Ponk

Silence in the Woods IGN: ScottEsq Favourite: Mr. Mime ‘They had never before seen a beast so terrifying. It stood three metres tall, blood dripping from a mouth that was lined by seven rows of razor sharp teeth. It raised hands the size of dinner plates, revealing claws as long and sharp as machetes. When it roared, the whole ground shook like an earthquake. Its name….was Mr. Mime!’ I looked around at my friend’s faces, an orange glow flickering across their expressions. Joseph looked thoroughly unimpressed, his nerve unwavering despite the sun sinking below the trees, giving the clearing in which we would spend the night an appropriately chilling atmosphere for my tale. Wally, on the other hand, sat huddled on a log under the sleeping bag and blankets that would be his bed, subtly shivering despite the cosy campfire we surrounded. ‘Mr. Mime? What kind of name is that for a monster?’ questioned Joseph. ‘And if it was so big, how did it sneak up on them? That story’s not scary at all, right Wally?’ ‘I can’t believe you made us come out here Scott,’ replied Wally, avoiding the question as he glanced around nervously. ‘My grandparents always said Mr. Mime was real, not just a story.’ I’d always wanted to come out to the woods. It was so relaxing, nothing but the hum of nature and the twinkling stars poking through the early evening sky. No adults, no chores, nothing to interrupt an adventure with my friends. I wasn’t about to let some silly made up story about a mutant jester that could create invisible walls ruin the mood. ‘It’s just an old wives’ tale Wally,’ I assured him. ‘A story to stop little kids wandering off into the forest. Besides, I may have embellished some of the details. The original tale of Mr. Mime isn’t nearly as scary as my version.’ A half-hearted smile softened Wally’s expression, but he still kept his blanket pulled up around his shoulders. ‘Okay, my turn,’ interjected Joseph. Wally and I quieted down, letting Joseph begin his story as we all grabbed another marshmallow and began toasting them over the fire. Joseph was a talented storyteller, and before long had us completely captivated by his tale of an old man who lived in a lighthouse, and the people who would go missing after visiting the bluff it stood upon. As he spoke, Joseph lowered his voice, getting quieter and quieter as the twilight set in around us, the ambience drawing us closer until we were almost falling off the dead trees we sat on. ‘The detective bent down, and holding his breath, pressed his ear to the floorboards…’ Wally shrieked, the silent evening pierced by Joseph bringing a rock down onto the stump he was using as a seat with a wooden thud. He burst out laughing, and despite the rapid drumbeat of my heart thumping in my chest, I slowly joined in. ‘Don’t do that,’ exclaimed Wally, his face turning bright red. ‘You should have seen your faces,’ laughed Joseph. ‘You make it too easy.’ ‘Well, it’s your turn now Wally,’ I reminded him. ‘It’s your chance to get him back.’ Wally meekly glanced over at me. ‘I’m not sure I know any stories that scary,’ he stammered. ‘Come on, give it a go,’ encouraged Joseph. Wally took a few moments to gather himself, then launched into a story of his own about a haunted cottage on a mountain. He wasn’t as eloquent as Joseph, stumbling through his words and losing his train of thought, but Joseph and I listened all the same, enjoying the suspense of any spooky tale as a cool breeze began to set in, huddling us closer to the fire. Wally was just reaching the climax of his story, when something grabbed Joseph’s attention. ‘Quiet,’ he exclaimed. ‘I think I hear something.’ We all became still, staining to pick up any noise ourselves. Nothing made a sound as we sat there waiting. Five seconds. Ten seconds. Wally let out a panicked exhale, the nerves audible in his voice as he spoke. ‘Come on Joe, you’re just trying to scare me again,’ he whined. ‘No, listen’, said Joseph sharply, holding a finger to his lips. Then I heard it too. A rustle in the bushes, faint but distinct in the eerie quiet of dusk. Wally’s eyes widened, his own recognition of the sound plastered on his face. ‘It’s over there!’ I cried. ‘No, there!’ We crowded together, backing towards the fire as small cracks and crunches started to pop up from all the shrubbery surrounding our clearing. Wally’s breathing became wobbly and erratic, Joseph putting a hand on both our arms to make sure we were together. I kept my eyes locked on the treeline, my heart pounding in my chest, my attention searching for any sign of movement. The rustling stopped, but none of us dared move. All was silent, waiting, watching, the tension holding in my breath and strangling my insides. Finally, the stagnant tensity becoming too much for him, Wally let out a desperate cry. A whole family of rattata sprang from the bushes, bouncing off in every direction as they scrambled for safety. Through the trees, under sticks, a few dashed between our feet forcing us to hop away as if the ground was too hot to stand on. In a matter of seconds, they’d all disappeared in the forest around us, leaving behind nothing but hundreds of tiny pawprints. Our trio let out a collective sigh, recovering from our communal heart attack. We all sat back down on our tree stumps, all sharing a nervously relieved laugh as we tried to get our breathing under control. Eventually, I regained my voice and turned back to Wally. ‘You know what Wal? I think that’s enough scary stories for one night,’ I decided, unrolling my sleeping bag onto the ground beside me. ‘We all better get some sleep.’ ‘If I can,’ grumbled Wally. The moon sparkled overhead when I awoke, glimmering through the trees with an incandescent aura. My stomach rumbled, reminding me I'd barely eaten the night before in all the commotion. I rubbed my eyes and looked around, woozy and struggling to regain my bearings after a short sleep. My eyes focused on the spot beside me where Joseph had been sleeping, and a shocked gasp escaped my throat. He was gone. Where was he? Maybe he had needed to use the bathroom. But where was his sleeping bag? Leaning a little closer, I noticed marks in the dirt where he had been, as if a heavy object had been dragged across it. Suddenly I caught sight of something on the edge of my vision, and snapped around in shock at the sight of Wally sitting bolt upright in his sleeping bag across from me. His skin was deathly pale, even considering the white glow of moonlight, and his eyes were frozen wide open, staring straight at me. No, straight past me. Gradually, trembling, he raised a pointed finger. Slowly, I turned, towards the direction he was