Chapter 8- Escape from Impending Doom

Excadrill is fairly powerful a Pokémon or at least it looks intimidating enough to freak one out. Evelyn knew that and was absolutely petrified for he looked mighty strong and now really wasn't the time to debate about that fact.

The Excadrill lashed out at Evelyn who just flipped behind to dodge it. She saw Julia's tired and frail figure and was determined to help her out of this unintended situation. She kept making illusionary copies of herself to make it feel dizzy, but failed.

"I was an expert at Double Team!" he cursed. Now she was in hot water. How was she going to save either self? What would she tell the others if she made it?

Meanwhile, Starling was feeling tired of all that flying. He was persistently following that trailblazer all day. He then saw the trailblazer abruptly halt and rotate making concentric patterns, each of high intensity. He stopped and stared at it. "Does this thing read my mind?" he wondered. Suddenly, it hit him- it was a trailblazer. Having been made of a psychic and fire gem, it was powerful, and he remembered Evelyn telling him that it would only stop when they do.

Evelyn was not the type of Pokémon who'd stop an expedition so abruptly, but Julia... he gasped. She could be in epic danger, and so could Evelyn. He had to save them.

He charged himself into that opalescent tunnel and crashed inside, making a large hole, with the rubies nearly scathing him and almost died seeing the scene. The charge almost made him insane, but he held onto a large garnet to support himself.

Evelyn was scratched and nearly bruised and Julia had passed out after the fatigue. He shuddered seeing the Excadrill. It looked pretty powerful and as much as he was immune to most of his attacks, it was dangerous.

"Starling! Oh how happy am I to see you!" Evelyn whimpered. "Please help me out. You have to save Julia! I can't do this..." she broke down. Starling himself was paralysed with fear as the Excadrill charged at him, which he nimbly evaded by flying. He then used Wing Attack which seemed to hurt it quite badly.

"Evelyn! Take Julia towards the exit and get her outta here I'll take on him." He ordered. "I don't care what you say, just do it!" he retorted. The Excadrill was closing in on him and used Slash which scythed his wing. Some feathers fell to the ground.

He squawked in pain. This opponent was tough and he was pretty badly injured. He hopped to one side and grabbing his wing in pain, used Endeavour, but had little effect. The Excadrill barely had a scratch on it and the situation was becoming too much to handle. Evelyn busy flitted to and fro waiting for the right opportunity to leave.

Starling was pretty hurt and this was only compounded when the Excadrill started glowing. He shuddered, for this meant only one thing- Power Gem, a move that can easily be exploited here, and it was a rock type, which could almost kill him.

"This is not good!" he muttered as he attempted to evade all the flying gemstones that kept flying like bullets all around. He was already tired, consumed by fear and had a self-imposed pressure to protect his friends. Almost out of breath, he was stricken by a gem which pushed him to the ground and his crest started bleeding.

Evelyn gasped "Starling! Are you okay?" Starling forced himself a smile. "Puhleeze! I ain't gonna be taken down by one Excadrill! You'll need a lot more to take me down, girl." He candidly replied. Evelyn was touched. He really did have a passion for battling and was a real soldier indeed.

He took some stardust that he found near some other gems and put them on his wound. It hurt a while, but he seemed to look much healthier and started flying again. "Eve, don't you dare forget my order!" he called out. She agreed.

Now charged and powered up, Starling was prepared for action. He darted across and used Wing Attack which landed on the Excadrill and he heard a thunderous roar of pain. He the repeated this thrice until it looked weak enough. Finally, he landed a powerful Aerial Ace which scathed it pretty hard and it fell across the wall.

"Booyeah!" he exclaimed. Evelyn was super excited. "Things are getting interesting." She observed. Then he noticed her and was steamed.
"Evelyn! What the heck are you doing? Get out of here before you are dead meat!" he screamed. Evelyn did as told and raced to the exit, but turned around to see him one last time.

"Don't worry about me." He snarled. She ran away, but was still feeling guilty for leaving Starling in this situation, but he'd be the best distraction for the Excadrill or else all will be in boiling water, or worse...die.

Wasting no time, she just kept charging towards the exit, panting with Julia in her arms. She was getting heavy and her distress was only compounding the problem. Finally, in minutes that seemed like eternity, she reached that large opening which practically blazed of light.

Evelyn shut her eyes; the glare from that light was too dazzling, yet seeming so beautiful. Unfortunately, she wasn't so lucky to escape; not yet.

The Excadrill saw her escaping with Julia and that ruby adornment- her necklace. It was steamed and raced towards her and used Power Gem. She screamed. " Staaaaaaarlinnng! Save me!"

Starling was already tired, but seeing the Excadrill push its limits, a seething rage consumed him. This guy just has to go down. He closed his eyes, channelled his rage and started to glow. It was a powerful, blinding glow, but not that of evolution. He started rising in the air and positioning himself for action. Then something amazing happened.

He charged into the Excadrill like a fast landing plane, rather a crash landing one. It was powerful and intense and an explosion just boomed. Evelyn started feeling faint. Could he be dead?

Then, after all that smoke cleared away in seconds, she cried in happiness. Starling was victorious, near a fainted Excadrill. He smiled a smirk of victory and received a bear hug from Evelyn. "Oh, Starling! I can't bear to imagine... just how?" she wailed while crying of relief and joy. He just basked in his glory for momentary 5 minutes until he realised that Julia was the reason he'd fight. He left Evelyn and after placing her on his back, he hopped over to Julia and picked her up too.

"Brace yourself." He said. "This will be an interesting flight."
Evelyn clasped her paws round his neck and Julia was in between them as he flew off into the sunset sky.

"Woohoo!" Evelyn exclaimed "Freedom at last!" she could almost smell the fresh grassland air and bask in all its goodness. Starling was busy flying away, with the trailblazer in his beak as he swooped down mere minutes after escaping the tunnel.

Suddenly, Evelyn's eyes lit up. She saw Julia waking up from her traumatised state. "Uh...Evy? Where am I?" she asked weakly. Evelyn cried yet again. "Oh Julia! It doesn't matter at all. You're perfectly alright! You wouldn't want to know what happened. Nuh uh." Evelyn replied as she clutched Julia tighter. "I'm just so happy! We made it. Starling! She's awake! Oh how I wish you could see this!" she exclaimed.

Starling just smiled. He could hear their conversation crystal clear. He saved his two best friends from death and they were safe, and so was he. Hearing his closest friend's voice was music to his ears. He just beamed.

Best of all, he did the unthinkable in normal life. He just learned Sky Drop.