Here's chapter four. Thank you LeTantris for reviewing last chapter!
Chapter Four: Battle
"Well?" Hailey asked. "What do you think?"
Taylor looked over the starters. Fennekin barked, tail wagging; Froakie looked half-asleep; Chespin seemed almost bashful. He rested a hand on the head of the small grass type. "This one doesn't seem so bad."
"Oh, that one! He's wonderful, and so sweet. His stats are pretty good, and-"
"He's a she."
Hailey stopped, blinking several moments as if she didn't realize what was going on. "Oh."
Taylor sighed, rolling his eyes. "What will we do with her, Eve?"
"You named her already?"
"Of course." He picked up the chespin and extended a hand. "I'll need her pokeball. Then I'll be on my way."
"Can't you look at some things for Mega Evolution?"
"I don't have the time." Seeing her pout, he sighed and added, "But if I learn anything while I'm traveling, I'll let you know."
"Great!" She handed him Eve's pokeball. "Good luck."
"Thanks." As he left, he couldn't help adding the afterthought, I may need it.
Eris hardly had time to yelp in surprise. The absol was nearly on her when Honedge lifted to block the attack. Like before, the dark pokemon was forced back.
Eris recovered her bearings as it landed. Is it the same one as before?
Absol growled, its horn glowing purple.
"Skree!"
In a flurry of wings Eon appeared before them, hissing and spitting. His tail whipped back, nearly hitting Eris across the cheek. She stumbled backwards, Honedge flailing while she tried to regain her balance. She stared, incredulous. Eon hissed, his neck lowered and his wings fanned out, shaking. Absol crept to one side, then lunged. Eon's wing swept down; Absol dodged it, swiping its horn towards the noivern's leg. Eon screeched and lifted it, his tail shooting between his legs towards Absol. The dark pokemon parried the attack, then bit, tugging. Eon beat his wings, lifting into the air, bringing Absol with him. The disaster pokemon let go, but Eon caught it in a claw.
Sparks danced around the absol's horn. "Abbb-sol!" Electricity sprang from Absol's horn and coated Eon. The noivern released a horrendous screech, the streaks of blue lightning casting him in harsh light and shadows. He tumbled to the ground, releasing Absol from his claws.
The dark pokemon landed easily on its feet, while the dragon remained collapsed on the ground.
Eris tried to regain her focus. She'd watched pokemon battles on television, but this was different; she knew, instinctively, this wasn't for sport. Each move would be for keeps.
But Absol was looking her way again. She took a step backwards, wondering how she could possibly win.
"Hone!"
Honedge tugged her arm and nudged her hand, looking at her with that strange blue eye. "Fight with you?"
"Hone."
While she still suspected the sword pokemon, at Absol's charge, she realized at the moment she didn't have much choice. Her hand wrapped around Honedge's hilt, the other removing the scabbard.
Honedge aided her in parrying Absol's blow. This time the attack didn't send their opponent flying backwards; instead it pressed forward, horn slashing feverishly. Eris, with Honedge's aid, parried the strikes in a flailing sort of fashion. Absol barked, sounding frustrated, and ducked as Eris slashed Honedge in a horizontal swipe. The dark pokemon sprang up, burying its head in Eris's stomach. She gasped and flew backwards, landing roughly on her bottom.
Suddenly Absol was above her, sunlight glinting off its horn, claws stretched out. She yelped, swiping Honedge up on reflex.
A black-and-purple blur flashed above her, knocking Absol away. She rolled over, stunned, and watched as Eon pinned Absol to the ground. The dark pokemon flailed beneath the dragon's claws, hissing and barking. Eon made no sound, instead gathering energy for a hyper beam between his jaws. Absol abruptly appeared alarmed. Lightning sparked from its horn and, almost simultaneously, wind began to form around it. Eris's eyes widened. Its combining thunder with razor wind?
Absol's attacks released at the same time as Eon's hyper beam. The shards of wind dispersed large portions of the beam of energy, the lightning wreathing around Eon. The hyper beam still caused an explosion, forcing the two apart. Absol skidded across the ground, but after a moment stood, smoke billowing off its horn. Eon remained crumpled where he was.
Eris shook herself. Alright, focus! You know something about pokemon. Be useful! "What attacks do you know?" she questioned Honedge.
It looked up at her.
"Then I guess I'll wing it." She tried not to panic when she saw Absol preparing another razor wind. She hid behind a tree; a moment later wind exploded around her, ripping the bark off her shield and howling across Santalune Forest. Even in the safety of her hiding place she could feel the force of the gale.
Eris took a moment to collect herself as the wind began to die down. Then she counted to three and spun out. "Swords dance!"
Honedge acknowledged by spinning sharply, forcing her to follow, its blade glowing. By a chance of fate, the action had managed to parry the absol. The dark pokemon now stood with its legs braced apart, gathering lightning. "Shit!"
The lightning flew. Eris tried to block. Thunder hit both her and Honedge. She cried out in pain, feeling as if her blood had suddenly been set on fire, Honedge's metal screech coinciding with hers.
