As soon as we reached the surface, I had to hold my hair down as the wind blew fiercely. The tall grass swayed in one direction, as if it were all moving behind us. The Central Mountains looked much closer and much larger now across the great plain of grass. However, it wasn't totally plain.

"What are those?" I questioned Luna when she came to stand next to me, pointing towards the closest 'thing'. It appeared to be a lump of ground, similar to a hill, trees and shrubs growing from it. It was in the distance, but not too far off, yet I could tell it looked sickly. It appeared to have a purple hue and it even looked like the branches were dripping liquid.

"The path we have to follow," Luna grimaced. "The path of giants."

"Huh?" I took another look. "Nope. I do not know what you mean."

She sighed. "Those giant statues back in the Hall of Giants? These are their graves, or so I was told. What grew atop of them are trees and plants, but they're mostly made of poison."

"How is that possible," Xera said, shielding her face against the wind. "And what is that smell?"

"Smell?" I was confused. I tried taking a sniff of the air, but nothing. Then, "Oh."

"Oh?" Xera was plugging her nose. "You only NOW smelled it!? That stench is terrible!"

I shrugged. "I guess I'm used to smells like that. Back in Motostoke, it smelled almost exactly like this all the time."

Xera's eyes went wide and she spat, "Outsiders!"

Even Luna shook her head. "This smell is toxic, no buts about it. The fact that you're used to it... what kind of horrible world did you live in?"

I looked away, feeling both ashamed and embarrassed. I knew exactly the kind of world I had lived in. One full of breathable poison, constant wars, and death. Last I knew, tensions were still pretty high between Galar and Kalos. Another war is possible, not that I would probably ever find out.

"Anyway," Luna looked back at the islands, many dotted around the plain of grass. "I think they're like this because of those giant creatures themselves. From what I can gather, they stored poison in the trunk on their back. The fact that they were one with nature, but also could produce poison, likely meant they could create these. These are their graves and it is also the path that leads to the Central Mountains."

"I'm guessing we should avoid them?" I asked.

Luna nodded. "If possible. Somewhere right in-between us and the mountains is a huge cluster of them. I seriously recommend going around at that point. Some Pokemon have managed to make their home on the islands. Because of that, they've been... corrupted."

"Great," Xera was still holding her nose, but Leavanny offered her a mask woven from string. She put it on and took a deep breath. "Oh, this feels so much better."

Leavanny made masks for all of us, even the Pokemon. Her skills at weaving were top notch.

"Thanks," I smiled behind the mask. 

"Leavaaaany," she cried, smiling, then put on her own mask. 

"Let's go," Luna looked at the sun, which sat just atop the ocean in the East. "I don't think we'll make it before nightfall, but I want to get as close as possible and avoid everything."

"Everything?" I asked as we all began walking at a brisk pace.

"There are still wild Pokemon about," Luna said. "Small ones that hide beneath the ground, in the tall grass, and even ones that roam the plains. Of course they like to avoid the islands of poison, so we'll stick along that path, but not too close."

We all nodded in agreement. Yanmega flew above me and eventually settled atop my head. Z padded along in her Zoroark form, occasionally shifting the mask to sniff the air.

"What are you doing?" I asked after the third time.

She growled at me and Luna said, "Trying to see if any Pokemon might be trying to sneak up on us. Though, we shouldn't have to worry about that much now. We're near the islands now."

To our left was the first island of poison along our path. We were probably 50 feet from it, but even that seemed too close. The trees and shrubs growing on it were definitely plants, but they pulsed with the color purple, poison dripping from the leaves. I'd occasionally see something rustle in the poisonous foliage and would feel the presence of something staring at us from within. We passed without incident, but that still didn't make me feel better.

"Look," Xera pointed to the right and far in the distance, I could see a herd of Pokemon roaming the plains. Their stocky muscles and bushy hair instantly recognizable. 

"Bouffalants," I said, amazed. "I've only seen them in books. They're pretty common over in colonies apparently."

"Nice to know," Luna said. "As long as they don't come near us, I'll be happy."

I watched the wild Pokemon as they stopped running and begin to graze in the field. From what I knew, they would stay for a while in one spot, then run together as a herd in search of either a water source or better plains to graze in. Yanmega seemed disturbed by them and was back to flying just a little ahead of me.

Another island of poison blocked the view between us and the Bouffalants, the towering trees looking ominous. Despite being clustered in one spot, they were pretty tall. I saw something move on a branch, so I focused in on that spot. At first I couldn't see anything, but then I saw the shape of a Pokemon. It looked frog-like, but then disappeared before I could get a better look.

"They're watching us," I warned Luna, not so sure of what 'they' were.

"I know," Luna said, and I realized with a start, she was uneasy.

The island was soon behind us and I looked for the Bouffalant. Only, they weren't there now.

"Odd," I murmured behind my mask. "I thought they were supposed to graze for a while."

I racked my brain for an answer to this puzzle. I did a lot of studying on the Pokemon in the Unovan Colony in particular, so I had to have the answer somewhere.

