Chapter 29: Venturing In The Woodland Forest
They entered the cafe once again and saw that Larry was in the same location as last time. Larry waved at them before they went over to take a seat in front of him.
"Now, we can finish where we left off. You guys will need to decide how to split the money. Once you do, I can distribute the money to you guys three ways."
"Hmm, we should give the most to Leon. He can take 4 billion and we can split the rest between us." Leona immediately gave her suggestion. She had already done the calculations long before coming to this conclusion.
After all, Leon was the one who discovered the cave, which led to the mine. Lars nodded and agreed that this was more than okay with him.
Leon, Lars, and Leona read through the papers twice. Afterward, they signed the papers happily before sliding them over to Larry.
Leon received 4 billion, while Lars and Leona received 3.65 billion each. They were both naturally happy, this was an astronomical figure.
Larry explained that they were gathering workers and equipment to establish a branch here. The Pokémon Alliance especially did this because of the newly discovered mine.
These workers will arrive on Driftveil Island in two days to begin their construction. They will also send a strong team of trainers to manage and oversee the mine.
"The money has already been transferred to your cards. The money will be there once you redeem them from an Alliance Branch. Remember, don't forget any of the passwords you set; it is best to remember them."
Larry warned sternly, that this was important not to forget.
"Oh, yeah, the Alliance was really impressed with the mine you discovered. I was told to give you three of these Recommendation Letters." Larry pulled out three purple letters from his bag and sild them over to Leon and company.
"Wow, what grade of letter is this?" Lars couldn't help but ask.
Leon noticed the designs on the letters. It was gold and in the shape of a peacock, which closely resembled the Legendary Pokémon. Ho-oh!
"This type of Recommendation Letter is only something the Alliance can hand out. Its grade is higher than the Diamond grade: This is a Master Grade Recommendation Letter."
Originally, Larry was going to give them a different graded letter. Of course, this depended on the mine they had discovered. Larry didn't think the mine would amount to much, so he thought a Gold or maybe Platinum Letter would be enough.
"M-Master Grade! Higher than Diamond!" Lars almost jumped out of his seat, but his tone was low.
Leon looked at the Letter in surprise. Did this mean he could go to Professor Birch and receive a starter?
"Don't we give this letter to some Birch guy? Where is this person located so we can meet him?" Leona wanted to find this Birch guy and receive her benefits quickly.
"The Location is Littleroot Town," Larry answered all of their question besides the benefits of the letter. He only told them to meet Birch to find out for themselves.
Larry also told them not to open the letter, they can leave that to Birch when he receives it.
"I'm leaving as soon as the workers arrive on the Island in two days. My job here is done, so I must head back."
"Wait! Is it possible to drop us off at Slateport City when you leave?" Leon thought this would be the best way to leave the Island, rather than paying and waiting.
"Sure! You guys can leave with me in three days. Just make sure you're ready, or you may get left behind." Larry told them the time and place before he left the shop.
'It looks like I better hurry up and retrieve that last Elemental chest.' Leon thought to himself.
There was probably no point in going to that Island for now. This Recommendation Letter was top-tier; Leon could definitely get one of the starters.
Leon took the letters and stored them away for his siblings. The downpour was still brewing hard, but this didn't deter Leon from venturing out tomorrow.
They arrived at the factory and Leona immediately started catering to her Pokémon. This was especially so for her new Pokémon, Lileep.
"Leon. Does this mean we'll take a luxurious speed ferry to Slateport?" Lars rubbed his chin with a smile and asked.
"It does and it also means we won't have to pay any ferry fees like the rest of the youngsters."
"That's perfect, the more money we can save; the better. Though, with what we just made, it shouldn't be a problem."
Leon and Lars discussed the Recommendation Letters. Lars considered it and decided to check the Hoenn manual.
"You can pick between these starters, but you may be able to pick other Pokémon. These Pokémon are called the Royal starters, so they're some of the best choices."
Leon showed Lars and Leona the three royal starters in the manual. They were on the first pages, where you could see their whole evolutionary line.
"Oh, this Green one called Treecko looks like the best one. Its final evolution is good in speed, special attack, and attack!" Lars saw Sceptile's versatility and thought it was the better of the three.
"What about you, Leona? Which one would you prefer among the three royal starters?"
"Hmm, they're all pretty good, but is it possible for me to choose a different Pokémon starter?" Leona seemed to be hinting that she wanted something other than these three.
"It should be possible, you can always ask when you meet Birch." Leon had thought of this as well.
Leon thought he might get a Bagon instead, but he needed to investigate to be sure Bagon appeared in Meteor Falls. After all, Bagon was still a Pseudo Legendary Pokémon that could fly later.
Things might be different in this world.
Leon decided that if Bagon could be found in Meteor Falls, he would choose a Royal starter instead.
Leon went to the back of the factory and summoned his Pokémon. He wanted to do a quick check-up to see their progress.
"Nice! It looks like you guys have improved over the days." Beldum was at level 15, Aron was at level 13, and Shroomish was at level 13.
Leon purchased an inflatable pool for Carvanha, which he took care of until it regained its health. Carvanha held no resentment for losing to Leon and appreciated its new way of life.
The food was the best part of it.
Unfortunately, Carvanha ended up popping the blowup pool with its sharp fins. On this day, Leon decided to train his Pokémon a bit.
"Be sure to dodge." Leon tossed several rocks at the duo and their job was to dodge.
He also instructed Shroomish to target Aron and Beldum to enhance their dodging skills. Aron struggled to evade the attacks and was frequently hit.
"Oh, boy, your evasiveness needs some improvement. We'll keep training because the next Pokémon battle will be a big one."
Leon looked into Rustboro's Gym Battle rules. Usually, for beginner trainers—Roxanne would have a 2v2 with challengers.
