Mika mumbled something as he was woken up by Aeris, humming softly as he cuddled against her through his sleeping bag, and then leaned up, his hair all messy from rolling over in his sleep.
"Mmm, G-gotcha." He said with a loud, cute yawn at the end of his sentence. He slipped out of his sleeping bag, his back turned to the group as he pulled on his jeans... hiding an embarrassing fact relating to teenage boys and waking up in the mornings. After adjusting his jeans, he stretched and walked over to Bones and his other Pokemon, greeting each of them with a hug and a scratch on the ears. "So, what's the plan for today?"
He set out his Pokemon's food for them, watching them eat with a smile as he bent down to touch his toes, his morning stretches part of his routine.
Fary had been awake for a while trying to find something she could cook for breakfast. She ended up catching and killing an Ekans throwing it into a pan to fry with some sperrow eggs. She still wasn't feeling that great but was trying to work through it. She had to do something but knew it was best to leave Jordan alone for now. She decided to keep to her self for a while.
She looked up and saw the others waking up. "Good morning everyone." she said softly, almost meekly in a way then looked back at the food.
"Mph. Why are we sleeping outside, and not waiting one more day in Viridian like we should have?" Terinth said, pushing herself off of the ground into a sitting position. She looked around herself, and saw Mt. Moon, towering above the landscape.
"So, what all will we find in that giant waste of space?" She asked the currently awake, pushing herself out of the sleeping bag.
At the sounds of people and Pokémon talking to one another, Rochelle stirred and woke, blinking sleep from her eyes. She was lying on her front, the left side of her face planted firmly against the thick fabric of her sleeping bag. Rolling over and pulling yesterday's shirt and pants from her pack, which was nearby, Rochelle redressed in her sleeping bag, which she had finally mastered to avoid any of the guys getting an eyeful of things that she didn't exactly want to show off.
That thought gave Rochelle pause. She didn't even know if anyone was even remotely interested in her that way. Romantically. But then, she didn't need to be thinking about that kind of thing, especially since a relationship in the group had already caused two people strife. Rochelle mentally dismissed the topic as she got out of the sleeping bag, rolled it up and tied it to the top of her pack. There were more important things that she needed to consider. First and foremost, food. There was the smell of cooking coming from a small fire, which Fary was overseeing.
"Morning," Rochelle said brightly as she moved over to sit next to Fary, noting the eggs in the pan. "Any chance I can get some of that for breakfast?"
"Morning Rochelle and yes all of this is for us, Sperrow eggs and an Ekans. Should be done soon." Fary said turning the eggs and watched them cook. "It's really good once you get past the idea of it being a snake." she said petting Rogue.
Mika looks down at Fary and Rochelle sitting over the cookfire. His stomach growled as he smelt the cooking Ekans and Spearow eggs. "Mmm, smells good..." He said as he knelt near the girls, watching Fary handle the cooking. "Mmm, Spearow eggs are some of my favorite... Not as easy to get to as Pidgey eggs, but bigger and tastier."
His mouth waters at the aroma of the food, and his stomach growls again, protesting its hunger as he yawned a bit and popped his neck. "Th-there.." He said with a shudder of relief once the stiffness in his neck had gone. "So, did you girls sleep okay?"
"Yeah, slept fine. I'm used to roughing it, so there were no problems on my end," Rochelle answered Mika, occasionally flicking her eyes between the younger Trainer and the sizzling pan. "Though I have to admit, I'm, uh... a little nervous about venturing into Mt. Moon today. Never actually been into caves or under mountains or anything of the sort. I'm used to travelling the roads and routes with the sun shining. Unless, of course, the weather has other plans, in which case... I just live with it." She shrugged a shoulder and gave the others a small smile.
The smell of fresh eggs was intoxicating, it more than enough to overcome the bit of awkwardness that had built up for Jordan. He walked over to where the others had gathered huddled around Fary's food.
He asked the chef, "Hey, so um like, is it ready? I could use some food."
Fary started grabbing some of the dishes that had been set out, not looking up from her task. "Yes, it's ready. I did my best to make the Ekans meat less tough, I think the Spearow eggs should help with that, but other than that everyone can dig in." She ladled out a portion onto a dish and handed it to Jordan.
"Uh, ok, I guess. Thanks," Jordan replied as he took his breakfast. This was going to be new. Sure he was used to the Tauros steaks that Dad would occasionally bring home, but he had never eaten anything as gamey as Ekans. He took an exploratory bite, and chewed it. Fary had done well to make it palatable.