pointing, towards the direction of the drag marks, towards the torn sleeping bag littering the edge of the clearing, towards the ripped clothing strewn about the brambles. Towards the silhouette of a frame lurking in the tenebrosity, hunched over something that squelched and dripped as it was pulled apart. The figure stopped, straightened, no details visible except its vaguely human stature and hideous malformed limbs. Without warning, its head snapped towards us, black dead eyes glinting in the darkness. A fear like I’ve never felt before overcame me, some horror from deep within my soul drawn out by the unholy being beginning to slowly creep towards us. Tripping and stumbling out of my sleeping bag, I turned and ran, leaping past Wally who didn’t even acknowledge me. He just continued to stare straight, tears trickling down his cheeks, frozen instead by the same terror that filled my veins. I should have helped him. I should have at least tried. My body didn’t care what I should have done though, it only cared about getting as far away as possible as I hurtled into the forest, leaving the clearing behind me. Though it was only a matter of minutes, our camping gear was no longer in sight by the time I heard Wally suddenly scream, then immediately go silent. I sprinted through the forest, tripping on logs in the dim glow of the moon and pushing through the thickets that reached to hold me back, grasping at my arms and face with their scratchy twigs and branches. My bare feet were sore and bleeding but I pressed on, adrenaline fuelling my pace towards wherever I was heading. Suddenly, my face erupted in pain, originating at my nose and piercing through my head like daggers.I collapsed backwards, recoiling in a blind stupor as my mind struggled to register anything but the agony coursing through my brain. I looked around for what I had hit, or what had hit me, but nothing blocked the path in front of me. Collecting myself, I reached out my hand and it pressed against something. Cold. Smooth. Invisible. I slid my hand to the right, the unseen obstacle extending as far as I could reach. I slid my hand to the left, again met by no noticeable gaps. I ran, climbed, bashed my fists until my knuckles were raw and bloody but still nothing I could do would get me past the unmovable mass that stood in front of me. Giving up, I stumbled away in another direction, one hand reaching out in front of my lumbering steps. Fear and exhaustion and pain slowed my stride but those same feelings kept me going, desperate to get away from whatever I had seen. The trees and thickets all looked the same, my teary vision blurring the landscape to muted browns and greens and greys. My outstretched hand collided with another unseeable obstacle, twisting my wrist and shattering my elbow from the impact of my momentum. I stumbled but didn’t stop, again just changing direction and setting off for another destination I didn’t know. After that my trek became indistinct. The walls became more common as I became more tired, my journey nothing but a conglomerate of running and collisions and falling and hurt. I wanted to stop but I didn’t know how, my feet carrying me further and further because that’s all they could do. I didn’t know or care how long had passed, by the time I had arrived back at the campsite. I collapsed to the ground, my whole body racked with pain and shuddering as I tried to draw in strained breaths of the cool night air. I saw Wally's sleeping bag but it was empty, torn open with red streaks splashed across the dirt, leading into the dark. The world was quiet around me, my heaving and puffing cutting through the stillness. I propped my back against a tree, and with nothing left to do but wait, resigned myself to what was to come. It didn’t make a sound, but I saw its eyes appear from the shadows between the trees opposite me. It moved sporadically, zigging and zagging left and right, slowing down and speeding up seemingly at random. It moved forwards, sideways, occasionally even backwards, horrifically twisting its neck or back to watch me as it crept closer and closer. Every fibre of my body screamed to run, to get away from this abomination, but my legs refused to move, and even if they did I had nowhere to go. It moved into the light of the clearing, and for the first time I could make out the details of the atrocity that existed before me. Though vaguely humanoid, no one would mistake this monster for humanity. What seemed like fabric covered its torso and hands, but when the creature moved, the layer of white moved and folded with it, revealed to be nothing but adjoining, discoloured flesh. Its arms and legs were spindly and disproportionate, covered in flecks of a liquid I dare not think about. Cobalt growths sprouted from its head and feet, taking the crude appearance of hair and shoes in a harrowing display of mimicry. Massive scarlet cysts covered its body, developing from its joints right up to its fingertips and cheeks. Its countenance twisted and morphed, a thousand emotions trying to be forced across a face with no features. No nose, no eyebrows, no lips; just bone and muscle contorting around blank impassive eyes in an attempt to convey joy, then anger, then pain. But more terrifying than its appearance, was the sound it made. Nothing. It moved ever closer, slinking and crawling and scrambling across the ground in a failed charade of natural motion, but the whole time not a single grunt or groan or cry escaped its deformed body. It moved in complete silence. Upon reaching my fatigued and shattered body, it stopped, staring down at me with a face my nightmares could only hope to compete with. Its arms extended towards me, and dread became my only existence, all my thoughts and feelings consumed by the terror that had taken Joseph and Wally. Its necrotic hands brushed my skin, and an overwhelming desire to live fought for control, futile as my body and mind lay helpless. And as its hands closed around my throat, I tried to let out a last cry for help, but in a cruel act of irony, no sound came out.

Very helpful, that makes a lot more sense now. Thank you very much.

Okay, except the two I mentioned don't even show up as having a hidden ability in the Pokédex. Was wondering if there's a reason for that, or if there's a way to tell if there's any others?

I noticed Amoonguss and Electrode (potentially others as well) aren't listed as having their hidden ability and are not available as alphas, but I know some have it from PvP stats and the GTL. Just wondering how they come about, were they only available for an event, is there a way to get them now save buying them etc.?