PokeWild

The medicine worked a treat.

David was a little wary of Y Vapour after picking it up from the Pokemart. Oliver's suggested cure came in a bottle that looked like the child of a vape and an inhaler. A large obvious button on one end ejected a puff of vapour into the air when pressed. David jumped back from the spray but even from a distance he could see a slight pastel blue tint to the cloud.

The resulting haze eventually floated down to settle on the ground. It was likely a waste to test it like this, but well, Oliver wasn’t a doctor and David wouldn’t put it past the man to play some kind of a prank. He waited a minute but when the vapour didn’t deal any obvious damage to the surrounding plants, took a puff himself.

It tasted a little like menthol gum. It was an expensive flavour for a vape, coming in at 75P, but as David gradually began to feel better over the next hour, he appreciated every Poke he spent on it.

That wasn’t to say that David was fully cured from one puff. The next morning he was still groggy and a little later to rise than he had been the week before.

So when he saw the scene in front of him, he stopped and blinked. Next was a pinch of his arm followed by a slap to his face. When nothing changed or moved, he turned and sprinted.

Leaving the destruction behind.

-.-

“Oliver!” David began to shout when the farmhouse came into view.

“OLIVER!”

David skidded on the gravel as he rounded the corner of the building. Michael stood at the top of the patio peering curiously at him. Oliver was not in sight.

David gave Michael a shaky nod and pushed passed him up onto the patio. He scowled as he caught sight of Oliver. Oliver was sitting down with his arms crossed and eyes closed even though he was obviously awake. David's shouts had been ignored.

“Oliver. Grove. Gone.” David said between pants. He had sprinted the entire way and he obviously wasn't fully recovered yet.

Oliver's eyes shot open. The tremble in David's voice must have been more obvious than he thought. When he caught sight of David, sweat dripping off him from running a forty minute walk in about ten minutes with Pidgey’s pokeball clenched tightly in his hand, Oliver jumped to his feet.

In the time it took for his chair to hit the ground, Oliver had weaved around David and had his hands around Michael.

“Michael, go to my office. Lock the door. Do not come out until I knock on the door.”

Michael flinched at the sudden movement. He trembled at the sudden change in his grandfather’s tone. Oliver’s hands steadied the young boy in place.

David bent over and tried to gather his breath. The air was thick, cloying.

“But I’m not allowed in your-”

“Michael, now.” Oliver said, voice calm but unmoving. “Leave your breakfast. I’ll cook something else later. The door has latches on the top and bottom but don’t worry if you can’t reach the top ones.”

Michael opened his mouth to respond but nothing came out as his grandfather steered him inside the house.

David straightened a few seconds after they left, breaths coming easier now. He began to stretch muscles sore from the sudden intense movement. Oliver hadn’t said anything to him but David could guess what was going to happen next.

A loud bang from the back of the house made him tense. He relaxed shortly after. It wasn’t a Pokemon cry or the sound of more destruction. It was only a door slamming closed.

Even so, David placed a finger on the button of Pidgey’s pokeball as he began to walk around to the other side of the house. Most Pokemon could open doors as easily as any human.

He slowed as he came to the tunnel formed between the farmhouse and a shed placed where a garage would be back home. He’d never been near this part of the house. It was the ‘forbidden’ area of the farm and really forbidden, not like Oliver telling him to stay away from the berry orchard. Both the old man and his son, Jacob, had been explicit in how important this instruction was.

David turned another corner and had just enough time to see wet panes of glass and rich green plants before a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him the other way.

“What do you know?” Oliver asked, striding briskly back around the house and towards the grove. He let go of David as soon as David matched his pace.

“It’s big.” David began. “Several paces across.”

Oliver’s arm twitched and his hand sank to his belt. Four pokeballs of different colours rested there. One was the normal red pokeball and David thought he’d seen this specific one before. It had prominent scratches that were hard to forget.

The next two were a deep blue colour with red arcs protruding from the metal. They looked newer but that might be because they were higher quality.

The final pokeball was unassuming but something about it caught David’s eye. The dark grey metal didn’t look like much, even with dull yellow highlights but it had a presence.

“Nothing else?” Oliver said, bringing David’s attention back.

“Giant footprints.”

Oliver sped up. He only paused when they reached the grove to give out instructions.

“Lead the way. If I release a Pokemon, run to the next farm and get help. Tell them it is for the Laurels. Visit three more then head back to the house and stay there.”

David nodded and began to jog through the grove. Oliver followed, less than a pace behind.

-.-

Oliver cursed when they came upon the scene.

David didn’t blame him. A wide section of the fence had been torn down and turned into scrap metal under a giant’s footsteps. You could roughly judge the Pokemon’s size by the flattened bushes in the neighbouring orchard where it had landed. A rough circle of about five metres across had been crushed under the Pokemon's weight as it touched down.

