Pokémon: Ad Astra Abyssosque

| FOUR

AD ASTRA ABYSSOSQUE

. . .

THE car ride was lively as Pikachu and the two men were continuously discussing about basic house necessities, cleaning tips, food recipes, and more mundane stuff. Ash and Gary shared a bag of chips on the front seat as they gave a few ideas on the topic.

The group drove roughly about fifteen minutes from the city before Wassan instructed Gary to drive slowly as they neared the entrance to the woods. They stopped in front of a small, narrow dirt path leading towards the lush green forest. Gary dropped them off before driving a few meters to park properly.

"Do we just follow this path sir Wassan?" Ash asked holding four flashlights with him. The old sailor gave a nod before leading the group.

The entrance of the path was a bit steep, so Ash had to carry Goodshow to the top before helping Gary with their things. The path wasn't too hard to trek, but the tall trees blocked most of the sunlight, so they had to use flashlights to guide them.

Wassan retold his stories as they navigated through the dark forest.

"You know, when we were a little over eight, me and Beckket planted a few of these trees. We both named our favorites. Mine was Den and his was Erny." The sailor said proudly.

"Really sir? Which ones are they?" Gary asked.

"They were planted a little far from here, near a river on our right. We'll pass a small bridge to cross the river." His joyous mood dampened with a sad sigh. "But sadly enough we both couldn't see them grow as a colony of Bibarels and Bidoofs went and munched them down to make their dam and cute little homes. We were young and naïve back then, fought the whole horde with nothing but sticks and stones. HA HA! We were supposed to go to Professor Birch to get our own Pokémon together, but we figured we'd stop by to see how our plant buddies were doing. But as I've told you, we got in a bit of a pickle. Thankfully a ranger came by and rescued us before one fell in the river." He laughed at the memory.

"Reminds me of someone..." Gary chimed from the back of the trail.

"Shut up, Gary."

"HA HA HA! Seems like you kiddoes' had a memorable first day as Pokémon trainers too." Wassen exclaimed, clearly enjoying the hike.

"Don't we all?" "Pika!"

"HA HA! Yer right boy! As a matter of fact, my number one partner is one of the colony's Bidoof. She took a liking to me and agreed to be my partner. Thankfully, the ranger had a few extra Pokéballs with him and so we've been best buddies since day one. The bestest birthday present ever! This little gal here's the one that brought down my tree, so I named her after it. Her name's Denevy." He showed them the red and white ball containing his first catch.

They told stories on their past adventures as they continued the path. They passed the olden bridge and exchanged pleasantries with the Bibarel/Bidoof colony. They also passed through a wide opening with a herd of spring Deerlings and Sawsbucks playing and a lot of Bug Pokémon idling away under the warm sun before continuing their trek within the dark forest.