The Ice Path
Chapter 2
By the time Franco emerged from the Dragon's Den, the sky was a completely dark dome, save for the stars and the moon.
Franco yawned. The walk into the cave was full of mysteries to be found, and Dragons to be seen… or not seen. Unfortunately, the walk back had been much more of the same: Joltik nibbling at the static of his clothes, and darkness. Luckily for him, all veteran journeyers know to bring a flashlight with them, and he was a veteran indeed. Unluckily for him, his flashlight didn't add any sort of entertainment to the dreary walk.
As he turned off his flashlight, he realized that now, there was more walking to be made. He sighed, and dejected, he continued on. The Pokémon Center would provide a safe haven for the night, and he could have Nurse Joy look at his Pokémon.
The rest of the way, Franco actually wondered whether there were Nurse Joys in charge of the Pokémon Centers even now, in this new league… There were.
Unimpressed, Franco left his Pokémon in the care of the professional, and got a room key for the night. Sleep would come easy…
Breakfast at the Pokémon Center was good, as always. The food was never as good as Nonna's, but it always tasted of adventure. Franco retrieved his Pokémon from Nurse Joy, purchased some patented Dragon-type Pokémon food from a local breeder, some of the basic chow from the Pokémon Mart, and next thing he knew, he was ready to go out and journey.
His first destination would be Mahogany Town, he decided noting that the hike down to New Bark Town would be more perilous as well as less rational, and so, he took off towards the Ice Path…
Franco shivered as soon as he entered the cave. Apparently, the people around here had named it rather more aptly than they'd named the Dragon's Den… He chuckled at the thought, and proceeded to pull out his jacket. His Joltik, as had already become customary at this point, was riding on the trainer, tickling Franco as it crawled throughout his body as it looked out for static to, umm, consume?
Finally he couldn't take it anymore. The constant friction between his shirt and his jacket seemed to produce more static than his shirt by itself, and his food-crazed Pokémon's tickling was proving to be a bit too much. "Calm down." He told his Pokémon in-between chuckles as he reached for her and perched her on his head. "Stay there or you're going into your Poké Ball." He warned sternly, although not seriously.
"Jolt." The Pokémon answered, shivering slightly but staying put.
The walk through the Ice Path was actually not so bad. The place was actually quite beautiful, and although Franco knew there were many Pokémon in here, he guessed that if he walked along the main road, they wouldn't bother him. The path was actually mostly artificial, he noted, and it would be hard to get lost unless he decided to go into one of the many side tunnels, but he didn't want to bother. He had been late, he remembered, surely all the other trainers were way ahead of him, and although a journey wasn't a race, it
was a competition.
Franco sighed, feeling sorry for himself.
Out of the blue, however, he felt a rumble.
The rumble turned stronger, and stronger, and for a second, Franco thought that the earth itself was shaking, and suddenly, a screeching sound picked him off his feet and dropped him. Looking up, he saw a Woobat colony flying directly at him. Startled, Franco brought his arms up in a dumb attempt at shielding himself, and the charging Bat Pokémons crashed against him full on, lifting him off the ground and dropping him several feet back.
Falling with a loud thud, noticing that his Joltik was no longer on his person, he turned around and found his Pokémon clinging on to a Woobat. Aggravated, he got up, and reached for his Poké Ball. "Go, Dratini! Use Wrap!"
His Poké Ball flew a long distance, and propelled his Dragon-type Pokémon up in the air, to where said Woobat was flying. Clinging on to its body, she squeezed and brought the three Pokémon down to a rather ungraceful landing.
However, the rest of the colony noticed this, and turning around, they began flying toward Franco. "Dratini, Joltik, let's ruuuuuun!" He screamed as he made his way with his Pokémon toward a side tunnel. Realizing that his Pokémon couldn't run as fast as him though, he recalled them into their Poké Balls as he made his way to a side tunnel. Then, the colony kept following him.
As he made his way into a larger chamber in the cave, he slipped on icy floor, and slid forward until a wall stopped him with a bang and a smack on his head.
I'm done for, he thought as he slipped into unconsciousness, hearing the flapping sounds of their wings increase as the sight of his pursuers faded while he went to sleep…
Franco woke up when a strange blue Pokémon with purple wings slammed against him. He pushed the fainted Pokémon off of him, and confused by the chaos of high-pitch and flapping sounds he turned his sight up, towards the roof of the cave. He saw tens, maybe even hundreds of Pokémon flying around and fighting each other; thick, furry Woobats fighting slick, longer Zubats. The Pokémon colonies seemed to be at… war.