David had no idea what Pokemon was this big. He couldn’t think of any Flying types that were anyway. Which left the one other type that he thought could fly. Dragons.

Well that or a Legendary.

David wasn’t sure which was better or worse. He wanted to meet a Legendary. Needed to meet a Legendary, but he knew, looking at the destruction around him, that he wasn’t ready to face this creature.

The destruction was worse on the grove side of the fence. The Pokemon had done more than land in a field here. It had travelled in a straight path through the trees, not attempting to weave through in any way. The trees had suffered. Shattered wood and impossibly wide footprints was all that was left.

Oliver’s shoulders began to shake as he stepped onto the trail.

-.-

They followed the path of destruction for about twenty minutes until they reached the crumpled remains of the fence on the other side of the grove.

The Pokemon had taken a perfectly straight path, never stopping, not even when its path had exposed berry bushes to the air. A couple of bushes ladened with fruit had even been crushed under foot. What was it after if not food?

And why had it walked through the grove when it could fly over it?

Oliver made to walk into the Pecha berry orchard but David stopped him.

“Should we get the police?”

Oliver spat on the ground. “For what? To cause more damage?"

Oliver shook his head again but his anger wasn’t directed at David. He gestured for David to follow behind him and set off again.

David gripped Pidgey’s ball and followed. Oliver’s shoulders were still shaking and he had begun to sway as he walked.

In the orchard the Pokemon’s path began to weave. It stopped going in a straight line and began to wander. Less bushes were crushed under foot, instead they were gone?

A few twists later Oliver stopped abruptly and his whole body began to shake. David stepped up beside him and his breath caught.

A cream hill poked out above the mauve bushes. It moved gently, sinking below into navy fur before rising again. At its highest the hill was above David’s head. As they watched a giant paw slid off the hill and crashed to the ground, crushing four bushes under it.

David felt the vibrations through his shoes.

Oliver stilled.

David began to back away from the Snorlax. He couldn’t fight this and if even Oliver was..

Oliver opened his mouth and roared. It was a dark heady noise with a slight rasp to it.

David froze mid step and stared at the hill.

The hill continued to rise and fall without any change. The paw closest to them did not move.

Oliver turned. He stared deep into David's eyes. Dark colours flickered across Oliver's green eyes. “Did you have anything to do with this?”

David’s eyes flicked to him and then back to the Snorlax to check for movement.

“What?” He whispered so as to not disturb the monster.

Oliver stepped closer to David and his hands gripped two pokeballs on his belt. “Did you. Have anything. To do. With this.”

David’s throat itched. The air was sour. “No.” He croaked out.

Oliver’s hands released, splaying above his pokeballs. The feeling was gone. Oliver turned and took one last look at the Snorlax before walking towards the undamaged sections of the orchard.

“Go to the farmhouse. Wait with Michael.”

David took one more cautious glance at the Snorlax, which slept still, before calling after Oliver. “Where are you going?”

Oliver turned back and his face contorted with fury and hate. “To get the police.”

-.-

“Hello?” David called as he stepped into the farmhouse.

It was his first time in the building. When he ate with Micheal and Oliver, it was always outside. Even on the rare occasion he joined them for dinner.

The interior of the house was dark, not enough that David was blind but enough that it took about thirty seconds for his eyes to adjust. He couldn’t see any light switch near the door either.

Aside from a lack of light, the room itself was normal enough. A seat with a cushion surrounded by an array of shoes of different sizes and types. Photos along a wall. Plants. Lots of plants.

“David?” Michael’s muffled voice called out hesitantly from further in.

“Hi Michael,” David called back. “Where are you?”

“The study. Can I come out?”

David thought back to the giant slumbering form. He's seen evidence that a tree was as good as a matchstick before the monster and didn’t expect the planks that formed the farmhouse to be any better. But Oliver had sent Michael to the ‘study’ for a reason and he had not instructed David to take Michael out.

“I think it’s best you stay there till Oliver gets back. Can you guide me to the study?”

A few confusing sets of directions later, David sat down in front of a thick wooden door. The grain of the wood was peculiar, it seemed to be covered in gnarled grey masses without any cohesion.

Michael sat down on the other side of the door with a thump.

“Where’s grandad?”

“He’s going to get the police.” David answered. At least he thought that’s what Oliver was doing. The old man nearly gave him whiplash, switching from interrogating him to sending him to watching over his grandson.

David set Pidgey’s ball back into the sling around his neck. His hand was starting to cramp from the tight grip. If he needed her quickly he would push the button while it sat in the sling.

“Why?” Michael asked quietly.

