Time Is Running Out (PG13)

[Royal]

Breezy:

Spoiler:

Good, you can continue.

Your Mudkip's moves are Mudshot, Water Gun, Tackle, Take Down.
It's personality is: Always an ever-loving Mudkip, Mudkip will probably bond with her trainer quickly. Mudkip will battle not to be sucked into the fighting, but just for the adrenaline it gives her.

myrrhman:

Spoiler:

Good, you can continue.

Your Chimchar's moves are Flame Wheel, Thunderpunch, Dig, Fire Spin.
It's personality is: Chimchar's a very jolly and friendly Pokemon. It loves to play around but sometimes, it can read its trainer's heart and realize that the battle is true and real – then, it will battle with all its strength.

 

[steffyace]

"I caught it!" A voice ran out into the air. The wind carried to for miles for everyone to hear. The tone was pure joy and excitement. Standing near a shallow stream was Claire, happiness was spread across her face in a wide smile. You could just see her heart fluttering inside her body as she stared down at the Pokéball held n her tan hands. Her pale brown eyes shined brightly as her hands moved over the red smooth surface. This was her first time and she succeeded with the help of her friend. She turned to look at the small blue body sitting atop a large moss rock. The creature shared her excitement yet pure exhaustion from the earlier fight was obvious it his bright orange eyes. The Totodile breathed heavily and closed his eyes. "Oh Kroc, are you okay?" Claire asked him, getting level with him by bending down on her knees.

If he was too weak to go on he didn't show it, instead he jumped down of the rock ran towards Claire. "Dile" He said with as much strength as he could. He was definitely a fighter. She stared at him a while longer, making sure he was alright, before turning her attention back to the Pokéball. "Shall I let it out?" She whispered to Kroc. He just stared up at her with a blank expression. "Don't worry, you don't have to fight it again" She said with a hint of amusement. Hopefully he wouldn't have to fight at all for a while until he was better.

She moved her fingers across the ball until they were directly over the white button. Without a single thought of doubt she pressed it, and held it out into the open. A flash of light was thrown from the ball and out came the Pikachu they encountered before. With a sweet innocent move the Pikachu turned its head to look back at Claire and shown its little black eyes up at her. You could see small sparks of electricity running across its red cheeks. "He's so cute!" She said and bounded over to pick the Pokémon up in her arms, giving him a little hug before she examined him closer. Kroc didn't seem to hurt him too bad.

"Pika" It said in a small voice, not like the powerful one it had earlier. She remembered the screeching battle cry it gave off before sending off a Thundershock attack. But all that seemed to disappear now, they were instant friends. Already she felt a small bond rising. Will I feel like this with every Pokémon I catch? She wondered to herself. She just shrugged it off and set the Pikachu down. With a quick motion of her hand she removed the annoying stray strands of dirty blonde hair from her face. She started to move her other hand over her chin, thinking hard. "What to call you?" She asked. It seemed easy to give her Totodile the perfect name. But now with this cute little Pikachu staring up at her she had no idea.

"I've got it! You will be Flash" She called out after a couple of antagonizing minutes. The Pikachu perked up immediately, his ears shot upwards and he started to smile, if that could be called smiling. He seemed to like the new name. She bent down and stretched out her arm, allowing the Pokémon to crawl up her arm and sit down comfortably on her shoulder. Claire then turned to Totodile and saw his eyes start to slowly droop with sleepiness. "It's okay, you can go to sleep if you want" She whispered into his ear. She bent down to pick him up as well and set him inside her backpack, leaving it partially unzipped so he could breath. Though he was heavy and it added a lot of weight to her pack she couldn't care putting him in a Pokéball just yet, they needed more time to bond.

And with that she headed off, but warily this time. She watched every step she took so she wouldn't trip over another rock and go tumbling down a different hill, and have everything repeat itself. Nope, she decided to keep it safe. But as they got farther in the trees got thicker, and the sunlight slowly started to fade into the darkness of the shadows. The sound of a twig crunching beneath her shoes was enough to put her on edge. "Umm hey Flash, mind sparing some of that light?" She said, referring to the sparks coming off of his cheeks. He was perched on top of her shoulder and leaning forward slightly. He seemed to be on edge as well.

"It's okay, we will get to the end soon" She reassured him. But she wasn't too sure since she didn't know where the end was. Flash seemed a bit calmer though, and he suddenly sent off a bolt of electricity in front of them. It partially lit up the forest but only for a quick second before dying down. That didn't help. But then suddenly there was a small flicker of light in the distance, could it be the end? She started to get her hopes up and sped up her pace a little. But as she got closer she soon realized that the light did not come from the sun.

"FIRE!" She cried out. There blazing in front of her was a tree that caught on fire. It seemed that the thunderbolt from Flash caused it to catch aflame. The fire slowly started to spread from one tree to another, and it caught on to the bushed below. It was madness. Claire turned to run but as she did so she heard a crack. A burning tree leaned her way and snapped off from the roots. It came crashing down with a loud thud causing her to lose her balance. She fell to the ground as well, feeling the breath knock out of her lungs.

Flash jumped out of her arms and stood beside her protectively. The black smoke slowly started to fill the air causing Claire to cough every so often with the breath she had left. She started to sit up but noticed something. Her backpack was a little too light. "Kroc!" She screamed. Oh no She thought in a panic to herself. If she lost him she wouldn't know how she could go on. She called his name over and over again, but no reply came to her. When all seemed hopeless the flaming tree blocking her path slowly started to die down. What that water? She soon realized it was Kroc on the other side, with water spraying from his mouth and diminishing the flames. He was alive.
She felt her heart fill with relief and she let out a long sigh. By the time she managed to bring herself to her feet Kroc had finished with the fallen tree and moved on to the next fire. He seemed to be putting it out as quickly as it was spreading.

****

After the fire had been put out only around four trees and a lot of bushes were burnt. But heck, five out of the thousands in this forest wasn't that bad. Claire looked around, making sure not a single ember was still burning. If Selene found out she had burned down these trees she would definitely be in trouble. Kroc seemed to be full of energy and adrenaline and was pumped for more. He seemed to be much better after his nap. Flash however looked ashamed of what he had done, but it wasn't entire his fault. "It is my fault Flash, I was the one who said to use a thunderbolt" Claire said, bending down to move her hand across the Pikachu's head. It was all her fault.

"Good job, Kroc" She said to her Totodile who walked over to her. Good thing she had some kind of water Pokémon around. "From now on we will be a lot more careful" She said laughing. This will definitely not happen again.

They headed off once more, this time enjoying the darkness around them. It was much better than a burning wildfire. This trip through the route Valorie seemed to drag on forever. So many hardships they faced throughout it, but it was fun at times.

Seeping through the trees was rays of sunlight, she was sure of it this time. She ran forward, Flash and Kroc following closely behind her and there it was. She escaped the massive amount of trees and entered into the open area.
They had made it through their first task.​

 

[Royal]

steffyace:

Spoiler:

Good post, and Selene might be a bit angry but don't worry about it. She's has a thing for nature.

:3

I will have the next task up after a few more people post.

 

[Underoos]

It was agonizing for Damian, watching that ball quiver like it did. At one point, he was almost sure it was going to bust open and Damian's work all was for naught. Finally it slowed, however, and Damian felt his entire body relax. The bleeding from the rock that had jabbed him in the head had stopped as well, making Damian feel better about his outlook on things as a whole. Charmander was a slightly different matter, something Damian realized and cursed himself silently for. Charmander, almost immediately as the ball stopped shaking, fell down on the ground with a thud and sat there panting harshly. Damian jogged over to his Pokemon and skidded to a halt, kneeling down in front of him. Charmander looked up at Damian with weary eyes.

Damian felt a pang of sadness rush through him. He hadn't meant for Charmander to get hurt, at least not this bad. "I'm sorry, Charmander," Damian whispered. He bit his already raw lip, wondering what to do. "You go rest in your Pokeball while I see how Nidorino's doing. Don't worry, I'll call you if I need help." It was almost a lie, and Charmander seemed to perk up slightly. Damian cursed himself again; he had always been a horrible liar.

"Char," Charmander stated bluntly, turning his head away from Damian.

Damian sighed heavily, but nodded. "Alright, I can get that. So c'mon, take a rest. I promise I'll call you out if I need help." Damian held out his hand, offering it to his beaten Pokemon. Charmander looked at it for a moment, and then stared into Damian's eyes. Finally he nodded sharply, and pressed his clawed hand into Damian's. Moments later Damian recalled Charmander, and then stood up straight. He stared at the spherical object lying on the grass a few paces away without much thought. Finally Damian let out a shaky breath, and laughed shortly. The sound was off though, so Damian cut his odd laughter short and then walked over to the Pokeball with slightly wobbly legs. He was still worried sick about Charmander.

"You gave me some trouble, but now you're mine," he whispered as he picked up the Pokeball. Damian pressed the button, and then in a flash of white the Nidorino materialized in front of Damian.

It looked positively pissed off, for lack of a better term. Damian even paled slightly at the sight of the Pokemon, half afraid it would go berserk and charge him or something of the sort. Damian eyed Nidorino cautiously, but it just stood there, staring back. Nidorino didn't seem to be very keen on going after Damian, but was just obviously expressing his sheer displeasure at being caught. Then again, Damian figured he couldn't blame Nidorino, even though Damian absolutely loved how tough his Pokemon looked. Damian licked his lip slowly, wincing when he touched the tender flesh.

"Nidorino, I know you probably hate me," Damian said bluntly. "But...we're a team now. You, me, and Charmander. I don't care how much you hate me, because we've gotta stick together in this. So...what do you say?" Damian crouched down, despite all of his senses screaming for him to not offer himself up, and held out his hand like he had for Charmander.