"Why would they move?" I wondered. "Not enough to graze? No, maybe a threat? But what could threaten them? Something larger?"

I was so focused on thinking that I nearly missed it. A slight flicker of purple. My head shot up, eyes wide. I stopped, gazing at the sea of grass to my right. The wind was still blowing past us, but it had slowed down. I concentrated, gazing at the grass. I was sure something was there, something purple...

"Oh crap," I thought. "Help!"

I ran, stumbling over myself as something lunged through the grass towards me, claws outstretched. The wind rippled behind me and I heard a cry of pain. I looked up to see Yanmega charging another attack as the purple cat stood back up.

"Liepard," I breathed, then I felt myself get hauled backwards. I was in the air for a moment, Z having flung me behind her as she pounced at the Liepard. The two began to tussle in the grass, then I fell back on the ground with an oomph. 

Luna hauled me to my feet. "Come on! Those things don't hunt alone out here."

We began running, Yanmega firing blasts of wind into the grass, Leavanny slicing through the tall grass in front of us to make our path easier to run through. Z was back, bounding alongside us. There was a bit of blood on her flank, but I had no way of knowing if it was her blood or the Liepard's.

I heard Xera yell from my side and I turned my head to see what happened, only for me to get pulled to the ground. I turned onto my back to see a Liepard rearing its head back, ready to sink its jaws into me. 

A blast from Yanmega brought it off of me and I rolled to my knees. I tugged at the sword, bringing it out. The Liepard hissed as it stalked around us, eyes narrowed. My hands shook. I knew cutting down the Pokemon would be my only way out, but the thought of the blood and the lifeless corpse kept me from acting.

"Heh," I heard Eric's voice on the wind. "Seems like you can't do it. Your brother sure died for nothing."

I heard something behind me rustle. I turned quickly, bringing my sword up. A Liepard had snuck up on me, springing towards me. I swung my sword, the flat of the blade smacking into the Pokemon's head. Part of the blade must've cut the Liepard, a bit of blood dripping from her head. Yanmega had blasted the other Liepard away, buzzing angrily. 

Xera came out of nowhere, stabbing her spear into the Liepard's side, blood dripping from the point.

"Come on," she said. As we both ran with Yanmega flying above us, I noticed she had scratched along her arms and face. Nothing too serious by the looks of it, but enough to get her pissed off by her expression.

"Blasted creatures," she gripped her spear tighter. "I'm going to kill the lot of them."

"Where's Luna!?" I yelled.

"I don't know!" Xera responded, and I noticed she no longer had her mask. Touching my face with my free hand, I realized I no longer had mine. It must've fell off when I had fallen. I looked at Yanmega to check on his and saw it was still there.

A smell drifted across us as the wind shifted direction, stronger than ever before.

"Xera," I warned, noticing we had strayed dangerously close to one of the poisonous islands on our left. There was another to our right, both closer together than others. A path was between them and the sound of Yanmega blasting wind behind us kept us reminded that we were being chased.

"I know," Xera growled. "We have to run between them."

Tall, poisonous trees loomed on either side of us, the smell much stronger now. Xera and I had to cover our mouths to avoid breathing in too much. The air was tinged with faded purple, a sign that there was definitely poison in the air.

Something flew past me and collided with a Liepard behind me by the sound of the yelp. I shifted my gaze slightly to see a Pokemon clinging to the side of a tree, its webbed hands dripping with poison. It formed another throwing star and flung it towards us. I tackled Luna to the ground, the attack flying behind us.

The sound of pain could be heard behind us and we both looked to see several Liepards retreating from several Pokemon. They stood upright and turned to look at us. 

"Toxicroaks," my eyes widened as I stood, Xera doing the same. I looked in the direction we were supposed to be running in to see the way blocked by several Greninjas, all purple and dripping with poison.

"They've been toxified," I breathed, coughing on the poisonous air. I brought my hand back to my mouth, trying not to breathe in too much. 

"Guard me," Xera said, sticking her spear into the ground. I raised my sword higher as I moved closer to her, trying to watch both the Toxicroaks and Greninjas simultaneously. 

Xera ripped part of her already tattered sleeves, wrapping the leaves around her face. She did the same with her other sleeve and tied it around my face.

"Thanks," I said gratefully, breathing coming a little easier. 

"Now get ready," Xera said, voice muffled. "We're going to have to fight our way out of this one. I'd appreciate if you didn't hesitate this time."

I gripped my sword with both hands. I heard Eric's laughter in the distant, his comment from earlier still stinging. 

"Heh. Seems like you can't do it. Your brother sure died for nothing."

I breathed in, narrowing my eyes, hoping my confident voice matched my nerves. "Don't worry. Not this time."

Well, they're in a pickle now aren't they. Liam, Xera, and Yanmega vs Toxicroaks and Toxified Greninjas. And who knows what Luna, Z, Dewpider, and Leavanny might be facing during all of this. Till next time my readers, where our travelers dive into the Miasma Forest. Toodles