Pokedex Entry #021: Wrong Turn Right Path

The last time we left Kopi, he just was ambushed by a mysterious figure called Sage. But upon their separation, Taylor and Phoebe met a surprise of their own. And that will be the story we focus on today.

Taylor POV

It's been days since Mr.Kopi had fought against Flash and his friends but I still couldn't get one thing out of my head. The fact that if I hadn't been there, Mr.Kopi wouldn't have been in as much pain as he is now. That he was stronger right after he left me alone, just like Trixie. All that battle proved was that I still had so much to learn. But I'm more than willing to work at that, because my pouting at Sandgem proved I never want to be separated from Mr.Kopi ever again.

To that end, I decided to turn into a full-on sprint toward Phoebe's disposed location. Thankfully she had agreed at our request to have her filming on a high up cliff away from the devastation, while also keeping me hidden from cameras and posts for a while. By the time I reached their Phoebe seemed to have also drastically changed her style as she does everyday. Now she was wearing a light green jacket that blurred together with a t-shirt that said "Oreburgh City" in warm brown letters and a white skirt to finish it off. Compared to my purple pants and long-sleeved pink shirt, we looked completely different.

Though I think the biggest thing that shocked me was how well set up, she was. Phoebe's immediate surroundings were filled with equipment like cameras, microphones, sound booths and more. It made me feel like I was walking into a movie studio as the 2 of us finally locked eyes.

"Hi, Taylor, glad to see you again! Kopi couldn't come?"

"No, Kopi got a bad cold this morning and told me to move ahead."

"Oof, that's too bad, but at least we can give him a surprise after we are done shooting."

"Surprise?"

"You'll see what I mean when I get done with this. Trust me; you're going to love it."

After our first meeting, I've seen Phoebe in front of a screen multiple times. But now that I was in the thick of it I can see now that Phoebe was a lot more professional than I thought. Even with zero experience, she made filming incredibly easy. And her showmanship was frankly amazing, she was energetic but precise, informative but not boring, covering every detail without an obvious bias or misinformation. You can tell she's been doing this for a long time and knew exactly how to present herself. She deserved every subscriber she had.

Still seeing the devastation of Kopi's battle through an up-close lens was not a comforting feeling. All it did was remind me even more about how far I need to go to help him out. Once Phoebe told me to stop rolling, she quickly took my camera and phone, moving so fast that her fingers were a blur. When they finally stopped, Phoebe let out a big sigh of relief, seemingly huffing out all of her professionalism and going back to her old self.

"Thanks for the help, camerawoman bur now we can finally get to the hard part."

"Willing exposing yourself to the cold, toxic, anxiety-filled wasteland that is the Internet when you're only 10 is the easiest part?"

"Of course, because right now I'm going to help you find that Gligar you were chasing."

The quote itself left me partially in awe, I had only mentioned the Gligar story offhand so I didn't nearly expect this.

"You would do that for me?"

"Of course, Taylor, you scratched my back, then I have to scratch yours back. No thanks needed, no questions asked." Phoebe said as she tied her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail.

All at once my Speleology curiosity hit me at full force, fully ready to take the first step in getting stronger, without Kopi's health. So, I accepted without a second thought.

"Then let's do this!" I said in an uncontained victory dance, "What's the plan?"

"I'm glad you asked my friend, after you told me about your plight, I quickly ran down all my sources. Eventually I found this fan's sister's boyfriend's drug dealer's poacher's daughter who gave me all we needed to begin the hunt.

"And that is?"

Phoebe decided to just show me her findings, that being a single hair captured in a small jar.

"A single Gligar hair, which should belong to our resident trouble maker. Which means that Swirly will be able to help us."

A cold sweat dropped beneath my brow as I soon realized what she was getting at. In a fluid motion, Phoebe tossed her Pokeball to release the ultimate mistake of Arceus. Reddish pink eyes claimed my very soul as soon enough the beam revealed our tracker: Slurpuff! A soul-shattering chill ran up my spine as the beast gave its battle cry.

"Slurpuff."

"You okay, Taylor?" Phoebe said in confusion.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I said while steeling myself for the mission in hand.