Nidorino stared at Damian and his hand for a moment. It basically stomped over, and then gabbed at Damian's hand with a slight force. Damian stared at Nidorino, meeting his Pokemon's gaze. Nidorino's eyes were cold and hard, the scratch mark on the side of his face making him look even more angry. Damian swallowed with an audible gulp and retracted his hand in something that he could only describe as fear. Nidorino turned away from Damian, holding his head high. Damian sighed and stared sadly at his freshly caught Pokemon, but then grabbed Nidorino's Pokeball and recalled it. Nidorino disappeared in a flash, and suddenly Damian felt a little lonely. Sure, Nidorino probably hated him, but at least it was something to have by Damian's side. With a sigh, Damian began walking again, feeling a bit defeated.

Damian hadn't been walking through the slightly muddier (or so he believed, because his shoes were growing rather unbearably sticky with mud) portion of the area for longer than an hour, when he heard a rustling in the trees. Damian looked up wearily, half expecting something to drop out and eat him or something. When he didn't hear anything else, however, Damian pressed forward with a wearier step and a more cautious eye. He had this odd feeling something (or someone, for that matter) was watching him, but obviously he had no idea what it was. He hoped it wasn't something super strong, because honestly he didn't think Charmander could take much more. Damian didn't really want to rely on Nidorino either, because the Pokemon obviously had issues with Damian.

Almost as soon as Damian had taken another step forward, there was a sharper rustling from the tree. This time, however, it was from two trees instead of just one. Damian felt his hand slip to Charmander's Pokeball, hoping against all hope that it was just the wind. In the back of his mind he knew it wasn't, but he hoped nonetheless. It was an empty hope, like the kind people get when they're trying to convince themselves that something obviously hadn't happened (or wasn't going to happen) that had. Damian sighed, and grabbed both Nidorino and Charmander's Pokeballs. He figured his hoping was in vain and denial wouldn't help his situation, and he also figured he'd need some help if it happened to be a Pokemon (which it obviously was).

"Fine then," Damian growled under his breath. "We'll take you out in one hit, whatever you are." Damian pushed the buttons on their Pokeballs once, just to enlarge them. He glanced around sharply, looking for whatever was about to attack. Just as Damian was about to give up and keep walking, there was a harsh burst of wind from the trees that sent Damian to the ground. Damian grunted as he smacked his already aching head on the ground, and then glanced up at the trees. He saw a flash of purple, and then suddenly two flying Pokemon were soaring towards him. Damian recognized them as Dustox. "Be that way," he said sharply, and then pressed the buttons on his Pokemon's Pokeballs.

They appeared in a flash, startling the Dustox and momentarily halting their oncoming assault. Damian looked Charmander over carefully, and was pleased to find that his Pokemon seemed to be in slightly better condition than before. He hoped that Nidorino would help do some of the work.

"Let's make this quick," Damian said, figuring that Charmander would have the easiest time. "Charmander, use ember on both of them! Nidorino, be ready to attack with mega kick if one of them heads towards Charmander!"

Nidorino grunted and suddenly plopped down, turning his nose in the other direction. Damian growled as he got to his feet, showing that he was not very pleased with his Pokemon's decision. Charmander let out his ember attack, however, once again startling the pair of Dustox. The first one charged to take the brunt of the attack, but what it did made Damian sort of want to cry. A veil surrounded the Dustox as the attack hit, completely absorbing the ember and turning it into nothing. Charmander looked completely startled, but Nidorino simply snorted and looked amused. Damian ground his teeth together; it was protect.

"I suppose I need a new plan then," Damian grumbled, realizing that the Dustox could simply alternate protection and attack that way. "Nidorino, use double kick on the first Dustox...please!" Damian added that little please there in hopes that Nidorino would actually comply. Sadly for Damian, Nidorino simply grunted and trotted over to some bushes, snuggling down and opening one eye to watch. Damian felt anger bubble inside him, and clenched a fist tightly at his side. "Charmander, use ember again," he ordered in a low voice, leering at Nidorino the entire time. Charmander shot Damian a worried glance, and then spared a pleading look at Nidorino. The horned Pokemon snorted. Charmander sighed, and then went into action once more.

Of course, just as if the Dustox had read his mind, Damian was correct. The Dustox alternated their protect move. The second Dustox flew up, another veil surrounding it. Charmander wasted no time in producing yet another ember, but it was thwarted by the first Dustox. Damian groaned and stared up at the sky for a moment, wondering what the heck he was supposed to do. While he was pondering this, Dustox decided it would be a great opportunity to do a joint attack. The first Dustox's eyes began to glow, and soon Charmander was surrounded by a thin film of swirling energy. The energy caused Charmander to be lifted into the air, and even though he struggled Charmander could do nothing about it. The second Dustox beat its wings furiously, whipping up a large gust of air that was shot right to Charmander. The fire type whimpered as he was suddenly released from the confusion, and then screamed in pain as he hit a tree from the sheer force of the gust.

"Charmander!" Damian screamed as Charmander fell to the ground with a thud.

Charmander looked over at Damian with droopy eyes, and then began to push himself up. Nidorino had opened both eyes now, and seemed to be watching with a bit more interest than before. Charmander whimpered as he got up, and then fell back down. Damian surveyed his Pokemon quickly, and found the flame on his tail to be rather low. Damian didn't like that one bit. He ran over to Charmander and crouched around his Pokemon, running his fingers lightly over Charmander's head.

"Stop it," he murmured. "You're so stupid. You can't win, they'll destroy you." Damian felt himself tearing up, and clamped down on his tongue to prevent it. "Stupid spunky lizard," he choked out, and then turned his angry gaze on Nidorino. "Why won't you do something?!" he challenged in a loud scream. "Help me! If you don't wanna help me, I don't care! But help Charmander! Please!" Damian begged. "Nidorino, please..." he whispered, looking back to Charmander. "Please..." he whispered once more, swallowing harshly. He felt like he was going to throw up.

"Rrr..." Nidorino growled, pushing up from the ground. He looked rather bored in all actuality. Damian looked away from his injured Charmander and to his Nidorino. Nidorino's eyes were sharper than when they had been when he was angry with Damian. No, this time Nidorino was rather angry. "Rino," Nidorino growled, glancing over at Damian with something like a smirk on his face. Then he looked toward the Dustox. Nidorino let out a harsh roar, and then charged. The Dustox looked at him curiously, unknowingly flying a bit closer to the ground as they did so.

"Use...mega kick?" Damian whispered, making it more a question than a command. He wasn't sure exactly what Nidorino was going to do, but he hoped that it would attack...or at least do something.

Nidorino nodded sharply, and then charged in. The Dustox in the front began with a protect, but Nidorino didn't seem to care. He whipped towards the second one and leaped off the ground, whipping around in midair and slamming into the second Dustox with his powerful leg. The Dustox gave a feeble cry as it slammed into the other one, knocking them both to the ground. Nidorino grunted and, without order from Damian, charged in once more. He leaped again and then brought his head down in a headbutt, smashing both of their wings. The Dustox seemed to shriek with pain. Damian, so busy with staring at Nidorino in awe, hadn't noticed his Charmander slowly regain his will and get up from the muddy ground. Damian glanced at Charmander, and then did a double take.

"Charmander, you sure you've got this?" Damian questioned, eyeing Charmander's tail apprehensively.

Charmander looked at Damian and then nodded. "Char!" he declared confidently. Nidorino grunted and then glanced at Charmander, waiting.

"I...uh...go get 'em," Damian whispered, unsure of what to do. It seemed to him like his Pokemon already had a plan, and he wasn't going to stand in the way of that plan.

Charmander glanced at Nidorino and then charged. Nidorino stood stock still, watching as the Dustox began to flutter back up on their (most likely) aching wings. Nidorino then glanced back at Charmander, and broke into a light jog. Damian watched his Pokemon in awe, surprised of the sudden willingness in Nidorino to be a part of a team. In any case, Charmander leaped onto Nidorino's back and launched himself at the two Dustox, fire shooting out of his mouth. Damian saw Charmander's tail flame grow to an enormous size as the fire spin was unleashed, trapping the two Dustox and closing in on them. Unlike the time it had captured Nidorino, this fire didn't simply create a ring. No, this time the fire closed in and burned the Pokemon with harsh intensity. Charmander fell to the ground, nearly slipping as he did so.

"Nice one!" Damian called, trying to rid his voice of the former weakness that was his pain. He hated that he had almost cried; it made him weak and gave his opponents and opening.

Nidorino decided to finish the job. The horned Pokemon charged in and leaped, slamming into both of them with separate feet. It was a double kick attack, only it was one foot for each bug. They fluttered to the ground weakly, lying there in silence as they attempted to regain their strength to get up. It was over, that much Damian was sure. He let out a shallow breath of relief, and then quickly congratulated his Pokemon. Without wanting to wait until the Dustox were ready to battle again, he recalled both Charmander and Nidorino and then broke off in a sprint towards the end of his path.

 

[Royal]

Frostbite:

Spoiler:

Awesome! Was waiting for a double battle.
Nidorino's personality changed slightly.

Charmander can evolve in the next battle if you choose him to do so.

Route 2 – 2 to 5 posts:


Harbor
Oh, it looks like you reached the mountains – that was quick. But the mountain before you is HUGE and now you'll have to go through the tunnel all the way to the top. It will be hard!

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Geodude
Male and Female
Common
Attacks: Mega Punch, Rock Throw, Rollout

Cubone
Male and Female
Common
Attacks: Bonmerang, Headbutt, Double Team

Phanpy
Male and Female
Common
Attacks: Headbutt, Sand Attack

Trapinch
Male and Female
Uncommon
Attacks: Bite, San Attack, Crunch

Onix
Male or Female
Uncommon
Attacks: Rock Slide, Iron Tail, Bind

Graveler
Male or Female
Rare
Attacks: Rollout, Rock Slide, Mega Punch

Rhyhorn
Male or Female
Rare
Attacks: Headbutt, Horn Attack

(Ask me to encounter this!)
Swinub
Male or Female
Very Rare
Attacks: Icy Wind, Rest

(Ask me to encounter this!)
Snorunt
Male or Female
Very Rare
Attacks: Icy Wind, Tackle

Valorie
Oh, it looks like you reached the mountains – that was quick. But the mountain before you is HUGE and now you'll have to go through the tunnel all the way to the top. It will be hard!

