Featured: Ch. 35 - The Unnecessarily Surreal City - Pokémon Choice Quest 2

Chapter 9: Surrounded!

Location: Palegrove Road

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You feel as if somebody is stalking you, hidden beneath the thick shrubs of pale green foliage. Initially, you believe that you shouldn't bother to examine the source nearby. But in a world where audacity is the main trait for every Pokémon Trainer, danger is the least of your worries.

So you turn to where the voice came from and warily steer the bushes clear. The first thing to greet you is a Houndour leaping at where you are with a gaping, teeth bared mouth. Unfortunately, you weren't fast enough to avoid the bite, leaving your right hand wounded with deep dot marks.

You flail your hand about in an attempt to fend it off until a burst of water blasts squarely into the Wild Pokémon, effectively pushing it off as it falls flat onto the piled snow. You thank Cuddles for warding off the Houndour, but that's only a small part of the job when more of them come from various directions, until you know that the circle they make simply means you and Cuddles are already surrounded. Their leader, Houndoom, takes the front and snarls at your presence, while you and Cuddles take the remaining seconds devising a plan for a getaway.

You find yourself surrounded by a pack of Houndour. A wrong move means things won't end well. What you should do?

1. Point your finger at a direction and run while they're distracted!
2. Tell Cuddles to use Bounce to jump high to get away!
3. Throw Poké Balls randomly at the wild Pokémon while getting away! Who knows you can catch one of them!
4. Confront them all! Horde Battle style!
5. Try to reason with them. It's just a misunderstanding, right?

Blacked Out...

Location: Palegrove Road

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Your encounter with the wild Pokémon surrounding you and your Pokémon caused quite a disturbance in the forest. Not only you get your hand nibbled, their bared teeth tells you they mean business, and the only way to settle the whole mess is to display whose power is supreme here and now.

Just like before this battle, you brandish your finger at them, telling Cuddles to unleash its strongest move directly at where you point at. Immediately, Cuddles' red eyes begin to burn and out comes laser-like beams, hitting the grounds beneath their stand. The ground explodes, clouds of dust envelop the target area of effect. You see two of them blasting away upon impact, and it just happens that the remaining Pokémon standing are making their move. The two Houndour approach to both sides and manage to bite on Cuddles' broad fins. Cuddles struggles to break free, but it's just enough time for their leader, Houndoom, to finish Cuddles off with a Crunch on the forehead.

Instead of wincing, Cuddles lets out a human-like laughter as the shadowy aura enveloping it disperses into thin air. You see its body gradually graying in color to the point of becoming stone-like, then it crumbles like sand. You no longer see Cuddles, only remains that belonged to it and the other three Pokémon with jaws open.

At this point, you realize that you screwed up. You don't have any Pokémon left to fight for you, let alone any money to drop in panic. Things becoming grim so quick, everything's turning black...

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... Fortunately, it turns out be an unrealistic dream of yours. You must be spacing out while thinking about what might happen if you were to go confront them head on. Of course, how come Cuddles can disintegrate just like that? It makes zero sense, but the better part of the idea is that you're unlikely to win the battle. Discarding the troubling thought, you think about another way to take.

You find yourself surrounded by a pack of Houndour. A wrong move means things won't end well. What you should do?

1. Point your finger at a direction and run while they're distracted!
2. Tell Cuddles to use Bounce to jump high to get away!
3. Throw Poké Balls randomly at the wild Pokémon while getting away! Who knows you can catch one of them!
4. Try to reason with them. It's just a misunderstanding, right?