Chapter 6: Forest Encounter

It has been a few minutes since Ark entered the forest. The path was uneven and covered in growing roots, if not for the fact that he had a fit physique, there would be no doubt that he would have injured himself by moving so fast in such unstable terrain. He strained his ears and eyes whilst scouring the area. After coming upon a large tree with a trunk thicker than two average adult males, Ark diverted off of the path and ran to the left. For some reason his instincts were screaming for him to turn left. This was the first time he had experienced such a feeling and decided to trust in it since he had no other leads at the moment.

"The foliage is getting pretty thick right now"

The plants grew up to Ark's chest making him slow down. He stopped and lent against a tree. His constant struggling against the plant life drastically drained his stamina a lot more than when he was running on the path.

"Seriously... it's only been a few minutes and i'm already losing my breath. When I get back I am going to build up my stamina with obstacles."

Ark was made to realise that despite his training and system, he was still just a human. He will get worn down by the same things others would. Just at a slower rate.

As Ark was resting, he heard a faint crying in the distance. A faint hope sparked in his chest. He focused on the direction the crying was coming from. After hearing it a few more times, he trekked towards the area with hastened steps.

The closer he got, the louder the sound was. The foliage grew denser by the step but Ark carried on, he would likely regret it the next morning though. As he got with in a few meters of the origin of the noise, he realised that the cry sounded more like a Pokemon's distress cry. He could not see due to the screen wall in front of him, but he felt that it was a pokemon in trouble.

"A Pokemon? So it's not the group members? Should I leave then, I mean the more time I spend here, the less time I have to search"

As Ark was fighting an internal battle about whether to leave, the Pokemon let out another pained cry. Ark shook his head and pushed forward, he thought that he could at least check out the situation before deciding. After a few seconds of wrestling with the plants, Ark pushed through to a 2-meter wide clearing at the base of a tree. Amidst the green, Ark could see a glimpse of clear white. This was the first bit of new colour he had seen in a while, due to this he edged towards it.

"Hold on, that white thing is the one making those sounds"

With this realisation, Ark moved to the side of the Pokemon. It looked familiar but from the side, but he wasn't sure. As he got within touching distance of the Pokemon, he turned it's head towards him... or at least it would have looked that way had it not been for the front and back of it's head looking identical. With this significant revelation, Ark was assured of his thoughts.

It was a Ralts.

It had a green leaf like head, with two bright red protrusions sticking from the front and back. The rest of it's body was a milky white save for one it's arms. One of it's arms was pitch black with red lines pulsing up it. Judging by the pattern, the black stuff was slowly spreading up the Ralts' body.

"What is this? It doesn't seem to be Pokerus and I've never seen this in a game or the anime..."

Ark was baffled by the strange phenomenom. Filled with curiousity, Ark reached down to touch the Ralts. It didn't resist and just quietly cried in pain. Just before Ark touched the black stuff, he heard a voice within his mind.

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Host has unlocked the 'Quest' function

*New* Quest received : Absorb the miasma from the Ralts

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"Eh? I unlocked a new function? I guess I must have finally found something that has an impact on the story of this world. Though I don't remember anything like this."

Ark was processing the new information and realised the longer he took, the more pain poor Ralts would feel.

"Time to suck it up and get it done, Ralts bear with me for a bit"

Ark sat next to Ralts' arm and slowly reached for it. The moment his arm came into contact with the miasma, Ark's body was assaulted by an unbearable pain. The miasma crawled up his body as Ark screamed and squirmed like a fish on land. It felt like hundreds of hungry wolves were biting every inch of his body. His mind was suffering just as much, a throbbing headache made Ark nearly vomit, the pressure felt like his brain was being squeezed in a vice. The pain he was experiencing was so bad that he did not realise the miasma slowly dissipate into his body without a trace.

After a minute of screaming and cursing, Arks body was limp on the ground covered in sweat and blood. Had anyone looked closely, the miasma had caused no damage other than the pain, it was Ark himself who could not stop his nails from clawing at himself in an attempt to escape the pain.

"Is... it... over?"

He sat up and winced when he saw the state of his body. The fear and despair he felt had been engraved into his very being.

"Oh right Ralts, is it safe?"

Speaking to no-one in particular, he moved to ralts and gently shook it's shoulders. After a few shakes, Ralts began to stir. The moment it spotted Ark, it tried to back away. Ark removed his hands and shuffled back as well.

"It's alright little buddy, I know you're scared. You're fine now"

As Ark spoke, Ralts stared at it's arm and tilted it's head in confusion. Ark chuckled at its cute behaviour.

"The black stuff is gone, I got rid of it. Though curious as to where you found it."

Ralts just stared back in response. It remained unmoving as it analysed the validity of Arks words. Seeing this, Ark stood up and started to walk away.

"I will be leaving, be careful and try to stay away from that sort of thing again. It is too dangerous"

Ark left. He carried on with the path he was following prior to his minor detour. His instinct was still gnawing at him, telling him to continue left.