The rest of the group each got a bit of the meal on offer and ate it down. Fueled up and energized, it was time to make the dangerous trek into the cave.
[hr]
Countless foot traffic through Mt. Moon had made the path through the mountain pretty wide, enough to accommodate a large traveling party such as this. There was dim lighting in the cave, bright enough to light the way so people could avoid major rocks, low enough not to affect the local wildlife adversely. Mt. Moon was still a tough hike, but it was still doable for a competent trainer.
Jordan looked around the huge cave in awe. He had never been inside a mountain like this before. "Whoa, so intense," he commented.
Lizmichi approved her dialogue, she's with out internet as her home state goes through one of its phases. Meanwhile, here's the capture list.
Tyler ogled the massive, carnivorous space around him as the group entered the cave.
"Hey, does anyone have a ma-"
Suddenly struggling to keep his balance, the young Trainer stumbled several large, irregular steps forward. Regaining his footing, he turned around to see what he had tripped over. A rock. He sighed angrily. Gotta be careful.
Suddenly, the rock began to rumble. Then, an explosion of dirt and pebbles shot out in all directions, forcing Tyler to shield his eyes. When the dust cleared, he was standing face-to-face with a rather irate Geodude.
"Geodude!" it shouted indignantly, pointing its sculpted stone finger threateningly at the human that disturbed its rest.
"Uh...[small]shit[/small]..."
Tyler scrambled to produce Tank's Pokeball and quickly released the Nidoran from the device. "Tank? Do me a favor and Double Kick that Geodude?"
Tank gave an approximation of a grin and immediately dashed towards the Geodude.
The wild Geodude began to pick up some small rocks on the ground and tossed them at Tank as he charged forward. The Nidoran quickly and nimbly dodged the oncoming projectiles that left clouds of dust in the wake of their impact. After closing the distance and picking up some speed, Tank leaped into the air and aimed its hind feet directly towards it.
The wild Geodude in response crossed its arms and curled up tight, compressing its form into a more round, compact shape. Tank's attack connected, once again showing strength beyond his diminutive size. The force of the blow send the Geodude hurtling back into the nearby wall with a loud, echoing crash. A Geodude-shaped imprint was left on the rock wall as it fell to the ground, unmoving.
That had to hurt.
Tank dashed back over to Tyler's side, chattering with excitement as it did. "Ran ran ran!"
"That was a good job you did there...how's about we practice a bit more while we're here?" Tyler asked.
Aeris looked all around inside the cave, Blaze's tailfire had grown twice as big so as to light the cave more. A group of Zubats flew towards Aeris, who gave a shriek and used her arms to cover her face. Tristan used Sleep Powder on the group, what looked like dust flew at them and made them all fall asleep and crash to the ground. They all snored and Aeris gave a relieved sigh. "Thanks, Tristan." "Free!" he said and clapped his...hand...things together.
Aeris walked a bit further into the cave, going down a somewhat narrow path, wide enough for three people to walk side by side though. She found herself near a ladder in the ground and in front of her was another wide space, wider than at the entrance. "Ooooo." she said in amazement at the size of it. A few Trainers that didn't belong to the group were there, searching for wild Pokemon and perhaps a challenge from another Trainer.
Aeris walked about until she stumbled on a rock. She rubbed her knee which had gotten bruised. "Ow, ow, ow, ow. Dumb rock!" When she turned to face the rock, it was staring back at her. She jumped at that, the eyes having caught her off guard. When she had collected herself, she saw that she had tripped over a Geodude. "Just my luck..." she said. From the data she had gotten from Brock's Geodude, Geodudes don't like being called dumb rocks. Or maybe it wasn't exactly that, but that was the impression she got from the Geodude she tripped over, because it did not look happy, at all. It charged towards her and she gave a louder shriek this time.
She wasn't hit by the Geodude, though. Blaze had managed to use Metal Claw on the Geodude in time before it would have hit her. Aeris gave another relieved sigh. "This cave is just bad luck for me..." Blaze and the Geodude battled, Blaze using Metal Claw while the Geodude answered with Tackle, and eventually, Blaze won, the Geodude lying on the ground, defeated. "Great work, Blaze! And thank you for saving me." Blaze smiled at the compliment, glad that Aeris wouldn't be sent to the hospital. Aeris took out an empty Pokeball and threw it at the Geodude. It landed correctly and the Geodude was absorbed into the Pokeball. Now she just needed to wait and see if it would resist it. The ball wiggled on the ground for a few moments, sometimes it looked like it would break free, but eventually it clicked. The Geodude had been caught.