Preferring to avoid trouble, Franco tried to get away by sliding across the frozen floor, and reaching an exit to the chamber he currently found himself in. Then, he risked another look. The Zubat colony seemed to be overwhelming the Woobat one based on sheer numbers, although the Woobats seemed to be taking advantage of their type advantage in one-on-one battles. Franco sighed; he couldn't believe that he had gotten himself into something like this!
He tried to take off in the direction of the tunnel… wherever it went, but a high-pitched screech behind him made him stop in his tracks, and upon turning around he received another blow on the stomach as a Zubat crashed against him. Behind it, he saw the shape of a Woobat swooping down at it with glowing eyes.
Confusion, he thought realizing that the Woobat was attacking the Zubat. He didn't want to get in the middle of this, but it seemed it wasn't his choice anymore.
"Dratini, use Thunder Wave!" He commanded as he sent his Pokémon out to battle. Immediately, the electric pulse seemed to stop the Woobat's wings mid-flight, and caused it to crash hard against the ground. "Good, now use Wrap!" he said, pleased.
His Pokémon obeyed, and curled around the Bat Pokémon, squeezing it tightly. "Woob-" the Pokémon tried crying, although Dratini cut it short by smothering it with her serpentine body. The Zubat, however, swooped down and buried its fangs through Dratini's hide, causing her to let go of her victim.
"What the-" Franco found himself confused. He couldn't expect the wild Pokémon to be friendly towards him, but he didn't expect it to go to the rescue of its former attacker. However, now they suspended themselves in the air, flapping their wings and having seemingly come to terms against a common enemy.
"Zuubaaat!"
And "Woobaaat!" they cried as they charged toward his Pokémon, the former sending circular waves of refracted light, and the latter enveloping his Dragon with a glowing cobalt blue aura, and sending her crashing against the wall of the slender passageway.
"Dratiiniii!" the Dragon-type cried as she struggled to rise, however, she swerved and smacked her head against the stone wall before the wild Zubat sunk its fangs on her once more.
Grinding his teeth, Franco realized the battle would be lost… well, unless he did something about it. Loosing his grip on his second Poké Ball, he threw it in-between his attackers. "Joltik use Spider Web!" he commanded.
Joltik came out, and upon noticing her new partner in danger, unleashed two Spider Webs that trapped the Bat Pokémon against the wall. "Good, now use String Shot!" her trainer commanded, prompting her to spray them both with her silk.
Great, if I can slow them down I can get away… Franco had begun thinking, until he realized that, well, heck, he was a trainer, right? So he should try to catch them! "Dratini, are you okay?" he asked, running toward his Dragon Pokémon. Unfortunately, he didn't notice that while the Zubat was struggling to get away, the Woobat had used its Confusion to shoot his Joltik against another wall, and to rip the silk that bound it.
Dratini, however, did notice it. Putting forth a look of determination, and seemingly coming back from her confusion, she leaped at the Flying Pokémon, and smacked it handily with her glowing tail.
Wait a second, glowing tail?
It took Franco a second to recognize it, but there was no doubt about it, somehow, his Dratini was capable of using Iron Tail!
"Great job Dratini!" he screamed ecstatically before the wild Zubat bumped him in the back of the head and charged toward Franco's Pokémon. However, Dratini ducked and avoided the ripples of its Supersonic cry, and leaped at it, catching it with her body and Wrapping both Bat Pokémons into her serpentine grasp. It was then that she nodded at Franco…
"Joltik!" Franco said, motioning at his not-yet-fallen Pokémon. "Use Charge Beam." Joltik looked up at her trainer with an incredulous look. If she used Charge Beam now, wouldn't that also hit his Dratini? "Do it." He commanded noticing the disbelief in the Bug-type's eyes.
"Jooooooool…" She cried as she used to when she charged. The Electricity in the air seemed to freak out both Bat Pokémon, who were struggling even harder now to escape Dratini's grasp, although her attention was focused entirely on her partner's attack…
"Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik!" the Electric beam resounded with a boom as it travelled toward the group of Pokémon; it was almost upon them, when Dratini gracefully Shed her Skin, avoiding most of the damage, and leaving the two Pokémon victim to the powerful beam.
Down and out. Franco thought to himself as he reached for two Poké Balls, which he threw at the Bat Pokémons. Having absorbed both Pokémon, his Poké Balls fell on the ground, and began to shake in unison.
((OOC: Well, there you go, I had to rewrite that post so many times just to have it make at least some sense…
Ahh, I need to get a better idea on how to befriend Pokémon -_-'))
