"I choose..."

Nadia slowly stretched out her hand towards Fevine, with the latter immediately jumping onto it and running up her arm onto her shoulder. He hid behind Nadia's hair.

"Welp, looks like Fevine chooses me too." Nadia muses as the other Loomians decide to go about their daily lives.

"I felt as if that were the likely choice. Fevine was closer to you than any of the other Loomians..." Her mother observed before bringing out her Kabunga. "Now, you probably know the basics to battling, considering you watch so many Battle Theatre challenges, but to recap..." She starts explaining how to have a Loomian Battle.

Once she remembered how to battle clearly, Nadia beckoned Fevine out of his hiding place on her shoulder and encouraged him to battle. Fevine jumps off Nadia's shoulder, albeit reluctantly, and faces against Kabunga.

Nadia's LoomiWatch displayed Fevine's health, energy level, and known moveset. It also displayed Kabunga's health and energy levels. With that, Nadia makes the first move.

"Fevine, use Growl to lower Melee Attack, then go in for a Pounce attack!"

Fevine did as he was told, successfully lowering Kabunga's Melee Attack before running towards the target, ready to pounce on it. Kabunga, on the other hand, used Brace, which raised its Melee Defense, so Pounce did not do as much as it would normally do.

"Use Strike!"

Kabunga raised its arm, and before Fevine could dodge, brought it down and inflicted damage on the other Loomian. He skidded across the field before coming to a stop. Nadia checked Fevine's energy level before telling him to use Petal Pummel on the ground, near where Kabunga is.

Nadia's mother wasn't sure as to what her daughter's strategy was, but ordered Kabunga to use Brace again.

Fevine jumped up and sent a hurl of petals towards Kabunga. The petals connected with the ground, kicking up a little bit of debris. Because Kabunga couldn't see through the debris, it decided to rest a turn. Once it settled, it revealed that the sharpened petals formed a circle around the opponent.

"Now use Pounce again!"

Fevine ran at Kabunga again, before jumping into the air to avoid the petals.

"Use Strike to counter it!"

Kabunga did as ordered and manages to connect with Fevine's Pounce. Fevine jumps back to avoid taking damage. 

Once Fevine landed on his feet again, Nadia ordered for it to use another Pounce. This time, Kabunga did not recover fast enough for its trainer to shout another move, and Pounce connects.

Nadia's mom must've noticed that Kabunga was low on health because she set up another Brace. Nadia, on the other hand, noticed Fevine was low on energy, so she decided to rest it for a turn.

Kabunga took the opportunity to strike, landing one on Fevine.

"Looks like we're even now!"

"Not so fast! Fevine, use Pounce again!"

Fevine awoke and pounced on Kabunga. The latter managed to counter it but was suddenly held captive in Fevine's grasp.

"Now Petal Pummel, at close distance!"

The petals connect, fainting Kabunga in the process. Fevine's battle adrenaline faded and the creature bounded back to his trainer, hiding from view again.

Nadia's mother returned the knocked out Kabunga to its disc, before clapping. "Well done, Nadia. You're gonna do well in those Battle Theatres."

Nadia smiled before her father calls them both over.

"Hey, you two. I've got my gear set up. C'mere." He shows them the computer that now displayed the map of Roria.

"This'll take the signals from the chunks and display onscreen their general locations." The computer beeps and a dot is formed. The dot points at a forest not too far from Mitis Town.

"Would you look at that, the first piece is in Gale Forest..." Nadia could feel goosebumps on her arms upon hearing the name. While she has never ventured to Gale Forest, she has a strange memory of fighting someone there.

"Nadia? What's wrong?" Her mother asked, shaking the girl out of her thoughts.

"Nothing, I'm fine." She reassures her. Her mom doesn't look too convinced but leaves it alone.

"Gale Forest is on the outskirts of Cheshma Town. The town is just past Route 1. I need you to go there and find the missing tablet piece and report back to me. Your mother and I will communicate with you through the LoomiWatch you have. If you find anything, report it to us and we'll take it from there." Her father instructed. Nadia nodded and saluted her dad before turning around to leave the laboratory.

"Wait a minute, Nadia. One more thing." Her mother calls after her, making her stop in her tracks.

When she has Nadia's full attention, she produces a key. "This is the key to the back of the lab. You'll find something that'll be useful for your journey."

She gives Nadia the key, which the latter takes and makes a mad dash towards the closet, which makes her father crack up.

"She's eager-"

Upon entering the closet, Nadia opens the two cases found in there. One had 5 Small Meds and the other had 5 Capture Discs. After obtaining both items, she runs out of the lab.

"If you need anything, you can talk to any of us!" Her father calls after her, obviously amused.

It takes Nadia roughly two minutes to get to Route 1. Fevine peeks out from behind her shoulder, but seeing the unfamiliar space sends him back to his hiding place.