Aeris picked up the Pokeball and let Geodude out of it. "I hope you'll do your best while on my team. And sorry about calling you a dumb rock earlier." Geodude still looked miffed, but nodded. "Geodude!" Geodude said in a happy tone, indicating that it forgave Aeris. "That's wonderful! Now, what to name you..." She thought for a few moments about what to name her Geodude. She began by picking up her Pokedex and aiming it at her Geodude. It confirmed that her Geodude was male. "Good to know." She put her Pokedex back in her pocket and began to think again. Then she got an enlightened look on her face. "How about Xal?" Geodude gave it a thought and nodded. He liked it. "Then Xal you are." She took two Potions out of her backpack and sprayed Blaze and Xal with each, healing them. "There you go, you two. Good again." Blaze and Xal hugged each of Aeris' legs, almost making her fall. Tristan flapped his wings, staying nearby in one place in case Aeris would fall. Blaze and Xal let go of her legs, and she hadn't fallen, so it was good.
"Xal? A strange name, that. Slightly difficult to pronounce," Rochelle commented to Aeris, having chosen to walk near her to see the way Aeris battled against wild Pokémon. It had been interesting to see her Butterfree take on more than one opponent at a time.
As she watched Aeris and her Pokémon, Rochelle noted that she should probably start training up Iskra, the newest addition to her team. It wouldn't do to have a weak link in the chain; everyone should be of more or less equal ability. Opening the appropriate Poké Ball, the Mareep materialised in the familiar beam of white light. "Okay, Iskra, we're gonna toughen you up a little," she said to the sheeplike Pokémon. "Sound good?"
At Iskra's nod, Rochelle pointed to the group of sleeping Zubats on the cavern floor. "See them? Go wake one of them up and we'll see how you battle." The Mareep bleated once in response, his expression one of determination, and ran over to the group, poking one with his head and looking expectantly at it. Unsurprisingly, there was no response from the sleeping bat Pokémon.
"Try again, Iskra, you can do it," Rochelle coaxed. "Hit it with a Tackle." Iskra complied, backing up a short distance before he charged straight at the Zubat, hitting it with a grunt. The bat skidded a short distance away, and flapped its wings for a couple of seconds to take to the air. It flew around Iskra a couple of times before it dived down and tried to bite at the thick wool covering most of the Mareep's body. Iskra bleated once, a little annoyed by this, and headbutted the bat as it swooped down for another attack. Stunned, the Zubat flopped to the ground, and Iskra poked it a couple of times before returning to Rochelle's side and nuzzling at her leg.
"Good work, buddy. We'll get you up and ready to fight in no time," Rochelle said, proud of Iskra's first victory. The first win was always something to smile about.
Mika walked carefully through the dim tunnel, making sure not to trip, slip, or hit his head on a stalactite. He saw Aeris and Rochelle battled some of the cave Pokemon, seeing Aeris capture a Geodude.
"Nice catch, hun." He said to Aeris, complimenting her new member of her team. "He'll be a good asset and friend on your team." Mika smiled and then gasped in pain as he felt something scratch his leg. He looked around, down at his feet, and saw a pair of bright red mushrooms... something that he knew wasn't good. "Shit!"
Mika jumped back, and looked over at what had attacked him. A wild Paras, and an aggressive one at that. Mika grabbed a pokeball from his belt, and sent out the Pokemon inside to battle. Artemis hovered gently, flapping her wings as she looked down at the Pokemon that attacked her Trainer.
"Hypnosis, Artemis." Mika said to his Pokemon, who answered by staring into the eyes of the Bug/Grass Type, sending it into a slumber and rendering it harmless. "Now, Tackle it!"
The Flying-Type Pokemon slammed its body into the Paras, causing the unconscious Bug to tremble a bit. Mika took this opportunity to toss a pokeball, sealing the Mushroom Pokemon inside, and then locking in place. "Great job, Art. Hmm, you might want to stay out, we could use your eyes."
Absolutely, Mika. No problem. His Pokemon replied, sitting on his shoulder and keeping watch. Will your leg be okay?
