My feet!
I am going to be busy this Sunday, so keep an eye out for two more chapters tomorrow. And enjoy this early release.
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The next morning, I woke up to the thundering sound of something rolling down the hill.
I rolled from my bed trying to take cover before realising I had chosen a spot to pitch the tent only after considering things like a rolling Graveler.
'Hmm! But the sound is too loud for it just to be a Graveler. An apex Golem, maybe?'
I ducked my head from the tent to survey my surroundings before hastily packing it up and sprinting to the peak.
'I think I can reach its cave before the apex does it,' I thought imagining the number of orange tokens its lair may have, ignoring it that the sound could have just been a boulder rolling down.
The mountain featured a gentle, climbable, curved slope on one side and a slanted rocky surface on the other.
The Golem- or maybe a boulder?- likely rolled down on the slanted side and I was making my way up from the curved side.
Trees were sparse but the mountain was full of grass and bushes, less than the forest though, except a 5 to 10M path to the top which was conspicuously absent of any vegetation. The path was even and smooth…
'Wait a minute…smooth surface and no grass,' as the thought hit me a large cloud of dust started racing down from the top of the mountain, making me curse.
I took shelter behind a large boulder away from the path of the pack of rock Pokemon.
I came out of my hidey hole as the racket raised by the bulldozing rock Pokemon faded into the distance.
I started sprinting again deciding it was the best time to raid the rolling rocks lairs.
I reached the top and found two orange tokens after just 5 minutes of searching.
But my glee was interrupted by a thudding sound, reminiscent of the Godzilla movie clips I had seen, making their way up.
I hastily searched for a place to hide.
A giant rock lay at the peak of the mountain dividing the curved side of the mountain from its slant side. It had many cracks and gauges on it, the largest crack was two-person wide reaching half of the giant rock's height. Pokemon can walk around the rock to reach either side.
The thudding sound almost reached the top, making me hide in a two-person wide crack on the giant rock.
I waited with bated breath, pressing myself close against the side of the crack, peering through it as the sounds reached me.
A Humungous Pokemon walked towards the crack I was in, making my heart jump into my throat.
'Huh! My supposed Aura. You go you!' I thought sarcastically as my emotions got smothered, bringing my logical side to the forefront.
Seeing a 10-foot rock turtle lumbering up didn't sit right with my brain as it lost its processing capacity as it handed over the reins to my instincts, making my tentatively named Aura do the job of keeping me alive by removing emotions from the equation.
'How? How did it reach the top at the same time as me, I was jogging the whole way and it even came from the slanted side of the mountain,' I thought questioning my life choices.
The rock turtle titan stopped walking, with its back facing my hiding place and retreated into its shell.
I was still as a rock observing the rocky giant from the crack.
'At least the Graveler and Geodude don't have the same speed as this monster,' I thought thanking Arceus for small mercies.
'It is sleeping,' I concluded seeing the boulder Pokemon being still like a … boulder for more than 10 minutes.
A rainbow token, two red tokens and a bunch of yellow tokens were visible on the armour of the rock Pokemon, making me hesitate about my next step.
As I was staring at the rock titan something touched me on my shoulder, startling me. I smacked myself on the rocky wall in front of me due to the sudden sensation.
I was greeted with giggling sounds as I groaned and turned back.
Amanda was suppressing her laugh and was failing badly at it.
I looked around to spot the traitor who was supposed to guard me.
'Where is Cet?' I wondered before remembering that he couldn't be still for a second, not to mention joining me in my staring at rock Pokemon for an extended time.
Deciding to deal with him later, I glared at Amanda.
"What are you doing here? Aren't rock types bad for your Charmander?"
"Liza is a Charmeleon now and how can you ask that question? Did we travel through the same jungle?" With a finger on her chin, Amanda spoke, clearly happy that her starter had evolved.
"Congratulations! With Liza having metal claws, rock Pokemon are better than water type, I guess," I said with a slight shiver as she reminded me of the jungle filled with the powder puffing Pokemon.
"So are we going to continue our hushed conversation like there is no Apex sleeping near us or are we going to address the giant rock turtle in the room," I asked gesturing towards the sleeping Pokemon, I wanted to ask more about how Charmander evolved, but an Apex sleeping 100M away occupied all my attention at that moment.
