Juana considered the two options before the three of them. "You got a point. Highly doubt a kid like a Penny would HM up her Granbull with Surf." Juana looked over at the brook. "It doesn't look very deep, but my Slurpuff didn't appreciate getting its feet wet. I think it might be a 'dog' thing."
Bounsweet turned and looked intently beyond the trees. It raised one of its sepals as if listening for something.
It turned and shrugged.
"Well, what do you think, Tora?" Juana asked, turning to face Tora."
Before Leisy could think up some sort of response, Olivie was gone. Definitely still angry, Leisy thought sadly. Is that just her personality, or did I actually mess up that badly? She had to agree with the wife that Olivie’s personality didn’t suit her features much, and she wondered what made the girl so… Harsh? Leisy thought, wondering if that was the right word. There had to be some reason why Olivie was always in such a mood, although Leisy was sure personality played a role there.
“Thank you,” she told the shopkeeping couple after they’d answered her question. From what she remembered about the Stillwater river, it seemed to flow down from the Atana Mountain Ranges and into the ocean at some point outside of Stillwater. The shores seemed to be a place of various terrains, ranging from cliffs and bluffs to tunnels and grottos. Leisy figured that the couple was probably right in thinking that whatever Pokemon that had been terrorizing the Stillwater inhabitants was probably hiding out some cave, biding its time and emerging every night to claim a new victim. “Alright then, Ella. Let’s set out?” she asked, waiting for her friend outside as Ella exchanged some words with the female shopkeeper. “Battling Olivie — now there’s a scary thought,” Leisy joked, only half kidding. If the girl hated her guts now, what would she do after Leisy lost a battle to her — or even beat her?
Ella and Leisy decided to start out immediately as to not let Olivie get too ahead of them. This, however, also meant that they had to figure out where they were going on the way. “Okay, the river should be straight ahead,” Leisy said, pointing in the direction as she stared down at the map in her Pokedex. “Waterfalls are in the Atana Mountain Ranges’ direction, which should be towards our left. The river flows down to the ocean on the right,” she said, looking up. “Which way do you think we should go? Either way, I don’t think the perpetrating Pokemon would pick somewhere too far away from Stillwater — too much time lost travelling, and people only sleep for so long,” she said, a thoughtful frown on her face. “What kind of Pokemon do you think we’re going to find anyway? Maybe a Ghost-type, if it’s attacking people in their dreams?” Leisy asked.
Ella couldn't help but back away slightly as Olivie glared and stormed off. "Ehhh... Leisy, don't listen to her," she said. Even though she didn't want to seem like she cared what the bruiser thought, there was something intimidating about her. The patchwork-clothed girl bit her lip, listening to the shopkeeper's wife, considering her comment. Was Olivie, like Ella's sisters, under pressure to live up to some kind of ideal?
She brightened up as the red-haired woman handed her the jar of gunk to borrow. "Ohh! Thanks!" she said, putting the jar in her bag. "And, uhh... I could try! But, umm..." She highly doubted she could beat Olivie in a fight. "Anyway! We'll be right on it!" With a forced smile, she said goodbye to the shopkeepers and followed Leisy.
"The beach might be our best bet," she said, eyes scanning the town spread out below the wooden ramp. "I mean, I had a nightmare involving the sea..." She paused. "That's weird! I remember cold salt water, but nothing else." Shivering, she took another glance at their surroundings. "Let's try those caves by the sea. Then again, if a Pokemon's giving people these dreams, it could be trying to mislead them... We could follow the river upwards if we don't find anything."
Descending into the town, she thought over Leisy's other question. "Maybe, but... Let's not blame the ghosts just yet. After all, I read that a legendary Ghost type here gives people good dreams."
She shuddered again. If these Pokemon could undermine the efforts of a legendary, just how powerful were they?
"You're welcome... That sounds alright, a little breather." Tora agreed, petting Pezi on top of his head as she sat on his back. She could use one, calm down her heart rate a little bit. As they seemed to be voting which direction they should go, the black haired woman glanced in either direction before looking to Archie who was panting a little bit but wagged her fluffy tail happily. Noting that the puppy pokemon was just fine.
"What do you think, Archie?" Tora asked her fire type, whom tipped her head and sniffed the air. Looking at either direction before pointing her nose towards the trees, giving a confirming confident bark.
Tora chuckled and looked at her companions. "Well I guess we wish to go that way as well. Let me know when you two are ready and we'll keep going." she said, her Skiddo giving a excited chirp.
+1 post +1HHG = 33 +1CP = 37
Pokemon:
Archie the ♀Growlithe: Level 11/Healthy
Sirius the Staryu: Level 4/Healthy
Pezi the ♂Skiddo: Level 4/Healthy
Rachni the ♂Venipede: Level 2/Burned
Inventory: 4x Pokeball 1x Potion
-Continued interaction with @ToadRopes's character Juana. -Continued interaction with @Dusksong's character Cillian.
“A dream about the sea,” Leisy repeated, eyes wide. “Do you suppose the perpetrator would be a Water-type too?”
The trek down the riverbed and towards the ocean took some time, but the girls made it work with some small talk. Soon enough they could see the waves lapping onto the grey-tan sand. Stray pieces of driftwood and frayed feathers were scattered around the seashore, and the sky was blanketed with clouds above. “Oh, that’s one of the grottos the shopkeeper was talking about, right?” Leisy asked, pointing out a cavern that yawned past the moss-enclaved rocks outside.