"Yeah, I'll be fine... it's just bleeding a little bit." He said, kneeling down and pulling out his handkerchief to clean his bleeding leg. "Since it didn't get to use its Effect Spore, I think that I'll be okay. Nothing got in the wound."
I'm posting this in all my active threads, but in case word hasn't reached through the grapevine, I'm without internet at home for the moment due to something my internet provider calls a "perplexing problem". Basically my internet receives data for all of 10 seconds upon first connecting and then refuses all data after that. I will be without this internet for at least another day, so until then, my posting is going to be sporadic. I'm stealing my little bro's friend's internet to type this up, so it's going to be whenever I can get it folks.
Also long post is long and CC was already talked about with MM.
Jordan was thankful for the lighting in the cave, it would have been super difficult to try and get through what appeared to be mostly pitch-black caverns inside. He walked along the cave, hearing his fellow travelers catching and battling behind him. There was interesting sounds, interesting enough for him to completely forget where he was and he promptly nailed his foot off of a large rock on the path. "Ow, dude!" he exclaimed as he held his foot up and hopped around trying to make the pain go away. That's when he heard a much closer sound behind him.
"Geodude!" The rock suddenly turned around and rubbed the back of it's head. It did not look pleased. "Dude!" It was ready for a fight.
"Aw, dude! That's awesome, and like Rock dude had one of those and it was like good, I should probably get this then!" Jordan remarked. He reached into his pockets and produced a Pokeball. "All right Spike bro, you should be able to like, totally take this dude out!"
Jordan released the ball and in a flash of white light, the Pig Monkey Pokemon emerged, looking around at its new surroundings. "Mankey. Mankey? MANKEY! MANKEY!"What the? Where am I? Where's the sky? THE SKY'S GONE! THE HELL! I WANT SKY!" Spike started thrashing around, it's mood locked on rage at the loss of the beloved sky. The wild Geodude was having none of that though.
"Geodude!" It launched at the perceived nuisance with reckless abandon, Tackling it to the ground. This gave Spike a clear target to rage at.
"MANKEY!"FUCK YOU DUDE! Spike fought back, booting the Rock Pokemon back against the wall with a vicious Low Kick. The Geodude slammed against the wall with a pained "Dude!. It fell, but Spike wasn't done. It flew towards the fallen combatant, foot leading the way. "MAN-KEEEYYY!"Bring back the sky! The attack connected and the Geodude was down for the count, swirls almost apparent in it's eyes.
"Good job, Spike bro," Jordan said returning Spike so it wouldn't be so crazy anymore. "All right, here we go! I'm going to remember to catch the dude this time!" Jordan dug into his other pocket and pulled out another Pokeball. "Get it!" He hurled the ball at the Geodude, and it connected right on top, all those nights of playing washer toss on the beach paying off.
However, when the ball hit the forehead of the target, it didn't disappear into the ball as Jordan had hoped. Instead another white light appeared above the pokemon, and in the low light he could make out what had emerged from the "empty" Pokeball. Wing beats could be heard as the new creature let out a cry. "Zubitbit!"Freedom! Finally!
"Ah, what the hell, bro?" Jordan asked in vain, a bit disappointed, but more confused as to what just happened. The Bat pokemon fluttered above the fight scene before flying back to its apparent trainer and landing on his shoulder. "Uh, huh, I guess you're not as bad when there is only one of you." Jordan noted studying the Pokemon that had landed on him. "But how the hell did you get in there?" Jordan thought back to his freakout at the entrance of the cave. Was it possible that I caught it when I was like flailing? That'd be cool I guess. Maybe I can get the rock dude too. Jordan looked back at the ground only to find that the Geodude had taken is battered body and its even more harmed pride and slunk back into the depths of the cave. "Aww, awwwwww dude. Oh well." Jordan looked back at the Zubat. "At least I got you bro."
"Bitbit!"Not a bro! Zubat acknowledged.
Jordan walked back to the group, he spotted Mika on the kneeling down, tending to his leg. "Hey Stick! Look at my new bro!" he said, pointing to the bat on his shoulder.
Mika appeared a little irked when Jordan spoke up. Must be hurting hard. He looked up after he was sure the wound wasn't contaminated. "Nice Jordan," he commented. "Although that's less of a 'bro' and more of a 'broette', so to speak. That Zubat is female."
