◉◉◉◉◉
"Vrooom…"
The engine's roar tore through the air.
Heavy rubber tires spun violently, carving a deep, straight track into the dirt. Gravel and mud sprayed outward, scattering across the ground.
A battered off-road vehicle, its body dented and scarred, raced alone along the open wilderness road.
Compared to the imposing convoy of three steel beasts that had departed together, this lone survivor now looked pitiful, like a wounded animal fleeing for its life.
Quark sat in the passenger seat, his hands resting on his knees, his expression composed.
But the tightly furrowed lines of his brow betrayed the turmoil beneath the surface.
Of the team that had departed from the Falyn City League Branch, fewer than five remained.
What he had believed would be a routine investigation had cost him most of his squad.
The mission's failure tore him abruptly out of his infatuation and left him drowning in guilt.
He knew all too well that every member of his team had been the backbone of their families. One careless misjudgment during a single mission had robbed more than a dozen households of husbands, fathers, and children.
Objectively speaking, the catastrophe was not his fault. No one could have predicted an encounter with a Nightmare Sect executive deep inside human territory.
And yet, the simple, earnest young man could not escape his self-blame.
As captain, if he had been more cautious. If he had prepared more thoroughly instead of letting his heart be distracted by romance.
Perhaps a few more people would still be alive.
Beyond guilt, however, a far deeper fear gnawed at him.
The return of Nightmare Pokémon after nearly a century had come without warning, catching the League completely off guard. The front lines were under extreme pressure.
And now, in the midst of that crisis, even a place as supposedly safe as Nanth Town, deep within human territory, had been infiltrated. Nightmare Pokémon. The shadow of the Nightmare Sect is operating behind the scenes.
It forced Quark to wonder whether other towns were suffering the same fate, simply unnoticed for now.
Or worse.
Human capital cities.
The thought sent a chill racing down his spine, goosebumps rising across his skin as if invisible shadows had closed around him, squeezing the air from his lungs.
"Quark…"
A gentle female voice came from the back seat, snapping him out of his spiraling thoughts.
He flinched slightly and turned his head.
There, curled against the seat, sat the silver-haired girl, her slender frame trembling faintly as she looked at him with earnest eyes.
"Thank you… for this."
"And I'm sorry."
Her words were simple, filled with nothing but gratitude and a hint of guilt.
The chain of life-threatening events during the mission had left Fran, a young woman who had only graduated from the Trainer Academy a few years ago, completely overwhelmed. She had moved on instinct alone, following others without contributing much of anything.
Now that the danger had passed, shame and relief flooded her heart in equal measure.
Shame, because as one of only two Trainers in the team, she had been useless when true danger struck.
Relief, because the squad had been led by someone like Quark. Calm. Experienced. Capable of making rational decisions even in chaos.
Without him, even with the help of that strange, differently colored Machoke, they would likely have died in the wilderness.
That was why she thanked him.
Quark merely nodded and turned back toward the road.
In the past, he might have said more.
Now, he had no such thoughts left.
Fran did not seem to mind. She lowered her head, staring absently at her long, pale fingers, lost in thought.
Surviving the ordeal had forced her to grow up.
Looking back, her past behavior now felt painfully childish.
She finally understood why her former captain had repeatedly stopped her from joining frontline missions. She also understood the quiet concern hidden beneath the League elders' careful protection.
Memories she had once ignored resurfaced, sharper and heavier than before.
She was not ready.
Sending her to the front lines now would only lead to death.
Silently, she made a decision.
Once they returned to Falyn City, she would take time to truly settle. To turn everything she had learned at the academy into real, practical strength before deciding her future.
And so, with the unintended help of a soul from another world, these young survivors escaped what should have been a shared fate.
In the not-so-distant future, Falyn City might lose a pair once admired as a perfect couple.
But the League battlefield would gain two Trainers worthy of trust.
Time passed quickly amid chaos.
In the blink of an eye, more than half a year had gone by.
The League, though initially overwhelmed by the Nightmare Pokémon's sudden resurgence, gradually stabilized the front lines with the help of countless powerful Trainers. The war settled into a tense stalemate.
Yet as the two greatest forces in the Pokémon world faced one another openly, darker currents stirred beneath the surface.
Hidden eyes, cold and vicious, watched the world with greedy intent.
Sandalwood Forest.
Located in the southwest of the Pokémon continent, it was renowned for its vast size and the sheer diversity of Pokémon that once thrived within it.
During humanity's golden age, this lush forest had sustained millions, providing resources and life for countless settlements nearby.
Now, in the dark age that followed the Nightmare's return, humans had been forced to retreat into a corner of the world.
For centuries, no living person had set foot in this once sacred land of life.
And so, they never noticed what was happening there.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Sandalwood Forest, once home to hundreds of Pokémon species, now radiated an eerie emptiness.
By all logic, a forest of this scale should have attracted countless wild Nightmare Pokémon after humanity's retreat.
And yet, aside from towering ancient trees beyond human imagination, not even a single bird could be seen.
As if every living thing had already been swallowed by this deep green hell.
◉◉◉◉◉
~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◉◉◉◉◉
For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access Patreon normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!