After resting for the night and coming down from Marvelous Bridge, the four of them headed north along the river's west bank. Less than half an hour later, they entered a forest.
At first, everything seemed normal, with wild Pokémon appearing from time to time. But as they ventured deeper, the dense woods closed in on both sides, leaving only a narrow slit of gray-blue sky overhead.
The trees here were tall, with thick trunks and foliage so dense that no light penetrated it. Although it was still merely overcast outside, the forest was already as dark as dusk.
Dawn walked in the middle of the group, with Piplup huddled on her shoulder, his little eyes scanning their surroundings warily.
"This forest is so quiet," she said softly.
It was indeed quiet.
Not the sort of quiet found in an ordinary forest, occasionally broken by birdsong or the chirping of insects, but a silence that was almost deathly.
There was no sound besides their footsteps, no rustling of wind through the leaves. Even their own breathing sounded unusually clear.
Makomo stopped, adjusted her glasses, and swept her gaze around them.
"Something's wrong," she said. "There isn't a single wild Pokémon around here."
Once she pointed it out, Dawn and Cheryl realized it too. At some point, they really had stopped seeing any sign of Pokémon.
There were no bird Pokémon circling overhead, no beast Pokémon darting through the bushes, no Bug-type Pokémon crawling through the grass. Even the Berry trees showed no signs of anything having nibbled at them.
"Could it be because of this place's name?" Cheryl asked softly. "Since it's called Fantasy Forest, everything here is very... fantastical?"
Makomo shook her head. "However fantastical it is, there should still be a scientific basis for it. But this place..."