Here's Team Crush Fang's first mission. What can I say? I like these type of missions. They're very rewarding and fun. What kind of mission is it? Well, read and find out. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: First Collaborative Mission
The next morning, everyone was pleasantly surprised to see the two new recruits that consisted of the shocking duo of a Zangoose and a Seviper. It was when they were about to be introduced to the other apprentices that Razara suddenly came up with a nickname for her more experience Seviper partner. "Venn! I'll call you Venn! It's short for 'venom'."
"Venn the Seviper. It kind of has a nice ring to it. Kind of," Piplup said pleasantly. "Okay, Pokémon, listen up, but I'd rather you listen forward towards me! These are your new guild mates! They are not to be treated any differently that you'd treat your own family unless you don't like your family!"
"Can I be the crazy uncle?" Pidove raised a wing and asked.
"Nope. Thomas is already the crazy uncle," Chimchar denied Pidove the opportunity to call himself the crazy uncle of the guild.
"Why?! He's not an uncle! This is an outrage!" Pidove demanded.
"I have relatives and extended family back home, you know," the Riolu reminded Pidove with a sigh.
"Venn the SSSeviper. I'll have to get usssed to it, but I love it," Seviper hissed pleasantly, his tongue poking and vibrating out of his fanged mouth. Unfortunately, since he was only ever known as Seviper, seldom 'the scarred snake', he didn't think he'd ever get used to it.
"Okay, let's start with the morning cheer," Piplup decided. He adapted his own morning cheer from Wigglytuff's. He felt so unoriginal about it, but those are the philosophies he trained by, and with no prior memories, he didn't have experiences to base his own philosophies on prior to joining the guild.
"ONE! JOBS NOT DONE ARE NOT FUN!" the apprentices cheered.
"They know it by heart. As they should," Thomas said approvingly. "I knew the guild was in capable flippers."
"TWO! DON'T TAKE A SNOOZE! PAY YOUR DUES!" they continued.
"Yep. So what else have you been up to?" Chimchar asked curiously.
"THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!" the apprentices concluded their cheers.
"The usual. School stuff. Ranger duties. Training. I've always loved guild life, so I looked into the kinds of guilds in my world to see what I think," Thomas explained to Chimchar.
"Cool. What? Is that it? No details?" Chimchar asked teasingly.
"Not now. It's not the time," the Riolu muttered.
"Okay, Pokémon! Let's make it a great day! Better than yesterday! Heck, aim for better than an hour ago!" Piplup cheered.
"HOORAY!" the Pokémon cheered.
"Ah, you two," Chimchar hopped over to Razara and Seviper, whose name was now Venn.
"Hi! So, what's up? I'm ready for whatever you throw at me!" Razara boasted. She seemed pumped and raring to go.
"I like your spunk. Alright. You'll do jobs posted on the Job Bulletin and Outlaw Notice Boards," Chimchar informed them with a kind smile. It got him fired up to see the apprentices fired up. The flame on his rear would occasionally double in size due to how excited he got by enthusiastic young explorers (though he was fairly young himself).
"Alright! Come on, Venn!" Razara zoomed over to the Outlaw Notice Board. She called over to the Seviper. "Venn!"
"Oh, right! I'm Venn! I told you it'd take getting usssed to," the Seviper mumbled as he slithered over to the board.
"You don't like the name 'Venn'?" Razara asked, somewhat heartbroken.
"I do, I do! It just hasssn't sssunk in yet. I've been SSSeviper all my life, ssso the name change isss just…sssudden," the Seviper explained.
"You can stay Seviper if that'll be easier for you," Razara told him. "Just tell me how you feel, alright?"
"Al-alright," Seviper stammered. He felt so blessed to have not only a beautiful partner, but an understanding one as well.
"OKAY, EVERYONE! WE DECIDED THAT HE'S STAYING SEVIPER!" Razara announced at the top of her lungs, which mortified him.
"Shh! Let'sss not disturb the others! Here, how about thisss outlaw?" Seviper grabbed a job paper.
Razara read it aloud, "It's titled 'Criminal Mastermind Vespiquen. She hides behind the dwellers of her hive she can make a clean getaway. On her own, she's strong. With her band of Combee thieves, she's ruthless.'"
"Where at?" Seviper asked, felling guilty about 'Venn' falling through so quickly.
"It looks like they were last seen near Foggy Forest," Razara declared as she examined the job. "Vespiquen's got a pretty big bounty. Our share, also known as the explorers' ten percent, comes out to 800 Poké. She must be strong if her actual bounty is 8,000 Poké."
"Foggy Forest would be a good place for outlawsss to hide. The woodsss are thick asss it standsss, but the fog concealsss nearly everything that residesss there," Seviper pointed out. "She'sss a clever bee."
"Not too clever for the great Team Crush Fang!" Razara exclaimed enthusiastically. "Plus, if they try anything, neither of us can get poisoned. You're already a Poison-type and my Ability is Immunity. With your venom and my claws, we'll bring the whole hive in and be done before dinner!"
