Ethan, this is a good thing. Get out some more.”

  *Click*

  With an exasperated sigh, Ethan pocketed his phone. He didn’t need to be told he needed to get out more, that was the whole reason he was doing this outing. As he made his way outside to where his pokemon were excitedly chatting with one another, he thought about the last time he’d traversed the surrounding forest.

  The last time he’d even set food out of his ranch without the aid of Teleport was when he first arrived. Through all of the construction, meetings, tutorings, not one step had been taken into Eterna Forest. Living in a bubble was well and good for some people, but to experience the world he now lived in, it was high time to start going out.

  Ethan trailed his eyes over his pokemon as they waited with bated breath to see who’d he’d pick to go with him. As he was leaving his home, he could only bring six pokemon alongside him for this trip. Also, as a personal self-improvement rule, he’d only allow one of them out of their pokeball as they traveled. It wasn’t easy to admit, but having all of his pokemon out of their balls all the time was an emotional crutch he’d been abusing.

  The goal for today's outing was a trek towards the nearest rocky outcropping of Mt. Coronet, which would be a good ten miles away according to the map on his phone. Tinkatink needed metal, and if he could find some local sources, it would save him a lot of money and time. It was said that ore deposits were very different from what he was used to as well. It would be a sight to see if the internet was to be true. Also, If they succeeded in their day’s task, then he could have some of his other pokemon escort Tinkatink whenever she wanted some more.

  With that said, Tinkatink was coming along. That was a given. Ethan rubbed his chin in indecision as he pretended to think hard about who to pick, eventually pointing toward the pink terror. Tinkatink looked taken aback, shocked to be the first choice. With a battlecry, she surged forth to stand by his side, her small hammer held at the ready.

  For the rest of his team, he picked out Pachirisu, as his electric squirrel knew the landscape better than the others. Smeargle, for an emergency Teleport as well as he needed a break from Sketching Dark Void. Chatot, to have eyes in the sky. Emolga, so she could explore her surroundings alongside him. And finally, one of the Teddiursa, because Ursaring had asked.

  It appeared the time had come for the teddy babies to leave the den, not that they were even babies to begin with… They were several years old already. Throughout their lives, they have always been by their momma’s side, and today was going to be a test of independence… At least, if Ursaring didn’t follow him from the shadows, which didn’t seem all that unlikely.

  The first to travel outside of their ball with him was going to be Pachirisu. Ethan sucked the others into their pokeballs and turned to look off through the meadow, at the far away wall of trees with Pachirisu on his left shoulder. Ursaring peeked her head out of her den, eyes squinted in their direction.

  Ethan ignored her for now.

  With daylight burning, (and Pachirisu trying to steer him forward by yanking his hair.) Ethan made his way across the meadow and gave a nod of appreciation towards the line of Oddish that covered the outskirts of Berry Falls, who peeked with one eye open as he approached.

  The Oddish had tuckered out the day before, and slept through the night. They hadn’t awoken during the day either. So, it looked like they were settling into their typical nocturnal behavioral pattern. With the help of both Gloom, they had found spots across the outskirts of Berry Falls to act as a wall of protection.

  It wasn’t a castle wall, but it’d do for now.

  Ethan stepped over the weedy pokemon and entered Eterna Forest for the first time in many months. Of course, it was anti-climatic, but it still felt monumental. “Okay, Pachirisu. The goal is to find a rocky outcropping from the nearby mountains. It should be about ten miles away. Have you ever been there?”

  “Pach?” With blown up cheeks, his first friend thought long and hard, creating an air of tension as Ethan waited. “Pa.”

  Well, that was a no. Ethan thought with an unimpressed look towards his squirrel. “Oh well.” Ethan easily let that whole conversation go. “Let us be off on our first adventure!” He stated, as he stomped forward into the unknown.

  —-------------------------

  The air was chilly as Ethan and Pachirisu traversed the forest. The further away from Berry Falls they traveled, the less wild pokemon they came across. On his ranch, nearly at all times of the day, wild Starly, Wurmple, Caterpie, and the occasional evolved forms showed up to feast on his excess berries. The same went for the immediate surroundings, as they spotted dozens of those very same species as they stalked their way deeper into the trees.

