Samantha Felicity Cooper and Lucia Francisco Bernanvard- The Frontline
Sammy tumbled off of the Fearow as soon as she was able, spitting out various profanities. That was insane! Who in their right mind would choose to travel that way, miles above solid ground or even the fickle ocean. Just air, empty air, between you and certain death with a Pokemon in complete control. Sammy trusted her own Pokemon, but to carry her into the sky? She shuddered at the thought of travelling again like that. No thank you. She growled out a half-thanks to the kid who'd given her a lift and did her best to get her bearings. She didn't have a lot of time before she saw that Lance was already racing ahead of the rest of the group with Brock and Misty trailing closely behind. If they got to the base before her there'd be no good fighting left!
She grabbed Cubone's tan and white Pokeball from her belt and released the Ground Type, who quickly hugged his bone club and looked around uncertainly. They'd made massive improvements over the past few weeks but he was still the same timid Cubone he'd always been. She was confident he could step up this challenge and make her proud though, otherwise she was going to be relying on Corphish a lot... and possibly her newest addition.
"Okay buddy," she said seriously, "I'm gonna be real with you. We're about to go up against some people that aren't exactly nice guys, you get me?"
"Cu?"
"I'm talking about people like your old Trainer, okay? Bad people."
"Cu! Cubone..." He started to visibly shake, obviously frightened at the very thought.
"It's okay buddy! I'm gonna be right there with you, and we've gotten so - SO strong, right? You just remember what I taught you and we're gonna be the heroes of the day. Trust me?"
"Cu..."
Cubone didn't seem entirely certain but she had to give him her trust so he could earn it.
Lucia likewise had landed and she brushed off her clothes of any dirt she could have gotten on her body and was thankful to have at least something to cover her legs. If she had worn a skirt or such she would be absolutely freezing! She quickly grabbed a ball off of her waist and looked about at the various trainers. "Okay... rockets are known for poison types... I got this." She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves down, becasue frankly she was scared.
She had never gotten so close to a villainous team and suffice to say, she had an inkling there would be no mercy on them. She ahd seen what criminals could do and if anything, she had to remain on her guard at all times. There could be all sorts of pokemon in there waiting to cream them to kingdom come for all she knew! Lucia let the pokeball open as her guardian appeared again, immediately moving behind her and letting his eyes take in every inch of the area. She spied Sammy off to the side apparently giving a pep talk to a Cubone.
Odd... weren't pokemon eager to battle or at least ready to go at all times? It didn't matter. She quickly calcuated her odds iwth her mon and finally pulled out LIrum, letting his ball open as the Golduck appeared. Lirum glanced about and smiled widely at the crowd, "
Wehelll... so many mon. Is this a org-" He didn't get to finish as Roberto managed to move to slam his pincer down on the duck's head, "
None of your perverted fantasies, this is a mission." He said angrily.
"
Ooowww! Sheesh, I was just remarking!" The Golduck replied with a mutter.
Lucia took in another deep breath, thinking of how to go about this battle, "Okay... Roberto stay close and Lirum... you just do your thing."
The Golduck smiled and gave a little flex of his muscles. Anytime it could be starting, and it was nerve wracking to be honest.
As nervous as Sammy was she knew that Cubone was relying on her strength, displaying her own uncertainty would only frighten her Pokemon. As a Trainer it was her responsibility to be what her Pokemon needed most, and for Cubone that was a source of strength and security. But as terrifying as she found the prospect of going head to head with Team Rocket again after what they'd done to her and Mark, the thought of leaving them in the heart of the island to fester and scheme was far worse.
"Alright, let's start off slow okay? You set the pace. Remember your breathing. Remember to find your rhythm. Focus your energy."
Cubone nodded hesitantly and turned in the direction of the Rocket base, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He began to tap his bone club on the ground slowly. Tap... tap... tap... tap...
He opened his eyes and started to walk forward, taking a step in time with each beat of his club. Sammy kept step with him, watching to make sure the technique was going how they'd practiced. As they moved forward the tempo of Cubone's tapping increased, along with his pace... tap tap... tap tap... tap tap... before long Cubone was running at filt tilt, beating his club along the ground like a war drum.
"Alright!" Sammy whooped, grinning broadly as she ran alongside her Pokemon. The transformation was incredible, Cubone had changed from a victim to a warrior! They rounded the corner, quickly taking in the devastated door and flooding into the base along with the other students and teachers. In the few seconds they spent scanning their surroundings a wave of Team Rocket Grunts poured into the hallway and just like that - the battle started. She'd lost Mark (...and Lucia) in the rush for the door and she cursed herself for that, but there was no helping it now. They'd find each other or they wouldn't, running around in search of them would just make her a liabality.
"Get ready Cubone."
