“Rotom! Come back down!” I shouted up into a gap in the trees. “The magnetic fields are already messing with everything—the feeds are warped! We’re going to have to do this the hard way.”

  I was thankful that I was able to recognize the distortions before they got too bad; when Rotom flew back down in his drone, the other drones with him were already at lopsided distances. They were the worst kind of usable: technically usable. While I could still use their cameras to map out a path forward, keeping them in the air would run the risk of one of them suddenly becoming randomly disabled or shooting off while we were otherwise occupied by a battle.

  And then, there was an additional risk: not many Pokémon risked flying over the trees out here, so Rotom stood out a bit too much and would likely be attacked.

  “In my old world, the worst you had to worry about in a forest was getting attacked by a bear or something,” I said, catching the drone as Rotom pulled himself out of it as if taking off a sweater. “Here, if a Pokémon is strong enough, it’s not hard for them to gather raw power and vomit it out in a Hyper Beam. So instead of being mauled by a bear, we’re at risk of getting laser-beamed by a bear.”

  I looked Rotom in the eye.

  “Please be careful,” I told him. “Whenever you possess something, you lose the Ghost type. We’re trying to find a path forward, but I don’t want to risk you. You won’t be immune to Normal-type attacks like Hyper Beam, and I bet a lot of Pokémon know Hyper Beam out here.”

  Rotom saluted with an arm made of plasma. I heard a short snicker from a patch of nearby shadows as Liepard stalked at a distance to serve as a preliminary scout. Valiant, meanwhile, was on a higher alert than I’d ever seen them be on before, standing right behind me with their blade already at the ready. Their mechanical face rarely showed any emotion, but the electronic display that mimicked eyes showed them to be narrowed and entirely focused.

  “Your fan’s off-limits,” I told Rotom. “So for this, wash, heat, or none?”

  He dove into my backpack, answering my question with action, and I collected the rest of the drones while waiting for him to come back out. I didn’t actually have all the possible forms for a Rotom on me; it didn’t make sense to buy something like a lawnmower, and a refrigerator was next to useless with how it folded up and prevented the storage of food. I only had three of those devices—a washing machine, a microwave oven, and his modified fan. Purchasing those alongside every other piece of technology I owned had been ludicrously expensive, and then there was also the constant maintenance I had to do for all of those devices. With what we had, just existing took money, and I was incredibly thankful that Liepard was the only Pokémon with me that had to eat “real” food.

  Catching another Pokémon was going to make food costs skyrocket, especially since a lot of Steel types needed a diet that was extremely high in iron—and, in some cases, included metal outright. However, more Pokémon meant a stronger team, and a stronger team meant more opportunities. There was almost a direct correlation between team strength and wealth in this world, and it was about time we pushed to reach those greater heights.

  Pretty soon, the rustling stopped in my backpack, and an orange cube popped out of the top flap. Pieces shifted on its surface, and it slowly unfolded itself into a half-sized washing machine that gained eyes and levitated into the air.

  “Wash? And not heat?” I asked.

  With how cold it was out here, whenever I exhaled, mist left my throat.

  “Water won’t have an advantage against Ice and Steel types,” I mused, “but then again...”

  Rotom had made a smart decision; if we brought too much heat, then after getting in a battle, there was a decent chance we’d stand out too much and lure other wild Pokémon to our position.

  Possessing the washing machine and giving himself the Water type made the most sense when it came to general safety. A microwave oven’s Fire type would have made him more effective in a fight out here, but we needed to prioritize safety over raw power, strangely enough.

  “Alright, stick close, everyone,” I said, slightly raising my voice. “We need to find a reliable path to get into this crater on foot. But this place is pretty big—it might take us some time.”

  Beams of light peeked through the needles of the evergreen trees, and every so often, I could catch the barest hint of the mountains that framed everything in the distance. The air had a dense chill to it, one that hadn’t been present in the rest of Unova so far. There was no snow on the ground, but that was only because we hadn’t entered the Chasm itself just yet.

  The closer someone came to entering that Chasm and the deeper someone pushed into that crater-like area, the more the freezing temperatures built, and the more intense the passive magnetic field became.