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Geodude
Male and Female
Common
Attacks: Mega Punch, Rock Throw, Rollout

Cubone
Male and Female
Common
Attacks: Bonmerang, Headbutt, Double Team

Phanpy
Male and Female
Common
Attacks: Headbutt, Sand Attack

Trapinch
Male and Female
Uncommon
Attacks: Bite, San Attack, Crunch

Onix
Male or Female
Uncommon
Attacks: Rock Slide, Iron Tail, Bind

Graveler
Male or Female
Rare
Attacks: Rollout, Rock Slide, Mega Punch

Rhyhorn
Male or Female
Rare
Attacks: Headbutt, Horn Attack

(Ask me to encounter this!)
Electabuzz
Male or Female
Very Rare
Attacks: Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Ice Punch, Mega Kick

(Ask me to encounter this!)
Luxio
Male or Female
Very Rare
Attacks: Crunch, Spark, Thunder Fang, Thunderbolt

Crest
Oh, it looks like you reached the mountains – that was quick. But the mountain before you is HUGE and now you'll have to go through the tunnel all the way to the top. It will be hard!

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Geodude
Male and Female
Common
Attacks: Mega Punch, Rock Throw, Rollout

Cubone
Male and Female
Common
Attacks: Bonmerang, Headbutt, Double Team

Phanpy
Male and Female
Common
Attacks: Headbutt, Sand Attack

Trapinch
Male and Female
Uncommon
Attacks: Bite, San Attack, Crunch

Onix
Male or Female
Uncommon
Attacks: Rock Slide, Iron Tail, Bind

Graveler
Male or Female
Rare
Attacks: Rollout, Rock Slide, Mega Punch

Rhyhorn
Male or Female
Rare
Attacks: Headbutt, Horn Attack

(Ask me to encounter this!)
Magmar
Male or Female
Very Rare
Attacks: Fire Spin, Fire Punch, Iron Tail, Smokescreen

(Ask me to encounter this!)
Growlithe
Male or Female
Very Rare
Attacks: Crunch, Fire Spin, Roar, Smokescreen

 

[Underoos]

Damian wasn't sure what time it was, but all he knew was that it was late. He was pretty tired, too. It was beginning to get dark, and Damian had a funny feeling that he should probably stop for the night before some other Pokemon decided to attack him. He dropped his pack almost immediately at the base of a tree, and half collapsed on top of that. Damian felt like he was exerting all of his energy as he tugged his hoodie out of his pack and pulled it on, huddling in the warmth and disregarding the fact that he was probably getting completely covered in mud. Without thinking of anything else aside from sleep, Damian tugged the hood up over his head and settled it down on his pack, using it as a makeshift (and slightly hard) pillow. Seconds went by, and Damian fell asleep faster than he would've dreamed possible.

He didn't know what time it is when he was rudely awakened, but Damian did know it was dark. There was a low hiss in the night, and it made Damian's eyes fly open and the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Damian stayed stock still, scarcely breathing. He heard the hissing continue from just to his right, and finally figured that it was some sort of a snake. Damian inched his hand closer to the opening of his pack in an attempt to get Charmander's Pokeball, just because he wanted protection incase the thing attacked and deemed him fit enough to be a midnight snack. Damian grasped the ball silently, knowing it was Charmander's by the warmth that flooded his hand.

"Ekaaaansss," the Pokemon hissed. Damian froze; it was right by his head.

Without much of a second thought, Damian tossed Charmander's Pokeball and then leaped away, brushing his head against the snake's as he did. He heard a sharp his and then, in a blinding white light, Charmander appeared. Charmander yawned slightly, but soon took notice of the Ekans that was now visible because of the flame on his tail. Charmander immediately growled, getting into something akin to a battle pose. The Ekans hissed lowly, head raising in an effort to make itself look larger than it really was. Charmander didn't buy it for a minute, and instead let out a small puff of fire. The flame on his tail was burning bigger and brighter than Damian had ever seen it when Charmander wasn't attacking, and Damian found that very encouraging.

"Alright Charmander," Damian began, "it looks like this thing isn't just going to move on out unless we make it. Use slash!"

Charmander's claws sharpened quickly, and within moments Charmander was on the attack. Damian watched as his little fireball slashed across Ekans's side, making it hiss in a sharp sound that was pain. Damian smirked, glad to see that Charmander was feeling much better than he had previously. Charmander growled his name at the wild Ekans, but the snake just hissed back. Neither of them seemed to want to back down, and Damian was hoping that Ekans was weaker than Charmander. He didn't want to watch Charmander get in bad condition again, especially after Charmander had just got himself a little fixed up.

"This shouldn't be a problem," Damian said in a whisper. For some reason, the darkness of the night made him want to be quieter. "Use fire spin!"

"Char!" Charmander said in an equally quiet voice.

"Kaaaansssss," the snake hissed

Charmander let out a burst of fire so large Damian was hardly sure it was a fire spin. He watched, literally open mouthed, as the flames swirled inward towards the snake, making it hiss in displeasure. The Ekans shrank back, but was inevitably burned by the harsh heat. Charmander let out a puff of smoke and glanced at Damian, ready for another go. Damian called for another slash, deciding that Ekans would be too hurt to really counter much. Just as he was sure Charmander had it, the Ekans hissed and unleashed a jet of small needles from its mouth; a poison sting attack. Damian cursed softly under his breath as Charmander was pelted, but was relieved to find that Charmander didn't look too damaged after the attack. Charmander shook himself, and then let out a stream of fire in an ember.

"Good job, Charmander," Damian said. "Follow with metal claw!"

Charmander cut off his fire attack, and then ran in. His claws gleamed metallic against the colors of his tail, but before he could attack Ekans suddenly vanished. Damian didn't know what had just happened, but the Pokemon was gone. Charmander paused and faltered in his attack, looking around for the missing Ekans. Damian listened as close as he could, but didn't hear anything to give away another presence. Just as Damian was about to get really freaked out, there was a sharp hiss of "Ekans!" and then the Pokemon dropped out of a tree, coiling itself around Charmander and squeezing him tight. Charmander let out a slight shriek of pain, wincing as he was compressed.

"Charmander!" Damian called worriedly, though still in a slightly soft voice. He glanced around for his bag, but because Charmander's tail was far away he couldn't find it. Damian groaned; now would've been a really good time for it to be daylight. "Hang on buddy! Use slash to get out!" Damian was being pretty stupid, not thinking that it would probably be a good idea to just have Charmander use ember instead. The thing is, it didn't matter.

Just as Charmander was squeezed to the point Damian thought would be his breaking, a bright light emitted from his Pokemon. Damian blinked slowly, watching in amazement as Charmander suddenly began to change forms right in Ekans's grasp. The snake hissed wildly and released Charmander, slinking away to watch from the safety of some bushes. Within moments the light had faded, and standing in Charmander's place was a red lizard of larger size. Charmander had evolved into Charmeleon, and Charmeleon looked ready to kick some butt. Damian found a wide grin on his face as he glanced at the hiding Ekans.

"Great," he said, still grinning. "Charman...no. Charmeleon, use ember!" Damian called, hoping that the ember attack would be much stronger than it first had been.

"Char!" Charmeleon said, voice much deeper than it had been as a Charmander.

Ekans hissed and lunged from the bushes, needles flying out of its mouth in a poison sting attack. Damian saw a smirk appear on Charmeleon's face, and then a burst of flame was released from his powerful jaws. Damian's eyes widened as the fire engulfed and disintegrated the needles, slamming full force into the oncoming Pokemon. Ekans hissed lowly, and then slunk away, looking thoroughly cooked. Damian felt a little twinge of regret for having to hurt all of these Pokemon, but then brushed it aside. They had brought this on themselves by attacking, Damian wasn't the one going around and killing everything he saw.

"Charmeleon," Damian said, feeling suddenly tired. Charmeleon looked over at him. "What's say you stay out here tonight? Then we'll get going in the morning...I'm pretty sure I can see something like mountains in the distance." Charmeleon nodded and trotted over to the tree with Damian's pack. Damian followed his Pokemon and yawned, curling back up how he had been a few moments prior to the attack. Charmeleon curled around his pack, flaming tale lying on the other side so as not to burn Damian. "G'night. Don't let that Ekans bite," Damian said, a joking tone in his voice. Within moments he was out again, though he wasn't sure when Charmeleon fell asleep after.

By the time the sun rose, Damian was already ready to go. Charmeleon was sitting on one of the uprooted roots of the tree, watching silently as Damian wadded up his muddy hoodie and shoved it in his pack. Charmeleon yawned while he waited, but finally Damian shouldered his pack and was ready to go. He looked at Charmeleon. "Ready?"

"Char!" Charmeleon said, nodding in affirmative.

"You can stay out this time, just because you seem to be feeling a lot better," Damian said, observing how Charmeleon looked almost completely healed of his former ailments. He wondered if it was because Charmeleon had evolved, but then shrugged it off and started ahead. Charmeleon trotted after him, and soon Damian found they were at the end of the route.

 

[Royal]

Frostbite:

Spoiler:

Good, you can check the OOC thread for details on Charmeleon's new personality.

 

[Lostworld]

Slowly but surely Luna and Mudkip had been making their way through the first forest Valorie presented to the pair for an hour now. The map had been pulled out several times, it taking Luna more than ten minutes to first find where she was positioned on the map and then attempt to trace where they would end up. That exact location she was not sure of, not one for reading maps very well.