David ran his options through his mind before deciding to be truthful. The unknown was likely scarier to the boy than a Pokemon, no matter how big it was.

“A Snorlax wandered onto the farm.”

There was a scuffle on the other side of the door.

“Michael?” David called. 'Crap'. Had he terrified the boy locked in some kind of a panic room alone?

“Awesome!!” Michael squealed. “Can we go see it?”

David blinked. “Eh.. You can ask your grandad when he comes back.”

“Awh.” Michael sat back down again with a thud. The announcement didn’t fully dissuade the boy. David could hear a faint tapping as Michael vibrated in excitement.

“You’re.. You’re not worried about the Snorlax?”

“No,” Micahel snorted. “Snorlax are cool. They protect Celadon.”

“Protect Celadon?” David repeated, confused.

Michael let out a gasp and David could hear scrambling on the other side of the door again. “You aren’t from Celadon! You don’t know the story!”

“No.” David pursed his lips. Was there a reason behind why Oliver had accused him? “We might be here a while, want to tell it to me?”

Michael hummed, considering it. “Okay! Do you know how Celadon was founded?”

David winced. He had skipped over that section of the guidebook. The map and city features had seemed more immediately important. “No.”

Michael tutted in a clear imitation of a teacher which made David smile.

“We were once wandering nomajes,” Michael began to recite.

“Nomads?” David corrected.

“Nomads. A great Pokemon came to one of the families and gave them the seed. The family planted the seed where the great Pokemon arrived and with its help, learned how to farm. More nomajes - nomads came and the family welcomed them. The first family taught the other families and they all grew together.”

As Michael spoke, he made a series of scuffles and bumped into the door a few times. David was sure he was doing some kind of dance as he recited the story.

“Pokemon smelled the farms and came - it was before we had a smell wall! The families fought them back but one Pokemon kept coming. A Munchlax! It kept coming, even at night time! It got into the farms sometimes and ate until it was stuffed, breaking the farms but it kept coming back for even more.”

“Snorlax.” David confirmed.

“No! Not yet,” Michael said and hushed David. “The families were frustrated with the Munchlax and wanted to scare it away for good but the first family was worried. They didn’t want to upset the great Pokemon by hurting the Munchlax. Instead they began to go to the Munchlax and feed it from their own stores. The Munchlax ate its fill and stopped destroying farms but the first family grew poor. The other families didn’t help.”

“What happened then?” David asked, curious and happy to both distract Michael and be distracted as they waited for Oliver to get back.

“More nomads came but bad nomads. They didn’t want to join the families, only take. They destroyed many farms but then, as they reached the first family’s farm, a great light split the sky. The families began to cheer, thinking it was the great Pokemon back to save them!”

Michael’s voice had been growing louder and more animated as he talked but now he paused, waiting.

“But?” David asked with a smile.

“But it wasn’t! It was the Munchlax evolving. Snorlax drove the bad nomads away and the families were saved. The other families were so impressed with the first family afterwards they made them a crown!”

“Oh? That’s a good story,” David said and it was. It had everything that made a good legend. A higher power granting the chosen few some power. The chosen few sharing what they had. Then being spurned when they had no more gifts, only to save the day again and be rewarded. It was a more cheerful version of the ants and the grasshopper fable from back home. The story also served to acclimate children to Snorlax if they were still Celadon’s ‘protectors’ today.

“It’s not over yet,” Michael said with a hint of smugness and hometown pride. “With the crown, the first family took charge over all the farms. They decided what seeds went where and which farms would feed Snorlax. Celadon grew. Some people and families left to share the great Pokemon’s lessons.”

David turned to look at the closed door, understanding dawning. ‘Which farms would feed Snorlax’. Snorlax, the Pokemon that destroyed farms as its first evolution. Snorlax which had demolished part of the grove solely by walking through it. Maybe the first family wasn't so magnanimous with their second set of 'gifts'. What truths were hiding behind this ‘legend’?

“But while Celadon grew, other places did too. People came back and brought stories of other places and other Pokemon back with them. The first family realised they had not been growing as fast as they could, as fast as the great Pokemon wanted. So the first family gave up it’s wreath-”

“Wreath?” David asked, dots starting to come together in a worrying way. As in laurel wreath? Who had Benny introduced him to?

“Crown,” Michael corrected. “And decided to create the council. The council decided to let the Snorlax roam and eat where they want. Only the council together could move them. Our Snorlax wander through the farms and protect us from the wild Pokemon that can ignore the smell wall.”

“Huh. And that’s why the Snorlax came here?” David asked, already knowing the answer. Or the real answer.

He may not have known his history, as Michael was quick to point out, but David did know one thing.

A Snorlax could not fly.