“So….. why are we roasting marshmallows? We haven’t eaten yet”, Harrison commented.

  “Well, we have no real food”, Christine deadpanned, snacking on a large Sitrus berry as she watched the marshmallow char and darken. She eyed the other groups who were grilling meat.

  “You think Miss Julie got lost?”, Gavin murmured. His marshmallow was roasted thoroughly and considerably burnt which made Seedot cackle on the side.

  “Haha very funny", he said. He then threw the marshmallow at Seedot before grabbing a new one.

  Seedot then proceeded to stomp the burnt mush into floor paste.

  “Seed-seed”, it began and Harrison watched as the two of them bickered.

  One of the other students then walked up to their camp. Harrison looked up and nodded in greeting once he saw that it was Logan.

  “Hey, we saw that you guys had no meat”, Logan said, offering half a pack of hotdogs.

  “Neat. We can trade with some of our endless berries”, Christine stated while grabbing a dozen for exchange.

  The loud sounds of discussion then started amongst the campgrounds. Rustling leaves and shifting trees came from deep within the forest.

  “What do you think it is?”, one school kid asked.

  “Good thing this isn’t Kanto. I won’t have to worry about potential Ursarings in the woods”, another school kid joked.

  “Hah. You’d be crying for your mom if it was just a big Purugly”

  “I-I mean of course! Have you seen how massive those things are!”, he stammered in protest.

  One kid on a stump then began to berate another, “Can you stop poking me and then pretending you didn’t do it? It’s starting to get annoying”

  The chatter then died down as the sounds of rustling leaves grew louder. Long green hair then emerged from the foliage.

  “Huh”, she gasped as she exited before blushing once she noticed all the children staring at her.

  “Oh, it’s just Miss Julie”

  “You think she got lost?”

  “Maybe, she found a Rare Pokemon. I mean I would chase it down if I found one”

  “Did you get the food yet?”, some of the children who didn’t get their dinner yet asked.

  “Not yet. I guess I’m just not used to the forest at night”, she admitted.

  She could have sworn she was being turned around by something in the forest as the once straightforward paths would suddenly have trees in the way. But, she didn’t want to worry the children.

  “Guess, we’re gonna be waiting a while longer. Anyways, thanks Logan”, Harrison muttered as he took in the situation.

  Logan nodded before asking, “You think everything’s fine? Miss Julie is usually on top of things”

  Harrison refrained from responding as he had a feeling that something was off but as nothing was concrete, he could only wait.

  Then it happened. One of the school kids didn’t pay attention to their firewood pile and as they were distracted, the intensity of their campfire increased and spread onto their pile.

  “Oh!-crap”, he began once he noticed but he then fell from his seat as the log shoved him towards the flames.

  “Phant!”, a loud cry could be heard as the log rushed off. Deep in the woods, an eerie scream resonated before being followed by a chorus of screams.

  Luckily, the school kid had been caught by his fellow camp member before his face could be roasted by the flames.

  In succession, numerous kids toppled as the logs and stumps they sat on ran away. A deep rumbling could then be felt from the woods.

  “W-w-what was that?”

  “Ow. Was that a Pokemon?”

  Sensing something powerful approaching, Harrison stopped what he was doing.

  “Logan, keep your Shinx on standby. Someone contact the Rangers!”, Harrison barked in a hurry. He then released Nova which had dazzling fur as he suspected.

  “Harrison?! What’s wrong?”, Miss Julie asked and was about to head over but Harrison motioned for her to stay put.

  “TRE-VE!!!!”, the deep bellow could be heard from within the forest as the woods shook.

  I should have noticed, Harrison thought. Earlier on when there was still daylight, there were a decent amount of wild Pokemon still roaming around but there were absolutely none when he saw all the logs which were scattered around the camping grounds. The Pokemon knew something was off and left. Just like prey when there was a predator lurking.

  The trees right in front of the camping grounds then gave way like a crowd splitting for a celebrity.

  On the side, some students released their starter Pokemon in panic and for reassurance but none of them were battle-ready and more importantly, were cowering alongside their supposed Trainers.

  Miss Julie had attempted to contact some Rangers for consultation as the problem was concerning but when the phone showed no reception, she resigned herself to the more arduous process of additional paperwork and procedures that would happen after an emergency. She then used the device and alerted the rangers. Pressing the button twice to indicate a dangerous situation which potentially required reinforcements and strong Pokemon.

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  The children stared in awe as the trees began to move as if alive with the branches waving and shifting. Hurtling out of the foliage, the massive tree he previously witnessed shot out of the woods before landing in the campgrounds with a deep thud and leaving a noticeable crack in the ground.

  Hesitant to provoke it, Harrison waited with his Shinx on the ready. He then noticed that it shrunk slightly compared to its height back in the forest. Its size might have been slightly reduced for better mobility but even then, it was still tall enough to be formidable and indicated its strength.

  Everyone stared in anticipation and awe at the massive tree which left the forest. It stood at the center of the camping grounds and blocked out the view of the other children that could be previously seen when directly across.

  Miss Julie also took out her Glameow and stood at the ready even if her Glameow was more of a pet than a battler.

  The thick branches then began to move, portions of the old bark began to crumble and fall. A crack then formed and its eye opened. A deep hateful yet radiant red eye.

  “TREVENANT!!!!!!!”, it bellowed.

  Deep roots penetrated the ground before running outwards in all directions like a spiderweb. The destination seemed to be all the campfires.