The wind had picked up quite a bit despite Luna's previous thoughts of the forest being so densely covered with trees the wind would fail to sweep through it. She was sorely mistaken. She was thankful she had a jacket with her to break the cold, though Mudkip seemed happy just plodding along, every now and again looking up at her trainer.

"Hey Mudkip," Luna started. "Aren't you feeling the cold?"

As soon as the words had left her lips, a slight rattle of a bush and a tree branch to their right spooked both Luna and Mudkip. Luna stopped in her tracks, pulling her jacket tighter around her body whilst Mudkip edged closer to her legs.

Frightening both Luna and Mudkip again, out from under a tree branch swooped a white winged blur. Blinking a couple of times, Luna finally registered the thing floating in front of her, a menacing look it's ruby coloured eyes was a Butterfree. She'd seen one before though she couldn't remember where, despite them being relatively rare in the Hoenn region.

"Mudkip!"

Within seconds Mudkip had jumped forward, suddenly gaining a little bit of courage as she realised the spooky bush was only a wild Pokemon. Still dangerous but just a wild Pokemon.

"You want to battle?" Luna queried, doubting her skills as a trainer already. Mudkip turned to face her for a split second, nodding once.

"Okay then," Luna said before taking a deep breath. "Umm..." Luna thought back to all the books on battle techniques she'd read over the past year, thinking about attacks.

"All Pokemon should know this one, Mudkip tackle attack!"

Mudkip nodded again before turning to run backwards.

"Oh! Gain enough speed to jump! I should have thought of that," Luna said to herself.

She watched with pride as the Pokemon she'd just met sped past her, little legs pumping the ground, heading straight for the flying bug type who hovered in the air.
As all things go, her jump was short in height by the tiniest centimetre, resulting in Mudkip flying straight underneath the Butterfree.

Gritting her teeth, Luna tried to think quickly.

"Don't worry Mudkip! Try a water gun instead."

Luna watched as Mudkip landed safely on all fours, turning around rather slowly as she gained her footing. The gun of water that burst from her mouth was not at all slow as she aimed, fired and hit her target. The Butterfree, looking astounded and still menacing, flapped its wings faster before diving towards Mudkip, tackling the water Pokemon off it's paws.

"Mudkip!" She retaliated angrily, before standing up once more, wincing slightly.

"Mudshot!" Luna called, clasping her sweaty palms together, hoping Mudkip knew the attack. To her delight, Mudkip performed the attack with the utmost care, aiming for the Butterfree's wings. With each hit, the bug Pokemon sank out of the air, looking more and more hurt.

With mud covering it's wings, the Butterfree finally dropped to the ground, heaving as it went. Luna, filled with a sudden guilt, started to rush forward to help the poor Pokemon, only to be stopped in her tracks by Mudkip.

"Mudkip! Mud, Mudkip!" She yelled feverishly before running over the backpack Luna had dropped, ferreting around inside before a Pokeball rolled out onto the grass.

"You think I should…" Luna hesitated, piecing two and two together.

Mudkip just nodded before Luna reached for the Pokeball.

"I just throw it, I guess?" She mumbled, feeling most awkward. She had come to quickly trust Mudkip though and did as Mudkip had asked. The Pokeball, with careful aim on Luna's part, bounced on the Butterfree's lilac body before a harsh red light appeared and disappeared, taking with it the hurt Butterfree. The red and white sphere then dropped on the grass, starting to roll from side to side. Both Luna and Mudkip tensed, waiting for what would come next.

 

[Royal]

Spoiler:

The ball continued to roll back and forth, but suddenly, it opened up and the Pokeball flew back in your hands.

The Butterfree still looks ready to fight, but is still hurt. Do you have the will to catch it?

 

[steffyace]

The blue sky lit up as pink and yellow which mixed together to make an alluring orange that spread across the sky as the bright day sun was slowly slinking over the vast mountain towering above her. It stretched high into the air as if it could reach al the way into outer space. It casted a large shadow that swallowed the forest behind her whole, along with her whole body as well. She had to crane her neck backwards to be able to just barely see the top of it. She couldn't stare at it for long because a sharp pain shot through her right arm. She looked down to examine what had caused the pain and saw a what mark that was hot and sore. It must've been from the fire. She started to remember as the tree crashed down she was flown to the ground and her sleeve was caught around a burning branch that strayed away from the tree. It didn't hurt much, but she decided to wrap it up anyway. She took the brown scarf from her neck and tied it around the burn.

"Oww" She complained as she finished up with her arm. Her pale brown eyes searched to mountain for something, anything. Selene wouldn't bring her there for nothing. She started to walk forward but then stopped suddenly, nothing was walking behind her. She turned around and there Kroc her Totodile, and Flash her Pikachu stood with their eyes wide. They stared up at the mountain and were shocked by its massive size. Claire gave a huff of annoyance "Come on, we need to find a way in, over, or around it" She said and gestured her hand for the Pokémon to follow. The hesitated for a brief second before Kroc stepped out of the sheltered trees and came to stand beside her. Flash took his time walking over, not as brave as her Totodile. But Claire looked around that, he was just too cute for her to see the flaws and not the positives.
Finally he managed to get his little yellow body over there and she picked him up in her arms, and set him on her shoulder. "Pika" Flash said happily to himself. Claire just rolled her eyes and started to walk forward once more, this time feeling Kroc's presence at her side. As they got closer the road seemed to get rougher and the rocks got sharper. The moss had faded away as she left the forest behind, she would miss it, but not the bugs it had inside. She shivered at the thought of all the creepy crawling things she could've encountered, but thankfully didn't. Bug type were definitely at the bottom of her list.

After only a few mere minutes there were completely exhausted and out of breath. It took effort to crawl over the rocks and try to find a way inside the mountain. "Dile" Kroc said and sat down on a rock, he panted hard and it was as if she could hear his heart racing. "Alright, time for a break" She said. Her Pokémon lit up, and inside she did too. They needed breaks every once in a while right? As she sat down herself on a fairly large rock her Pikachu decided to stay on her shoulder. "I don't think so" She said and grabbed him down to set him beside her. Flash gazed at her with his little black eyes and put on his cute mode. But when Claire didn't break he sat down on the rock and turned around to pout.

She shrugged it off, he can't have everything. She pushed aside her dirty blonde hair, which has gotten quite dirty already, and took the backpack from her back and set it down in front of her. She quickly unzipped the zipper and slide her hand inside. The food she packed was in here somewhere. After digging around for a couple of minutes she grabbed on to a few things and pulled them out. The nutritious cereal bars, some dried fruit, and a piece of bread. She grabbed one cereal bar for herself and set it aside, putting the rest back in her pack, then broke he piece of bread in half.

With each hand she gave one half of the bread to her two Pokémon. Kroc looked as if he hadn't eaten in forever and almost choked as he shoved the whole thing down his throat. "Slow down!" She exclaimed, but it was too late. He had eaten it all already. She shook her head slowly, So much for savoring the food she thought to herself. Flash however chewed slower but still he sat turned around pouting. Oh well.

****

After their little snack they continued on to find an entrance to the mountain. The sun started to go down over the mountain and darkness swept over the land. A chilling breeze set into place, a lot colder than in the forest. Claire was walking briskly along the mountain, searching for some sort of entrance. She had Pikachu huddled close to her chest inside her jacket, and Kroc seated himself in her backpack. Thanks for the help guys She said to herself in a bitter tone. Just when she believed all hope had been lost she saw a large hole in the mountain. It was curved perfectly into some kind of a door way, they had found the entrance.

Claire raced forward, nearly tripping over loose rocks on the ground, and finally slipped inside. It was completely dark. The only light was dim and it was from the moon. There was a large pool of water that was casted out in front of her. Moonlight came from small cracks and holes in the walls of the cave, it looked almost like it couldn't hold for one more second. But as Claire moved forward in the darkness it seemed to hold strong. "Flash, can you brighten yourself up so we can see?" She asked taking him out of her jacket against his will. She set him on the ground and he looked doubtful. "There is nothing in here to burn down" She reassured him in kind of a joking tone. The Pikachu glanced around and saw that she was right. Rocks and water was the only things around. He sent off a wave of light to surround his body and the darkness slowly disappeared around them. But anything more than five feet away they could not detect.

It would have to do for now. It was warmer inside the mountain, so Claire no longer had to worry about her teeth chattering the whole time they were there. Carefully they walked forward, trying not to step in the many puddles of water that surrounded them. That last thing she wanted was to be soaked by the time they get out of this cave. She felt a sudden stirring in her backpack and out of the unzipped area popped Kroc's head. "You can come out now" She said in laughter and removed his heavy body from her backpack. Hopefully he didn't crush any of the food they still had.

SPLASH

The sound of water echoed throughout the save. Claire shielded herself as small sprinkles of water dropped around them. "Grr" A growl came from the pool of water. It sounded vicious and sent shivers crawling down her back. This couldn't be good. Claire slowly opened her eyes to see a Cubone staring at them from the water. It held a large bone from something in its hands and atop its head was a skull. She stared at the Pokémon for what seemed like a lifetime, no one moved a muscle. But finally with the cry of battle the Cubone leapt forward and crashed into Claire's legs sending her flying to the ground.
"Kroc use Water Gun!" She said, barely managing to get the words out. Her Totodile leapt into action immediately and sucked in air before letting out a powerful Water Gun attack. It sprayed the Cubone and knocked it off balance slightly but it used its bone to stop the fall. She could feel the water fly over head as Kroc did the attack once more. The Cubone didn't have time to prepare itself when it was hit again. This time it fell to the ground with a huff. Claire quickly jumped from the ground and got back to her feet.

