Pip and Isole hadn't noticed Jess run off right away, having been keeping an eye out for the Nidoran in case it was around. The only one that had noticed her run off was Lucio, and after a few oblivious moments from his team, he pointed it out. "She's gone." He said bluntly, waiting for the reaction.
"What?!" Pip turned, looking around. "Where'd she go?!" He honestly couldn't believe she slipped away like that! He tried to figure out where she went, but there were no obvious signs. Aside from the shout they heard, that is. "Sounds like she's fighting!" Isole said, mildly concerned about Jess. The Pokemon around here could be unpredictable at times, it wasn't safe to go alone! She ran towards Jess' voice, her teammates soon in tow.
Lucio couldn't help but be distracted by the sounds of multiple little legs hitting the stone floor of the cave. He looked around, but nothing seemed to be there. This didn't make any sense to him. 'If they aren't on the floor...' He thought about it for a moment, before his eyes widened with a realization. "Stop!" He yelled suddenly, causing his teammates to skid to a halt, Pip in particular almost fell over. "What is it, Lucio?" Isole asked, as the alert fighting type looked up at the ceiling. He saw multiple yellow glowing eyes looking down at him. "Kabuto! Above us!"
As soon as they were called out, the Kabuto fell from the ceiling and began landing around the trio. The Crusaders all ended up back-to-back, surrounded by six Kabuto. "Yikes! That's a lot of them!" Pip commented, realizing the situation wasn't exactly good for them at the moment. He smirked, glancing back at his friends. "But not enough to stop us, right? We'll clear a path through 'em!"
"Right." Lucio replied calmly, taking a fighting stance. The Kabuto began scratching their forelegs against the rocky floor, ready to attack. "Get ready!" Isole said, as the Kabuto all let out a screech as they lunged at them, raising their forelegs to use Scratch.
Lucio clenched his fists, preparing himself as the Kabuto quickly approached. "Follow me!" He commanded, dashing forward towards one of the approaching Kabuto. Pip and Isole followed behind him as he used pulled back his left arm, waiting for the Kabuto to get closer. It let out another screech as it began bringing it's forelegs down to attack, but before it's attack managed to get through Lucio countered with a punch of blinding speed, a Bullet Punch. His fist connected with the yellow eyes of the Rock/Water Multi-Type, and with that one super effectively move the Kabuto was sent barreling backwards, screeching in pain about it's injured eyes. This left enough of an opening for the trio to escape the rest of the Kabuto, whom ended up landing in a group hitting the ground instead of the intended targets.
"Too easy!" Pip exclaimed, turning around to face the Kabuto. They screeched and charged, but now they had a more open field! Which made it a little more fair. Isole jumped in front of Pip and raised her arms. "I've got it~!" She said confidently, as Pip felt a chill down his spine. He quickly moved out of the way, as he knew that meant Isole was using Powder Snow. Lucio shook his head. "They're resistant to Ice-Type moves. If we want this move to be put to use we need to use the blizzard she creates as cover to move in and attack." He looked at Pip, and the two nodded in agreement. Lucio circled left, and Pip went right. The small, icy blizzard flew towards the Kabuto. And though it didn't damage them much, it clouded their sight, and caused them to stop.
Taking advantage of this, Lucio and Pip jumped in to attack. Lucio landed on one of them forcefully, an audible crack followed, causing it to screech loudly in pain. The other Kabuto soon caught on, and one lunged at Lucio to try and scratch him. The attack connected, hitting Lucio's chest. It knocked him down off of the Kabuto and onto the cold hard ground, and though there were only 4 Kabuto left after that brutal stomp from the air, that was still double the fighting force of the Crusaders at the moment, not counting Isole's distraction.
The same Kabuto that struck Lucio down jumped on top of him, and raised it's forelegs to attack once more. Lucio was quick, and used his hands to grab it's forelegs. He grunted as he pulled back and threw the Kabuto, throwing it out of the small fading blizzard. It rolled along the ground, before hitting a decent-sized rock. The cold was having an effect on Lucio, but he tried to push through it, standing up while holding the wound on his chest. He hoped Pip was doing alright.
While Lucio was fighting, Pip was jumping around in the blizzard to one; try and keep somewhat warm, and two; to confuse his enemies. The three Kabuto kept slashing at the air, with Pip taunting them the whole time. They were angry enough that when Pip landed on top of one of them, the others attacked without concern for their ally. Pip simply jumped back off the Kabuto and allowed them both to hit their comrade, though their forelegs didn't do much to the shell of the poor Pokemon. It was however, angry. But before the three could fight, Pip landed, and swung around. The large hand on his tail clenched into a fist, and hit two of the three Kabuto with force, sending them flying out of the blizzard and against the nearest cave wall.
The ice blizzard faded completely, leaving Lucio, Pip, and the one still fighting Kabuto completely visible. Though at the sight of it's fallen comrades, it quickly scurried off. Pip laughed. "Aw yeah! Don't mess with us!" He said loudly, and Isole approached quickly, happy. "I'm glad everything worked out~ It was a good idea to use my blizzard as cover... Are you okay?" She was concerned for her teammates, and Pip simply stood tall. "Yeah, I'm fi-Faah..."
Isole tilted her head. "What?"
"Aaah... AAAHHH CHOO!"
Isole ducked and managed to avoid the barrage of germs that flew out of Pip. She laughed as she backed away. "You got sick!" She said playfully, and Pip crossed his arms. "Whatever, it's your fault!" He shouted, though before they could argue, Lucio approached, holding his wound. "At least we're alive, that's what matters." He said, and the two glanced over and were surprised he had gotten hurt. "That scratch looks like it hurt... You gonna be okay?" Pip asked quietly, and Lucio nodded. "I'll eat an Oran Berry to help it heal up faster. I'll live." He knew it wasn't serious, but had to assure them. Pip removed the bag from his person, setting it on the ground. "Well, rest here for a minute while I go check on Jess. Isole, I want you to stay here, too. Make sure he doesn't get into trouble."
"Me? Trouble?" Lucio questioned, not being able to resist the urge to smile. "Whatever you say." He muttered, sitting down and taking a moment to relax. Isole had already began digging in the bag for an Oran Berry, figuring it had to be somewhere. "I'll take care of him, don't worry! Go make sure she's alright!" She said, and Pip nodded, appreciating the cooperation. He turned, and lowered down onto all-fours as he ran towards where he had heard Jess last.