Next thing I know Phoebe the demon and I were trudging through the rocky terrain heading towards the fringes of the center of Sinnoh, Mt. Coronet. Though after an hour of trudging about away from where I had least seen the Gligamy Speleology curiosity (or Slurpuff bias, you decide) was calling the demon into question.

"You sure that terrifyingly sweet thing is leading us on the right path," I said vindictively.

"Of course, Swirly hasn't led me wrong yet. She's about as trusty as I am on a scoop."

"That doesn't make me feel better," I said wholeheartedly.

Then from out of nowhere the beast decided to bark like a madman, calling to attention a flying shadow from above. That shadow turned into a fast blur that descended upon a large protruding rock right in front of us. I tried getting a good look at the figure but it was covered by a grass woven hat. But once the figure stood up I saw something I never expected to see, a triumphant Ducklet in the literal middle of Sinnoh! Though I couldn't be that excited about the incident as his appearance soon brought a suppressive bubble beam that sent us all back! Dirt caked my clothes and sent my wounds burning as my eyes refocused to see Phoebe.

"I'm fine, Taylor, for the most part. This isn't the first time I've been roughed up in this gig."

"Yeah, but it will be the last under my watch, Ziggy show your stuff!"

One triumphant throw later, Ziggy made his speedy appearance in the form of a quick sand attack! However, the Ducklett was strange, welcoming the challenge as he said flipped gracefully out of the way. In response, Ziggy tried to close in with a headbutt, yet somehow the Ducklett read the pattern, closing in only to deliver a grapple that sends him high into the sky! That masterful performance was then followed up by a powerful bubble beam that sent Ziggy tumbling back to earth off a steep cliffside.

In response the Ducklett gave a subtle bow with hat in wing, Ziggy in anger tried intercepting it with even greater speed but by that time the Ducklett then used a bubble beam in the ground below, causing a giant smokescreen that enveloped us all! All I could feel was another fast blur to my side as the entire smokescreen lifted to show an angry and confused Ducklett. But even worse, our only tracker, Swirly, was now knocked out.

"What just happened?" I said in confusion.

"If my Swirly was barking at him, then that Ducklett must've met our runaway Gligar."

"Well, they both give that annoying feeling. Either way, he seems to be long gone, so maybe we should heal up Swirly and-"

"Oh no, Taylor, this doesn't feel like an adventure; this feels like a story. And I won't be giving up that easily! Nighty lights, camera, get ready for action!"

Two beams of light sprouted from Phoebe, all in an effort of switching Swirly in favor of a rugged-looking Noctowl with big bags under his eyes. Without even giving a word Nighty looked at the horizon and flew out of our sights with as fast and quiet as a cool breeze. Phoebe didn't even hesitate, instead of barreling on past me towards our continued direction. And without any words, I followed her back. Speloegy curiosity mixed dangerously with Snapper persistence in a deadly cocktail that had us speeding towards Nighty, who was staring intensely at a small hole carved inside the mountain. Honestly we didn't even question the location as we fearlessly sled down the mysterious hole! The hole quickly became far steeper and smoother than I realized as I picked up enough speed to shoot out the other side in a hard fall!

Once my eyes stopped spinning around, I got to see our new location in full force. Because it seems that I've finally made a discovery, that small hole led us to a small cave that felt like the inside of a tower, with carved out hovels that showed off a variety of mostly birds like Pokemon from every region. The small community seemed to be enjoying themselves, as we saw some of the fly around in games of tag while others laid in cute little hammocks. But as soon as our entrance happened the entire cave's happy mood turned deadly, as they all looked at us with eyes willing to kill. The pressure was one I was familiar with now; I've faced far worse. Phoebe didn't care, though, attempting to try and take out her phone for some footage. However before she could even do that a fast bubble burst between her hand and phone, knocking it away.

All at once, the entire crowd quieted by a familiar blue blur from above! The Ducklett had seemingly returned with an even more boastful appearance as he quacked up a storm. I couldn't exactly understand their language, but I could get the gist of the conversation as the crowd ceased their near frenzy. He was going to take it from here and protect them. Before I could even say much more Ziggy catapulted out of his Pokeball, more determined than he's ever been. It was such an intense feeling that I couldn't help but answer those feelings as I looked at the Ducklett.

"Fine, you want a rematch, you got it! But after I beat you better take us straight to that Gligar!"