"What? How can you tell, bro?"
"It's pretty easy," Mika replied, getting up. He walked over and pointed to the Zubat's mouth. "You can tell by the fangs. These are much smaller then the average fangs for a Zubat."
"Oh," Jordan said, following Mika's finger. "Um, OK then, I guess, I should name it so I'm not like, calling her bro all the time then. Um, I'll call her...Vicky[footnote]Name is actually a reference to the female protagonist of the Hellsing anime. References for the win![/footnote]. She looks like this chick Vicky I made out with. Wicked teeth on her bro, stay away."
"OK." Mika said going back to his own matters, finishing up dressing the scratch.
"OK, Vicky, um, I guess you're, like, on the team?" Jordan said to his latest acquisition.
"Zubitbitbitbit!"Yay! This is awesome! I'm going to be out of here! Take that mom! Yay! Vicky hovered closer to Jordan's head, nuzzling against it.
"Huh, OK, well you might as well stay out then. You can probably like help guide the way and stuff." Jordan said as he went looking for some of the others.
No worries, man. You get back when you can get back.
And I like your reference. I got it, at least. :3
"You too, dear." Aeris replied with a smile when she saw Mika catch the Paras that had scratched him. She tried to help him with his injury as best she could, she was much better at tending to burn wounds than normal ones. "You'll need to let a nurse check that out when we exit the cave. Just in case."
Blaze looked at Jordan's Zubat, a little confused how that Pokemon would help better than she with her tailfire. Doesn't look like she can see, much less be able to guide anyone. I can at least help Aeris see well. She jumped out of the way when another Geodude attacked her. She quickly defeated it with her Metal Claw before moving onto attacking a Paras with Ember.
Tristan, Ekans and Xal were all fighting as they could. Ekans avoided the Geodudes like hot water, with Tristan taking out the Geodudes that tried to get near Ekans. Xal just tackled whatever wild Pokemon he found.
Vicky's ears perked up at the words of the Fire-type Pokemon behind her. She took off from Jordan's shoulder and flew back in the direction of the heat she could feel coming off of Blaze's tail. She definitely was not at the age where she would take any criticism like that well.
"Hey! Hotshot!" she squeaked. "You been in this mountain before? You been anywhere like this before? No? That's what I thought. I had to spend my whole life in here, I think I know a little bit more about this place than you. Oh, and I can see. See well enough to know you're lost. So back off, sister!"
Satisfied in her retort, Vicky flew back to her newly adopted perch. Jordan looked over at the tiny bat. "Whoa, was what that about?"
Stepping into the cold, damp, dark cave made Terinth shudder slightly. She didn't like the dark, and long stretches of darkness she hated even more. It helped slightly with Aeris's Blaze, but it still gave her the chills.
"Hey Aeris, is it possible that Blaze could make it any brighter around here?" She said, looking over her shoulder at the cave entrance light as it got smaller. She brought out her two pokemon and made sure she was close to them, in case anything crept up out of the darkness.
"Oh. Yeah, sure. Blaze, if you'd be so kind." Aeris said to her Charmeleon. "Char!" Blaze replied and made her tailfire a bit stronger. "I'm afraid that's as much as she can do before it would just be too much for her." The cave had lit up a bit more from the extra fire.
Blaze turned back to Vicky, not too happy about how the young Zubat acted, but didn't really want to bother arguing with her. I'd like to point out that I have my tailfire to light up the cave as much as I can, so I wouldn't be lost. Don't make such assumptions. And I'd like to apologize for assuming you don't see. I don't know much or anything about Zubats. And as I did say, I can at least allow my Trainer to see around her. She went to battling some more of the wild Pokemon around, Aeris' three other Pokemon doing the same.
Simon held his flashlight up and aimed it at the ground in front of his feet. Dirt from the ground was beginning to coat the bottom edge of his shoes. Luckily they were black so the brown dirt was...mostly unnoticeable. Simon sighed and reached up with one hand to adjust the metal frame of his glasses in an absentminded gesture. 'I wonder how big this cave really is...'
Heedless of the dirt and darkness, Shadow was a few feet ahead of his trainer. He'd found a small hole in the ground and was having fun with the acoustics created by the empty space. "Chee! [small](Chee!)[/small] Chee! [small](Chee!)[/small]"
"Be careful." Simon called to his playful Pokemon. "Something might live in there." Taking his attention away Shadow, Simon detached Sandshrew's Pokéball from his bandolier. He kept the flashlight aimed low as he tossed the small spherical item onto the ground. The now familiar flash of light revealed his latest team member. Simon stepped forward to pick up the Pokéball. Then, he waited.
