A Shadowed Heart - Pokemon Sun and Moon Fanfiction [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter Twenty Seven

                                           Skyler's POV

Turning to get ready for a new day, I stretched. I threw Nyx out of his Pokeball and smiled as he meowed happily. I meowed back and laughed. "Maybe I'll see Gladion today, what do you think?" Nyx acted like he was thinking. Then he nodded. "Meow!" I shook my head at my silly Pokemon.

I put on my usual out fit and ran outside. The sun shone, but I could see clouds gathering on the horizon. "Better hurry if I want to do the grass trial without getting wet," I said to Nyx. "Let's go!" I raised my Ride Pager to the sky and a Charizard flew down toward me.

The Charizard dropped me off at the entrance to the volcano park, but I wasn't going there. I continued ahead to the tunnel that went out to Route 8. I knew the motel Gladion stayed at was there, but I still didn't feel that comfortable with it. I was going to Lush Jungle, not to see Gladion, anyway.

I ran down to find myself at the entrance to Lush Jungle. It wasn't like anything I'd seen before. I'd never been in a jungle before, or really seen one. It was a bit like the Leaf Forest in Kanto, but more jungle-ish, if you could say that. I walked through the entrance with Nyx by my side.

I went in to find the girl that had registered Stoutland to my Ride Pager. I think her name was Mallow? I approached her. She turned and smiled. "Thanks for stopping by! Welcome to Lush Jungle, the trial grounds for me, Mallow! I knew it the first time I saw you and your team... You've chosen only the finest ingredients! That's why I'm gonna make you help me—er, no! I mean, that's why you should try my trial!" I knew she had some sort of task for me now. Mallow continued. "You are the one who got a Sparkling Stone straight from Tapu Koko, aren't you? You're so totally ready for this! Ah, the breath of the jungle... I can tell just what today's special should be..." I gazed at her quizzically. Today's special? I didn't see how food was involved, but alright! She nodded to herself. "Yup! It's gotta be! My personal specialty: the Mallow Special! I'm gonna need you to find four ingredients for me! I'll need a Mago Berry, a Tiny Mushroom, a Revival Herb, and a Miracle Seed! Here you go! I brought you a Forage Bag to hold all the ingredients gathered for your trial." She gave me a small bag, perfect for holding the little ingredients I would apparently be collecting. "If you put the trial ingredients in your own bag, they'd get mixed up with your stuff, right? When you're hunting for ingredients, you're gonna want to rely on Stoutland's help. It'll find things that you don't see, after all. You got that?" I grinned and nodded. "Yeah!" She smiled back. "OK, then here in Lush Jungle... It's time for Mallow's trial to begin!"

I began to explore the jungle. I decided I would hop onto Stoutland as Mallow had instructed. Stoutland ran to a dead end and began barking. I got off and wandered to the edge of the clearing. "Mushrooms!" I picked up the smaller ones and put them in the Forage Bag. As I was going back to Stoutland, however, a Pokemon jumped out at me. "Ah!" I screamed. It was a Parasect. I always hated those things. I shuddered. "Go, Blaze!" I threw my Torracat out of his Pokeball. "Use Fire Fang!" He leaped and bit the bug Pokemon with flaming jaws, knocking it out easily. I sighed in relief. Those things were disgusting. "Come on, let's move on to the next ingredient," I told Blaze. "You can stay out for now." I hopped onto Stoutland and rode back into the main part of the jungle again.