[Journey] Discovery

As you enter the marshes, a low mist seems to be hanging over the ground, though it barely reaches your middle. It makes it harder to see the ground, but you can see ahead of you. The ground is a little soggy, because of the mist, but it isn’t too hard to navigate for now.

As you get deeper into the marsh, there are a few things that grab your attention. The first thing is some lights moving a little to your left. The lights stay on for a bit and then go out again and then it repeats itself again. There seems to be a pattern to it, but you’re not close enough to distinguish what this means. Something else that stands out in the midst of the marshes is a big tree, its roots partly bared to the world, most likely because of water. Between the roots there’s an opening big enough for a human to squeeze through.

You decide to head towards the lights, the ground is quite stable as you move on. The lights moving ahead form several different patterns as you come closer. Though you have no idea what those patterns mean. The ground becomes wetter as you get closer to the lights till the mist clears up a little and you can see a swamp in front of you.



The lights are moving above the swamp, but from where you are currently standing that is all you can see. You are unable to see what makes these lights or why they’re moving in this pattern.

For a moment you hesitate, wondering whether it will be a smart idea to try and cross the marshland while the water will most likely be quite cold, but curiosity wins it here and you start to look for a route that might take you to the lights, anything that might be a better option then just heading through the water.



As you walk a few meters to the right, you can’t seem to find a clear path however much you look. There are some flimsy pieces of wood laying here and there, but they are clearly not strong enough to bear your weight.You can see some clumps of earth sticking out here and there in the marsh, but from where you are standing you can’t tell whether they will be stable enough to carry your weight. Inbetween it mostly consists of water, the muddy water hiding what might be underneath it. What will you do?

You realise that there is nothing near you that can help you cross the marsh. You can’t be sure whether the clumps of earth are steady enough for you to use and the water might hide hidden dangers. Just as you think that there is no way to cross, you remember that you have a pokemon with you that can freeze water.



You ask your Glaceon to freeze the water, to create a path for you to walk towards the lights. Your Glaceon starts to cool down, the water in the air slowly turning to snowflakes and as she touches the water it starts to freeze over, but with it also the surroundings. It’s clear that her intention of creating a path has ended in freezing more than had been your intention. Still, the ice itself seems stable enough to walk upon now.

When the water started to freeze over, the lights stopped moving, staying in place. Some even start to fade away now that they’re aware that someone or something else is here. Something that can freeze the water like this. But there are enough of them left for you to be able to know where you should be heading. How will you proceed?

With the water now frozen over, you start to make your way across it. The first part has clearly been frozen solid and as you make sure not to slip, everything seems to be going fine.



Just as you are getting closer to the lights, there are a few clumps of earth sticking out from the ice, making it a bit less stable around there, but you manage to keep your footing as you get close enough to see what the lights consist of. The lights are still staying in place, clearly keeping an eye on the frozen water. One of them does dare to take a closer look.



You notice the pokemon in front of you has the light you have seen before on its lower back, it’s a small bulb giving off light. The pokemon consists of red, black, blue and yellow colours and it stares at you. It actually seems a little annoyed now that you get a closer look. It points from the ice to you and then back to the other Volbeat. It is clearly not happy with the ice and neither seem the others. What will you do?

Freezing the marsh was clearly not what these Volbeat appreciated and even with your apology they seem a bit sceptical. Aurora starts to raise the temperature, letting the ice melt. The Volbeat looks from you to the water, seeing that it has been unfrozen.



Your words and actions combined seem to be good enough to convince them that it has been an accident. That your curiosity might have gotten the better of you. Now that you have time to observe your surroundings, you notice that there are only Volbeat here, except for one other pokemon, an Illumise. Now that the ice is gone, the Illumise starts producing a sweet aroma again. The Volbeat who had gone up to you, to explain what has happened goes back to join the others and as you watch they start to make patterns again with their lights. This would be a good moment to try and escape. What will you do? Will you leave or investigate further?

You take up a position so as not to disturb the pokemon, but they’re aware that you’re still there. They keep ignoring you for now, the Illumise using her sweet aroma to make the Volbeat dance for her. You get the feeling that you have walked upon an intimate situation. That the Volbeat are trying to impress the Illumise, each one trying his best, but for now it doesn’t seem like the Illumise is really interested in any of them.



You notice that the one that had headed towards you was trying his best too, even more so than the rest it seemed, but it was clear that he was a little clumsy, not as subtle as the rest of them and clearly trying to grab the attention of the Illumise. What will you do? Try and help him or will you leave, realising that this is not something a human should involve themselves with.

You make the decision, albeit a bit reluctantly, to stay and try to help the Volbeat. Mostly because Bell seemed to want you to help. You watch the pokemon performing, trying to impress the Illumise, hoping to gain some insight to be able to give the Volbeat some pointers.



However much you watch the other Volbeat, you just can’t seem to come up with any ideas or anything that the other Volbeat might be doing wrong that you could correct. You don’t understand any of this, that is clear. As you’re focussing very intently on the Volbeat, you hear something rustling behind you, seeming to move through the undergrowth. Just as it seems like it will stumble upon you and the other pokemon, it veers away from you, heading deeper into the marsh. You have not seen what this is, since you have been watching the Volbeat. What will you do? Try to help the Volbeat anyway or follow the rustling sound?

The rustling grabs your attention, you send Bell after whatever it is, to make sure you will stay on its trail, leaving the Volbeat and Illumise behind. The undergrowth is not easy to move in, especially not quietly, but still you move forward.



You manage to quietly follow whatever was moving through the undergrowth, the sky growing darker by now, making it harder for you to see where you are going. Just when you think that you might need to stop, because it would get too dangerous to keep going in this darkness, lights start to appear, seemingly leading you on a trail. These lights are clearly different from the Volbeat.



The path is quite clear to you, but you have no idea where it will lead you. It has become quite dark too, so what will you do? Will you keep going? Or will you turn back and try to return home?

You decide to follow the path, your curiosity winning it out over your caution. The path leads through a dry patch of land, the undergrowth and trees parted by a path just wide enough for one person to walk. The lights seem to be moving with you and here and there you think you catch a glimpse of something that seems to be a mushroom that’s glowing, but before you can be sure it disappears again.



You are so focused on following the path that the lights guide you through that you notice too late that slowly the air surrounding you is starting to fill with flickering spores and before you know it you have breathed some of it too. You’re starting to feel drowsy and you notice that the same is happening to your pokemon. What will you do? Try and continue on, fight against the drowsiness or turn around and try to flee?