*Shrrrr* Sandshrew made an odd sound and motion that somewhat resembled a yawn. Simon's suspicion was confirmed when it closed its eyes and shook its head rapidly.
'Not it...' Simon realized. He pulled out his Pokédex and scanned Sandshrew's entry. 'Her' Simon looked up. 'Her?' It wasn't what Simon had expected. It also meant the name he'd been tossing around in his head was useless.
"You need a name." He informed his apparently female Pokemon. His words didn't seem to affect Sandshrew, who continued to ignore her trainer in favor of stretching. After stretching Sandshrew scratched at her ear with one broad claw.
"Okay...you don't have to have a name right now..." Simon said slowly. He had hoped Sandshrew's temperament would be better once she was captured. Pen was pretty easy going, after all...and both had been defeated by Shadow. Perhaps because it wasn't a complete knockout there was an issue. 'Or maybe I can't compare different species.' Simon admitted.
*Shrrrreew* Having sufficiently woken up Sandshrew began looking around the cave. Simon whistled quietly to get Shadow's attention. He didn't want anyone getting lost.
"Chee!" Leaving his tunnel find Shadow bounded back toward his trainer. As soon as the Poochyena came within range of Sandshrew she let out a sharp, annoyed cry.
Startled but already mid-stride Shadow tripped. He tumbled into a small ball, passing the irritated Pokemon and stopping only when he collided with Simon's foot.
"That wasn't very nice." Simon scolded Sandshrew. "Chee..." Shadow added from his upside down position. Shadow's paws twitched in the air a few times before he flipped himself right-side up. Dirt and tiny flecks of debris flew from Shadow's fur as he shook himself rapidly.
While his Pokemon recovered Simon glanced down to clip his flashlight to the belt loop on his pants. The small cylinder swung back and forth a little but it allowed the trainer to have both hands free and still be able to see where he was walking. Simon looked up to see that Sandshrew had begun to walk away.
"Hey...." he muttered. Things weren't going well. Thankfully Sandshrew's pace was slow and steady so she hadn't gotten very far. "Where are you going?" Simon asked. His question was, of course, ignored. Though he noticed Sandshrew's ear twitched whenever he spoke. 'At least I know she can hear me.' Simon sighed quietly and began to follow his wandering Pokemon. He was a bit curious to see where she was going. After sniffing the ground for a moment Shadow followed his trainer.
They hadn't gotten very far when Sandshrew suddenly froze. *Srra* She dropped down to all fours and turned to glare at what looked like a shadowed pile of rocks to Simon.
*Rrrrrrr* His Poochyena's low growl convinced the trainer that perhaps there was something wrong.
"What is it?" he asked quietly. Shadow's response was to growl again. Simon frowned and looked back and forth between his two Pokemon. He unhooked the flashlight from his pants and twisted the top to make the beam of light more narrow and precise.
"Chee!" Before Simon could properly aim the light Shadow rushed forward.
"Hey, hold on." Simon fumbled the flashlight as he tried to follow his Pokemon. He aimed the light toward where Shadow had disappeared. Two decent sized boulders were illuminated against a seemingly solid wall of the cave. A third large but broken rock rested between the two boulders, leaving space for a Pokemon sized hole near the ground. "Shadow?" Simon called. A muffled yip sounded from the small hole. 'It's a tunnel.' Simon realized. He glanced back to the one Shadow had been playing with. His gaze also swept over Sandshrew, who hadn't moved from her defensive position.
Simon stepped toward the wall and crouched down. He tried to peer into the tunnel. But a curve in the tunnel's design made it impossible to see very far, even with his flashlight.
"Shadow?" Simon called again. The last thing he needed was for his Pokemon to get stuck. A small shape emerged from around the tunnel's corner. Moving slowly, the shape was on all fours. "Shadow?" Simon asked. He shifted his weight onto his back foot and set his hand on the ground to keep his balance.
*SHRR!* The shadowy Pokemon suddenly stood up and dashed forwards. Simon braced himself for the impact.