Nadia spots a Twilat hopping about in the grass. She nudges Fevine to battle it. Fevine jumps down from her shoulder and sends a Petal Pummel at Twilat before retreating to his hiding spot. Nadia throws a Capture Disc at it, which successfully catches the Loomian.

She ventures further into the route, not seeing much before spotting the gate to Cheshma Town.

Through that gate, she'll be able to go to the forest to investigate.

Running through the grass, she encountered many Twilats and Cathorns. Seeing as it is good training before making her way to Silvent City, the location of the first Battle Theatre, she fought through them all. At one point, Fevine had taken a lot of damage, so Nadia used some Small Meds to help him survive until they get to the nearest Health Center.

As Nadia steps through the gates to Cheshma Town, she feels the air of familiarity as she enters the little town.

Cheshma Town changed quite a bit. There were two-story houses all over, with an occasional vending machine littered about. A fountain stands proud with a Dripple statue on top of it. A school is seen nearby, and in the distance was a bridge that was blocked by three people.

Up the steps is a coffee shop and a Loomian Health Center. Further contains the entrance to Gale Forest. Nadia decides to get her Loomians healed up first.

She heals them and places the discs in her pocket and starts heading towards the forest, but not before buying some Small Meds.

Upon entering, she spots an old man talking to two people who seem to be part of the police force.

"I promise you I'm not making things up here..." She hears the man say. "I saw those Loomians with my own eyes. They were possessed by an evil spirit..."

Wait what?

"They attacked me with incredible strength, more than they should possess. The aura it gave off was dark and chilling...Something disturbed the balance of this forest..."

Both officers shook their heads. "What you're saying is absurd. There has never been a single evil wild Loomian in these woods." One says.

"Yeah, he's right. The woods are protected by a Guardian Spirit, aren't they?" The other agrees.

"I've lived here for many years," The man counters, "And not once has this occurred, yes. But that's only because Duskit watches over this forest for a long time. That's why I think it may be a key to figuring this all out."

"That's nonsense. The Guardian Spirit protects these forests, does it not? Your claims don't make sense, sir."

The man sighs. "Fine, don't listen to me. I know something has disturbed this forest, and I'll get to the bottom of this myself if I have to." He says, determined.

The officers nod briskly and take off towards town. The man looks toward Nadia, who was standing there this entire time, trying to interject, before realizing the other two were gone, and the former was looking at her.

"You there, are you a Loomian trainer?" Nadia jumps at the question before nodding dumbly.

"Good, because I need your help. You saw what happened earlier, right?" Again, the girl nodded.

"Nobody would believe what I saw earlier today. Over the past few days, something has changed in these woods. Normally, Duskit, the Guardian Spirit that watches over this forest, is kind and gentle, as it always had whenever I visit it. However, that's not the case when I went this morning!" The man explains. "Would you mind investigating what happened?"

"Yeah, it's no problem; after all, I have something I need to do here too." Nadia accepts. The man nods.

"Thank you so much! If you need anything, I will be inside my house." And with that, he retreats to his home, and Fevine suddenly jumps out.

"Whoa- Fevine, wait!"

Chasing Fevine through the grass was not an easy feat. Fevine blended in with his surroundings courtesy of its Plant-typing. Eventually, though, she found him fighting a Coonucopia. Coonucopia was weakened enough to want to flee, leaving Fevine with his own injuries.

"Fevine, are you okay?" Nadia exclaims, picking up the small Loomian. Fevine struggles to move, before giving up.

"We need to get you to the Health Center again..." Nadia murmurs, and races back to town, using Twilat as a cover-up as she returns.

When both of her Loomians heal up, Nadia picks up Fevine again. "Is everything okay? Did something happen in that forest that riles you up?" She asks. Fevine stares at his trainer, before looking away.

"Well, if we run into anything, don't fight aggressively. I don't want anyone to get severely hurt." Nadia says, and Fevine nods slightly. The Loomian hid in Nadia's hair again once he was let go.

When she returns to Gale Forest, Nadia patted Fevine on the head to calm him down. When they encounter another Coonucopia, Fevine sent a Petal Pummel at it.

"Fevine...did the Grubby evolution line do something to you? Mom said she found you right outside of Gale Forest, bruised and battered..." Nadia asked. Terrafly don't usually reside in the forest, but one might've flown in on occasion.

Fevine nods slightly. Nadia looked at the Coonucopia he had attacked, then used a Small Med on it and left it be.

Well, she also catches a Grubby who looked ready to attack Fevine. The latter hissed at the former when Nadia brought it out to heal.

As she rounds a corner, Fevine jumps out of his hiding spot and runs ahead again. Nadia, startled, nearly lost the Loomian but was able to find him standing in front of a beautiful pink tree. A rock of some sort sat in front of it, emitting some dark particles.

"Ah! This is one of the stone pieces!" Nadia exclaimed, recognizing it quickly. She quickly dialed her father, who picked up immediately.

"Hey, Champ! What's up?"

"I found a tablet piece." Nadia turned the holographic camera toward the rock in front of her.