  Some of them looked surprised to see them, but others barely spared them a glance and continued doing… whatever they did—simply living. But, after a mile or so, the amount of wild pokemon had tapered off into a serene quiet. Pachirisu didn’t seem bothered in the least, his head simply whipping back and forth as he gazed about as he rode on Ethan’s shoulder.

  The first new pokemon that Ethan met appeared when he entered a small grove filled with rotten logs from a long felled tree, two cracked boulders, and colorful white, purple, and pink mushrooms. A thick blanket of dark green moss covered the slumped over log, alongside the two cracked boulders that filled the very small grove. In between the wood and rock, standing very out of place, was a bright red insignia looking like a pokeball.

  When the faux-pokeball looked up, tilting its top-heavy head back to stare at the intruders, its two dark black slit eyes and small pink mouth widened in surprise. “Fooon?” It cried questionably, flapping its tiny white arms up and down.

  Ethan smiled at the pokemon. “Hello, Foongus. We’re just passing through. Nice home!” He complimented, earning a crinkled-eye smile from the small fungus pokemon. “Can I take a picture?”

  The Foongus tilted its head in question, and Pachirisu spoke next. After a bit of back and forth that Ethan assumed was explaining what a picture was, Foongus gave Ethan a nod and smiled as best as it could. Without pause, Ethan whipped out his phone and took a very beautiful picture of the small grove.

  “Foongus - The Mushroom Pokemon: Foongus uses its pokeball-like cap to lure curious prey. It releases spores from vents along its stem when threatened, causing mild hallucinations or drowsiness in larger pokemon and disorientation in smaller ones. Researchers believe this mimicry evolved not to catch prey, but to ward off predators unfamiliar with pokeballs. Though small and slow-moving, wild Foongus often grow near nutrient-rich soil, contributing to the health of nearby plant life by breaking down decaying material.”

  Before Ethan could pocket his phone and continue on his way to leave the little Foongus be, the PocketDex app continued on.

  “Morelull - The Illuminating Pokemon: Morelull wanders the forest floor at night, using the soft glow of its spores to communicate and deter predators. When disturbed, it releases a calming dust that induces drowsiness in both humans and pokemon. This allows it to root itself safely and absorb nutrients from the surrounding soil. Travelers in deep woods sometimes report seeing gentle lights bobbing between the trees—often mistaking a cluster of Morelull for wandering spirits."

  With a quick glance at his phone and the shown scientific picture of Morelull, he looked back across the clearing, spotting the small group of pokemon that looked like colorful mushrooms. They looked to be asleep, with their roots and lower halves sunk into the mossy floor. They blended in really well, better than his Oddish did, in his opinion.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  With a nod and a smile, Ethan tossed a handful of Oran berries Foongus’ way, then left the sleeping and guarding pokemon.

  After a minute of walking away from the wild pokemon, Ethan turned to Patchirisu who looked content just sitting on his shoulder with his tail curved around his neck. “Those mushroom pokemon, are there a lot of them in the forest?”

  Pachirisu, not expecting to be spoken too out of the blue, raised his head as he thought. “Pach.” He finished, nodding sagely.

  “Hmm….” Ethan trailed off, mind wandering over the species. While he wasn’t familiar with many of the later pokemon in the series, he did know of Foongus and had at least seen Morelull in photos and videos. Foongus, or more like its older brother Amoongus, was very popular in the high levels of play. It was also from Black and White’s Unova region in the games, just like Emolga.

  To find them here in Eterna Forest really started to solidify that all of his game knowledge was subject to change. To be honest, he probably should have realized sooner with Caterpies hovering around his ranch. Max even had a Salazzle, which was from Alola..? Maybe this shouldn’t have been such a surprise after all.

  After another half a mile of walking, Ethan recalled Pachirisu to swap him out for another one of his friends.. With a casual lob, Ethan tossed out Teddiursa’s pokeball and quickly caught it on the bounce back. Teddiursa instantly scanned around for his mom, paws in his mouth, and started fidgeting when she couldn’t be found.

  Dipping down to place his elbows on his knees, he waited to get the bears attention. “Your mom isn’t around. You’re on an adventure with me today!”