"Flash use Quick Attack!" She called and her yellow Pikachu went zooming past her aiming for the Cubone's belly. But suddenly the Cubone bent down and went running towards Flash with a Headbutt attack. They collided and she could head a large cracking sound. They broke apart, Cubone had a fairly big crack in the skull but it held firmly. The Pokémon seemed a little dazed but he was ready for another fight. Pikachu however spun around in slow circles holding his head before plopping down on the ground. "Flash" She whispered and ran to his side, he seemed already but he would have a pretty big headache after all of this. She rubbed her hand over his smooth red cheeks and turned to her Totodile.

"Use Water Gun again then finish it off with Crunch" She said, a stronger and more confident voice took her over. She still leaned over her Pikachu but her gaze was looking directly at the Cubone. It will pay for this. Kroc sucked in air once more before letting out more water from his mouth and spraying it at the Cubone. The enemy Pokémon tried to block the oncoming water with its large bone club thing, but failed miserably at doing so. Instead the Cubone tossed its Bone and it swung to hit Kroc in the head then went around and did it again. But the water hit the Cubone directly in the face still and it continued to do so for a couple of minutes. Kroc disappeared into the water and came out on the other end with his teeth bared. They were sharper than usual and they sank into the Cubone's arm and it let out a cry of pain. It shook its arm madly trying to rid itself of the Totodile, but not use. It tripped over a loose rock and fell to the ground. The Totodile looked pleased with himself as he let go of the Pokémon and stood back.

"I will be right back" She whispered to Flash before getting up to walk closer to the Cubone. She reached inside her backpack and grabbed out a Pokéball, holding it firmly in her hands. She pressed the button and threw the Pokéball at the Cubone. It disappeared with a flash of light and the ball started to shake vigorously. The Cubone wasn't giving up without a fight.​

 

[Royal]

Spoiler:

After a few moments, the Pokeball opened in a bright flash of light. And then Cubone began to glow... and then a Marowak stood in front of you.

It still looks ready to fight. Will you have the will to finish it?

Kroc can evolve while in battle if you want to continue fighting it.

 

[steffyace]

The ball continued to shake back and forth. Claire's pale brown eyes were intense as it started to slow down. But with a quick unexpected motion the ball flew open and returned to her hands. Out of the flash of light came the Cubone, but there was something wrong. She gasped with horror as it started to glow brightly. The light slowly engulfed the Pokémon and the cave around her became brighter. As the light died down she saw what all the commotion was. Staring up at her wasn't the Cubone from earlier, it was Marowak. Its body grew bigger and it was slightly taller that it's last form. It held an even larger bone club than before and started to swing it viciously in the air. Though it had taken a couple of extreme hits from her Totodile it was ready for more. Its new evolved form was stronger and ready for a fight. She sank to her knees and looked over at her Pikachu. He hadn't exactly recovered from the attack and was still lying on the floor. His little yellow body heaved up and down.

Then she turned her gaze to her Totodile. Fighting wasn't exactly easy for him and he looked somewhat exhausted. She could see the determination in his orange eyes as she stood his ground facing the new Marowak. The opposing Pokémon was taller than he was now and had grown stronger. But Kroc could definitely hold his own if it the battle was up to their weight. But she didn't come all this way to give up. Nor run the other way because she was frightened. This was her time to shine with her Pokémon, and no Marowak was going to get in her way now. She took one leg out from underneath her and set her foot in the floor. Then she gradually lifted herself from the ground, her hands closed tightly with her fingers doubled into her palms. This time the Marowak will really get it She vowed to herself.

She raised her right arm into the air and pointed out her index finger to the Pokémon. "Kroc, use Water Gun!" She called out, her tone was serious. She pulled have loose strands of hair from her face so see could see every detail of this battle. "Toto-DIILLEE!" Kroc screeched and let out a burst of water go flying at his opponent. But the Marowak was quick. It dodged the attack by getting on the ground and rolling on its side. It jumped in the air and flung out its bone club. She watched with worry as it spun around in the air and headed straight for Kroc. With a loud bang the bone hit the Totodile smack in the head, sending him flying into the nearest cave wall. He landed on the ground gasping for air.

"No!" Claire cried, wanting so badly to run to his side. But she was afraid that if she left Flash he could get hurt as well. This Marowak was fast and much stronger, she had to devise another plan of attack. Maybe something close up would do. "Kroc use Slash" She called. But he didn't move a muscle. The Marowak picked up his bone and started to walk towards the Totodile. No, no, no, no! Her mind was going crazy. The opponent got close with every step and still Kroc did not move. This is not happening Her mind went over fact of what could happen if none of her Pokémon could fight.

But as the Marowak came only a few inches away from her Totodile, Kroc's bright eyes flew open. He was okay. Hope began to arise in her as she watched his claws slide forward and sharpen ever so slightly. He jumped to his feet and turned around to fling himself at the Marowak. It was caught by surprise and didn't seem to know what was going on as Kroc raked his claws down its side. It cried out in pain and staggered backwards, but it wasn't ready to give up just yet.

It regained its balance and lowered its skull helmet head and charged at Kroc. "Dodge the attack then use Crunch!" Claire called. Realizing it was her turn to give orders. Kroc did as he was told and tried to dodge the attack. But that made it ever so slightly worse. Instead of hitting him head on the Marowak smashed into his side and they both fell to the ground. But even though the Marowak was fast so was Kroc. Ho got to his feet quicker than you could say Marowak, and launched himself back into battle. He opened his jaws wide and bit down on the opponent. They seemed to be matched evenly and the Marowak rolled over crushing the Totodile underneath his body.

He huffed and tried to wriggle his body out but the Marowak didn't let him free. They struggled together for what seemed like a lifetime before Marowak let free of Kroc and got to his feet. They both looked exhausted and worn out, how long would this go on before one of them gave up? Claire thought about the next possible thing to do. It had to be fast and it had to make some damage. "Kroc use Slash" She said and he nodded ever so slightly. It took him a second to regain some strength and gave the Marowak enough time to make a move. But surprisingly it didn't. It looked tired and ready to give up, would it still continue fighting?

Kroc slashed out his claws viciously hitting the opponent on one side of the face to the other. The Marowak returned the hits by whacking his club at Totodile. This was quit the odd fight. Suddenly that same glow from earlier engulfed Kroc. She saw the look of surprise cross his face before he disappeared into the light. The Marowak yelped in surprise and jumped backwards and the light started to fade. There standing in front of her was a Croconaw. He had an egg pattern that went around his lower body and wrapped up over his right shoulder. It gave the effect that he was wearing clothing. It was funny in a way and caused Claire to laugh. But she stopped herself, she realized she shouldn't be laughing at her Pokémon's appearance.

Atop his head were long red spikes going down his spine and on his longer tail. He looked tough. He roared out his brand new battle cry. "Croco-NAW!" And stopped his feet wildly. This should be good. "Kroc use Water Gun then hit him with a Slash!" She said, new confidence burning inside of her. The new Pokémon sucked in a deep breath and let out a raging water attack that hit the Marowak at full force. The opponent went face first into the giant pool of water behind him. It struggled wildly trying to free itself of the water. It was literally freaking out. But before it had time to compose itself Kroc flung himself at it, slashing it with his claws for the last time. With a cry of defeat it fell to the ground, its eyes closed and it was breathing heavily.

Time to try this again She said to herself with a sigh. She grabbed yet another Pokéball and pressed the button. She threw it at the Marowak and it disappeared into the ball.

It shook once, it shook again…​

 

[Royal]

steffyface:

Spoiler:

After a few anxious seconds, the Pokeball finally calmed.

You caught Marowak! Check the OOC thread for details on your new Pokemon!

 

[Underoos]

Damian was actually sort of surprised by the beauty that the mountains held, despite the fact that the one before him looked gigantic and impossible to get through. Damian glanced down at Charmeleon who looked back up at him, blinking slowly. Damian offered his Pokemon a small smile of reassurance. He felt sort of better that he had two Pokemon that could handle rugged mountains by his side, but still Damian was unsure about the whole thing. As he looked up at the large rock, Damian wondered what sort of Pokemon thrived there and if they would try to eat him as well. A tiny smile appeared on his face as he thought of the joke, but then he cleared his throat and looked back down at his fire type. Charmeleon looked over to Damian curiously.

"I suppose we'll have to pass this to get wherever we need to go," Damian stated, nodding towards the mountain. Charmeleon grunted and nodded in agreement. "Ready to go?"

Charmeleon nodded, saying a proud, "Char!" Then they were off.

Truthfully the mountain wasn't as scary nor as bad as it first appeared. Damian had expected it to be near impossible to climb, but it didn't seem to be. Charmeleon was sort of helping out though, easily clearing the way of fallen boulders and occasionally helping Damian find a foothold if he had to scale the wall. However, Damian had thought too soon. He reached the edge of a cliff, only to find that there was no way across. The wall was a sheer drop, and the gap was much too wide for him to jump. Damian frowned, looking at it. Was this where his journey ended? How was he supposed to get anywhere, if he couldn't even get past a ledge?

"Char!" Charmeleon stated, nudging Damian's leg.

"Huh?" Damian questioned, looking down at his Pokemon. Charmeleon pointed a few feet to Damian's right, making Damian turn and look. There was an opening there, and it looked like a tunnel. Damian glanced at Charmeleon, then back to the dark cave ahead. "Do you suppose we go in there?" Damian whispered to Charmeleon, eyeing the cave nervously. He had never been particularly fond of dark places that would stay...well, dark. Charmeleon, however, nodded in affirmative. "Right," Damian grumbled, "of course it is." Damian let out a breath that was more a sigh, and then began towards the dark. Charmeleon jogged ahead, providing Damian with a nice little light. "Thanks," he said with a grin to Charmeleon.

"Char," Charmeleon grumbled, giving Damian a rather happy look.