But it never came. Shooting right past Simon, the newcomer Sandshrew, for it was a Sandshrew, plowed straight into Simon's own Pokemon. It's cry of rage was deeper than the answering shriek of pain that came from its target. As Simon quickly scrambled to his feet he aimed his flashlight to illuminate the fight. Simon saw that this new Sandshrew was bulkier than his own. Numerous scars covered its back. 'It's been attacked by something big.' Simon realized. That wasn't a good sign. In the time it had taken Simon to turn the large Sandshrew had his own pinned against a large boulder.
"Sandshrew", he called, wishing he'd had a chance to name her, "use Sand Attack!" With the bigger Sandshrew in the way he couldn't get a clear shot to return his Pokémon to safety.
A sand-attack would have given her time to escape. But Sandshrew didn't use sand attack as instructed. Instead she swiped both claws at her large foe. "Shrraa!" It was a solid scratch attack.
But true to its nature the large Sandshrew didn't turned away or even flinch. Instead, ignoring the bright red marks on its chest it raked its own claws down the smaller Sandshrew's body.*Shrrrr* The answering cry of pain made Simon flinch.
"Come on." he urged. Why didn't she try to get away? Another round of scratches were exchanged, neither Pokémon moving very far from their original positions.
Frustrated by his inability to help, Simon yelled at the attacker. "Hey!" Dropping into a crouch he picked up the closest large stone he could find "Leave her alone." He just needed the Pokémon to move. Just a little bit. Treating the bit of stone like a baseball Simon threw it at the Sandshrew's scarred back.
*Shrrra!* Simon's attempt at a distraction worked. A little too well. Completely abandoning his small prey, Sandshrew turned and launched himself at Simon.
"Hey-ow!" Sharpened claws ripped through the material of Simon's pants and into his unprotected flesh. Simon shifted his weight immediately and tried to dislodge the Pokémon now wrapped tightly around his leg. "Get. Off!" he demanded. The Pokéball in his hand was forgotten.
Simon's off-balance flailing only seemed to make the Pokémon even more angry. *Shrrr!* Simon finally stomped his foot in frustration and bent down to try and forcibly pull the Pokémon away from himself.
"Yah!" But he quickly pulled back his hand when he got a bloody wrist for his trouble. Simon's flashlight dropped to the ground. It spun twice before showing the small slightly trembling Sandshrew in the nearby corner. Sandshrew's ears twitched and she turned to see Shadow's paws emerge from the rock tunnel.
"Yen!" In a black and silver blur Shadow dashed forward. Head tucked in close to his body, the Poochyena hit the male Sandshrew's side. Unfortunately the impact caused the claws currently dug into Simon's leg to grip tighter. Simon grunted in pain but dared not move for fear of hitting Shadow in his flailing.
Sandshrew swiped at Shadow with its free arm but that arm was quickly caught between sharp teeth. *SHRRA* Shadow ignored the angry cry and shook his head vigorously, dislodging Sandshrew's grip. Simon jumped backwards, out of the fray. Growling fiercely Shadow dragged the Sandshrew away from his trainer and into the dark. There was the sound of a heavy impact, claws on stone, a low growl from Shadow, and then silence.
"Shadow!" Simon reached blindly for his fallen flashlight. As quickly as possible he directed the light toward where he'd thought the Pokemon had gone.
"Yen." Came the smug reply. As Simon's light filled the small area the trainer was relieved to see his Pokemon unharmed. The big Sandshrew was unconscious, several sets of teeth marks and visible on its back. A large rock was split into pieces near its head. Which explained the sound of impact, Simon realized. Shadow stood on top of the Pokémon, head and tail held high. Triumphant.
Simon gave a heavy sigh of relief. "Good boy." he said with a grin. Simon dropped to the ground, heedless of the dirt, the pain in his leg, or the rattling sound his pack made.The latter noise did catch his attention. Gripping one of the shoulder straps of his bag Simon pulled the pack around and set it on the ground in front of him.
Off to Simon's left his Sandshrew made a soft noise. The trainer turned to see the Pokemon had quietly made its way to his side. It was the first time she had willingly approached the trainer.
"You know what I think?" Simon asked quietly, not wanting to spook his Pokemon. He turned forwards again and pushed down his sock. Slowly but precisely he began to roll his pants leg up. "I think you still need a name". he continued. Several bloody scratches and a still bleeding set of puncture wounds were revealed when Simon finished exposing his leg. 'Nothing too serious' he decided. He flexed his toes in his shoe and except for some flashes of pain everything seemed to be in working order.