Walking over to the rocks, Leisy peered over to see a decently-sized body of water running out of the grotto and depositing itself into the sea. “Well, at least the river doesn’t cover the entire grotto floor. We can still head in.”
Before she could move, however, a white-capped Pokemon floated out from the grotto before being joined by two more equally curious-looking Pokemon that possessed white feelers to match. “Eek!” Leisy shrieked, scrambling back from the grotto’s entrance as they drifted closer, faces devoid of emotion so far as Leisy could tell.
Juana got up and patted Bounsweet. "Okay, through the trees it is, then!"
They had their rest, and then they started off. Juana looked at the ground; the damp soil had several heavy footprints set in it; meaty, round footsteps that belonged to a three-toed Pokémon.
There was a faint, sweet-smelling aroma about this part of the woods, and the chirping of bugs was a little bit louder. Juana looked around for any signs of disturbance possibly caused by large-ish canines.
"Hehe, hey look. There's a whole bunch of Sewaddles and Swadloons here," Juana remarked, pointing into the boughs. Indeed, the yellow-and-green bug Pokémon were gathering, spinning their silk into crude configurations that resembled sewing.
Bounsweet looked around.
Juana turned back. "Hey, d'you all feel like we're getting close?" she asked. "Or should we--"
Then she disappeared.
WHUMP
Where Juana had stepped, there was a thin gossamer web covering up a rather large, somewhat deep hole. Juana had fallen in.
There was some loud scraping as Juana and Bounsweet hung on to Skorupi, who had come out of its ball and clawed onto the wall, slowing her descent to the bottom of the pit. She slowly got down from the wall and checked Skorupi for any injuries. Thankfully the Pokémon wasn't hurt.
"I'm OK!" she called up.
The hole was about as deep as the end of a swimming pool, and took up about three parking spaces' of diameter. The ground was crudely tilled, and roots were visible out of the walls.
A concerned Leavanny peered over the edge of the hole, staring at Juana in shock. Down below, Juana realized that there were several Sewaddles stuck in the pit with her.
"Oh. This must've been a bridge for the Sewaddles," Juana deduced. "I'm gonna guess people don't walk around this part of the forest very often?"
Juana gently picked up the Sewaddles under her arms, and clung onto one of the roots.
Behind her, however, was a growling noise and the tilling of dirt.
She turned around, and immediately a myriad of very colorful and somewhat rude words flashed through Juana's thoughts.
She was face-to-face with a Dugtrio giving her a very, very dry glare. It was hard to tell in the dark, but the mole Pokémon's eyes were sort of glazed over, as if in a trance.
The Sewaddles shuddered.
"Uhh, could use a little help?" Juana asked, looking up at Tora and Cillian.
Releasing Hazmat again, Cillian leaned down and rubbed the Charmander’s head affectionately before nodding at Tora and Juana. “Onwards we go then,” Cillian said, following Juana as she led the way into the woods. Ahead of them, the Sewaddles and Swadloons dodged out of the way when they saw the Fire-type bipedal Pokemon approaching. Cillian had been too caught up in the footprints Juana pointed out — footprints that his Pokedex confirmed belonged to a Granbull — that he didn’t notice Juana moving on and onto the Grass-Bug Pokemons’ nest until it was too late.
“Juana! You alright?” he called, running over and peering into the hole. While the pit wasn’t too deep, Juana was hanging by her Skorupi at a depth that Cillian couldn’t reach with his hands. “Hold on — maybe a Vine Whip let us pull you up!” Cillian shouted down as he released his Bulbasaur. “Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip to grab Juana!”
The Bulbasaur did so after casting a rather irritated look at his trainer, but his vines fell just short of arm's length from the bottom of the hole. “Damn, you okay down there, Juana?” Cillian asked, peering over the edge again. Spotting a new arrival — a three-headed Pokemon that Cillian immediately recognized as Dugtrio due to their prevalence in the construction industry — Cillian fished out Kelby’s Pokeball and released the Water-type at the bottom of the pit. “Kelby, lend Juana a hand if things get bad,” Cillian called to his Mudkip, figuring that his Water-type should be enough to stall the Ground-type — at least for a little while.
Turning to Tora, Cillian snapped his fingers, a lightbulb going off in his head. “Tora, your Skiddo — we can add his Vine Whip to my Bulbasaur’s to create a vine strong enough to pull Juana up!”
"That's a possibility," Ella replied as she walked alongside Leisy, trying to remember the details of the dream. How had she forgotten it so quickly?
It wasn't long until the two girls reached the seashore, littered with seaweed and driftwood, Krabbys and Corphishes scuttling across the sand. This looked like it would be a good place to train eventually, but for now, Ella had other concerns.
Following Leisy towards a grotto, Ella backed away in surprise as three Pokemon flew out. Three squishy blobs with endearingly huge eyes. "Ohh! What cute Pokemon!" Nonetheless, she kept her distance as she pointed her Pokedex at them. There had to be a reason why they'd all rushed out at her and Leisy.
"Inkay, the Revolving Pokemon," came the mechanical voice. "It flashes the light-emitting spots on its body, which drains its opponent's will to fight. It takes the opportunity to scuttle away and hide."
Ella relaxed slightly. "It's ok, we don't mean any harm," she reassured the three Inkays, who ignored her and scattered. "Huh? I wonder what got into them..."
She jumped at a purple flash and a cry from inside the grotto. Staring in, she gasped. A fourth Inkay writhed on the ground, its lights weak and flickering. Deep inside the grotto, something moved, drawing closer to her and Leisy. Luminous spots on its body flared. The Inkay's spots flashed in response, but their pulsing became steadily slower.