  Those cold-to-freezing temperatures were what had pushed so many wild Pokémon to build their endurance, and that endurance was part of why so many of them possessed such a high level of strength. Even a slight advantage built off of itself, because strong Pokémon fighting strong Pokémon meant more experience for everyone involved. The Giant Chasm was one of the most dangerous places in Unova for a reason, even when compared to the near-elite wild Pokémon of Victory Road. There, high-level trainers were so prevalent that wild Pokémon had learned not to bother with attacking humans most of the time.

  But here, it was rare for someone to tackle these wilds, and the Pokémon were territorial—they’d attack even someone who was just passing through. That constant threat would force me and my team to be constantly on high alert, but it’d also provide us with plenty of challenges to overcome.

  Still, our biggest problem was just finding a consistent way into the Giant Chasm. I didn’t want to get bogged down in fights when trying to enter it. I expected that finding a path to the deepest portion of the crater wouldn’t be something that I could complete in one day, so I wanted to be able to return and reach the more difficult areas without much issue.

  Thus, this preliminary scouting, and thus, this need to secure a safe path.

  “But it is a bit strange,” I mumbled as we trekked upwards. “Why is this place called the ‘Giant Chasm,’ anyway? The legends state that this place was formed when something fell from the sky, so shouldn’t it be the ‘Giant Crater,’ instead?”

  I looked around at my team. They didn’t have an answer. Even Valiant didn’t have a response, but behind me, their stare lingered.

  It wasn’t doubt, frustration, or any sense of nervousness. Their stare simply contained a question; what I had said about going after that beast had stuck with them, and Valiant wanted to know my reasoning.

  “Because,” I said, turning back around to take in our path beneath the trees, “both of us know that we need to get stronger, and there’s no better way to do it than an impossibly tough fight. No one else in the entire world would ever even think to do this—and I know you. You have that drive, that itch to get stronger. C’mon, Valiant, you wouldn’t have come with me if you didn’t want to experience these kinds of fights!”

  With a laugh, I fell back so I could nudge their arm, and Valiant lightly shook their head. Notably, they didn’t move to make any distance between us or do anything to signal I was wrong.

  They just moved closer to where I walked, instead. At this point, I was getting pretty adept at recognizing their fond exasperation, and I knew we would always have each other’s backs.

  We kept going, with Valiant returning to their previous state of high alert. At least for this initial bit of scouting, I wasn’t nervous. The Giant Chasm wasn’t anywhere near as large as the last crater I’d explored.

  Whatever geographical formation this place really was, I had to trudge just to bring myself up the crater’s exterior, sharp incline. The evergreen trees around us grew more and more dense, and even with their needles blocking out most of the sky, the first signs of snow on the ground slowly began to appear.

  I kept my gaze up and my attention on our surroundings. I was prepared for anything that came our way; I had one pocket in my backpack dedicated to storing food, and it carried a bag full of recently-purchased berries. They were necessary for my goal for today, but the only way they’d be useful was if we managed to find any aggressors before they found us.

  Valiant continued to scan the forest. Liepard scouted... somewhere nearby. Rotom was grinning from inside his washing machine.

  And I looked around the best I could.

  We never stopped creeping forward.

  That is, we never stopped until I froze upon finding something that stood out.

  I caught it on the barest glance—red eyes and white fur that stood out from beneath the trees. A black blade glinted in a thin beam of midday sun that slipped through a gap in the branches above it.

  It was as though I could see myself in the reflection of that red gaze, but the eyes blinked to break my trance, and that brief moment of enchantment was over.

  The Pokémon’s white fur allowed it to blend in with the snow as it ran off, but it had succeeded in providing a warning with its presence.

  “An Absol,” I whispered, staring at the empty spot it’d once been in. “A Dark type. A rare Pokémon. A species that people hate because they think it causes natural disasters, but that isn’t true. Absol are only harbingers. Their appearance serves as a warning of them, and that means—”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I snapped my head up, immediately seeing writhing vines and glaring eyes in the branches above us.

  A metal arm wrapped around my midsection as Valiant suddenly jumped to drag me back.