He had already decided on Aron and Beldum as his picks for that battle. Leon only trained them on evasiveness for now.
"This island doesn't sell Calcium, Protein, and other nutritious drinks. I'll have to wait until I get to the mainland to enjoy these things."
These drinks were expensive, with them costing ₱100 each. One might look at this and say that isn't much, but it was equal to 100 dollars a bottle.
"I know I'm billions now, but I still need to worry about how to make money rather than spending it." Leon thought of a few ways to make money, but he could not understand it.
"If I could invent new Pokéballs that could catch specific types—or catch specific Pokémon easier under certain conditions. If I could do this, I could make steady income once they spread across the world and became popular."
Leon had a few Pokéball designs in mind. However, he didn't have much knowledge about Pokéballs crafting.
....
The next day, Leona woke up before everyone as usual and began preparing breakfast. Leon got up from the scent of breakfast. The breakfast was more abundant than usual; at least, more so than in the olden days.
Leon took a shower, ate breakfast, and wore a newly bought outfit.
"Huh? Leon, are you leaving somewhere?" Lars knew something was up and asked.
"Yes, I'm going to the Woodland Forest today. I'll be there for a little bit before coming back home." Leon heard from Lars the other day about the Pokémon sightings here.
According to Lars, the youngsters mention seeing a black little dog, a walnut-looking Pokémon, and a white bug with little wings on its back, etc.
Leon wasn't going to the Woodland Forest for these Pokémon. But if he saw them on the way, he would try and catch them.
Lars was about to insist on going, but he suddenly changed his mind. He wanted to laze around at home until he left the island.
Leona and Lars told him to be careful when he was out. The most casualties came from the Woodland Forest among the youngsters. They didn't die, but most of those casualties resulted in them being bedridden—even until this day.
"It isn't raining today which is a good thing but it's still fairly damp out." Leon went to the third exit of the town where he saw a few youngsters hanging around.
'It looks like they're forming teams to venture into the Woodland Forest.' Leon could see boys and girls alike picking people to join their squads.
Leon hurriedly exited the town gate to avoid garnering attention. Some of these youngsters would easily recognize Leon as the Pokémon salesman who started all of this.
"This Elemental chest is kinda deep within the forest. I hope this doesn't turn into a problem later." Of course, this wouldn't deter Leon in any way, he now had more helpers in Onix and Sabelye.
Leon checked the Virtual map and could see how big the forest was. It wasn't vast, but the size and range were bigger than the mountain region. Beyond the Woodland Forest was a grassy plain, the place Leon needed to go to.
Venturing into the forest, Leon could hear the sound of birds chirping. These were Taillow, of course; they could also sound like normal birds at times.
Leon cut through the forest bushes and cautiously checked his surroundings. Afterward, he decided to summon Beldum, Aron, and Shroomish.
"The chest is in this direction, but there are still some ways to go." Leon slowly peeked out of a bush and saw a few Taillow playing in a puddle of water.
He didn't pay any heed to these birds. Leon, however, did notice that they looked much happier than the ones from the Wetlands.
"The skies are showing some sun, but not much. Today's going to be a good day, I hope." Leon carefully crept through the forest, this place had caused many casualties.
The youngster noted that they had encountered a pack of Poochyena. However, this wasn't the big threat, but their leader was different.
They described it as the big bad black wolf. Leon knew that the Pokémon was Mightyena which made it a threat at this level.
Mightyena didn't kill those youngsters but simply beat them until they fainted. It seemed to get off on beating these young humans. Despite this, it didn't kill them or inflict grave injuries to the point of being crippled or death.
"Its level should be around 18-21, which is too much for any of these youngsters to bear."
Leon carefully passed through the thin forest. He made sure to have Beldum update him on the situation around them.
"Unfortunately, you can't detect dark types; so I have to be more vigilant than usual." Beldum detected many Pokémon on the passing.
"Tell me if you detect any Pokémon and their names." Beldum could easily identify a Pokémon's name through mindreading but this took focus.
Of course, dark types were out of the question.
'Okay?' Beldum's voice echoed through Leon's head.
Leon slowly paved his way through the forest in a highly cautious manner. The only Pokémon he could see were groups of Taillow sitting in the treetops.
"I should buy a machete for the next time I enter any deep forest. It would be more convenient than moving things aside with my bare hands." This forest was thicker and closer cut than the forest around the mountains.
Just as Leon was showing his displeasure, he heard Beldum's voice.
'There are humans up ahead, they seem to be in a battle with some Pokémon. They're youngsters from the town.'
Beldum quickly relayed its discovery to Leon. He didn't go to their location, but instead; Leon went around them.
"I need to get this chest fast and go back to town." Leon wasn't even that eager to catch new Pokémon right now.
As far as Leon was concerned, he could catch many of them on the mainland. Beldum suddenly warned him that there were some dangerous Pokémon up ahead.
"Hmm, the grassy plain seems to be up ahead. Can you describe this Pokémon for me or give me its name?"
Leon could see the grassy field on the Virtual screen. However, he couldn't see how tall the grass was.
Leon stopped in place before arriving at the end of the forest. It had taken him an hour to reach this part of the forest. Leon gazed ahead and saw that the grassy field had tall grass, which could be a problem.
This would leave him open to possibly being sneak attacked.
'It possesses a lengthy body and pointed red fangs, and it frequently hisses. The body features intricate purple and gold patterns, with the overall color being a deep blue. Additionally, its tail is equipped with a sharp blade, making it quite perilous.'
'Oh!' Leon stared at Beldum in astonishment. It was beginning to communicate more thoughtfully.
Leon thought about the Pokémon it had described and frowned. How could he not know what this Pokémon was?
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Chapter 30 is the last chapter of the Island Arc before they head to the mainland.
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