The MooMoo Chronicles Part One: Close Encounter The sky was steadily turning gold as the bus finally pulled into Cherrygrove City. To Heidi, it looked as though someone had poured Beedrill honey across the vast horizon. As the bus began to slow, she gazed around at all of the pedestrians; groups of school kids laughing and chasing one another, mothers followed by small children with ice-cream on their faces, the occasional teenager walking side-by-side with their Sentret or their Gloom. This was a friendly city, Heidi decided. The bus wheels squealed to a halt and the conductor instructed everybody to please leave the bus in an orderly fashion. Heidi held her powder blue and white backpack in front of her as she shuffled her way onto the platform. She looked around herself until she found a timetable printed behind a glass cover. A light breeze had picked up and her baby pink sundress flowed girlishly around her knees as she scanned the timetable, trying to work out which platform she needed to be on to get to New Bark Town. Heidi was thirteen and this was the first time her parents had let her leave their farm unaccompanied. She had taken her favourite Mareep, Sunspark, for company and protection, should she need it. She hadn’t been allowed to keep her pokemon out of its pokeball while on the bus. After analysing the table in front of her, Heidi concluded that, to get to New Bark Town by bus, she would have to wait until 9:05 the following morning. She sighed, retrieved a pokeball from her backpack, and slung the backpack over her shoulders. ‘Come out, Sunspark,’ she said, pointing the pokeball toward the platform. A flash of liquid red light preceded the appearance of Heidi’s Mareep. ‘Reep, reep!’ ‘I’m sorry, Sunspark,’ Heidi said, kneeling down to be at eye level with the Mareep. ‘We’re going to have to find somewhere to stay tonight. You can play in the fields outside New Bark Town tomorrow.’ The lady sitting a few meters away from Heidi cleared her throat and laid her magazine on the bench beside her. She stood, smiling at Heidi and smoothing her ebony pencil skirt. ‘Did I hear you say you’re heading to New Bark Town?’ she cooed, flashing two straight rows of perfect, white teeth. ‘Yes, Ma’am,’ Heidi replied politely. ‘Only, there aren’t any busses until tomorrow morning. We’re going to have to find a pokemon centre to stay at overnight.’ The lady placed her hand on her hip and slid her sunglasses up into her short, sandy blond hair. ‘Now that won’t do,’ she said. ‘Most people don’t realise this, but New Bark is only a couple of hour’s walk from Cherrigrove. You don’t want to have to wait until tomorrow morning to set off, do you?’ Heidi’s eyes widened. ‘Not if it’s that close, I don’t,’ she told the lady. ‘But I thought it took at least a full day to walk from Cherrygrove City to New Bark Town?’ ‘Not if you know a shortcut.’ The lady winked at Heidi. ‘If you start walking now you’ll make it there by supper time.’ The lady reached into her inner jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and a pen. She opened the paper out and drew on it several lines and markings before handing it to Heidi. ‘Now, if you follow this track,’ she said, indicating to the thick red line on the map, ‘you’ll eventually come across a small clearing. You need to walk around the clearing’s edge until you come across a stone shaped like a rocket. From there, face the exact opposite edge of the clearing and walk forward into the forest until you come across New Bark Town.’ There were several markings on the map where the stone and the clearing would be. Heidi looked up at the lady. ‘Gee, thanks for your help, Ma’am,’ she said appreciatively. ‘I’m supposed to be picking up a shipment of apricorns and I’m already a day late.’ ‘Well, I’m glad to be of service,’ the lady said, flashing Heidi another perfect smile. ‘Happy travelling!’ With that, the woman turned her back on Heidi and disappeared down the street. ‘Isn’t this great, Sunspark?’ Heidi said excitedly. ‘We can go and collect the apricorns tonight, and we’ll be ready to head home straight after breakfast!’ Heidi folded the map and gripped it in one hand as she headed in the opposite direction to the mysterious lady. If the walk was a few hours long, the pair would have to travel some of it in the dark, but that didn’t bother Heidi; she was glad to catch up on her schedule. Sunspark trotted alongside Heidi, keeping an eye out for rogue pedestrians and their pokemon. Heidi, on the other hand, walked completely carefree until the city’s buildings were to her back and the fields leading to New Bark Town were before her. A short way down the track, the map indicated to veer left into the trees. The girl and her pokemon walked directly into the forest for ten minutes before turning right and continuing in the direction of New Bark Town. The sun was quickly disappearing, and night grew even faster under the cover of the forest. After a little over an hour of walking, Heidi needed to retrieve her flashlight from her backpack. She also pulled out an apple to munch while they were walking. Her Mareep looked at her wide- eyed. ‘I’m sorry, Sunspark,’ she said to her pokemon. ‘You can eat all the grass you want when we reach the clearing; this is the last of our provisions.’ The girl was starting to grow fatigued. Shortly after the sun had set, Heidi’s flashlight flickered across something large and flat protruding from the ground. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that it was a wooden sign. She had to squint to read the faded writing, but she was sure the sign read “Continue 100m to rocket clearing”. ‘That’s convenient,’ she said wearily, looking down at her Mareep. The pokemon let out a small growl and grabbed at Heidi’s dress with its teeth. It began tugging Heidi in the direction they’d come from. ‘Don’t be silly,’ Heidi said grumpily. ‘We’re almost to the clearing. The map says it’s only an hour’s walk from there to New Bark Town.’ ‘Reeep,’ Sunspark whined. ‘No; we’re almost there,’ Heidi told her pokemon. She pulled her dress out of the Mareep’s mouth and stalked off. Sunspark quickly caught up with the girl, but the pokemon remained highly alert. It seemed like half an hour or more had passed before the pair came across another sign. “Rocket clearing, 50m”, it read. ‘That can’t be right,’ Heidi said, ruffling her blue-black pixie hair. ‘We should have reached it by now. Sunspark, I think these signs are wrong.’ Her Mareep didn’t answer. She looked down beside her, then around in a circle. ‘Sunspark?’ She flickered the flashlight as far into the trees as it would reach, but the pokemon was nowhere in sight. ‘Sunspark!’ she called out. There was a rustling in the trees around her. Heidi suddenly realised how cold the night had grown. It seemed like hours since the sun had set. The girl wrapped her arms around herself and hunched over a little, still searching the trees with her flashlight. ‘Sunspark?’ Her voice was a whisper now. Creatures moved amongst the tree branches and scattered leaves on the ground in the distance, but Heidi couldn’t hear the calling of a Hoothoot or the wings of a Noctowl. There was no telling what was moving around her. Her fear was growing stronger every second. She placed the flashlight against her stomach to dull the glow and crept backward, continuing to hunch. She suddenly realised the shortcut hadn’t been a good idea after all. Heidi’s footsteps grew longer and she became less conscious of the noise she was making. Twigs snapped under her Mary-Janes and she was aware that she was kicking up dry leaves. Her nerves finally snapped. With a small wail, she turned and kicked off running in the direction she’d come from. She’d only taken a few steps when she was blasted with something hard and hurtled to the ground. The flashlight flew from her hand and cast an eerie glow through the forest. She was dazed and hysterical at the same time. The thing hit her again, harder this time. It slammed into her side and slid up her arm and across her face. It was rough and wet. She tumbled across the dirt and leaves, her backpack tearing away from her. Her skin crawled and she felt frozen to the spot. Now she could feel footsteps nearby. Whatever it was, it was approaching her. Heidi tried to look around, but she was totally paralysed. She heard snuffling and grunting around her head and thought she caught a glimpse of the bulbous creature. ‘Tung...’ it grunted, slinking away. There came a snide chuckle from in front of Heidi. Two tall figures stalked forward into the faint glow of the torchlight. A woman’s voice sneered as the figures approached. ‘I guess the little girl didn’t prepare for trouble.’ The other figure sniggered in return. ‘She certainly wasn’t expecting double.’ It was a man. His voice was soft, but his demeanour was the exact opposite. As the pair walked closer, Heidi recognised the woman from the platform. She wasn’t dressed in a business suit anymore and she appeared much younger than Heidi had first realised. Both wore a uniform of black and violet, the jacket of which bore a large red “R” across the front. Heidi was terrified. ‘What...happened...to my...Sunspark,’ she managed to stutter. She felt as though her body had been petrified. The man chuckled again. ‘The brat wants her precious Mareep back,’ he jeered. The woman laughed maliciously. ‘Well, it’s too bad that pokemon belongs to us now. We’ll just be taking your pokeball so we can retrieve it, and any other pokemon you might have with you, and we’ll be on our way!’ Heidi felt her eyes welling up. She could hear something rummaging in her backpack a little way behind her. The cruel strangers stepped around Heidi and whispered to one another as they, too, ransacked the girl’s backpack. ‘Hmph, only one pokemon?’ she heard the woman say. ‘That’s fine; this shipping payment will surely make up for that.’ Not the apricorn money, Heidi thought to herself. How would her parents afford the shipment now? The pair approached Heidi again. This time, the mystery creature followed them into the girl’s line of vision. It was a Lickitung; its eyes were squinted into a sneer and its giant tongue lolled out of its grimacing, pink mouth. ‘We’ll be going now,’ the woman snickered. ‘Thanks for the pokemon...Oh!’ The woman shrieked and her voice was cut short by a sudden blaze of light. Heidi scrunched her eyes closed. She could feel a blast of heat on her face. ‘Growlithe,’ a voice called from close by, ‘use roar!’ A deep, vicious snarl tore through the air. Heidi kept her eyes tightly closed. If she could have moved, she would have curled into a tighter ball. She heard shrieking and a commotion of thudding and frantic rustling. ‘Growlithe, ember!’ the voice called again. Heidi felt another blast of heat close to her body. The cries and frenzied pounding seemed to be growing fainter. The girl heard solid footsteps thumping beside her. Someone placed a hand on her shoulder and tried to turn her over. ‘Are you hurt?’ the voice asked anxiously. Tears spilled down Heidi’s cheeks. She couldn’t open her eyes. She couldn’t speak. From the Lickitung’s attack and from her own fear, she was paralysed. The girl felt two arms slide under her body. She felt the ground disappear and the warmth of another body take its place. Her head was pounding. Her body felt as if it was burning up. She could feel her skin glistening with sweat. It wasn’t long before she passed out of consciousness altogether.