  Harrison reacted.

  “NOVA, MATCH IT”

  His Shinx jumped into action and converted the power stored in its dazzling fur into electricity. Following each root, the thunder shock split into several branches and landed precisely. The power was deep enough to leave a mark in the wood but not strong enough to cause any real damage. However a few of the roots caught fire from the sparks and the tree noticed.

  It stopped manipulating the roots and instead, rushed forward towards the Shinx with considerable speed. It raised one of its branches which was now covered in a deep green aura and slammed downwards with Wood Hammer.

  “Glameow, Fake Out”, Miss Julie called out to interrupt.

  She and Glameow then were shocked as the priority move landed but phased through the tree.

  However, Gavin followed up.

  “Seedot, Astonish!”, he cried out.

  The abrupt ambush by Seedot caused the tree to flinch and interrupted its Wood Hammer. Although the move was super effective, the impact was minimal as Seedot was still young.

  The tree then paused its advance and faced the Seedot.

  “Trev-”, it stated with a sigh as if disapproving.

  “Seed?”, it tilted its head in confusion.

  The tree then launched towards the Seedot with Branch Poke and the sharply pointed branch struck Seedot directly. The move was weak but the power was considerable when used by a formidable Pokemon.

  “Seeeed!”, it cried before fainting as it crashed and left a crater on the tree that it struck.

  “Seedot!”, Gavin shouted in concern as he rushed over towards the Pokemon.

  “Now!”, Harrison shouted, signaling to Logan.

  The two Shinx then repeatedly charged and launched Thunder Shocks at the Trevenant which was unaffected by the attack and moved forward. It took one step then stopped as static electricity coursed through its body. It had been paralyzed.

  “That’s enough”, Harrison said and motioned for Logan to retrieve his Shinx.

  The Trevenant glared at Harrison and then melted into the ground. The other School Kids then screamed upon seeing the massive tree suddenly disappear without a trace despite being right in front of them.

  “Switch!”, Harrison shouted as he returned Nova and let out his other Pokemon.

  Right when the Pokemon just finished materializing, Trevenant shot out of the shadows with tremendous speed and struck the Pokemon with full force. Phantom Force, a powerful move which can bypass Detect, Protect, and even Minimize. A move like Aerial Ace which guaranteed a hit that could be fatal from a Pokemon this strong.

  “Star!”, his Pokemon exclaimed, sending Trevenant into a brief shock as his move failed to end the battle when it usually destroyed all its opponents.

  “Now! Winged Blade!”, Harrison ordered.

  Staravia stirred into action, charging Wing Attack which guaranteed a hit at the close range that Trevenant had made upon its entry. It then used Quick Attack to increase the impact and speed of the attack and combined the two moves for a full force hit.

  “Treven!”, the tree cried upon impact. The move was super effective and left an indication of significant damage as a deep line had been carved into the bark by the wing.

  “Again!”

  Staravia swerved back and struck again with its wings, causing damage but Trevenant retaliated. Catching the bird with its branches, the Trevenant struck with Horn Leech and partially drained the bird.

  “Staravia!”, his bird cried and Harrison tightened his fist.

  “Glameow, Aerial Ace!”, Miss Julie suddenly interrupted.

  With great speed, the graceful cat slashed downwards, striking the Trevenant which buckled and enabled Staravia to escape. Staravia flew away with some difficulty as the move wasn’t super effective but was powerful enough to weaken it significantly.

  She likely can’t handle another hit, Harrison thought upon observing the condition of his Staravia. As suspected, the Trevenant was far more than he could handle. For a trade evolution, the wild Pokemon wielded the might of a fully evolved starter.

  Greatly angered, the Trevenant decided to stop targeting specific Pokemon. It stood in the middle with its red eye flaring in rage. The massive tree then laid some roots for a bit of recovery before preparing for its next move.

  “TRE-”, it started and moved to stomp.

  The tree then halted when an entire section of the woods it moved to block off the path had been set on fire. The flames reached to the sky and distracted it for a moment. Before it could react, a large black blur sped towards it and struck.

  The huge dark lion with piercing yellow eyes clamped onto the tree and Crunched. With a single move, the formidable and healthy Trevenant was struck down.

  “Lux”, the Luxray scoffed.

  A familiar man then hopped off of the Luxray and waved at Harrison.

  “Ol’ Travis got called away and I had to deal with his crap”, Harold stated.

  Miss Julie then collapsed in relief as all the tension released.

  “That was amazing!”, a school kid stated now that all the danger was gone.

  Three groups then formed in the camping grounds. One which wanted to relax after all the action, one which formed to observe Luxray, and the rest which talked to Harrison.

  Miss Julie then informed Ace Trainer Harold of what happened. Some of the other chaperones then emerged from the woods looking very parched and spoke of wandering for hours.

  “You have big boots to fill”, Gavin stated while looking at the Ace Trainer.

  “He does but he’ll be up for it”, Christine added.

  Harrison just sighed and watched as his bird stared at the Trevenant with its passion for battling growing larger.

  A new voice then spoke.

  “This leaves me speechless! Never could I have imagined that a colony of Phantumps would be hiding near Sandgem Town”, an old man with white hair and white mustache stood, having just arrived. He wore a brown coat and a tie with a blue buttoned shirt instead of the usual lab coat expected from those of his occupation.

  Professor Rowan, Harrison thought as their eyes met.