Chapter no.29

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"So," Ash began, using his spoon to scrape the bottom of a can of beans, "why exactly don't you wear all of the armour that my grandfather gave us?" He glanced at Misty across the small campfire that they had built an hour earlier. "So," Ash began, "why exactly don't you wear all of the armour?" There was still enough light for him to see that Misty wore only half of the protective outfit, leaving her legs almost completely uncovered, even though the little flames had died down to barely more than glowing coals as late evening approached all around them. Misty had left her legs almost completely uncovered.

After taking her last bite of a protein bar, Misty tossed the remnants of her meal into a paper bag, shrugged, and then passed the bag on to Ash. As Ash placed his rubbish in the bag and secured the drawstring at the top, she remarked, "Girl's got to have prerogative." "This is simply the position in which I find the most ease."

Ash nodded, having come to the conclusion that it would be pointless to try to persuade a girl otherwise when she claimed that something was her "prerogative." He then turned his back on the fire and conceded, "That makes sense to me." This effectively brought an end to the conversation. After saying, "I'll take care of this," he vanished into the forest for a brief moment, and when he returned, the sack was gone. Pikachu, of course, had hopped onto his shoulder before he left. As a means of preventing the Pokémon from attempting to flee, Ash gave Growlithe the order to take the first watch and complied with Misty's request to place Fearow back inside her pokeball. On the other hand, Ash considered this to be an unnecessary safety measure.

Before retiring for the evening, they doused the flames with dirt and then dispersed the ashes across the landscape.

While Pikachu dozed off on Ash's chest, Growlithe kept a watchful eye on the situation from where it was perched. When the orange canine noticed that fatigue was beginning to eat away at his ability to concentrate, the Pokémon stood up and began to pace out a perimeter around the small camp, moving as quietly as he possibly could and never straying more than a single bound away from Ash and Misty. Growlithe woke Pikachu at the stroke of two in the morning, taking care not to startle either of the humans in the process, and then the Pokémon switched places.

The remainder of the night and the following day passed without any significant incidents occurring. Both Ash and Misty awoke at the same time, just before dawn, and immediately began rolling up their sleeping bags. When they continued to move north into the forest, Ash once again took the lead while Growlithe and Fearow served as his flankers. Pikachu maintained its customary perch atop Ash's head as it vigilantly searched the surrounding area for danger. A number of times, a Fearow would wander a few metres away from the group and thrust her beak into the bushes in an attempt to grab a Caterpie that was unaware of her presence. Ash also noticed that Growlithe appeared to be going out of his way to catch insects, on which the canine would quickly gorge itself before continuing.

Pikachu, having consumed only a meagre amount of food for lunch, emerged from hiding around noon to find yet another Caterpie, which it promptly dispatched with a particularly ineffective electrical bolt. The shock was still sufficient to render the insect immobile, and Ash was able to capture it using one of his empty pokeballs after it had been rendered helpless.

Ash shook his head and said, "It's a shame the Pokedex isn't operational," as he held the container containing the newly captured Pokémon up to the small computer. The only thing that appeared on the screen was the message "inability to connect to the network." "I'm a little anxious to start cataloguing things," she said.

Misty comforted him by placing her hand on his shoulder and assuring him that they would have their opportunity. Once this Bill guy gets the Pokedex online, we'll still have all of our Pokémon... and it's not like we've run into any other trainers who have Pokémon to capture, so we won't have to."

Misty came to an abrupt halt when she heard a soft 'plip' sound, and Ash, who was still looking at the small screen, flinched and held the Pokedex out at arm's length. Even as her eyes fell on what appeared to be a splatter of liquid on the screen, she questioned, "What is it?"

As he looked up, Ash's eyes followed their natural path, which was upwards, and his head slowly lifted. The trainer jerked and wiped at his face as another drop of liquid landed on his cheek with a 'plip,' leaving a reddened smear across his cheek. He mumbled something under his breath while looking at the palm of his hand. "What the hell?"

Misty turned her head up and became silent as Ah wiped the red liquid off of his face with the sleeve of his shirt. "Hey, Misty," he called out to her as he turned to face her and extended his hand to shake. When Misty pointed upwards, he looked up at her and then fell silent. "What do you... make?" he asked.

The object, which appeared to be a white pod made of silk and was suspended above them from a branch that was particularly robust, was located approximately fifty feet in the air. It was much too large to be that of a Caterpie or even of a Weedle, and the bottom of the pod was stained the colour of blood. The only other possibility was that it belonged to a Weedle.

Ash questioned the group, "What do you think that might be?"

Misty's response came as both trainers' eyes were drawn to the butterfly net that protruded from the side of the pod. "We ought to definitely get moving," Misty said in response. "We haven't even made it to the middle of the forest, and we've already discovered a dead body..."

"Bodies," said Ash. After taking a diversion to the right, he observed a pod that was identical to the one they were looking for clinging to the boot of a tree ten metres in front of them. A dark liquid, which did not appear to be blood based on its appearance, was dripping down the side of the tree from the bottom of this one, which was also ruby in colour. Pokeballs, a rucksack, and a butterfly net that was broken were all found strewn about on the ground beneath the pod. "Come on," Ash urged them. Misty moved of her own accord in the direction of the second pod as Ash led her there, but he made a move to take her by the hand. It was located along their path.

As the group descended beneath the tree, Pikachu immediately went into guard mode, and Growlithe began sniffing the air with each breath it took. Misty surveyed the horrifying setting while breathing through the shirt she was wearing as she stood in front of the tree. The pod was situated so that it was just above eye level. After looking through the wreckage for a moment, Ash stood up.

"Each and every one of the pokeballs is damaged," stated Ash. They are of no use, and there is nothing inside the backpack.

The answer that Misty provided was that the body was beginning to decompose inside the cocoon. "Whatever was responsible for this must have left the area before we arrived."

After giving the cocoon a cursory examination, Ash withdrew from it. It was the combination of the close, stale air of the silent forest and the lingering smell of death that caused his eyes to well up with tears. Do you think Weedle was responsible for what happened to him?

Misty nodded. She and Ash both turned their backs on the scene and began walking away from it without saying another word. This time, they walked in close proximity to one another. "Their poison from a Weedle causes the victim's body to rot even before they die... so I can see it doing this."

After that, the trainers and their Pokémon moved quickly, but with as much caution as was consistent with their pace. Fearow was sent back to her pokeball primarily due to the fact that the bird was creating an excessive amount of commotion while attempting to pick her way through the brush. Growlithe seemed to be following Ash like a ghost because he moved around without making any sounds that the humans could hear, with the exception of his near-constant attempts to pick up on any potentially dangerous odour. Ash was perplexed for a short while as to how the Pokémon had failed to detect the odour of decay, but he eventually came to the conclusion that it must have been due to the fact that there was absolutely no wind within the forest to stir the air because he had just recently noticed this fact.

The party chose to ignore the Caterpie for the remainder of the day despite the fact that it would occasionally emerge from the brush and stare at them. Even the trainers' attempts to move stealthily through the undergrowth sounded loud and clumsy to Ash, who had the impression that the entire forest was holding its breath. The trainers discovered four more pods along the way, each of which appeared to be a container for the deceased and was strung between two trees. Both Ash and Misty decided to call it a night at that point and went into complete silence as they got ready for bed. They did not communicate with one another or their Pokémon in any way, and neither of them built a campfire. After Growlithe had taken over the watch, they resorted to eating a cold dinner and going to sleep.