  They both shared a glance of hesitation, Ethan because he didn’t want to bear to freak out, and Teddiursa because he was alone without his mom. It only took a second before Teddiursa waddled up to him to hold his hand.

  They walked through the forest slowly, Ethan giving the small bear some time to adjust to their first outing without their single parent. When a simple cry of a pokemon echoed from off in the distance, Teddiursa tensed and shuffled closer to him for protection. The fluffy small paws of Teddiursa clenched his hand with strength only a pokemon could possess—it was uncomfortably strong.

  After about twenty minutes, Teddiursa was still very uncomfortable. “Do you want to go back into your pokeball?”

  Teddiursa hurriedly nodded. Ethan sighed but counted this as a win for his first time away from his mom. There weren’t any outbursts and he followed him closely. There wasn’t much more he could have asked.

  After returning Teddiursa into his pokeball, Ethan brought out Emolga. As soon as his little flying squirrel was out and about, she zoomed off into the surrounding forests with a squeal of delight. He had to scream out for her to even hear him. “Be careful! Do not go too far!”

  “Emol Emol!!!” Came the loud response of acknowledgement.

  Ethan continued making his way toward the outcropping as Emolga hovered about, flying around doing barrel-rolls and backflips. She even stumbled across a lone Kricketune who was hiding in a hole up within the branches of a tree. The larger bug pokemon looked bewildered at his hyper-flying squirrels energy as she chatted to her animatedly. Kricketune spared Ethan a glance, and he mouthed. ‘I’m sorry.’ Much to its chagrin.

  Eventually, Ethan got too far away from Emolga, and he called her back over. Not disappointed in the least, Emolga hastily said her goodbyes and flew over to join him.

  For the following few hours, Ethan swapped his pokemon to give them each some time by his side. The most well behaved were Smeargle and Pachirisu, while the most troublesome were his two flyers, Chatot and Emolga, as they left his side to fly about far out of his comfort zone.

  He had a feeling Chatot was testing him, as she no doubt could feel his unease in the middle of the forest. She was teetering the line of how far she could go, and waited to see how he felt.

  It wasn’t the greatest of experiences.

  Eventually, after a much longer than anticipated trek, Ethan stumbled out of the forest into a clearing similar in size to his ranch, where a mountainous outcropping tore through the earth, reaching for the sky.

  In the distance, spearing through the clouds, the large horizon wide wall of Mt. Coronet could be seen. Hundreds—no, thousand upon thousands of miles of mountain cleaved the land in two. Numerous plateaus, small darkened crevasses, caves, and sparking spots of whitened snow could be found no matter where you focused.

  It made the large, several mile wide out-spike he stood before pale in comparison.

  Without further ado, he finally released the one pokemon who was spared the trip through the forest. Tinkatink must have caught on to their task for the day, as he hadn’t told her the purpose of their trip and wanted it to be a surprise, because she was jumping and cheering at the large earthen mound before them.

  “Well, Tinkatink. Let’s find some metal, shall we?” Ethan teased, and Tinkatink shot off towards the closest boulders with fervor.

  Ethan helped in the search for metal ore. He figured that once he saw it, he would know what it was. Unlike the ore-veins from Earth, ore was found in spires of solid crystalline shards or raw chunks. The pictures online made them seem unreal, almost like that of a fantasy world… Which he supposed he was kinda in now.

  Tinkatink on the other hand, had absolutely no clue what she was looking for. She went around bonking rocks as if she could peel away the rock and find metal underneath. Though, to give the little baby pink pokemon some credit, she was agile. She hopped from ledges onto higher footing with ease, something Ethan wasn’t even going to attempt.

  He searched low, while she looked high.

  After ten minutes of what Ethan would call pointing out rocks for Tinkatink to bash, he caved and let loose the fliers.

  “? Chaa-tooot! ?”

  “Emoooooool!”

  “Okay, we need some help out here. Go fly around and see if you can spot some spires of metal. They’re supposed to look like crystals?” Ethan stated as he helped Tinkatink down from up high, her legs flailing the entire time.

