Pokémon TMR: Buried Secrets (book 2)

Chapter 6: The Mountain Pass

"Well, we're here."

I blinked, looking around. We were no longer in the Twilight Forest. In fact, I saw no signs of it anywhere. Behind us were the grass plains and the islands of poison. In front of us, looming over us, were the Central Mountains. The grassy terrain gave way to a rocky one, a path leading upwards.

"When did we..." I scratched my blonde hair, then winced in pain as I tried to move my hand away. My hair was getting longer and more tangled.

"I don't know exactly how the forest works," Luna said, looking back at me. "But it's both there and not there at the same time. Probably how it's always twilight there. Now come on. We have a lot to climb here."

"Not actual climbing, right?" I asked hopefully as Yanmega buzzed around my head.

Luna shook her head. "Nope. The elevation is going to go up by a lot however. Make sure not to fall."

"That's not very reassuring," I whined, trudging along after Luna and Xera. Leavanny walked behind me, making something out of leaves and string. The sun beat down on us, the humidity not as bad as it used to be in the jungle. However, not that far into the climb, I was already sweating buckets.

When we stopped for a breather, Dewpider hopped off Xera's shoulder and climbed up me. She began blowing into the bubble surrounding her head, enlarging it. Soon, it was big enough to envelop my head. I found I could still breathe in it, the cool air refreshing.

After a minute, I pulled my head out. "Thanks, Dewpider. That felt good."

Dewpider scuttled happily back over to Xera, climbing onto her shoulder. Smiling, I found I had more energy to spare. Suddenly, a shadow fell over my head and something was fitted over my hair. Leavanny smiled at me and I shifted my eyes up to see the brim of a leaf-woven hat, matching well with me clothes made of the same stuff.

"I don't know what you guys see in me to do all this for me," I rubbed the back of my head, grinning.

"I know, right," Eric said, sitting atop the rock I was leaning on. To my credit, I didn't give a reaction.

"Why is it that they've taken a liking to an Outsider like you," Eric leaned over me, the lack of his shadow further proving that this was all just in my head. "Perhaps they're as hopeless as you are."

I felt my face tighten as I ignored him, rubbing Yanmega's head. To further distract myself, I gazed at the view we had. We weren't as high as we were supposed to get according to Luna, but we were pretty high. The rocky trail was littered with loose pebbles, but it was wide enough so that even if we tripped, we were less likely to fall to our death. 

At this point on the climb, we were on the outer, smaller mountain. Across from where I leaned against the side of the rock wall, I could see another mountain. Past it I could scattered jungle, the marshland, what looked to be a wasteland. I figured the ocean would be in view once we got to a higher point.

To my left, towering over the rest, was the central mountain of the Central Mountains. I think I could see a path on it, but it was too far to tell. Below us was just rocky ground and a small river snaking its way through. The path we were on kept going up at a steady pace, and according to Luna, there would be a point where we would have to 'jump' to continue the path, and I was afraid of what that meant.

Occasionally I would see some Flying types soaring high above us or a quadrupedal Pokemon I was pretty sure were Mudbray. Aside from that, if there were anymore Pokemon living here, they were hiding from us.

A small scrabbling noise, then a couple loose pebbles fell on me from above. I glanced up, shielding my eyes from the sun. Vines hung down the rock wall and small shrubs and plants grew from the cracks. Whatever made the pebbles fall wasn't to be seen.