Ella's instincts told her to run, make sure she and Leisy got to safety, but she couldn't leave that Inkay behind. Instead of getting away, she rushed forward, whipping out an empty Pokeball. "You'll be safe in here," she said as the capsule scooped up the injured Pokemon.
A long tentacle lashed at her, glowing purple. Yelping, Ella dodged the Night Slash just in time. Her foot struck a rock. She landed in a heap on the grotto floor, staring up.
The lights pulsed in an accelerating pattern, fixating her as they illuminated the creature's body. A gleaming purple Pokemon, with flowing tendrils and brilliant yellow eyes... "Wow! It's beautiful!" Ella breathed, unable to look away, its thrall taking a hold of her.
Brighteye, her Pokeball shaken by the impact, burst out and drifted in front of Ella. As the Duskull's dark cloak blocked out the lights, Ella snapped back to reality. "Ah! W-What was I doing?!" Looking away from the squid-like creature, she scrambled to her feet.
It was then that she realised something. This could just have been because of the Inkay's weakened state, but its spots had been flashing in a pattern opposite to that of the larger Pokemon, quickly then slowly... What had it been trying to do?
"Doing alright, Cill'," Juana grunted, climbing up the roots while trying not to drop the Sewaddles. Bounsweet saw the Dugtrio readying a Mud Bomb, and fired off a stream of Razor Leaves at it to cut apart the orb of wet dirt it was amassing.
"I gotta watch out for those nests of yours, huh?" she said to the Sewaddles, who were quavering in abject terror. Apparently this incident with Dugtrio was quite familiar to the colony. Juana turned and called up to Cillian and Tora. "I'll stall 'im while you work on hoisting us out. ¿Comprenden?"
Tora tossed the ball containing Dewpider. "Dewpider, Bubble!" she shouted.
The little water spider shot bubbles at the Dugtrio, causing the trio of conjoined moles to become a little disoriented. Meanwhile, Bounsweet fired off Razor Leaves to drive the Dugtrio back.
Pezi followed after Juana while carrying Tora on his back, whom was looking at the sewaddle curiously. "It's nice to see them at work. Sewaddle silks feels divine on the skin when spun finely." she mused, turning her gaze toward Juana, who had suddenly disappeared form sight all together. Feeling a brief rush of panic, the black haired woman looked around before noticing the pit in the ground and looked inside.
"Lady Juana?!" she exclaimed, concern lacing her elegant voice.
Sighing in relief as it seemed the younger girl was alright, she nodded to Cillian at his suggestion after his Bulbasaur's vine whip wasn't enough. "Alright. Pezi, vine whip!" she instructed the goat like pokemon chirping, more of the fine whips zipping out from the leaves around his neck and wrapping around the Bulbasaur's own vines. Wrapping frimly to make a strong thick vine in order to assist in pulling Juana up.
As the others were distracting the Dugtrio, that rumbling returned, but this time it wasn't faint. It was stronger, the earth shook and the trees rattled as what felt like something was pounding underneath them. Bursting from the ground a loud roar was heard. Boulders bursting up and raising. Except it just wasn't any rock, but a Onix. Tora blinked, a faint glow in the giant rock snake pokemon's eyes as if memorized or controlled. It roared before thrashing its tail at them. Pezi hopped to the side to avoid it, while Archie charged at Cillian and the Bulbasaur to help knock them out of the path.
The dog like pokemon turned around growled before charging at the much bigger Pokemon. Opening her jaws and releasing a flamethrower, the flames licking against the rock snake, but doing little, but the brave puppy kept at it. Tora took out Sirius' pokeball and released the starfish Pokemon. "Sirius Water gun!" she called. The Staryu trembled in fear but seemed to take a breath before pointing one of its limbs and shooting out a jet of water at the rock/ground pokemon. This was quite effective as the Onix roared, flinching away from the water.
+1 post +1HHG = 35 +1CP = 38
Pokemon:
Archie the ♀Growlithe: Level 11/Healthy
Sirius the Staryu: Level 4/Healthy
Pezi the ♂Skiddo: Level 4/Healthy
Rachni the ♂Venipede: Level 2/Burned
Inventory: 4x Pokeball 1x Potion
-Continued interaction with @ToadRopes's character Juana. -Continued interaction with @Dusksong's character Cillian.
The vines wound around each other, creating a sturdy rope for Juana to grab onto. She tenderly held on to the Sewaddles as well as her own Pokémon as she reached for the combined length of the Bulbasaur's and Skiddo's makeshift rope.
Meanwhile, the Dugtrio was recovering from the blows and readying a second Mud Bomb to launch at Juana's Pokémon. As it did, however, Dewpider sprayed a jet of bubbles that broke the mud bomb into harmless blobs.
Juana felt the rumbling, as the vine swung precariously, causing the poor Sewaddles to cower. "Tora? Cillian? What's going on up there?" she asked, climbing a bit further.
Then she looked up and Juana realized just what was going on. "Are you kidding me?!" she shouted as the dark shadow of the Onix loomed overhead. The rock monster was incredibly angry, and from the sounds of it, affected by whatever that Dugtrio was affected by.
Speaking of the Dugtrio, it had retreated into the cave wall.
