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Tails nodded. "There's a lot of tall grass, which means lots of roots. And some strange Pokemon, I bet. It could be a little bit before I can sniff a good patch of mud out. So you can watch our backs, right?"

"There usually isn't any lightning around that area," Tails said. He rubbed his chin as he thought about it. Since being with Blizz, he'd gone out into far regions dozens of times. During none of these stints did he see a flash of lightning in that route. "There's the tower. And some pretty tall fences. And trees. Gardevoir, when Tristen's ready, I'm ready. Do you like mud at all?"

The grass was so high to Tails, that he could not see over it. The path was perfectly clear, however and he set himself upon it for now. "I don't know too much about the Pokemon around here. They keep to the grass. I think they think it's safer that way. Could be there's a Pokemon that dug out some grass to make a mud hole for itself. What do you think, Gardevoir?"

"Does it know any kind of telekinesis?" Tails asked. "Rain is light. It should be easy to make a barrier, right?"

The boy had been sniffing the air, sniffing that he might smell something that wasn't grass or rain. The spoor of Pokemon was in the air, for sure. Some mammals. Rattata could easily build a hard den of grass and mud, and keep a litter safe from the rain. Further away, north, he heard a deep rumbling and decided that it came from a larger Pokemon. It was not a menacing rumble. It struck him as a sound he might make after gnawing on a juicy flank. An herbivore, perhaps. Whatever the case, there would be no mud in that direction.

Tails leaped into the tall grass and crawled south. He crawled in a way that the grass cushioned him, and would not split before him. It would also be too awkward for Tristen to follow close behind.

"There's Tropius further north," Tails said, and cast a quick glance back. "They're heavy, so they wouldn't stick around a muddy area. That, and any sensible Pokemon won't live around Tropius."

Above him, a Zigzagoon bounded through the air from one grassy bank to the other. Tails stiffened for a moment. When he realized the scent wasn't threatening, however, he continued. "I wish they wouldn't do that."

"It's a Zigzagoon," Tails said. "And we're strangers. I think it was just saying hi."

The boy continued his crawl, always thrusting one arm deep into the grass before him before pulling forward. Better to brush an unseen danger than to crawl into its mouth, he thought.

Underfoot, Tristen would eventually find a hollow structure of grass and mud and, if he wasn't careful, could easily step through it.

From out of the wall of grass peered Tails. He blinked down at Tristen, and grinned. "Didn't look where you were going, huh?"

Beside Tristen, a lilypad rose, revealing itself as a Lotad. It, too, stared at the boy. It spat a weak spout of water at him for his troubles.