  “We’ll wait here so you can find us. I need a break anyway.” Ethan plopped down on a small round rock nearby and placed Tinkatink on his lap. “If either of you find metal, I’ll give you a reward when we get back home. Shuckle has his own mission today.” He teased, and hearing the combined words of ‘Shuckle’ and ‘Reward’, his two flying pokemon knew what it entailed.

  They zoomed off up into the mountainous terrain in their search as Ethan sat for a break with Tinkatink. “So, having fun?” He asked, looking down into Tinkatink’s big baby eyes.

  “Geo…”

  The deep rumble of a Geodude made Ethan and Tinkatink blink, as it sounded very close. When Ethan got poked in his calf, he shot up in surprise.

  Out of all of the places to take a seat, Ethan just had to choose the top of a large Geodude. Hell, he would have guessed it was a Graveler or Golem with it being this large. “I’m sorry! You blend in really well for such a big Geodude, don’t you?” Ethan said, as Tinkatink flailed around with her hammer in ‘Attack Mode’.

  The Geodude didn’t seem too bothered, probably because he could sense that it was truly an accident. “Geo. Geodude.”

  The ball of rock with arms slowly pushed himself up onto his knuckles and began to arm waddled away.

  “Wait! Do you know where any metal is?” Ethan called out, causing the Geodude to slightly turn his body to squint at him with a judging eye. He nodded down to Tinkatink, “She needs metal to make new hammers. It’s a specialty of her kind.”

  Geodude spared the squirming and blabbering Tinkatink a glance, probably recognising that she was young. The Geodude plopped himself down, displacing a good amount of gravelly rocks with its weight, then pointed up and ahead. “Geo.” Without further ado, Geodude picked itself back up, then pushed its body away with a heave of motion.

  It rolled away from them with the momentum and was out of view in less than ten seconds.

  “Hmm…” Ethan placed Tinkatink back down on the ground once she was done with her fit of aggression, now that the ‘enemy’ was gone. “I guess we’re going to need even more help.” With a flick of his wrist, Ethan released Smeargle from his greatball.

  The dog-painter flashed Ethan a nod and a smile, his tongue plopping out seamlessly to its natural place. Having heard from inside his greatball, Smeargle waved his orange-tipped tail about like a magic wand. The grasp of Psychic took hold on Ethan and Tinkatink, and a second later, they began floating in the sky under Smeargle’s will.

  It was scary, to be sure. He’d had Smeargle lift him before to clean the roof’s solar panels, but this was on a different level. Unlike the fifteen-foot height of his home, he was being carried dozens upon dozens of feet up. As they touched down, Ethan whipped out Smeargle’s greatball again, recalled him, and then re-released him up with them.

  “Thank you very much.” Ethan praised, running a hand over Smeargle’s furry head, earning another smile.

  They all took a minute to scan the horizon and appreciate the sight… and what a sight it was—No, what a moment it was.

  So up high, the wind whispered softly across the rocky ledge they were on, tugging at Ethan’s clothes and rustling the sparse few clumps of grass that managed to cling to life up high off the ground. From this high perch above the trees, the vast expanse of Eterna Forest could be seen in its entirety, like an endless, ancient field of green. The canopy shifted and shimmered with a thousand different shades of green from the gentle gusts of wind, freely blowing without obstruction.

  Distant rays of sunlight pierced through the scattered grey clouds up above, casting golden columns onto the green sea of trees far below, like the forest was being blessed by Arceus himself.

  “Wow…”

  “Smear…”

  “Tink…”

  “Grav…”

  Ethan blinked, then tilted his head down to find a Graveler appreciating the same sight from right next to them, seamlessly joining their small group with four crossed arms, a nod of appreciation, and a rugged, self-assured smile.

  It took a moment for Ethan to reboot, but that rugged smile caused his heart to skip a beat. He’d seen it once before, from the very first pokemon who had ever helped him. Back then, it was a lone Geodude making its way through the forest. But now…

  The Graveler must have sensed his feelings, as the rocky-mon side-eyed him, smirked, and gave a thumbs up.

  “I—”

  “Tinka!!!!”

  *Bonk*

  https://discord.gg/T6AD3E2qVR Feel free to join!