Now, the wild Leavanny was apparently the queen of its colony, and it was not happy with a gigantic Rock-type traipsing up into Bug-type territory. And so, Leavanny with an angry chittering sprayed a sticky web of silk on the ground that would trip the Onix over and tangle it up to make it easier to deal with. The multitudes of Sewaddles and Swadloons up above attacked with Razor Leaves, set upon defending their colony from the enormous rock snake that could probably flatten them all in one go.
Juana carefully detached Corphish's Poké Ball, and called Dewpider back (she didn't want her poor little water spider getting squashed by the Rock-type). She threw Corphish's capsule, and the crawdad jumped out of the pit, beating its chest like a gorilla (or, at least, making an adorable gesture that resembled that). Corphish opened its mouth and bubbles blasted out of its mouth, striking up the underbelly of the Onix as it struggled against the Sticky Web.
Corphish spotted a line of tilled dirt streaking towards Archie--the Dugtrio wasn't running away, it was using Dig! Corphish turned around and sniped that trail of dirt, causing the Dugtrio to pop out prematurely and miss Archie completely.
Juana continued to climb up the vine. "Bounsweet, Skorupi, can you get these Sewaddles back up to the trees?" Juana asked.
Bounsweet nodded, and put one of the little Sewaddles upon its calyx. Skorupi gently gripped the other in its claws, and the two Pokémon bounded up the side of the wall to reach the lip of the pit.
Leavanny turned its attention to Juana and spat out a string of silk to help her out of the pit (perhaps as an instinct stemmed from wild Leavanny's maternal nature), but the Dugtrio slammed into Leavanny, causing it to stumble and trip, and Juana to swing wildly.
"¡¡¡MADRE DE ARCEUS!!!" Juana hollered, kicking against one wall of the pit as she tried to right herself in mid-air.
“Ella, watch out!” Leisy called, pulling her friend back after Ella’s Duskull snapped Ella out of her daze. Fumbling for her Pokedex, Leisy pulled it out and quickly scanned the Pokemon emerging from the grotto entrance.
Malamar, the Overturning Pokémon, and the evolved form of Inkay. Possessing the strongest hypnotic powers of any Pokémon, Malamar can compel others to do anything it wants them to do.
“Hypnotic powers?” Leisy read, eyes wide. “Ella, that’s it! Psychic-types bending people to their will and controlling them — this Malamar is probably the culprit Pokemon!”
Turning back to the Dark-Psychic dual, Leisy released Devinco and her new Sewaddle, remembering that Dark- and Psychic-types were weak to Bug-type moves. Since Malamar is both Psychic and Dark, it should be doubly weak to Bug-type moves, Leisy thought, waiting a split second for her Pokemon to grow accustomed to their surroundings before firing off orders. Using her new Pokemon in a battle wouldn’t be a problem so long as she made sure to protect it.
“Devinco, distract the Malamar with a Screech and then hit it with a Rock Slide!” Leisy shouted. “Sewaddle, use the distraction to close in with a Bug Bite and get out of there before Devi starts with Rock Slide!”
The Larvitar and Sewaddle shared a glance at each other, nodding before running at the Malamar that slowed its progression when it saw the two Pokemon approaching. Easily shaking off the Larvitar’s Screech, the Psychic-type met the incoming Sewaddle’s Bug Bite with a Peck, sending the Bug-type sprawling backwards.
“Sewaddle!” Leisy cried, hurriedly swapping the fallen Pokemon out for her Fletchling. A little shaken at how fast her Pokemon had been knocked out, Leisy inhaled quickly before exhaling and refocusing on the battle at hand. “Bidein, Agility and then head in for a Flame Charge!” Seeing the Malamar shake off her Pokemon’s attacks easily, Leisy turned to Ella, a distressed look on her face. “Ella, do you have a plan of some sort? The Malamar is really strong, and I don’t have any Pokemon that are effective against its typing. My Pokemon can be used as a distraction for your Pokemon to set up if any of them know some Bug- or Fairy-type moves.”
“Kelby, Water Gun as well!” Cillian shouted down at his Pokemon. Trusting Kelby to figure out which target was best, Cillian was in the middle of stepping forwards to help the two Grass-types pull Juana up when a roar interrupted him. Whirling around, Cillian found himself face-to-face with an Onix, narrowly dodging the Onix’s heavy tail when Tora’s Growlithe tackled him and his Bulbasaur out of the way. “Thanks, Archie, Tora,” Cillian said.
Looking to his side, he paused. His Bulbasaur was new and inexperienced, and Cillian didn’t want to send him into battle immediately. On the other hand, Hazmat was stronger but also at a huge disadvantage as he would be unable to use any Fire-type moves against the Onix. Since both of his Pokemon were at a disadvantage and Cillian really couldn’t see a scenario where calling out his insubordinate Scyther was helpful, Cillian made up his mind.
“Bulbasaur, hit the Onix with a Vine Whip,” Cillian ordered. “Hazmat, sic it with a Dragon Rage before it gets around to retaliating.”
When Juana’s Corphish joined the fray, Cillian figured that the battle with the Onix would soon conclude and called his Bulbasaur to his side with the intention of getting Juana out of the hole. A look over the side, however, showed that Juana was doing fine — she’d even acquired a new ally, a elegant-looking Grassy-type that Cillian couldn’t name off the top of his head but figured was the fully-evolved form of Sewaddle. He was just about to recall Kelby when the Dugtrio resurfaced, slamming into the Leavanny.
“Kelby! Growl and then Water Gun!” Cillian shouted down at his Pokemon. The Mudkip leapt into action, getting the Dugtrio’s attention with a raspy Growl before spitting a powerful blast of water at the Ground-type. “Juana, the Pokemon will keep the Dugtrio at bay, so just get back up here as soon as possible,” Cillian called down to his friend as Kelby narrowly dodged an angry Mud-Slap after the Dugtrio ducked the Water Gun.