They continued on in the scarce light for what seemed like hours, but was probably a lot less than that. To Damian, it seemed like every step he took made him fidget more and more, until finally he kept twiddling his thumbs. Charmeleon was choosing to ignore how Damian was acting, because he seemed to figure that Damian didn't like his weaknesses exposed. Charmeleon, quite unlike his trainer, seemed to be perfectly fine with the dark. Damian noticed this and mused on it for a bit (if only to distract his mind) but then finally figured it was probably because Charmeleon was a mountain Pokemon. Or, that's what Damian thought he was, at least.

"Do you think we'll be out soon?" Damian said, more wondering aloud than anything. He saw Charmeleon shrug briefly. Damian sighed and stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jeans to stop his fidgeting, and simply continued walking with his Pokemon in silence. He then began to look at the interesting ceiling, and wasn't really taking too much care of his step. Soon, Damian tripped over some odd pointy rock, slamming into the ground with a harsh thud. Damian groaned and winced as his already tender body was tossed around once more. "Such a great day," he grunted, pushing up from the ground.

Charmeleon had stopped and turned around, yawning in a little bit of boredom. Damian quickly brushed the dirt off his jeans and was about to say something to Charmeleon when he saw that his Pokemon had froze, staring at something behind Damian. Damian's eyebrow rose, and he was just about to turn around when he felt the ground tremble. Damian swallowed harshly, and was almost unsurprised when the ground broke and there was a loud roar that filled the cave as an Onix broke through the surface, eyes glinting from Charmeleon's light. It looked positively enraged at being stepped on, but possibly more enraged because it seemed to have been woken from its nap. Damian groaned and then cursed softly under his breath. He just got all the luck.

"Alright then," Damian grumbled, "it seems like you're not going to be nice either." Damian grabbed Nidorino's Pokeball along with Charmeleon's, just because this Onix didn't look like something that would go down easy. "Nidorino, use double kick!" Damian called, tossing Nidorino's Pokeball. He could only hope Nidorino would listen. "Now, Charmeleon, attack with metal claw!"

Charmeleon let out a fierce roar as it charged towards the large Onix. His claws lengthened and sharpened, turning metallic. Nidorino appeared in a burst of white light just inches from Onix, and wasted no time in launching his attack. Damian felt a grin appear on his face as he realized Nidorino seemed to finally accept him. Nidorino's feet slammed into the large Onix's body, first once and then a second time. The Onix roared in pain and winced, but with a flick of its tail it knocked Nidorino away, sending him crashing into the wall. Damian's eyes widened, and he was about to call Charmeleon back but it was too late. Charmeleon managed to scrape Onix with his claws, just seconds before the wild Pokemon's tail lashed out once more and flung Charmeleon away.

"You guys alright?" Damian called, attempting to keep an eye on both the Onix and his Pokemon. He heard two growls of affirmative. "Good. Alright, Charmeleon distract that Onix with fire spin! Nidorino, when you have an opening go in and use double kick once more!" Damian called, figuring that Onix would just keep flicking them away with its tail if he didn't come up with a form of strategy.

Charmeleon paused for a moment, his tail flame grew, and then seconds later a burst of flame spouted out of his mouth and spiraled towards the Onix. Onix roared, turning away from the flames and shutting its eyes against the heat. Nidorino saw an opportunity and took it, charging in and slamming into Onix with his feet once more. The Onix roared, something that echoed throughout the entire cave and made Damian wince from the sheer loudness of it. Nidorino grunted and then slammed into Onix multiple times with his horn; a fury attack. Charmeleon finally cut off the fire, and soon it closed in on Onix. Nidorino leaped out of the way just in time, but the Onix was quickly scalded by the heat. It growled lowly, and once the fire had died down it glared at Nidorino and Charmeleon with sheer rage.

"Watch out guys, I don't think it's happy!" Damian said, putting his Pokemon on the alert. Nidorino and Charmeleon were both standing in battle stances, tense and ready to move if need be. "Charmeleon, try to hold off Onix with ember! Nidorino, stay back until you have an opening and then use mega kick!"

Charmeleon let out a stream of fire that burned much brighter than when he was a Charmander. Nidorino, however, just cautiously stood in the same place and eyed Onix. The large Pokemon wasn't attacking, and it seemed like Damian wasn't the only one who found that odd. Charmeleon took a step forward, shortening the distance and making the fire burn brighter. Suddenly, something must have set the Onix off. It roared something horrible, and slammed its tail into the side of the cave. Damian felt the ground begin to ripple once more, and looked up just in time to see rocks begin to fall off the ceiling. His eyes widened.

"Charmeleon, Nidorino, watch it!" he screamed over the horrible roaring and shaking.

It was too late for Charmeleon, because there was no way for him to escape. Damian clenched his teeth as the boulders feel, ready to be horrified when they hit Charmeleon and knocked it down. Nidorino, however, seemed to have different plans. It growled and charged towards Charmeleon, slamming it out of the way and taking the attack. Damian was in disbelief. He couldn't fathom the fact that the Pokemon who had formerly wanted to disobey him had just knocked Charmeleon out of the way of a horrendous attack. Charmeleon glanced over his shoulder, looking rather surprised himself, at the pile of boulders. Charmeleon ran to them, and began to crush them with his slash attack. The Onix growled lowly, reminding them all that it was still there and ready to keep going.

"Charmeleon, watch it!" Damian called sharply, seeing Onix move from the corner of his eye.

Charmeleon had just enough time to dodge the sharp slam of Onix's tail, though this time it was different. The tail was glowing silver; iron tail. Damian let out a breath, glad to see that his Pokemon hadn't been caught in the harsh attack. Too bad for Damian, however, his relief was soon to be in vain. Moments later Onix's tail lashed out again, only this time it wrapped around Charmeleon and began to squeeze him. Charmeleon let out a growl of pain, grimacing as the attack hurt him more and more.

"Charmeleon..." Damian faltered, wondering what to do. "Use ember!" he called.

Charmeleon shot out a small puff of fire, and this made Damian feel horrible. Charmeleon wasn't going to be able to do much, but Onix was already almost done for. It was covered in burn marks and was panting, but somehow it wouldn't go down. Damian was so caught up in that he had forgotten all about Nidorino, at least until the purple Pokemon pushed through the rocks with a harsh mega kick and growled something terrible. Both Onix and Damian looked over at Nidorino quickly, though the Onix looked with a more murderous expression on its countenance. Damian cursed once more.

"Get out of the way, Nidorino!" Damian ordered. "Otherwise it'll get you as well!"

Nidorino glanced at Damian, giving him a look that was clearly telling him to shut up. Nidorino grunted and then charged. Onix roared and released Charmeleon, making the fire type crash into the floor in a heap. Nidorino dodged Charmeleon's aching form, and then dodged an iron tail attack. Just when Damian thought Nidorino was about to get hit and go down, it dodged again and whipped around. Nidorino slammed his feet into the Onix once more, clearly deciding that this battle was over. And, just for good measure, Nidorino finished by slamming into Onix's chest (or what Damian assumed was the Pokemon's chest) with a headbutt. Seconds later, the Onix was down for the count. Damian licked his parched lips slowly, and looked at Charmeleon.

"Why do you always take the brunt of lots of stuff?" Damian muttered under his breath, jogging over to his injured Pokemon. Charmeleon sat up slowly and rubbed his head. "Are you alright, Charmeleon?" By this time, Nidorino had trotted over as well and was eyeing Charmeleon with slight curiosity.

"Char," Charmeleon grunted, pushing up from the ground. "Charmeleon."

Damian grinned slightly, feeling relieved. He then looked down at Nidorino. "You did great, thanks a lot," Damian commented. He then grabbed Nidorino's Pokeball once more and recalled the Pokemon. In a flash of red light, Nidorino had disappeared. Damian looked at Charmeleon. "You're still my light, if you don't mind."

"Char," Charmeleon said with a grin. The pair continued on into the cave, having overcome their first obstacle of the tunnel.

 

[Royal]

Frostbite:

Spoiler:

Great job! You may continue!

 

[Lostworld]

OOC: I managed to do something! Royal, I don't think I'll be dropping out. I'll try to post as frequently as I can.

Gritting her teeth, Luna watched with slight disappointment as the Pokeball opened back up again, the Butterfree emerging with a serene gracefulness. She caught the Pokeball, glad to see that it wasn't broken just yet. Annoyed as she was, she had to admit the battle between Butterfree and Mudkip had been quite short.

Putting that in the back of her mind, she tried again. The Butterfree wouldn't have full strength at least, which gave the pair some sort of advantage.

"Mudkip, try a water gun!"

Mudkip quickly readied herself for the attack, building the jet of water that was soon to come. She wasn't quick enough though, the Butterfree diving towards the water Pokemon, colliding with Mudkip's fin, unbalancing the small Pokemon.

"Mudkip!" She called out in fury before gaining her balance and releasing a jet of water, aiming straight for the Butterfree's abdomen. The Butterfree was blasted back a little, though it continued to flap it's wings furiously, maintaining it's position in the air.

"Now Mudkip, use Mud shot," Luna instructed, trying to think of some sort of strategy that would bring the Butterfree down. Everything she'd tried before hand didn't really count as strategy to her, which she believed now was why the Butterfree had escaped from the Pokeball. Strategy would be something Mudkip and herself would have to work on. Was strategy really the key player in battles though?

Mud shot like bullets from Mudkip, who aimed nearly all of her shots with precise accuracy. It was enough to see the Butterfree start getting tired again.

Before Luna could realise what the Butterfree was doing, she cried out loud. Flapping it's wings again furiously, a soft powder was dripping from the Butterfree.
Alarmed, Mudkip ran towards Luna, finally realising what it was. Neither of the pair wanted to fall asleep at this moment, time was precious with the way the world was at the moment.

Thinking on her feet, Luna thought of something.

"Mudkip, use water gun, maybe it'll deter the sleep powder!"