The Ducklett couldn't help but tip down his hat as Ziggy, and he engaged in battle! Except the Ducklett wasn't playing any game this time, as he swooped in with Wing attack! But this time I was ready for his onslaught, forcing Ziggy to stay back until the last possible second. Once that opportunity came, all that pent-up speed jolted him away from his swipe while returning with a powerful sand attack! However, Ducklett's offensive didn't slow his evasion at all, diving back enough for the attack to miss his eyes! To return the favor, both opponents didn't lose a beat, clashing back with a Wing attack and Covet respectfully!

However despite the struggle Ducklett didn't account for Baby Doll Eyes, which cut his attack just enough for Ziggy to win the standoff! From there, Ziggy's frustration fueled a barrage of head butts that not even Ducklett could dodge! I almost thought that I would get an easy win, but at that moment the flock of Pokemon started cheering for their champion in a variety of calls! This gave Ducklett enough motivation to finally counter strike with a wing attack that sent Ziggy upwards!

By the time he hit the wall, Ducklett had already risen as well, preparing a widespread Bubble beam! It was an attack that for sure would end the battle, but too bad it was never going to hit! Ziggy's stubborn energy let him recover beautifully, jumping off the wall as soon as he made contact! An explosion of bubbles splatter against the wall, already missing their target. The Ducklett tried charging up another blast but hesitated when he realized that Ziggy had already been running with the distressed crowd! Because of that, he was completely useless when Ziggy rebounded off the walls in an all-out blitzkrieg.

Good news was with the baby doll eyes in effect Ducklett couldn't muster an attack powerful enough to deal with a runaway Covet that sent him colliding with the opposite wall! The attack was so powerful that a sent of debris from the craters rained down on the Ducklett as he was sent crashing into the earth. At his defeated tomb, Ziggy gave out a roar of satisfaction as I started to walk up. But my path was completely blocked as another violet blur descended from above, creating another creator that sent the entire flock bowing in respect.

In a day full of discoveries and mysteries, this easily took the Pikacake. Despite his earlier carefree and mischievous personality, this time, the Gligar was deadly serious with eyes like a predator. Despite his complete command over the flock, Phoebe started cheering me on.

"Go get him, Taylor; you can catch him now! I'll get it all on camera."

But at her little encouragement, Ducklett quickly burst out of his tomb, completely forgoing his hat and standing in between the Gligar and I. Our battle must have been tough as through his ruffled feathers; I saw a large scar on his chest. Gligar in response demanded the Ducklett to back down but the 2 quickly fell into a passionate argument. It was then I realized that the flock all had appearances similar to the Ducklett. Covering up multiple scars with various articles of clothing, which started to click everything into place. These guys just all wanted to be left alone while trying to keep their spark in a mean world. And I would be the last person to snuff it out. I decided to follow the rules and bow down along with the various Pokemon.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," I said sorrowfully.

Phoebe, in a confused tone, replied.

"But Taylor, he's right there, this story could be -."

"Maybe some mysteries stay mysteries for a reason. They just want to be left alone," I said as I decided to leave the place with her in hand.

Phoebe decided to respect my choice, and we walked out of the cave with the Gligar showing a look of quiet respect with the Ducklett in utter awe back to Oreburgh. And surprisingly, she took it better than expected.

"It's kind of sucky, but it does feel a little good not to post something for a change. Feels personal, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand; thanks for helping me out, though."

"No problem, I just wish I could've gotten you at least one Pokemon. Do you want to trade my Swirly perchance?"

"Um, no, thank you," I said through beaded sweat.

"Well either way, I hope you enjoy your journey Taylor, I've got another scoop for tomorrow so I better rest early."

"Okay, then Phoebe, see you next time," I said while giving her a goodbye hug.

And as I saw Phoebe walk off once again on her journey I decided that such an exciting day, couldn't have ended any better than hanging out with a friend. I think that was enough exploring for one day, realizing I can go further than I ever thought. But as soon as I was about to enter our hotel, a little hatted friend decided to make a dramatic appearance. A friend that I would love to introduce to a little friend of my own.

It seems that Taylor has made another exploration amongst so many others! But how will her new friend help her out in the next step of her grand journey? Find out next time as the journey continues.