  Whips lashed out right where I was standing, and I was only capable of a single shout.

  “They’re in the trees!”

  Unfortunately, a group of wild Pokémon had found us first.

  Right away, a violent churning started up in the middle of our group, and Rotom slammed open his washing machine door to blast out a massive flood of water. The countless branches above us broke and shattered from that swirling impact, and some of the wild Pokémon fell while others jumped down.

  Now that I could see them, I could see that each of these Pokémon were masses of living vines that hid everything but their eyes due to the darkness of that growth. There had to be at least a dozen of them, an entire tribe of Pokémon lifting their thick tendrils to prepare whips that’d beat us back and scare us off.

  Except, if they were trying to scare us off, they were doing it improperly.

  We were surrounded.

  Valiant placed me back on the ground, and Rotom zipped over to float by my side.

  I looked around at all of the wild Pokémon that wanted to punish us for invading their territory, and I knew there would be no avoiding this fight.

  “They’re Tangela,” I said quickly, naming the species for my team. “Pure Grass types. Looks like our first fight is upon us.”

  Slowly, I reached into my coat to grab something that hung at my side.

  With a click, the metal rod’s end sparked with light.

  “It’s almost funny, too,” I said. “We’re already about to have a battle, and we aren’t even in the crater just yet.”

  Vines lashed out as countless whips swung at everyone in our little group. Rotom hit my back to push me forward, and Valiant was suddenly ahead of me, lifting their weapon to block the attacks and provide a bar for some of the vines to wrap around.

  Three Tangela managed to grab onto the pole of Valiant’s bladed weapon, and they strained in an attempt to tear it away. However, Valiant massively overpowered them, and as smacks from vines around us sent dirt and snow up into the air, Valiant pulled, yanking the Tangela forward. Liepard used this moment to lunge from the shadows, using his claws to slice right through the extended vines before vanishing once again.

  The severed tendrils squirmed on the ground, but the Tangela were natural regenerators—as Grass types, they were already growing more vines back.

  “Fight!” I shouted.

  Countless whips were flung our way as the group of Tangela tried to batter us into a defeat. Rotom cracked with electricity, sending shocks through anything that got too close, and the swipes of Valiant’s blade caused fallen vines to litter the forest floor.

  Liepard, as a Dark type, stuck to the shadows, but he couldn’t control them or conceptually enter the darkness; he was just adept at using it to hide his form. Even if the Tangela wanted to track him, they couldn’t. The only visible part of him was two glowing eyes, as he would only ever expose himself to land a devastating Slash, picking off any isolated Tangela before running back to return to hiding beneath the trees.

  Some of the Tangela tried to toss a Stun Spore out, swinging their vines to spread clouds of allergenic pollen. Rotom would move into action whenever that happened, opening his washing machine door. A Hydro Pump would then tear out of him, blasting most of those spores away.

  Yet, the Stun Spore was never perfectly canceled, and by moving forward to attack it, some of the spores would linger just long enough to cover him. Thankfully, Stun Spore was meant to paralyze its target, and as an Electric Type, Rotom was immune. Hydro Pump was used to protect the rest of us.

  We were in this as a group.

  And that meant I was involved, as well.

  Though I would shout the occasional order, I mostly stayed in the middle, standing on high alert between my Pokémon. However, with such a great mass of Tangela and with only two Pokémon next to me, my team just didn’t have the spatial coverage to defend me perfectly.

  Several times, I could feel the impact of a vine or another move slamming into my back, but I had enhanced this coat intentionally—thick, protective padding had been sewn to the inside, underneath. With my current outfit, those whips might have well been friendly pats to the back in support after a baseball game.

  And then I would swing. I was no Pokémon, but I was no fool—in this world, I needed to be able to defend myself. While I had learned the hard way that jumping into a fight against a Pokémon myself would only lead to defeat, I could punish and dissuade any Pokémon that went after me.

  The baton I wielded wasn’t capable of a charge stronger than Rotom’s weakest move, but an unexpected zap was always enough to send any lashing vine reeling back.

