Chapter no.32

Read advance chapters (+ 30 ) of all my works or want to support me .

p.atreon.com/Daoist_R

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Ash!" Misty called out after she had only just noticed that Ash had mysteriously vanished into the thick grass in front of her.

"I'm good," Ash said as he got up on his knees and turned around. "I'm fine." "I think I stumbled over a rock or something," she said. Ash knelt down and searched through the grass as Pikachu jumped back on top of the trainer's hat and Growlithe, accompanied by Misty, quickly flanked Ash. Pikachu also jumped back on top of the trainer's hat. Ash mumbled something under his breath as he took a moment to pause and look at the section of grass he had cut away.

Misty looked down into the grass and quickly located a human body hidden among the dark shapes. The body was covered in a dark, full-length coat and was carrying a torn backpack that barely hung from his shoulders on shredded straps. Misty uttered in a shocked voice, "Oh my god," as she knelt down next to Ash. "This gentleman right here is a Ranger from the Indigo Plateau..."

Ash nodded, having also noticed the insignia of the Elite Four stitched into the Ranger's sleeve. The insignia was a coat of arms consisting of four golden swords against a black field. I was aware that the Elite Four sent out patrols into the forest to ensure the safety of the travellers, but I never imagined that I would come across one.

Misty chimed in with a clarification, "Much less a dead one." "The Rangers in this area have to be some of the most seasoned adventurers and survivalists, but whoever or whatever took out this Ranger might still be in the area. It is high time that we left."

After agreeing and quickly looking through the dead ranger's body for anything that might be useful, Ash stood up and slid the ranger's bulky wallet into the rucksack he was carrying. He took Fearow out of her pokeball and then the party continued their journey through the forest, moving further northward. They continued on unimpeded and in what the two trainers considered to be amazing time for the next several hours until the light had once again faded almost completely from the dark stretches of the forest. Both trainers were amazed by their progress.

As Ash and Misty did not want to stay any longer than was absolutely necessary, they came to the conclusion that they should continue moving throughout the night in the hope of arriving at the more hospitable northern reaches of the forest before noon the following day. From that vantage point, they both determined that if they maintained a consistent enough pace, they would be able to make it out of the Viridian Forest before nightfall the following day.

Due in part to the terrain having opened up some and slanted to run steadily downhill, Ash and Misty had covered nearly more ground by the time the sun had set on the outside world than they had in the previous two days combined. This was the case by the time the sun had set on the outside world. Pikachu did his job as a watchdog by sitting obediently atop Ash's head while he led the group, which was assisted by Growlithe and Fearow. In spite of the growing darkness, Misty had even started to perk up and was openly conversing and joking with Ash, even though they were doing it quietly.

"Hey," Ash called out as Growlithe came to a halt in his tracks. What exactly is it?

The orange canine became completely still, moving only slightly to take a whiff of the stagnant and musty air. The subsequent few moments passed with the party falling into a profound hush as Growlithe maintained his silence. Fearow and Pikachu scurried around in an uncomfortable manner as Ash and Misty waited for the Pokémon's highly tuned senses to detect a path that was free of obstacles. After the ringing in Ash's ears had subsided enough for him to concentrate on his surroundings, he finally became aware that the group had moved into a spacious open area. This realisation came after Ash had previously been unable to hear well in quiet environments. But Ash could see that he and Misty had wandered perhaps a third of the way into an open space that was perhaps sixty yards in diameter. He couldn't call it a clearing because the trees that surrounded the plot were so enormous that their canopies still obscured the sky, but Ash could see that they had wandered perhaps a third of the way into an open space.

Ash took a deep breath and reflected on how nice it was that there were no walls surrounding them at all times. Even better is the fact that the temperature has finally begun to rise a little bit.

Misty mumbled, "Hey," as she appeared to have arrived at the same conclusions as Ash regarding the topography of the surrounding area. After gently tugging on Ash's sleeve for a moment, she aimed her finger upward. "In light of that, what are your thoughts?"

After following her gesture, Ash looked up into the distance and saw what appeared to be white hemispheres and crescents that were almost glowing and suspended in the void far above them. There had to have been dozens of them floating through the air like teeny-tiny moons in the dark. In addition, after a brief period of time spent concentrating his vision, he was able to make out, in certain spots here and there, thin, almost invisible lines of pale white hanging in the same manner as the hemispheres and crescents. A draping line would materialise out of thin air and proceed to trace a path through the air before vanishing back into thin air once more. The effect caused Ash to recoil involuntarily as his brain attempted to make sense of what he was seeing with his eyes.