Simon pulled a Potion out of his pack and set it on the ground. Afterwards he pulled out his small first aid kit. With his pants legged still rolled up Simon picked up the Potion bottle and looked down at Sandshrew.
"Can I heal you now?" he asked. He shook the bottle gently and pointed at the scratches. Sandshrew followed the gesture and looked down at herself. She made another quiet noise, which Simon took as an affirmative. He leaned forward and placed one hand on the Pokemon's back. Then he began carefully applying the medicine to the injuries Sandshrew had sustained. While Simon was working Shadow ducked under his propped up leg and lay down next to his pack. Sandshrew tensed slightly but didn't move away.
It took two thirds of the bottle before the scratches completely disappeared. Simon used a bit more of the potion, just the be sure, before straightening up with a groan. The cave did not have the most comfortable floor.
"All done." he said after a moment, pleased with speed of the healing. Shadow stood up as his trainer dropped the Potion back into his pack. Sandshrew looked down and made a startled squeak that caused Simon to smile. From his medical kit he pull out a small bottle of disinfectant, a square of clean cloth, and medical tape. When Simon opened the bottle, Shadow whined quietly and ducked his head away from the harsh smell.
"Sorry, bud" Simon said. His amused tone turned into a hiss as he applied the disinfecting ointment to his leg. 'I hope Pokémon wounds don't have weird germs.' he thought. With his two Pokémon sitting quietly next to him Simon continued his bandaging process.
Another Zubat dropped to the ground, crackling with purple energy. It twitched a few times before laying still, unconscious but breathing. Geist sat cross-legged a short distance away, preparing another blast of Hidden Power. The Abra began to glow with the familiar purple aura that rapidly focused into a single point and fired at another dive bombing Zubat. The focused beam of energy collided with the Zubat head-on and cancelled its forward momentum, sending it crashing into the stone of the cave floor.
"Doing great, Geist!" Tyler called out to his Abra. He had decided to let Geist get some battling in since Tank had tired himself out from taking out multiple Geodudes.
"Abraa..." Geist replied, raising himself up to his feet.
"Alright, we gotta keep up with the..." Tyler's words trailed off as he noticed Simon not far ahead, applying a bandage to his leg. As he approached, he could see that Simon's leg had a series of bleeding scratches and puncture wounds. What they were from, he could only guess at, but they didn't look very pleasant.
"Hey, uh, are you all right there?" he asked as he approached, with Geist walking silently behind him.
As the others in the group were training, Rochelle and Iskra had wandered a short distance away from the group due to the Mareep spotting wild Pokémon and rushing to battle them. She could still see the light from the fire at the end of the tail of Aeris's Charmeleon, but other than that, no-one was nearby. Rochelle had a hand in Iskra's thick, fluffy wool, keeping a firm grip on him by the equivalent of a collar in case he ran off again.
The young Mareep had proven himself a capable fighter in the short time he had been let out of his ball, even against Pokémon on which its Tackle attack seemed to have little effect. Mostly these were Geodudes rolling around, but sometimes a Zubat would dodge Iskra's charge at the last second. He had become a little warmer to Rochelle, walking by her side and occasionally sniffing at her feet and ankles.
As Rochelle made her way back to the group, guided by the light from Blaze's flames and the shapes of familiar people - they had gone out further than Rochelle had first guessed - she spotted something she hadn't seen in a while. She must have missed it as she pursued her Pokémon. A simple little pool of water under the mountain, its midnight-blue water perfectly still. It'd be a perfect place to maybe take a short break and let Kirsten splash around for a while.
Briefly torn between the idea of taking a break, even though the group had only gone into Mt. Moon an hour or two ago, and rejoining her friends, Rochelle looked down at Iskra for the decision. "What do you think? Do we stay here and introduce you to the rest of the team, or go back to the others and do it there?"
Iskra didn't answer, though he was looking at the firelight and the surrounding people. Evidently he hadn't been in a place like this before. The Mareep bleated quietly and tugged at Rochelle's restraining hand, wanting to go back to the familiar lighting conditions. It was certainly dark while the Trainer and her Pokémon were away from the fire, but it wasn't pitch-black or anything. Just enough to see where they were going, but little more than that.
"All right, we'll head back. Smart move, really," Rochelle commented, letting go of Iskra's wool so he could lead the way.
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