  Unfortunately, even as much as we were holding our ground in this fight, these Tangela were constantly regenerating, an aspect of their species that they’d likely developed due to the need to recover between constant fights. Even though I knew we could win, we would only win eventually due to the sheer level of determination these Tangela were demonstrating.

  That level of exhaustion would only make heading back difficult, so I gripped my baton and looked around, taking in the current state of the fight.

  “This way!” I called out. “We’re falling back for now!”

  Liepard jumped from the woods to grab a Tangela with his claws, rolling with it close to his stomach before hitting his back and throwing it far away. Before it hit the ground, vines lashed out for it to grab a branch and return to the trees, but its removal had made an opening in the encirclement, and Valiant charged into that space with two swipes of the blade to knock two more Tangela away.

  We fled through that hastily created gap, and we could hear the victorious cries of the Tangela behind us. The tribe thought that it had won when we disappeared, but I just found a big tree to hide behind, located not too far away, instead.

  “Alright,” I breathed, making sure to clip my baton back to where I kept it hidden under my coat. I wasn’t the biggest fan of using it. “So, that proves the Pokémon here are pretty strong.”

  Rotom sent me a single look and then burst into cackling laughter.

  “But now we know where there’s one group of Pokémon, at least. And no matter what path we take to get into the crater itself, something like this was going to happen eventually,” I said, catching my breath. “So, what are our thoughts? Do we go with these guys? Or do we avoid them? Make our play now, or maybe push to find one of those entrance caves?”

  Valiant rolled their mechanical shoulders, emphasizing the ease with which they could continue to fight. Liepard responded similarly, casually licking a paw to signal that these Tangela were no big deal.

  Then, Rotom floated an inch closer. The little, possessed washing machine had a determined look on his face.

  There was no telling how a group of Pokémon would respond, but at least for these Tangela, we knew we could beat them if needed.

  “These guys, then,” I said in agreement.

  The big problem, of course, was the Tangela’s boundless stamina—fighting them until a complete victory would only see us become exhausted, and, if exhausted, then we wouldn’t have the energy to last through any other fights.

  Thus, I had a plan to both handle these Tangela and secure us a safe path through their territory, therefore into the crater. If this all worked out, then on later days, we could conserve our energy for the truly tough Pokémon that we wanted to fight.

  “We’ll make a deal,” I said, placing my backpack down and reaching into that pocket filled with berries. “That means we just need to win one more fight, so Valiant—”

  Something heavy hit the ground with a thud; Rotom left his washing machine. He looked me right in the eye and gave me a static-y squeak.

  “You want to do it?” I asked.

  He nodded profusely.

  “Alright. Come on, then,” I said. “Help me get your washing machine back into my backpack, and then we’ll return to present our challenge.”

  The next time we stepped beneath the Tangela’s trees, we stopped at just the edge of them, and we looked different than just a group of travelers idly heading forward. Valiant was on edge, showing we weren’t to be messed with, and Rotom was now in his microwave oven at my side.

  However, I was slightly different as well; I now held a certain cloth bag already stained by the juices of what was kept inside. The wild Tangela glared and hissed at us, shaking the plant matter on their bodies, but no one with me was scared or bothered by them to take a step back.

  “We challenge you.” There was not even a single ounce of fear in my voice. “Not for your territory. Not for your supplies. Just for the right to pass through. We have absolutely no interest in taking anything of yours—we only want to reach the chasm behind you.”

  There was a difference between getting into a fight with a Pokémon and challenging a Pokémon to a fight. One was a necessity borne from instinct, and the other was a form of respect.

  I took the bag I held in my hands and tossed it forward, letting a few of the berries scatter onto the ground. The hissing in the trees above us stopped, and the forest went perfectly quiet.

  Everything might have been tense, but I couldn’t suppress my smile.

  I could tell what the Tangela were thinking—were we for real? Were we just lying? Were those berries just bait, or were we truly just trying to pass through after proving ourselves in battle?

  Silently, I watched, and I waited, and the Tangela did the same right back.

  But then, it was like the trees themselves bent to make way. As if fading into being from the shadows, a brand new Pokémon came into view.