Seeing the small Pokemon dancing in front of it and throwing around Water Guns to their pleasure, the Dugtrio sunk below the ground again, disappearing from sight. The ground below the trainers immediately started shaking, rocks coming loose from the sides of the hole.
“Juana, hurry!” Cillian shouted, readying his Pokeballs as to recall his Pokemon.
Shanae brought out two more Pokemon and surprisingly sent them both of to distract the Larion's, encouraging him to go catch the Aron. Raven give her a thumbs up, "Thanks, I'll try to be quick." He said before running around and entering the junkyard. The Aron looked up at the sound of footsteps and immediately turned and ran. "H-hey, wait." Raven called out in surprise before giving chase, at least the little guy was running away from the Larion's. Raven grinned and took off his hat, holding it like a frisbee, with Oliver still inside. "You ready? Go intercept that Aron." Raven said and hurled the hat forward. It spun around as it swished through the air, Oliver somehow maintaining his balance well enough to jump out of the hat and land on the Aron, pushing it into the ground. Oliver then jumped off the Aron and landed on the other side of him, trapping it between Raven and Oliver. "Come on buddy, I just want to be friends." Raven said cheerily. This statement didn't seem to relax the Aron any and it charged at Oliver. Oliver swished his tail mockingly and leapt onto the Aron's oversized head and pushed off, once pushing Aron into the ground. The Aron in question regained its feet somewhat unsteadily just in time to be thwacked with a Pokeball. However the Pokeball barely touched the ground before the captured Aron broke free, leaving the useless Pokeball laying on the ground dejected. Raven frowned. "Don't be such a troublesome little fella." The Aron seemed agitated at the term fella and Raven paused. "Little guy?" He asked questioningly. The Aron let out a snort of irritation. "Little gal?" Raven asked once more, this time the Aron let out something of a smile and laid down seemingly exhausted from the effort so far. Raven threw another Pokeball and waited eagerly. This time the Aron didn't break free. "Woohoo!"
Ella shook her head, staring in shock at the scene before her. "I-I don't think they do, but..." An idea came to her. "Brighteye, use Confuse Ray!"
The orb of light behind Brighteye's mask turned purple, and she fired a ghostly beam at the Malamar. Shadowy images drifted around it. The Malamar tried to lash at them, only to whip itself with one of its tendrils.
"It's working!" Ella called to Leisy. "Now get one of your Pokemon to move in!"
Before that could happen, the images faded. Shaking off the confusion, the Malamar shot forward a ray of black and purple that knocked the Duskull from the air.
"Ah! Brighteye!" Ella shouted, grasping the Pokeball and returning the fainted Duskull. Of course... Ghost types usually had an advantage against Psychic types, but not against Dark types. Ella's mind raced. She still had two Pokemon who could fight. Pitting Poison types against such a strong Psychic type, though, could only end in disaster.
"It's no good!" she yelled, stumbling back to dodge another Night Slash. Watching out for the Malamar's attacks was no easy task when she had to avoid looking at its hypnotic lights. "We have to get away!"
The Onix roared as it was attacked by several pokemon at once, tripping over some webbing and landing in a whole slew of it. Thrashing around, it roared and tried to use its massive size to wiggle out of this trap, or at least squash whoever dared get too close to it. It's massive body pounded against the earth, causing it to rumble and shake, leaving a few cracks to form each time it hit the ground. Archie was ready to leap at it, but paused as she noticed Corphish rescue her from a attack from the Dugtrio that had decided to retaliate against the puppy pokemon. Giving a happy yip, the fire type drew a grateful tongue against the cheek of the water pokemon before charging at the Dugtrio as the ground pokemon seemed to be after the Leavanny. With a snarl, she lept, fangs enveloped in flames as she used Fire Fang against the ground type.
Sirius cowered each time the large snake gave a nasty roar, however the starfish continued using water gun in a attempt to weaken the giant snake.
Tora watched as the Onix was bombarded with attacks, it was at a disadvantage by numbers and type of moves being thrown at it. Onix were naturally aggressive, but usually when they were hurt. She felt a bit sorry for it as the large rock pokemon thrashed and roared. She gasped as the Onix slammed its tail on the ground, rocks jetting from the ground. Attempting to use Earthquake and cause mayhem for everyone in the vicinity. Glancing around, the black haired woman got a idea. Taking out one of her empty pokeballs, she prayed that the Onix was weak enough to accept the orb shape capsule before chucking it at the giant snake. The tiny object bopped against the Onix, causing the giant rock snake to disappear in a flash of red as it disappeared in the ball.
The Pokeball rocked once... then twice... then three... Click! Tora successfully caught it, in which she sighed in relief as there was no longer a giant pokemon about to crush them with a simple roll over.
"Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. By twisting its large and powerful body, Onix can quickly bore through the ground at fifty miles per hour. Onix has a magnet in its brain. It acts as a compass so that this Pokémon does not lose direction while it is tunneling. As it grows older, its body becomes increasingly rounder and smoother." her pokedex chirped.
"Thank Arceus... Are you all doing alright so far?" she questioned with concern as she looked to the others.. Taking out her Pokedex as it buzzed softly.