"I was shadowing the Golem as it rolled back up. I knew it would be sleeping," Amanda moving towards the crack's opening.
Ignoring the humungous amount of energy for a Pokemon that size it takes to roll back up the hill. I watched Amanda boldly walk towards the cracks opening and exiting the opening with the same nonchalance as you do when you go for a walk.
I just ran forward on instinct and carried Amanda back grabbing her waist from behind.
"Are you crazy?" I whispered harshly.
Amanda blushed briefly before stomping on my toes, making me release her and clutch my feet in pain.
"Can't you see the irony of that question coming from a suicidal maniac, like yourself? I happen to be brave too, you know," she asked, teasing me.
"This is different! I knew whether Cet could lift me from the Xatu's test, and I checked again by having him lift me on the cliff. I knew how much force his Gust can generate," I said exasperated, even though that looked suicidal I assure you it was a cold calculation that made me jump. I didn't jump just for the thrill…maybe a little for the thrill.
"I already heard your lie*wink*reasons, but how am I crazy?" she asked with an unrepentant smile.
"What do you mean?" I asked my temper rising.
"Human's reaction time even when compared to normal Pokemon is so slow that an Apex can eat a full meal before trying the wiggling crunchy thing -you- for dessert," I said, taking deep breaths.
"Calm down. I know that too, and I have also seen Golem sleep after they fill their daily quota of terrorizing local Pokemon by tumbling down the mountain. You can even go sleep on top of it if you want to, the Golem is just a big boulder right now. It's like a fly landing on you when you are sleeping," Amanda spoke, tossing her hair back, giving me an 'I know better than you' look.
"If, you are sure." I turned towards the Golem only to see it lazily munch on something with its legs tucked in its rocky shell, its hands merrily hanging out.
The oddly cute scene turned into a spine-chilling one as the Golem's hand dug into the rocky floor as if it were butter and the Golem tossed the chunks of the floor into its mouth.
I noticed that the Golem was inadvertently tearing the floor when it was trying to scoop up the berries on the floor,' The revelation suddenly made me feel less secure about hiding in the crack of the enormous rock, even one that weighs thousands of tons.
"Amanda, you said the Apex will be in deep sleep. Then why is it tearing the floor?" I whispered harshly, the crumbling sound of the floor attracting Amanda's attention towards the Golem, making her see the supposed sleeping Golem terrorizing the poor floor.
"Oh! Well, the Golem was a little weird when compared to other Golem, with it taking rest after just one round even though most Golem don't roll right back up," Amanda explained in a frivolous tone like she didn't come close to losing her life.
"You! You!" Her nonchalance about the danger an Apex represented dazed me.
'If you knew the Golem was weird, you could have thought of any other plan than walking up to a Pokemon who can snap you in half like a toothpick.' I screamed inwardly, glaring at Amanda.
"Ok! Geez! Stop looking at me like that. I admit, I acted before thinking, I guess I don't consider Apex Pokemon as much of a threat as you do," she said with a small blush decorating her cheeks.
"Malar, my Grandpa's Magmortar, taught the Apex Pokemon near our territory not to mess with me."
'A MAGMORTAR' I freaked out and stared at Amanda as she continued like she just mentioned a common Raticate, not a Pokemon so rare that only one trainer in the entire Kanto is supposed to have it.
"The monitoring wild elites will rescue us if we face fatal danger. Celia was merely exaggerating when she said the Elites won't be able to look after everyone." The blush on her face was replaced by a frown, most likely considering how she could commit such a stupid and reckless mistake.
It seemed whatever conclusion she reached was not good for me as she glared at me before trying to stomp my feet again, but this time I wasn't caught off guard, so I easily dodged her foot.
She glared at me for a second before huffing.
'Man! Maybe I should learn some basic martial arts. For a second, it looked like she was going to hand my butt to me. I mean with her upbringing I don't even have a little doubt that she would be proficient in martial arts,' I thought waiting for her explanation as to why she was offended by feet.
"Hey! What was that for?" I asked, seeing she was ignoring me.
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I hope I was not too subtle. You guys understood, why Amanda tried to stomp MC's feet right? Comment and let me know.