"Isss thisss your first job?" Seviper asked curiously.
"Officially, yes. My brother would sometimes bring me out with his team just to get training in. They're such nice guys, and so are you. That's why I think it's such a shame that you and my brother have such an awful history," Razara explained.
They went into the dungeon, not saying much until they were hiding in some bushes, spying on Vespiquen and her hive taking inventory on their treasure. Razara asked, "Can't I just zap them? I don't know Thunderbolt for nothing."
"No. We need to strategize. The fog cutsss the effectivenessss of your Thunderbolt and all other Electric-type movesss," Seviper hissed, waiting patiently for the right moment. "Your Thunderbolt could be a great distraction and a good way to break through that defensssive wall of Combee."
"Then, you'll go in for the kill?" the Zangoose asked, hoping for confirmation.
The Seviper seemed to smirk. "Only if you'll be there to back me up."
"You got it," Razara said, licked Seviper's nose. She ran off, and just in time, too. Her tongue felt fantastic on his scaly skin that it sent ecstatic shivers down his spine. He recovered and watched for her.
"Lady Vespiquen, I feel like we're being watched," one of the Combee buzzed.
"Hmm…be on high alert, my child," Vespiquen instructed as she counted the money she had.
"Yes, Lady Vespiquen," the Combee droned. Just then, the sound of thunder reverberated through the forest, along with several shrill cries. There laid several Combee by Razara's feet.
"Who the heck are you? Are you supposed to be an explorer?" Vespiquen demanded.
"Yeah, and I'm going to apprehend you. My name is Zangoose, but you can call me Razara," Razara introduced herself. "I'm representing the Poké Pals Guild. Prepare to lose."
"Even without my Combee, I'm a force to be reckoned with, you naïve little girl!" Vespiquen warned and suddenly disappeared.
"Where'd you go, coward?!" Razara demanded, looking around her. Seviper looked up and his eyes widened. Their target was above her, and she was ready to strike.
"Power Gem!" Vespiquen fired the Rock-type move from above Razara. The Zangoose looked up in surprise. Her eyes widened with fear.
"Razara!" Seviper lunged at her, tackling her and pushing her out of the way of the attack. He took the hit.
"SEVIPER!" Razara cried out as tears fell. "That's it!" She jumped up into the air, adrenaline and anger fueling her. "Take this! Crush Claw!"
"I'll match it with Slash!" Vespiquen announced as she started intercepting Razara's Crush Claw with Slash. They were evenly matched in attack power.
"Is this the extent of your power?" Razara scoffed as she jabbed her claws at the Bug- and Flying-type.
"And what if it is? I can still withstand more hits than you, I'm quite sure," Vespiquen boasted.
"Even so, you'll never knock out my partner with those flimsy attacks!" Razara said and grunted when she was finally able to land a hit.
"Ooh! I'll show you, girl! Power Gem!" Vespiquen was about to blast Razara. The crystal beam was fired, but Seviper was suddenly between them, cutting the attack in half with his blade-like tail. "What?! You?!"
"Your hit wasss sssolid, to sssay the least," Seviper hissed and hit Vespiquen with an extra hard Poison Tail.
"Curse you!" Vespiquen rasped as she went down. Seviper coiled himself around Razara and braced for impact. The impact wasn't very hard. They landed in a tree. Vespiquen was on the ground, struggling to get up. "Heal Order…"
"Oh, no! Razara, you've got to stop her now!" Seviper exclaimed, knowing that a move like Heal Order could only mean bad news for them.
Like lightning, the female Zangoose responded. She lunged out of the tree at Vespiquen. "Iron Tail!" She hit the great bee with her now-steely tail. After landing the hit, her tail reverted to its normal fluffiness, and Vespiquen took advantage of that. She grabbed Razara by her tail and flung her into a tree.
"You want some?!" Vespiquen roared.
"This isss like nothing I've ssseen…" Seviper groaned due to injury. "I need an Oran Berry." He poked his head into the Treasure Bag, desperately looking for one.
"Crush Claw!" Razara yelled as she lunged at Vespiquen, quickly and thoroughly striking her with her claws. Vespiquen was countering with Slash. The attacks when back and forth and they were so quick that their arms were blurs of unbridled fury.
"You can't beat me! How can you and that Seviper work so well anyway?! It defies nature! Of the two of us, how am I the criminal?" Vespiquen demanded.
"Shut up! You could never understand what it means to feel this way! You enjoy only gaining for yourself! You attack the weak and revel in it! You don't know what it means to show love and compassion!" Razara growled with tears in her eyes. "He's shown me more love and compassion in the past few days than you could stomach in a lifetime!" She managed to land a finishing blow to the abdomen. Vespiquen went down without another word. Panting, the Zangoose spat and apprehended the queen bee.
"Hey… Sssorry I wasssn't of much help," Seviper apologized as he slithered up to Razara, rejuvenated.
"Are you kidding? You saved my tail twice in a single battle!" Razara exclaimed cheerfully, happy to see that her companion was alright.