"Bone!" He snapped, holding his club ready in both paws. A weedy looking Grunt in an ill fitting uniform singled them out and sent out an Ekans, the Poison type narrowing its eyes and slithering forward to strike at Cubone. Despite the chaos erupting around them Sammy knew that she had to focus on the opponent at hand.
"Bone Club!" She commanded. Cubone sprinted forward and lashed out, striking the Ekans across the jaw from left to right. Their opponent reeled briefly before striking forward with the fluid grace natural to serpents. Quickly circling Cubone it tightened itself around him, binding his arms to his body and restricting his movements in a Wrap attack.
Cubone struggled to escape the constricting grasp of the Ekans' body, but his efforts were in vain. The Grunt leered and took a step closer as Ekans lowered its head closer to Cubone, flicking its tongue against the back of the Lonely Pokemon's neck.
"Cubone, Headbutt behind you! Now!" Sammy called out, praying that her Pokemon had the presence of mind to listen. Her prayer was answered as Cubone, almost immediately, snapping his head back violently. His skull helmet smashed against Ekans' face, the snake crumpling to the floor in a loose tangle around Cubone. He quickly scrambled over his fallen enemy to place himself in front of Sammy as he regained his breath.
This was awesome! In a terrifying life threatening sort of way, but still! Cubone had defeated his first real opponent with style. Grinning arrogantly at the Grunt Sammy bounced onto her toes, assuming a loose boxing stance and dancing from foot to foot.
"What else you got?" She jeered as the Grunt recalled Ekans and reached for his next Pokeball.
Lucia likewise had moved into the fray, though Lirum was moving ahead and with his psychic powers was causing quite a lot of havoc. There was a Goldbat off to the side that was gripped by a Confusion and slammed into the ground. With the poison typing it ended up quickly being KOed. In fact, that was really all the Golduck had to use. There was a Ekans to the side that was flung away with a Confusion, a Grimer that ended up just falling unconscious where it stood, and there was a general sense of power around Lirum.
"
Heh, this isn't that bad!" He said gleefully. "
And THESE gusy are supposed to be tough!? Come on! Surely they can do better!" He kept it up and Lucia looked about, frowning at the state of chaos. Lance and some others were already deeper inside the place. Hopefully they found some commander and would take him out, but for now they had to keep these guards busy.
"Lirum, do a disable!" She cried out.
The Golduck raised his arms to his gem, his eyes flashing as he targeted a Muk and kept it from spilling out a Toxic attack. As the Muk looked on with a confused look Lirum sent out a Confusion right at it, though this Muk was made of sterner stuff. It let out a cry as its trainer shouted for it to use a Sludge Bomb. Lirum held his ground as the large gunk slammed into his body, coating his chest in a bit of the Muk's toxic sludge. He retaliated with yet another Confusion to throw it back. "
Heh, like I said nothing to it!"
Lucia looked off to the side and saw Sammy, "Hey!" She shouted over, "We need to work together! We'll get through this crowd and inside! Most of them are here, if we get in then we can attack them from the rear!" With it being so loud, she would be surprised if Sammy or anyone else would be able to hear. She could hope though.
Cubone made short work of the Grunts second Pokemon, a Rattata that was taken out by a brutal Brick Break. She silently thanked Mark for teaching Cubone that move, it had been the first step in his transformation. The Rattata was quickly followed by a Stunky which was dispatched just as quickly with a critical Bone Club - she'd forgotten that Focus Energy served another purpose beside helping centre himself, it increased his likelyhood of landing a devastating blow.
"Come on, we were just getting started!" Sammy laughed as the Grunt recalled his Pokemon and fled into the chaos of the battle. One shmuck down, an infinite amount to go! While scanning the crowd for her next opponent she spotted Lucia shouting... something... at her. She couldn't make out what the snob wanted over the din of the battle but she had agreed to work alongside both Mark
and Lucia. With no sign of the former she decided to keep her word to the latter, as much as Lucia had rubbed her the wrong way to start with this was no time to be petty.
Rushing over to Lucia's side with Cubone she kept her fighting stance up - despite not doing any fighting herself it made sense to stay light on her feet so she could dodge any stray attacks in the chaos. Her mind flashed back to her very first class at the Academy which had revolved around that very issue, as well as being as where she'd met Mark.
"I couldn't hear you, but we said we'd stick together!" She called out. "You all good? I'm on three so far!" Just because she'd promised to fight alongside Lucia didn't mean she didn't want to outshine her...
Lucia smiled as LIrum flung yet another Ekans away, "I lost count to be honest." She said with a weak smile, "As I was saying, we push through their ranks. Get on the other side and attack them from the rear! If we can do that much, then we'll have their ranks confused!" She nodded, "We do that, and we'll be sure to end this battle early."