With her hands over to her mouth to stop her breathing in the powder, Luna watched as Mudkip did as she instructed, hurtling water at the Butterfree. It did as Luna had hoped - drenching the Butterfree stopped it from putting them both to sleep as the Butterfree was caught off guard.

"Now try water gun using short, controlled bursts," Luna said, gritting her teeth even more.

Mudkip again, did as was asked of her, shooting the Butterfree as she did with her previous Mud shot attack. Most of her water bullets hit the Butterfree, knocking it back as she kept firing.

Calling to Mudkip to stop, Luna could see Mudkip was getting tired. It took a lot of strength out of the small Pokemon to continue this constant firing of water and mud.

"Mudkip, I know your tired but you gotta keep going. Take down!"

Mudkip only nodded, wanting very much to beat this wild Pokemon, not only for Luna but for herself. As a young Mudkip, she wanted to prove her worth and make someone proud of her. Mudkip turned and ran, finding a good place to start her build up. Before she knew it, she was racing towards Butterfree, who looked like it was readying to tackle again, kicking up dirt behind her. She dove into the air, turning her body slightly so that her side came into contact with the Butterfree's head, rather than risking denting her fin. Slamming into the Butterfree, both Pokemon dropped to the ground. Mudkip was as dazed as the Butterfree, her side starting to feel quite sore. That Butterfree was more solid that it looked.

Whilst still lying on the ground, feeling only half conscious, Mudkip heard Luna throw a Pokeball. The Butterfree who had collapsed next to her disappeared once more into the Pokeball.

"Please let it stay," Luna whispered quietly to herself. As she waited for the Butterfree to decide it's fate, Luna raced over to where Mudkip lay, kneeling to pick up the water Pokemon gently.

"Great job Mudkip," Luna said, again at a whisper. She only half noticed the Pokeball still rolling from side to side next to her. "It doesn't even matter if the Butterfree doesn't stay in it's ball, you were great,"

"Mudkip..." Mudkip trailed off in a small voice, closing her eyes gently.

Luna stood up, Mudkip falling asleep in her arms, both hurt and tired, as she stared intently at the Pokeball still on the ground.

 

[Royal]

Breezy:

Spoiler:

Congradulations!

You caught Butterfree! Details are in the OOC thread.

 

[Lostworld]

It had been many hours since Luna and the tired Mudkip had left the clearing where they'd battled the Butterfree. The ball had finally stopped rolling from side to side, dinging quietly to indicate Butterfree had given in.

Though the path they'd been following had turned mountainous and the sun had hidden itself behind the clouds for the majority of the climb, Luna couldn't wipe the smile of her face. She'd finally caught her very first Pokemon, particularly because of Mudkip's quick thinking, she kept reminding herself, hoping that Mudkip was having a good rest in her Pokeball.

As she walked, taking care to watch her footing amongst the rocky ground, Luna pulled out Butterfree's Pokeball. It was brimming with a slight warmth, unlike Mudkip's Pokeball which felt quite cold. Luna could have sworn it was slimy but that could have just been her hands sweating.

As she stared at Butterfree's Pokeball, she finally found the courage to press the white button, aiming the beam of blue light in the air. Butterfree quickly materialised, delicate wings flapping as the Butterfree stabled itself in the air.

"Hi Butterfree," Luna had decided a bold approach would be better to portray after the Pokemon had seen her indecisivness when she had battled against it.

"Free, free,"

Luna instantly took a liking to Butterfree's gentle voice, quiet in the open air. She knew the situation was slightly awkward but atleast Butterfree hadn't tried to run away. Butterfree would never do that though. Sure, he was a freshly caught wild Pokemon but the battle Butterfree had been part of earlier had changed Butterfree's view. This trainer, the only trainer Butterfree had ever encountered, seemed to have something. Whatever it was, Butterfree knew, in the end, he'd try hard and battle hard for his new trainer.

"I'm sorry if we hurt you before," Luna said, motioning to Butterfree to follow her as they made their way towards the looming tunnel entering the side of the mountain. "That was my first battle, I wasn't sure how far to take it,"

Butterfree nodded and Luna smiled back. The mutual understanding formed between the two grew in strength as they walked, or in Butterfree's case, flew up to the tunnel. Along the way, Luna watched with curiousity as Butterfree landed on many branches for a couple of seconds, drinking nectar or nibbling at fruit. On one occasion he managed to pull off what looked like an Oran berry, offering it to Luna, who gladly accepted.

"Butterfree, you don't mind keeping me company through the tunnel, right?" She asked, slightly hesitant. Luna hoped Butterfree wasn't afraid of the dark. "I want to give Mudkip a little longer to rest and it'd be good if we could get through this before the sun goes down," Absentmindedly checking the sky, it looked as if they had a good couple of hours of daylight left. Not that that would matter once inside the mountain. Butterfree only nodded in reply, fluttering over to rest on Luna's shoulder.

After scrambling over rocks and Butterfree flying ahead to see where exactly the entrance was, Luna and Butterfree finally made it. It was there they stopped for a break. Luna let Mudkip out to see how she was feeling and to introduce her properly to Butterfree. Mudkip seemed to be feeling a bit better, as was Butterfree from the variety of berries he'd eaten along the way. Butterfree managed to find some more Oran berries for Mudkip to eat whilst Luna snacked on dried fruit and a museli bar. She happily shared her peanuts with Mudkip and Butterfree, who chattered together for the time they rested, obviously both liking the salt.
It was not long before Luna, Butterfree and Mudkip found themselves inside the rather dark tunnel. They had to mostly feel their way through. Luna held Mudkip in arms, who could see even less than she could whilst Butterfree perched on her shoulder, able to see better than both of them.

Tripping was a problem, for there were so many rocks and the ground the terribly uneven. Her right ankle was starting to hurt, she just hoped it wasn't twisted. Luna longed for the open air, though she knew this was the only the forward.

The threesome soon encountered what seemed to be a water reserve, indicating to Luna they'd come quite far into the mountain. Mudkip found the courage to leave the group for a while and enjoy the small pool of water that had accumalated in the cavern. Though she was glad Mudkip was enjoying splashing around in the water, she couldn't help wish that she had been given a fire type, then at least they could have a little more light than what was already in the cavern. She was also worried about her ankle, eager to inspect it in the light. Feeling around, Luna's hand came into contact with a solid, rocky surface, smooth and cold to the touch. Luna leant against it, trying to make out more shapes in the dark. She wasn't that afraid of the dark, just not knowing what was out there was kind of creepy.

All of a sudden, there was movement. The rocky surface Luna had been leaning against had moved. She was thrown foward, hurting her ankle even more whilst Butterfree was knocked from her shoulder. He was lucky to gain his balance back in the air quickly. As Luna tried to gain focus on what had happened, which she fear was an earthquake, she felt Mudkip jump to her side as she sat helpless on the rocky floor.

A loud rumble filled the small cavern as it echoed around. Flapping wings caught her off guard as she saw a colony of Zubat zoom out of the cavern at a high speed. If they were getting out of here, they should too.

Scrambling to get up, Luna made sure she had her backpack before calling into the darkness to her Pokemon.

"Butterfree, Mudkip, we gotta-" Luna was cut off by another loud rumble, this time sounding more like a call.

Luna, attempting to find a way out of the cavern, glimpsed to white eyes in the dark. Whatever she had been leaning against was no mere rock. Luna bent to scoop up Mudkip in her arms and called to Butterfree to follow before she turned to escape in a direction she thought was out. She must have been right though, for the path she had taken started to travel upwards and the dark seemed be retreating.

Whatever had called out in the darkness, whatever Luna had leant against, it had ceased to follow them. Luna was relieved, as was Mudkip and Butterfree. Despite Butterfree being able to see somewhat well in the darkness, even he didn't know what had made that deafening sound.

"Maybe it was some kind of Pokemon?" Luna suggested as the stopped briefly, panting as she stared at her ankle, which seemed slightly worse. It couldn't be that
bad though, she could still walk on it, right?

"I think we should get out of here now, I'm starting to find I'm afraid of the dark again,"

Mudkip and Butterfree both agreed. They followed the somewhat directional path, Luna's hands trailing against the wall to make sure the followed the trail. It was not long, as light began to filter through the darkness, that they encountered another disturbance.

Luna had not noticed how the dirt beneath her feet had turned from a rocky surface to a sandy texture, crumbling off the walls as well. It was out of a large pile of sand off to one side of the path that Mudkip happened to trot through, enjoying the feel of the sand, that a dark orange Pokemon somewhat larger than Mudkip popped out, teeth beared in an overly friendly smile. Luna got a rather large fright, her deafening scream echoing throughout the tunnel. Butterfree, out of fright, aimed a perfectly executed stun spore at the attacker, who unfortunately got most of the attack. It started to writh in pain amongst the sand, attempting to bury itself again but failed to do so, paralyzed on the spot. Mudkip's reaction was solemn, not even realising she had disturbed the peace in the tunnel.

"What is that?" Luna questioned after getting over her sudden fright, kneeling down to peer at the Pokemon who couldn't move. It's dark orange leg twitched
every now and then, a small moan of pain coming from it's open mouth.

"Mudkip, Mudkip, Mud," Mudkip seemed to be stating, attempting to sound knowledgable but failed since Luna could not understand her.

The dark orange Pokemon then managed to roll over, standing on all fours though it was still somewhat paralyzed.

"Trapinch!" It yelled, seeming quite furious due to Butterfree's actions.

"Sorry for hurting you, uh.." Luna reached into the pocket of her denim jeans, pulling out a slightly squashed berry of some description. "Try this, it might help,"
The unknown Pokemon took the berry with caution, eyeing all three of the faces peering at it. It did eat the berry very fast though, Luna noticed, despite being paralyzed and cautious of them.