Her arm burned. Her head ached. Suddenly she saw red and black. The pain didn't disappear, but she was able to ignore it.
Absol looked shocked. For a moment, she thought she heard it speak - No! How? - but dismissed it. Instead she gripped Honedge with both hands, bringing it up over her head and down again with a war cry. Absol's scythe swept to parry.
The collision created a flurry of wind. Eris's hair whipped across her face, distorting her red-black vision. Absol growled, its fur rippling, then with a cry of fury pushed forward.
Suddenly Eris found herself on the ground, exhausted. Absol appeared above her; her vision flickered between natural colors and the distorted ones. Absol's lips moved, and she swore it - he - spoke. "You've surprised me. But you're still too inexperienced." He lifted his blade.
"Back off, mutt!"
A blast of energy collided with the disaster pokemon's body, sending him flying. Eon appeared above Eris, positioning himself so that he was guarding her. "Why did I get stuck with this job? Of course I end up fighting a frigging absol."
Eris found her eyelids were growing heavy. Slowly she allowed them to close.
Absol eyed the noivern and his charge with new caution. If Yveltal has really gone so far as to Mark her, then this is bad. He wouldn't charge again; not just yet. "Why did your master Mark her?"
The noivern snorted and tilted his head. "Like I'd know. And if I did, the last pokemon I'd tell would be you."
Absol lowered his head and bared his scythe. "Do you realize what that means? Do you know how long it's been since anyone - or anything - has been Marked?"
The noivern shrugged. "Eh. What's the big deal? The kid's near useless. And annoying."
"The big deal," Absol ground out, "is that Marking grants the Marked with a portion of the original's power. It's something that I believed to be lost to time. And now I find out a being of destruction had that ability and used it?"
The noivern heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Look, mutt, the master has his reasons for doing things. I don't expect you to understand them." He glanced at the human. "And for the record, if the master didn't need her, I'd just let you kill her."
Need her? Absol didn't pose the question, instead staring at the girl with a new curiosity. To him, it seemed she was as normal as any other human he'd seen. So why? It stood to reason that perhaps Yveltal simply needed a human, or even any living creature, and this one ended up the recipient.
But he didn't dare attack. Regardless of skill, being Marked would make her dangerous, more-so perhaps because she hadn't figured out how to use the ability yet. And there was something peculiar about the fact that Yveltal would be willing to do such a thing.
He dipped his head and backed away, deciding to wait and see how things played out. I'll take action once I've had a chance to better assess the situation.
"..ge."
Eris stirred. "I'll get up soon."
"…ne…dge."
She rolled over, draping a hand across her eyes.
"Skreeeiiiii!"
The screech in her ear had her jumping into the air. "Wai-what?" She whipped around and found herself staring into the face of a noivern. She yelped and fell backwards, trying to steady her pounding heart. "Eon?"
Eon growled, sitting back. He scratched behind an ear without removing his glare.
Eris sighed. She looked down at Honedge and noticed it still lacked its sheath. The realization made her start. "What about Absol?" She tried to get to her feet, but found her legs unsteady for a moment, and fell to her knees. Absol was nowhere to be seen; Honedge's sheath, however, rested a short distance away. She retrieved it. What was that? She looked at the mark on her arm. The power Yveltal gave to me? But how did-?
She was suddenly aware of the fading sunlight. Her eyes shot to the sky, alarm pulsing through her. "Yveltal said he wanted me back soon."
Eon didn't look at her, but she could tell he was displeased.
Honedge nudged her hand. "Edge."
She looked at the sword pokemon, then around at the vines. "I'll never finish in time. But I guess I have to try." And she realized, also, that she didn't have time to worry about Honedge's motives. "Alright," she whispered to it, "for now, we're partners. I don't know why you're attached to me, but you haven't hurt me yet."
"Hon!"
Eris held Honedge's hilt in both hands. "Swords dance!" Honedge again spun her around, its blade glowing. She moved to the first of the vines, and lifted her arms. She dragged Honedge down. Its glowing blade met some resistance, but was able to hack through the parasitic plant. Eris allowed herself a small grin of satisfaction and continued her work, methodically lifting and lowering Honedge to cut through the vines, watching as they fell to the ground in heaps around the tree. When she'd finished the first she moved to the next. Aware of the fading daylight she ripped at the vines with fury, panting, arms aching, beads of sweat dribbling down her face.
She finished the second tree and leaned against it. Eon glanced at her. "Verr."
"Just…give me a moment." She took a deep breath and stood, moving to the next tree.
She was stopped when Eon blocked her way. "But, I haven't-"
"Scree." He jerked his head up.
Eris followed the direction. The light had nearly bled out of the sky. Her shoulders sagged. "It's time to go?"
Eon answered by lifting into the air with a wince, grasping her shoulders between his claws, and flying back towards Yveltal's mountain.
And there's the end of chapter four. Do you guys want attack names capitalized, or is this fine? Other thoughts on this chapter? Drop a review and let me know!