  This creature was just like the Tangela, but where each Tangela was no bigger than a bush, this one was large enough to swallow an entire car. It was a mass of blue-green vines that shook with every step, and a pair of long, swinging arms were formed out of parallel tendrils that grew from its sides.

  “I knew they had a leader,” I whispered to my team, already feeling victorious.

  The evolved form of Tangela, Tangrowth, took another step.

  Its dinner-plate-sized eyes locked onto the berries, and two Tangela hopped out of the trees in an attempt to retrieve them. They started to run over, but a blade hit the ground.

  Valiant stopped them with a warning.

  “You’ll get the berries after our battle, and after you let us through,” I said. “And, as a show of good faith, I’ll even give you more when we come back to leave.”

  The entire point of this endeavor was to secure ourselves a safe and regular path into the crater. We didn’t want to have to brave the caves or risk facing any other species.

  Though a short pause persisted before I spoke, the Tangrowth soon bothered to respond. I couldn’t tell if it was angry or if it was just accepting our challenge, but either way—

  Every one of its vines vibrated alongside a roar.

  With that signal, our battle had begun.

  “Rotom. Overheat,” I ordered.

  He zipped forward to float at the front of our group.

  The Tangrowth built speed in a lumbering charge, the earth itself shaking under its bulk. It was big enough to blot out the sun in trees behind it, but Rotom was not afraid in the slightest.

  As it ran closer and closer, the door to his microwave oven opened up. Inside, metal bars turned red-hot. He waited until the Tangrowth was right upon him—right when he could fully see the whites of its eyes.

  The hulking Pokémon lifted its arms.

  And then, Rotom released it all, letting his oven’s heat sear out in a blast.

  This move, Overheat, brought Rotom to the highest temperature he could go and then released all of that in a maximally powerful attack. It would mean all future moves after its use would be weakened due to the sheer amount of power expended, but sometimes, an initial blast of incomparable heat was all that was needed.

  The force of this move immediately dried out the Tangrowth’s exterior vines and caused them to blacken and wither. Several sections of its body outright turned to ash, disintegrated by the raw energy of Rotom’s attack. As a Grass type, the Tangrowth was especially vulnerable to this Fire-type move, and it never finished swinging its arms.

  Instead, it stumbled back.

  “Again,” I ordered.

  The heat turned up once more, but it didn’t quite reach the same level as that initial blast. However, that first use of Overheat had already done its job, and this Tangrowth had been weakened enough that this second use felt just as bad.

  “And again,” I ordered next.

  Future uses of this move would now deal minimal damage. Rotom would barely be able to produce any heat after this.

  But the Tangrowth had already suffered through a constant onslaught of damage. Even with this little bit of remaining temperature, that was enough, and the evolved Pokémon fell back.

  It groaned, its vines scorched but already beginning to grow back. Although it would recover, it was clear that Rotom’s overwhelming damage had all but taken the Tangrowth out of the fight.

  The clearing was silent. The Tangela’s leader had fallen in seconds. The only noise in the forest came from Valiant pulling back their blade.

  I took a step forward, and none of the Tangela moved. The Tangrowth remained where it lay on the ground.

  “Thanks, everyone!” I said to both my team and the group of wild Pokémon. “We’ll be back, but we’ll bring more berries each time, alright? I think we proved ourselves—we aren’t going to attack anymore. Help yourselves to the berries as an apology! And next time, if you want to fight, just ask first, okay?”

  Almost panicked, the pair of Tangela from before ran forward to grab the bribe, and they then scurried off with that selection of berries. I could see the Tangrowth bring up its eyes to glare at Rotom.

  But then it collapsed, allowing us to continue moving forward.

  It didn’t try to get up again; Rotom had earned its respect.

  “Good job, little guy!”

  Patting the back of the microwave oven, I could see Rotom’s tired smile stretch across its front.

  Thanks to him, we had an easy way forward. Other Pokémon wouldn’t attack us within the Tangela’s territory, and on this very first day, he had already secured us free passage to face the true challenge of the Giant Chasm’s depths.

  Pokémon mentioned in this chapter:

  /

  Nick’s Team:

  Iron Valiant

  enormous thank you to everyone reading! Your support keeps this story going.