Chapter 16: Hiking

"Ha... this is so tiring"

I grumbled, feeling slightly out of breath as sweat trickled down my head with the fiery sun shining toward me which was making it worse.

Of all the days, it just had to be the hottest day when I decided to go hiking.

Why couldn't it have been like yesterday, all windy and refreshing but no...

The world just had to make it difficult for me.

- Shing~ Shing~

And beside me was my partner, Doublade who was just levitating around so happily as if not perceiving the goddamn heat blaring at us.

I mean, aren't you supposed to be a steel-type?

How come you're not feeling the heat at all?

"You... seem happy, buddy"

- Shing~

"Of course, you are..."

I rolled my eyes away, feeling a bit salty as I could only let out a sigh in defeat.

This was the second time I've come to envy Doublade.

The last time, it was about him having a comfortable sleep in the most uncomfortable environment.

Though, that one was fine since he is a sword Pokemon after all...

I mean, all he had to do was lay flat down on the ground and he'll already be able to sleep.

He doesn't have to even worry whether his back would hurt since he doesn't have one in the first place.

But this time was different...

Shouldn't he at least feel something?

Maybe because his body is a sword itself, meaning he doesn't have any nerve cells to feel the temperature.

And even if that was the case, I'd still feel jelly of it.

"..."

I wish I had that physique of his to be able to not feel anything.

However, I do know that there are disadvantages to this but It still feels a bit unfair...

Though, the world was already unfair in the first place.

"Ha..."

I sighed with a down face, still feeling a bit out of breath from hiking when a rustled noise of leaves echoed in my ear.

"Hm?"

Me and Doublade's heads turned to our right in an instant and saw a Murkrow fly away out of a tree, watching it disappear at the top of the mountain.

And it was then, that I happened to glimpse a cute and fluffy orange puppy climbing up at the side of the mountain in the far distance.

"...!!"

The tiredness inside of me instantly vanished after seeing the familiar doggy with its cute little paws skedaddle up the mountains.

A Hisuian Growlithe!?

I immediately sprinted toward it with Doublade flinching at my sudden move before following behind me.

"Doublade, use Autotomize and go after that dog!"

Hearing my words, Doublade squinted his eyes, looking toward the distance before seeing the Hisuian Growlithe, finally understanding the motive behind my orders.

- Shing!

In an instant, my Doublade had peeled off silvery particles and swiftly rushed ahead first, going straight toward the Growlithe.

As for me, well... I ceased running since I believed Doublade could handle it by himself.

I was wrong...

That Growlithe somehow managed to disappear in thin air.

"You sure, you didn't see the Growlithe here?"

- Shing! Shing!

"Then, where the hell did it go?"

I looked around the area, bobbing my head in every direction and trying to solve how it bamboozled us.

But I could still not see anything weird or abnormal, even its tracks vanished on the ground.

"Da hell?"

I swear that Growlithe was just here a few minutes ago.

There's no way I saw it wrong...

I mean, my eyes are one of the things I have confidence in after all.

"Hah..."

All that running and it just disappeared, what a waste of my stamina...

- Shing! Shing!

"What's up?'

I watched as my Doublade tilted both his bodies with its blades pointing in a certain direction above my head.

Then with a bend of my head, I looked up just to see the same Growlithe from earlier, still climbing at the side of the mountain and jumping from rock to rock.

"Huh?!"

I felt dumbfounded before shaking my head, knowing this wasn't the time to waste thinking or speculating how it managed to get there.

"Doublade!"

My Doublade nodded, already understanding what it needed to do as he flew up away in an instant.

As for me, again...

I took a long breath before exhaling and started running up the path toward the top of the mountain.

Not long after, I arrived at the place where the Growlithe was seen and saw my Doublade just levitating in the air with confusion in his eyes.

"Let me guess... it disappeared again?"

- Shing...

"..."

I have to admit, this Hisuian Growlithe is one sneaky boi...

However, this only made my desire to capture it burn even more.

After all, if I'm gonna enlist a Pokemon in my main team then it's only natural that it has to be a special or unique one.

"Haha..."

- Shing?

"It's nothing"

Since it always seems to disappear then I just have to intercept it on the way, right?

I mean, it's trying to climb up the mountain...

So, all I have to do is get to the top first and wait for it.

Having a plan finally formed inside of my head, a smile appeared on my face as I took out a water bottle and chugged it down my throat.

With that, I felt refreshed and energized...

"Let's go, Doublade"

- Shing! Shing!

...

[??? POV]

On an unknown island...

A mysterious man was seen walking inside a cave filled with igneous rock embedded in the walls and alongside him was a menacing dark blue bipedal, draconian creature.

"It should be here..."

The man muttered, still walking through the scorching corridor inside the cave before arriving in an open space.

"...?"

Looking at the area, the man felt confused as there was nothing but empty and deserted space with not even a Pokemon seen.

He looked around and scrutinized every inch of the space with a hint of desperation in his eyes before realizing that there really was nothing here.

The man even took out a scroll and unscrolled it, reading through whatever was written on it.

And seconds became minutes then hours before finding no sort of clue written on the text as to why it wasn't here.

"Why... why isn't here!?"

The man punched the walls in frustration and bit his lips as madness replaced the desperation in his eyes.

He then turned around and stared at the bipedal, draconian creature behind him with sharp eyes that made the creature nervous.

"Find it, even if you have to destroy this whole island"

The creature nodded before turning around, leaving the cave with a ferocious look as it sharpened its claws and looked toward the volcano at the center of the island.

- Garr...