"Must love food little guy?" Luna said, reaching forward to attempt to scratch the Pokemon on it's head. He had somewhat scaley skin. It allowed Luna to scratch his head for a couple of seconds before decided against it, clamping his teeth down on her hand. Luna, her face turning red, stiffled another scream, biting her own lip as she tried to free her hand.

Mudkip and Butterfree seemed equally unimpressed by this action. Mudkip opened her mouth, shooting the Pokemon in the face with a water gun whilst Butterfree dove at the Pokemon, repeatedly tackling the Pokemon in the head. Despite these actions, the Pokemon would not let go of her hand. Luna looked at Mudkip and Butterfree, telling them to stop attacking. She decided to try a different approach, the Pokemon seemed to be getting droopy though his jaw was firmly clamped over her fingers.

"Hey little guy, if you let go of my hand I can give you some food," She tempted, watching as the Pokemon infront of her still twitched slightly from the paralysis.
It took a while for the Pokemon to decide but it did finally let go of Luna's hand, which had turned a funny shade of purple and blue. It hurt slightly as the blood rushed back into her hand, the bite mark clearly visible above her fingers. Luna was true to her word though, as the dark orange Pokemon found out, for it was soon chomping happily on a broken up museli bar, the rest of the berries Butterfree had collected and to their disappointment, the salty peanuts.

"We'd better get going now," Luna finally said, the Pokemon starting on the peanuts now. It stopped abruptly, looking expectantly at Luna. "I bet it'll be getting dark now."

The light had stopped breaking the darkness in the tunnel by now. Luna retrieved her backpack as Butterfree came to land on her shoulder once more. As they turned to leave, feeling anxious to be out in the open once more, Luna felt a tug on her shoe. She looked down to find the Pokemon had grabbed onto her shoelace, it's eyes slightly watery, if that was possible.

"Go and eat your berries now," Luna said in a hushed tone before she ventured off once more, leaving the unknown Pokemon all alone once more.

Luna couldn't help feeling slightly sorry for the little Pokemon, all alone in the tunnel. As they neared the exit of the tunnel, Luna thought she'd heard it crying but realised her ears must have deceived her. She had bitterly hoped the little guy would tag along behind them, for even though it had nearly bitten her fingers off, she'd taken an instant liking to it.

Oh well, she thought, too late now. Right now, Luna had to concentrate on making it out of the tunnel with Butterfree and Mudkip and then find a place to camp for the night. She couldn't possibly take on another Pokemon, not so soon after she'd just caught Butterfree, right?

 

[Royal]

Breezy:

Spoiler:

Good post. I like your character's personality very much and how she cared for Trapinch.
Try this in your next post: You here a sound behind you and you do realize it's the Trapinch's crying and that it's following you. Try to catch it.

 

[Underoos]

The next part of the tunnel wasn't as bad as the first, in Damian's opinion. He was now used to the occasional cry or grunt of something (most likely a Pokemon) in the dark, causing him to flinch and react less. Charmeleon was also sticking a bit closer to his side, providing him with a nice light that made the shadows less threatening. Damian just wasn't a huge fan of the dark, especially when there were Pokemon around that could act like the bogeyman and grab him. Damian quickly shoved these thoughts out of his mind, however, because he figured that scaring himself would do no good.

"Charmeleon," Damian began, deciding that a little conversation would be nice, "how long do you think this tunnel is? I mean, what if we get to the end and it's like...a dead end."

"Char, Charmeleon," Charmeleon growled, lifting a hand and showing Damian his claws. Damian laughed softly. Of course smashing through the obstacle would be Charmeleon's solution. Damian opened his mouth to reply, when suddenly there was a growl only a few feet off to his left.

Damian glanced over, not as afraid as with the Onix. Though he did want to squeal when he saw a large Rhyhorn standing there, pawing at the ground and growling. Damian saw something move in the dark, and narrowed his eyes to see what it was. It was a baby Rhyhorn, and it didn't look to be very old considering its small size compared to the mother. There was a second Rhyhorn there, making Damian think that the mother had just hatched two babies. Damian swallowed harshly, taking a step back and raising his hands and showing the large Pokemon his empty palms. The Rhyhorn grunted, nodding its horn sharply in Damian's direction.

"Don't you worry, Rhyhorn," Damian said softly so as not to anger the Pokemon. "I'm going to slip on out of here. I don't mean to cause any trouble."

The Rhyhorn grunted in reply, but stayed where she was. Damian swallowed harshly. This was the first Pokemon he'd met so far that hadn't automatically roared and charged him right away. Damian thought it was a bit odd, considering the Rhyhorn was a mother, but decided that it would be best to leave than simply think about it. So, as Damian and Charmeleon edged away, the final bit of the mother Rhyhorn Damian saw was her large horn glinting in the light of Charmeleon's tail flame. Once they were out of range, Damian visibly relaxed and lowered his hands, slumping slightly and letting out a huge breath he'd been holding. Damian glanced down at Charmeleon, to see that his fire type didn't look any worse for the wear.

"I hate how I'm always freaking out and you're always composed," Damian grumbled. Charmeleon gave him something akin to a grin, and then glanced ahead. "Yeah," Damian agreed, looking in that same direction. "We'd best be leaving now."

They had been walking for what Damian considered a shortish time, when suddenly there was a grunt and a whimper from behind them. Damian whipped around. Sure, he'd heard Pokemon growling and stuff, but he'd never heard one of them whimper like that. There seemed to be a guffaw from something behind him as well, and then there was a harsh thud. The sharp clang it made somehow made Damian cringe. He looked at Charmeleon, and then took off back in the direction that they had came. It didn't take very long, but soon Damian saw one of the baby Rhyhorn getting pelted by three Geodude. Damian glared at the Geodude and glanced at Charmeleon, who didn't look too happy about the scene either.

"Charmeleon, metal claw!" Damian commanded, pointing to the Geodude. As Charmeleon was going in for the attack, Damian grabbed Nidorino's Pokeball as well. "Nidorino, use double kick to get those other two Geodude off that Rhyhorn!" Damian commanded, tossing the ball lightly. In a flash, Nidorino appeared.

Charmeleon's claws sliced into the Geodude, who roared in pain and then shot Charmeleon a death glare. Nidorino quickly slammed into the other two with his feet, knocking them into the first Geodude and away from the poor baby Rhyhorn. Damian glared at the Geodude, basically challenging them with his eyes to attack again. Which, of course, the Geodude decided would be a good idea. Charmeleon and Nidorino got ready to evade, when suddenly the Geodude all whipped into balls and shot towards them at a quick speed. Charmeleon growled, claws sharpening and turning metallic. Nidorino lowered his head and charged at the single Geodude that was attacking him, ready to knock it away and make sure it stayed that way.

Suddenly the Geodude slipped out of their rollout attack, fists glowing a bright white. Charmeleon blinked, clearly surprised at the change, and didn't have a moment to react before the fist slammed into his jaw and sent him careening backwards. Nidorino, however, managed to fend off one of the Geodude with a mega kick, but the other Geodude slammed him in the side. Damian growled a curse under his breath, seeing that his Pokemon were a little outnumbered. In the end, he figured that it wouldn't matter. Damian was ready to cream those Geodude for what they had done.

"You guys alright?" Damian questioned, looking at his Pokemon. They grunted and shook themselves. Damian opened his mouth, about to order another attack, when suddenly the Rhyhorn squealed and skidded aside as two Geodude hammered it with mega punches. Damian gnashed his teeth together, glaring again at the Geodude. "Nidorino, knock them away!" he screamed, pointing at the two offending Geodude. "Charmeleon, hold them with a fire spin!"

Nidorino growled sharply and charged straight into the two Geodude who were about to hit Rhyhorn again. He slammed them away with a head butt attack, causing the Geodude to hit each other as they were thrown aside. Charmeleon, on the other hand, had shot out a stream of spiraling flames that quickly swirled around the three Geodude and contained them. Damian glanced at the Rhyhorn, unsurprised to see it whimpering and flinching away from the attack. He glanced at the battle, and then jogged over to the Rhyhorn. It winced away from him, lowering its gaze and whimpering. Damian held out and hand to the Pokemon. It sniffed and glanced away. Damian pressed the palm of his hand to the Rhyhorn's head, and leaned against it in an attempt to calm it down.

"Charmeleon, make them pay for this," Damian growled lowly. "Use metal claw to finish them off! Nidorino, you use mega kick!" Damian felt the Rhyhorn tremble beneath him, and carefully patted the Pokemon's side.

Charmeleon growled, cutting off the fire. There was still a large ring that remained, containing the Geodude. Seconds later, before the fire could even begin to diminish, Charmeleon slammed his claws into two Geodude, making them shriek with pain. Damian watched the Geodude cower away from Charmeleon, closer to the back of the flames. Nidorino leaped into the ring as well, stalking closer and closer to the other Geodude. It shuddered and then made a mad dash for the flames, but Nidorino got there first. He slammed his clawed foot into the Geodude, knocking it completely out of the fire and slamming it into the wall. The Geodude twitched and attempted to get up, but it didn't seem likely. The other two skittered over there and grabbed their friend, carrying it away from the battle scene.

Damian relaxed against the Rhyhorn, feeling the trembles lessen. "You should go back to your mother, Rhyhorn," Damian ordered, straightening up and looking at the metallic Pokemon. The baby whimpered and scooted closer to him, nudging his leg and almost causing Damian to fall over. "No, no," Damian said, pushing the great head away. "Go to your mother." He pointed down the cave. The Rhyhorn looked, and Damian took the opportunity to run. He quickly recalled Nidorino. Charmeleon charged after him, glancing over his shoulder to find the Rhyhorn not noticing them getting away. Moments later, Damian heard a squeal that could only be Rhyhorn's from the cave, and then he heard thudding footsteps. Damian cursed. It didn't look like Rhyhorn was going to leave them alone.