"It seems you did! Alright, knew you could do it!" Her father probably saw something beyond the tree, because he asked, "Although, what's that black goop over there?"

"I dunno, doesn't look like I could get through yet..." Nadia answered, looking at the spiderweb-looking barricade.

"It's emitting the same dark energy as our tablet piece. It looks like it was tainted by something." Her father concluded. "Well, in any case, I need that tablet piece as soon as possible. You should have a transporting app on your LoomiWatch. Try it out."

Nadia obliged and scanned the tablet piece in front of her. The stone slowly dissipated, leaving blue sparks behind before disappearing.

"Good. Now, I should have it in a few seconds. By the way, what's that behind you?"

Nadia became confused before turning around only to be face-to-face with a Loomian.

"What the-"

The Loomian shuddered, its body becoming darker. Then it lashed out, startling Nadia and Fevine, who sent out a Petal Pummel from the surprise attack.

"Fevine! It looks like we gotta fight again. Be careful, I think it's more dangerous than before." Nadia exclaimed, and the Plant-type stayed on his guard.

The LoomiWatch identified the Loomian as Duskit, the Guardian Spirit of Gale Forest.

This must be the Loomian the old man was talking about...

"Fevine! Try to trap it in a Petal Pummel!" Nadia ordered, but Fevine stood there, stretching its legs.

"Wait, is that-oh, I didn't even realize you learned Stretch, whoops-OH WATCH OUT!" Nadia yelled as Duskit used Stupefy. Fevine barely dodged it.

"Use Petal Pummel!" Fevine sent out sharp petals, which hit Duskit, but the latter came out unscathed.

"Switch out! I'll use Grubby!" Fevine bounded back to his trainer and Nadia sent out Grubby.

Because it's a Bug-type, Grubby didn't take much damage from Duskit's Brainwash attack. In turn, it used Bug Bite, which sapped the Duskit's energy and healed Grubby from the Brainwash attack.

Duskit managed to cast Stupefy again, hitting Grubby before it had the chance to dodge. Grubby fell, defeated.

"Well then...Grubby, come back." Nadia returned Grubby and sent out Twilat. "Fevine, you're our last resort, okay?" Fevine nodded and sat back.

"Twilat, use Stretch, then use Gnaw!" Twilat did as told and then pounced at Duskit. Duskit, who was taking a rest to regain Energy, lost more health than it normally would.

"Now Quick Pounce, before Duskit raises its guard again!" Twilat did as told, and hit Duskit again. The corrupted Loomian set up Final Ruse, which could take down the opponent who deals the fatal blow.

Nadia tells Twilat to use Quick Pounce again, but Duskit dodges it. The Loomian then used Brainwash, which knocks out Twilat.

"Return, Twilat. Your turn again, Fevine." Fevine jumps into the battlefield. "Use Pounce!"

Due to the Stretch move from earlier, Fevine was faster than Duskit. The Pounce hits, bringing Duskit's health to red.

Duskit decides to use Stupefy again and hits Fevine. The Plant-type's health falls to yellow.

"Finish this with Petal Pummel!" Fevine throws the petals at Duskit, with a direct hit too. And with that, the battle was over.

Duskit returns to its normal color and flies toward Nadia. It stares at her in silence, as if to say "thanks". Then it flies upward, disappearing.

Nadia stares at the direction Duskit flew off to, then remembers the call she was on with her dad. She frantically turned on the watch again.

"Oh, there you are. I got worried when you suddenly hung up on me. Is everything okay?" He asks, concerned.

"Yeah, a Loomian named Duskit attacked me, that's why I suddenly hung up," Nadia answered. Her father breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now that you say it, it did resemble Duskit, the Guardian of the Forest." Her father explained, before realizing another part of her sentence. "Wait, it attacked you?"

"Yeah, though I'm fine now."

Her father nodded. "Well, that's good. I got the tablet piece, and it seems that it reacts to strong light. You might be able to destroy that barrier over there with a strong enough light. Luckily, the Battle Star of Silvent's Battle Theatre awards her opponents-upon victory-with an app that can shine a light bright enough to combat the gloop over there. If you defeat her, you'll get it too."

Nadia smiled. "Alright, I'll get that app as soon as I defeat Naya then." She has more determination to defeat the Battle Star now.

Her father chuckles. "Be careful though, Naya is pretty strong."

"I know that, I've been watching her battles for a while now."

"Well, while you do that, I'll work to pinpoint the next tablet piece. Good luck to you, we'll see you on TV!" And with that, her father hangs up, just as the man from earlier runs toward her.

"Hey there. I saw your battle with Duskit earlier. There have been reports of people encountering corrupt Loomians all over Roria. They can't be captured, but battling them will return them to their senses, as you have demonstrated." The man explains.

"Yeah, it seems so."

"Well, I best be returning home now. I bid you good luck on your own journey, young adventurer." He takes off, using the shortcut to the gate. Nadia does the same, running toward the Health Center to heal her Loomians.