Chapter 014

The two boys sneaked downstairs in the dark and walked towards the main door.

Alex stopped Joseph just as they were about to head out.

"Wait. Are you sure we should go out of the main door?" asked Alex.

"What do you mean?" questions Joseph.

"A bunch of rangers with Psychic-type Pokemon are out there somewhere setting an ambush right? So that means some kind of detection move is being used out there. What if we walk out only to end up being detected by some Pokemon? They would undoubtedly match us back. No way we are going to able to spot that Crobat in that case" replied Alex.

"Then what do you suggest?" asked Joseph after giving it some thought.

"Why don't we go to the huge window on the top floor? We can stay in the building until the Zubat are back. And if we need to, we can climb down the tree adjacent to the window, though it will be dangerous" suggested Alex.

"Alright, let's do that" said Joesph. They both went back up to the top floor of the building, and opened the window. The windows did have some safety bars, but parts of them had corroded, leaving enough space for the two boys to squeeze through if needed.

They both sat near the window started starting outside.

"So, what's with the obsession with Crobat? You never told me?" questioned Alex.

"You know my father specialized in flying types right? He had a Pidgeotto, Fearow, Murkrow, and a Golbat. After the incident, all his other Pokemon were found dead. But his Golbat was not. It was declared dead, but they never found its corpse" said Joseph.

"Do you think this Crobat is your father's Golbat? I heard trainers can recognise their Pokemon among an identical group. Did you recognise the Crobat or something?" questioned Alex.

"No. It's definitely not my father's Golbat. I am sure of that. My father's Golbat was very old and had almost no chance of evolving. While for this one, it is very young apparently. I overheard Roger talking about this over the phone. If it evolved when this young, it either is very talented or consumed some amazing treasure. I heard some people from the Fuchsia Gym expressed interest in it" said Joseph. "But for some reason I want to see it again, much closer this time if possible."

"Then it is official. If we aren't killed by the flock or something today, we will definitely capture you a Zubat when you become a trainer" said Alex.

They started munching on the biscuits they brought along. The biscuits were like tasteless blocks of sawdust, powdery and unappetizing. Alex remembered that these kinds of biscuits were the cheapest food available in this world, made mostly out of processed and compressed roughage. It was standard food for trainers travelling in the wilderness. Cheap, easy to carry, and able to provide sustenance, even though they were highly unappetizing.

Cherry Grove, being an orphanage received donations from people, and plenty of trainers who were exploring the forests donated the remaining packs of biscuits to the orphanage when they were heading back. Hence the orphanage rarely had any shortage of such biscuits.

The two boys started talking about the PIT and possible questions to pass the time. Eventually, daylight started creeping in from beyond the horizon.

"It's highly uncomfortable sitting in the dark like this. Thankfully, the sum is finally starting to rise. On the other hand, we didn't see the flock until now. That means they probably decided to go back later than usual this time" said Alex, fighting a yawn. "I am going to go to the toilet now. I'll be back in a while and then you can go."

Alex went out for a while and returned. He said to Joseph. Granny is up and sitting in the hall. Uncle Roger is there with him. I think he came by to update her. I didn't go too close, but I vaguely heard him say that the flock is still in near the Bloodsap trees. It may be a while for them to come back" said Alex.

Joseph nodded and went to the toilet. Alex waited for a while and heard footsteps behind him. Joseph came back and said "Uncle Roger is gone. He received a call, and after listening to it got up and left. I hear him say that the flock is moving to Granny before he left. In about 15 minutes or so we should be able to spot the flock returning."

Alex nodded and looked out of the window, eyes peeled towards the east. Joseph sat down next to him. Then they waited. And waited. After waiting about an hour, and realizing that the flock was nowhere, they decided to head down and try to get information from Jasmine or Roger, if he was back. So they went down to the hall. There they saw both Roger and Jasmine. Roger appeared tense and worried. He looked up on hearing footsteps and saw the two boys coming down.

He smiled and greeted, "Good morning!"

"Good morning Uncle Roger. So is the situation with the Zubat flock resolved?" asked Alex.

"I'm afraid not" replied Roger.

"What happened?" questioned Joseph.

"Well, you know that there is a plant next to the Bloodsap trees is used to extract and process Bloodsap right? Normally, they would intersect with the flock as they start activities way after the sun has risen and the Zubat are back in their caves. But this time, the flock did not go back to the caves when the sun rose. They attacked the plant, chased out the guards that were on duty, and occupied it to hide from the sun" he said, smiling wryly.