+1 post +1HHG = 37 +1CP = 39
Pokemon:
Archie the ♀Growlithe: Level 11/Healthy
Sirius the Staryu: Level 4/Healthy
Pezi the ♂Skiddo: Level 4/Healthy
Rachni the ♂Venipede: Level 2/Burned
♀Onix: Level 1/Hurt and Fatigued
Inventory: 3x Pokeball 1x Potion
-Continued interaction with @ToadRopes's character Juana. -Continued interaction with @Dusksong's character Cillian. -Tora caught a Onix! Used 1 Pokeball!@Balthazar007
Leisy was about to take Ella up on her offer and get her Pokemon to launch another round of attacks when Ella’s Duskull was knocked out. “Bidein, Devi, we’re pulling back!” Leisy shouted at her Pokemon. “Devi, Sandstorm!”
The Larvitar growled, eyes glowing briefly as it whipped up an impromptu sandstorm to shield the girls as they made their getaway. Returning her Fletchling before he could get buffeted by sand, Leisy brought her arm up to shield her eyes from the coming sand before grabbing Ella’s arm. “C’mon, this way!” she shouted at Ella, hoping the girl heard her through the sandy winds.
The sand obscured their view as the two girls ran back along the shore. As they ran, the Sandstorm thinned, eventually letting up completely. When it did, Leisy came to a stop and bent over, panting as she looked back at the big bowl of swirling sand her Larvitar had stirred up. “Good job, Devi,” she panted, relieved that they’d managed to throw off the Malamar. “Ella, let’s head back to—”
Leisy was interrupted by the sound of an explosion coming from within the sandstorm. Dropping down from the sky, the Malamar scattered the water beside it, eyes glowing with anger as its tentacles stretched out around the Psychic-Dark dual.
The plan came together with Ebon leading the two-Lairon stampede into an ambush led by a single Lotad that spat out a frenzy of bubbles as the Houndour made a quick getaway as to not get wet. However, the Lairon quickly recovered from their initial surprise, powering through the bubbles and towards the tiny Lotad still happily spitting bubbles at them.
“Otiosus, catch!” Shanae shouted, throwing a glistening red shard at the Lotad. Jumping up, the Water-Grass dual caught the object in his mouth, eyes widening before he was enveloped in a warm white glow. When the glow dimmed, a humanoid green Pokemon stood in the Lotad’s place, a red bill-like mouth that matched its newly-grown claws. “Oti! You look great!” Shanae shouted at her Pokemon before pointing at the two Lairon that were shaking off the tiny Pokemon’s surprise transformation into a slightly larger and more formidable one. “Now try out a Bubble Beam!”
The Lombre nodded, turning to the Lairon and opening his mouth to let loose a fierce stream of bubbles. The bubbles went out with loud pops when they touched the Lairon, almost like tiny explosions. Quickly deciding that they’d had enough, the two Lairon turned tail and left, stirring up dust as they bounded off with heavy steps.
“Wow Oti, you looked so cool!” Shanae shrieked, running over and picking up her newly-evolved Water-type who croaked merrily as she did so. “I was worried you wouldn’t be super cute anymore, but who needs cute Pokemon when you can have cool Pokemon?” A grin on her face, Shanae returned the Lombre and leaned down to scratch her Houndour behind the ears before walking over to where Raven was picking up a Pokeball. “Did you get it? Ooo this is so exciting — I have a Aron too! But I don’t know if Dius really likes other Aron — or any Pokemon, for that matter. He’s kinda broody.”
Rank: Skilled Organization: Helping Hand Guild [Founder]
The eagerness with which Buck yearned to earn his trainer's respect propelled the intrepid little Bidoof along at a chipper pace. While his plan of action was inscrutable, he seemed to Olivie like he knew exactly where he was going. She wondered if her first pokemon relied on his senses to steer him in the right direction, or if the confidence with which he sallied forth was all an act. Opposites attracted, according to the old saying, but in the fluffy little beaver Olivie felt that she'd found a partner altogether like herself.
For the most part, Buck chose pathways closer to the bluff down which the waterfall cascaded, but as the small group wound around the town's outer edge, the terrain began to smooth out. On this side of Stillwater, the marsh gave way with surprising abruptness to a rocky shore. A veritable field of tide pools stretched out down the beach, though on second thought, the scenery more closely evoked the image of a bizarre forest. Spires of gray-black rock, their sides smooth and pitted from time and tide, littered the tide pools like trees. Corals sitting in the sandy-floored basins provided the underbrush. No doubt, this weird terrain was home to all sorts of pokemon, but Olivie spotted another living thing that captured her attention first.
On the right side of the boardwalk, a series of stairs led down into a tide pool big enough for a few Wailmer to rest comfortably. Sitting on the stairs was a young man with light, wavy hair and glasses, clothed in a beany, hoodie, and track pants, with the sleeves and pant legs rolled up. In front of him, a little too close for comfort, stood the huge bug that Olivie knew now to be called Araquanid. In the general area, a number of pokemon were scattered around that Olivie recognized as Bernard's entire party, but she didn't waste time gawking at them. Seeing the pokemon so close to Bernard made the brunette switch to action mode without hesitation. She stepped forward with intent, her hands balled into fists, and the sudden noise caused Bernard to look over his shoulder. He recognized someone cruising for a bruising when he saw one, and held up a placating hand. “Whoa, hold up! This gal's friendly.” He gestured to the Araquanid in front of him, which had taken a wary step back. Olivie paused, but her face spoke of her lack of belief. To prove his point, Bernard slowly reached toward the wild pokemon's bubble and immersed his hand inside it. Gentle as a Deerling, he patted the giant spider between its bulbous blue eyes, then withdrew his hand. Still looking at it, he explained, “This spot is called the Friending Hole. Underwater tunnels hidden in the rocks lead all over the seaside, and when wild pokemon get curious or hungry, they come here to meet people. This is where the trainers from Stillwater about to go on their journeys go to get their starter pokemon. Usually, the choice is between Staryu, Skrelp, and Dewpider, even though their secondary types are no longer classified as a 'type triangle'. Cool, huh?” He glanced at Olivie.
