Kay and Player 27 kept walking deeper into the forest on the far side of the lake, their steps quiet as they moved between the tall trees.
The sunlight barely passed through the dense leaves above them, creating a shadowy path.
As they walked, Kay found himself lost in thought. A lot of strange things had happened today, and his mind was racing to make sense of them.
He remembered how the Dragonite and its mysterious trainer had appeared out of nowhere and forced all the wild Pokémons to flee.
That moment had been shocking enough, but there was something even more confusing: the fact that Player 27's Pokédex had been able to detect the Slowking from such a far distance.
As Kay kept thinking, his memories led him back to the entrance of the dungeon, where they had first arrived.
At that time, there were many people dressed as Cubone and Marowak, all wearing masks and different colors of clothes.
Some of them wore gold, which caught his attention. Now, as Kay thought more carefully, he realized something important.
Those differently dressed men could be guards or members of various player ranks. The gold ones might belong to a higher rank, maybe even the A-rank players or higher.
Suddenly, everything started to make sense. The trainer with the Dragonite must have been from one of those high-level ranks.
That would explain his power and the bottles he had, and the gold-colored clothes he was wearing.
And if that trainer was here, then it meant that this dungeon wasn't just open to players from F-rank.
There were probably strong players from all different ranks inside. That would also explain the variety of colored outfits among the masked men in the entrance; they represented different groups or factions.
As Kay was walking and thinking deeply, he noticed something on the ground. A series of small footprints caught his eye.
His thoughts paused immediately as he lowered himself to the ground to take a closer look. The forest floor was soft, and the tracks were still fresh. There were several sets of prints, and they were moving in the same direction.
Seeing that Kay had stopped, Player 27 paused as well and turned around. "What's wrong?" he asked, watching Kay kneel and examine the prints.
Kay didn't respond right away. He studied the tracks carefully. After a few moments, he said, "I think these are footprints from the unique Pokémon I saw earlier."
Hearing that, Player 27 walked over and bent down to look at them too. He stared at the marks, then glanced at Kay's Eevee walking behind them. "These footprints look like Eevee's."
Kay nodded. "Exactly, but look closer. Next to Eevee's prints, there are other ones, just a little bigger."
Player 27 followed Kay's finger and squinted at the prints. He started to notice the difference.
The second set of tracks looked similar but had a slightly different shape and were spaced out a bit more, as if the creature that left them was quicker or taller.
Kay added, "Before, when I was watching the lake, I noticed a unique Pokémon walking beside Eevee. It wasn't a normal one; it was different. I believe these prints are from that same Pokémon."
The two of them followed the tracks together. After a few meters, the footprints turned and left the trail, heading deeper into the forest. The ground here was rougher, with more roots and bushes, but the trail was still visible.
Kay stood up, brushing some dirt from his pants. "It looks like they went this way. I think it's worth following them. We might discover something new."
Player 27 nodded without hesitation. "Let's go. But we need to stay alert. Who knows what we'll find in there?"
And so, the two of them changed direction and moved quietly into the deeper parts of the forest, following the footprints of the mysterious Pokémon.
Kay and Player 27 continued to follow the trail of the footprints, going deeper through the forest.
After walking for quite a while, they finally reached the end of the forest. But even at the edge, the footprints still continued onward.
As they pushed aside the last group of trees and stepped out, they found themselves in a wide open area.
The space in front of them was large and empty, with a single hill standing on the right side.
The air felt different here, and both of them could sense the change. They stopped for a moment and looked at each other, unsure of what to do next.
Kay turned toward Player 27, a look of determination in his eyes. He suggested they keep going toward the hill. But Player 27 wasn't convinced.
He quickly responded, "No, if we continue, we'll be out in the open. That's dangerous. I don't think it's worth the risk. We don't even know what we'll find." His voice was calm but firm, clearly wanting to play it safe.
Kay hesitated for a moment. He knew Player 27 had a point, but this could be his one chance to discover the secret of Eevee's evolution into Espeon.
He looked at the hill again; it wasn't far at all. "But the hill is so close," Kay argued. "It would take just a few minutes to reach it. We could go there quickly before anything notices us."
Player 27 crossed his arms and frowned. "Sure, we can get there, but what happens after that? We don't even know what's behind the hill. It could be something dangerous waiting for us."
Kay realized he wouldn't be able to convince Player 27 with logic alone. So, he decided to try a different approach.
He changed his tone and said, "Imagine if we discover a new evolution type of Eevee. Our names would be in the news around the world. Articles, videos, maybe even interviews. And the money, think about how rich we'd become."
He wasn't expecting much. It was a stretch, and he knew that. But to his surprise, Player 27 nodded and said, "Okay, that sounds interesting. Let's go."
Kay was shocked. Just moments ago, Player 27 was completely against the idea, and now he agreed so easily.
Something about his sudden change in attitude made Kay a bit suspicious, but he didn't dwell on it. What mattered most now was that they were moving forward, following the Espeon group's trail.
The two trainers left the safety of the trees and stepped out into the open, walking cautiously while checking their surroundings every few steps.
The area was quiet, and the breeze moved gently through the grass. But suddenly, in the distance, a large cloud of dust appeared on the horizon. The dust was rising fast and growing bigger by the second.
Both Kay and Player 27 stopped. The sight was strange and worrying. Then they realized something was moving inside the dust.
The ground began to tremble slightly under their feet. The noise of pounding hooves filled the air. A stampede.
A massive group of Tauros was charging in their direction, kicking up clouds of dust as they ran.
The dust storm wasn't a natural phenomenon; it was caused by the herd. And it was coming straight at them, fast.
Without saying a word, the two trainers turned and sprinted toward the hill. They climbed as fast as they could, hoping to avoid being caught in the path of the rushing Pokémons.
Their hearts were pounding, not just from the run but from the panic of what might happen if they got caught in the stampede.
When they finally reached the top of the hill, they turned back to look and saw the full force of the Tauros herd passing below, wild and unstoppable. The trainers had made it just in time.
See you in the next chapter...
Drop some PowerStones...