Unfortunately, she could not be much more nonplussed. “Oh, yeah. Radical.” She shook her fists in a lackluster show of excitement. Bernard did not look pleased by her reply. Well, it's not my job to say nice things. All the same, changing the subject wouldn't hurt. “You gonna catch it?”
Contrary to her expectations, this comment made her rival even more ill at ease. As she searched his face, she noticed lines beneath his eyes, as well as the droop of their lids. “What's the matter?” She furrowed her brow. “Didja have nightmares too?”
Bernard shook his head a little too fast. “Nah, I'm good. Just don't feel like catching it. If it's interested, it'll follow me. Hey, looks like you're ready to head out for the day. Good. How 'bout we take a walk along the shore? Might spot something interesting.” He rose, water running down his legs, and skirted the pool to walked along a level stretch of rock.
Olivie followed the boardwalk a little longer, then hopped off. Her pokemon followed her one by one, careful to keep their footing on the slippery seaside stones. After drawing close to Bernard, she said, “That reminds me, we got a job to do. Turns out lots of people have been having nightmares. Keep an eye our for any weird crap. I'm dyin' to beat the stuffin' outta something.” She glanced behind to see the Araquanid in tow, making its own way through the pools apart from the rest using its long, jointed legs. No matter how loose the terrain, the girl expected, there was a bug that would never slip. Her thoughts returned to Bernard, and in short order came to a conclusion. “Hey, you did have nightmares. You hidin' something from me? How about you spit it out, or I dunk you in the nearest puddle?” Olivie took the opportunity to accentuate her ultimatum by donning her fight gloves, though she'd probably end up using them on a wild pokemon if anything.
The instant Bernard breathed a weighty sigh, Olivie knew she guessed right. After a moment he replied, “Fine, it's not a big deal. It's just...last night, I dreamed that someone broke into my family's house. Something weird was going on with us, so we couldn't react before this thing captured us using devices that looked just like poke balls. Then he put us in a computer, stuck in our little balls, completely alone in a dark void. I woke up, but I got to thinking...is that what I've been doing? I've caught a lot of pokemon.” He paused briefly as his foot slid into a puddle, covering his shoe in wet sand and washed-up sea grass. Once extricated, he continued. “I keep a bunch on me all the time, but I've basically been collecting them. Is that what they experience? Being cooped up for days, hoping that I'll set them free. No wonder they listen to us...if someone kept you in a tiny cell and let you out to do something, and you knew that you could never escape, wouldn't you obey?” The young man shook himself. “Well, that's what I thought. But I was probably just scared. It's not as bad as I thought. Professor Ivy specifically told us that pokemon are in stasis in their balls, just like hibernation.”
Olivie took a look around at the crowd of pokemon that surrounded her and Bernard. He feels bad enough to release all of them at once, though.
A few minutes more, and the two had left the expanse of tide pools behind. The shore grew thinner, turning to a more sandy beach. Barely had the group arrived before they heard shouts of panic. They glimpsed a sandstorm, powerful but very localized, and Bernard knew it to be one stirred up by a pokemon move. As the pair watched, two girls that Olivie knew all too well sprinted from the curtain of sand, a number of Pokemon along with them. The brunette raised her eyebrows to see another shape, one larger and more menacing, appear from above. One look at it and Olivie got the impression that the chicks were in trouble. A smile broke out on her face. “Hah!” She crossed her arms beneath her chest. “Already having trouble? Looks like you need a certain someone to save your asses!” At a wave of her hand, Gespenst and Bifrons jumped in front of her. On her shoulder, Verrine hissed threateningly.
However, Bernard held out a hand of his own, this one in front of Olivie. Furious, she glared at him, but before she could protest, the trainer said, “Send all but one of your pokemon back into balls. This is serious, we can't have any crossfire. Scylla, use Whirlpool!”
Staring down the Malamar, Bernard's Tentacruel swirled her tentacles around in a circle. A current of water whipped around them in a vicious spiral, but the Malamar did not float idly by. It lashed one of its big tentacles, sending a narrow wave of psychic energy straight at his foe. Bernard's expression soured in an instant, though Olivie didn't know why. According to her rival, Tentacruels defended against energy attacks very well. The enemy pokemon's attack cleaved through the whirlpool that sloshed its way and hit home with a jarring shreeee. For a moment, Scylla didn't move, but before Olivie could even say 'huh?' one of her poison sacs burst in a shower of venom and vital fluid. It splattered against the ground, followed shortly by Scylla herself. Bernard, ever the strategist, ground his teeth and explained, “Psycho Cut—a blade made of hateful, insane thoughts. It's a special attack, but it strikes like a physical one. Painkiller!”
The Bisharp stepped forward, and the rest of Bernard's pokemon vanished in a series of flashes. Olivie called back her party as well, save for Gespenst. Its spots glowing, the Malamar leered at the humans. It had just won a two-on-one battle, and clearly didn't think much of an encore.
The Dugtrio recoiled back, met after popping out of the ground with dog teeth to the faces, which gave Leavanny lease to reunite with the fallen Sewaddles. The motherly bug grabbed the two juveniles and put them behind it, before launching another web into the hole to give Juana another handhold. Juana pulled herself out of the hole.
"Bounsweet, Razor Leaf!" she shouted, landing with a thud. Bounsweet launched a flurry of leaves into Dugtrio, causing it to retreat into the earth.
"HA!" Juana taunted the Dugtrio. "Couldn't handle a bunch of pre-evolved Pokés, couldja! Bet you wish you had long, glorious metal hair, do ya?!" She thumbed her nose after the churned earth.
She folded her arms. "In all seriousness, though, I think there was definitely something up with that Dugtrio," she added. "Probably the same thing that was up with the ol' Nidorino back where we saw that Torterra."
Juana turned back towards that hole. "Somebody ought to put up a sign," she remarked. "I can now say from experience that Dugtrio holes are not fun to fall into."
She let out a heavy sigh. "In any case, thanks for the save, guys. Would've been mole chow. And jeez, that would have been embarrassing."
Juana turned and spotted Tora checking her dex. "New catch?" she asked.
Meanwhile, Bounsweet was playfully hopping around with the Sewaddles, as the Swadloons and mother Leavanny watched the grubs. Bounsweet stopped and hopped over to Leavanny with a question.
"Whee-whoo?" Bounsweet asked.
"Chirrip-chirp, chrrrip," Leavanny replied, pointing a particular direction through the forest. "Chirp, chrrrp."
The Leavanny had seen a large Pokémon tear through the trees, disrupting the Sewaddle colony.
Bounsweet looked back up at Juana and pointed intently with its stem in the direction Leavanny pointed out.
"What's up, amiga?" Juana asked.
Juana looked in the direction that Bounsweet was pointing. The Leavanny confirmed this.
Skin stinging from the flurry of sand, Ella covered her eyes with her arm, blindly stumbling alongside Leisy. She had no idea where they were going, but it didn't matter, so long as they got away from that Malamar.
When the sandstorm thinned and the beach came back into view, Ella slowed and stopped, gasping for breath. Her relief only lasted a second before she spun, letting out a shriek. Sand and water burst outwards at them as the Malamar reappeared, lights flaring furiously. The pink-haired girl tore her gaze away before the creature could take a hold of her mind again.
It may not have been able to see them through the sand, but it was a Psychic type. It must have used its power to track her and Leisy.
As Ella turned her head, she glimpsed two figures in the corner of her vision. Olivie, and a young man surrounded by Pokemon. Fully evolved Pokemon. The sight of them brought a surge of hope. Would they be able to take on the attacker?
Her hope gave way to horror as the Malamar lashed out at the boy's Tentacruel. In a spray of fluid, the jellyfish Pokemon fell to the ground, gunk oozing from a ruptured poison gland.
Rushing to the Tentacruel's side, Ella dropped to her knees. Was there anything she could do? The potion, the black sludge... Neither item, she realised with a sinking heart, would be effective enough to work on such an injury. Before she could even try anything, she found herself staring at empty space as Scylla vanished back into her Pokeball.
"Don't look at that Malamar's lights!" Ella warned the other trainers. "It can put people under, control their thoughts... I think this is the one that's been giving people the dreams!"
Seeing Olivie and the other trainer arrive was a relief to Leisy, especially since the male trainer seemed to be at least Expert and perhaps even Master-rank with all of his fully-evolved Pokemon. She watched in wide-eyed awe as the trainer’s Tentacruel floated over to the wild Malamar, drawing water from the ocean and swirling it around itself to create a small vortex, so mesmerized by the Pokemon’s ease in whipping up massive torrents that Leisy didn’t even notice until it was too late that the Malamar had responded easily, knocking the Tentacruel to the ground with a sickening splat as body hit fluids.
Horrified, Leisy drew back as Ella sank down beside her. “Ella, let’s retreat back more,” Leisy said, tugging on her friend’s arm as to help her up and lead her away. If the Expert-rank trainer couldn’t do anything about the wild Malamar, then what could two trainers — one Beginner- and one newly-made Skilled-rank — possibly hope to do except get in the way?
Seeing Olivie and the male trainer withdraw their Pokemon, Leisy did the same, watching with a heavy heart as her Larvitar disappeared in a flash of light. Had she been too headstrong in wanting to help the townsfolk by taking on the mission? Besides learning about Pokemon, she’d always wanted to get to know the world — the people. And one way of doing that was by helping people.
But you can only help others if you’re strong enough, she thought sadly. And clearly I’m not.
Seeing both the Ground-types get taken care of, Cillian recalled his Mudkip and Bulbasaur and joined the group again. Hearing Juana’s comment about how the Dugtrio seemed to be acting a little off, Cillian nodded in agreement. “Pokemon around here sure are weird. You and your family aside, of course,” he amended quickly, glancing at the Leavanny that was then snuggling the two tiny Sewaddles it was holding.
Seeing Tora holding a Pokeball in one hand and checking her Pokedex with the other, Cillian grinned. “Hey, new Pokemon? The Onix?” he asked, remembering that the large Rock-type did make a speedy getaway for a Pokemon of its size. “Congrats!”
The Leavanny and Juana’s Bounsweet communicated with each other in a series of quick, intense sounds that indicated they were probably talking about something of some importance. “What is it?” Cillian asked, looking in the direction the two Pokemon seemed to be gesturing. “Is there another rampaging Pokemon there or something?”
