Poké Beat

Lock Pick-nic

The air was cool over the mountain resort, like the cool snow on the ski slopes. Evergreen trees stood tall and lightly frosted with the white snow, with green bushes bellow them. Through the bushes, a small Pokemon dashed quickly, under the cover of the shady foliage.

The Weavile skidded to a quick halt behind a tree and leaned against it, taking a moment to rest. He looked up in surprise as his stomach let out a loud gurgle of hunger. He sadly rubbed his empty stomach, and then peeked out from behind the tree he was resting against. He gasped softly as he looked upon a small area with picnic tables in it, his eyes zeroing in on a picnic basket that sat by itself on one of the tables.

Weavile quickly move back behind the tree and licked his lips. But then gained a worried look as he quickly peeked out from behind the tree again and took a quick sweeping glance around the area.

Weavile then took a deep breath and steeled himself, as he crouched down low next to the tree and aimed at the picnic basket. He tensed himself, quietly let out his breath, and then sprang, performing a flying leap at the picnic table on which the basket lay. Weavile landed on the table, but cried out as the force of his landing knocked the wooden board loose and up like a catapult, flinging the picnic basket into the air behind him.

Weavile lay on his back, staring at the sky, frustration stamped on his face. He growled, and started to push himself up with his claws. But he stopped halfway when he saw that his footclaws were stuck in the wooden board he knocked loose. Frowning, he grabbed the board with his claws and pulled his feet away until his footclaws popped out of the wood. He gave a small grin as he looked at his footclaws and wiggled then, but then gasped and jumped up quickly as he turned in the direction of the picnic basket.

He quickly ran off into the woods, tearing through bushes and by trees. Suddenly, he was stopped by the hard rock of the mountainside. Weavile slid down to the ground, slightly dazed from running right into the mountain, but then quickly shook it off and got up. He looked up and let out a satisfied snicker, his eyes fixed on a ledge a few feet above him where the picnic basket had landed.

Weavile grinned and used Hone Claws, then he jumped up onto the mountainside and grabbed on with his long claws. He then started to climb up the rock face, grabbing tightly onto claw holds, and digging his razor sharp claws into the rock where there was no claw hold. Weavile looked up excitedly at the picnic basket as he got closer to the ledge. His stomach let out another gurgle when he was about a foot under the ledge. Weavile reached out with his left claw and grabbed onto the ledge. Laughing happily, Weavile move his right arm to grab the ledge with his right claw, but immediately discovered that his right clawed hand wouldn't move.

Weavile looked at his right claw and saw that it was wedged deep into the rock. Weavile gave his claw a tug, but found that it wouldn't budge. He tugged harder, closing his eyes and straining as he threw his whole body into it, leaning back over the great height he had climbed. Frustrated, Weavile snarled and showed his fangs. He then let go of the ledge above him with his left claw and grabbed his right arm. He pulled with all his might, staining and groaning, until his claw finally popped out of the wall. He smiled and admired his claws as he opened and closed his hand, but then his smile turned into confusion as he began to fall backwards. He shook his head no as he reached for the mountainside that he was slowly falling away from, but he couldn't quite reach and let out a scream as gravity pulled him back and down.

Weavile closed his eyes in fear, but he suddenly felt himself lurch to a halt. He opened one eye, and saw that he was upside down. He opened the other eye and looked up at his footclaws. They were also wedged into the rock, leaving Weavile hanging upside down by his feet.

Weavile stared up past his feet and spotted the ledge where the picnic basket was. Weavile's tongue quickly ran across his lips, and he closed his eyes and took several quick breaths. He then put his palms against the mountain side, and pushed off from the rock wall, swinging his body halfway up. He did this again as he fell back down, this time coming up three-fourths of the way. On the third time, he swung up far enough to grab onto the ledge with both claws. Holding on tightly, he gritted his teeth and pulled his legs back with all his might. His feet eventually popped out of the rock face and kicked out behind him. He flailed his legs wildly and quickly scrambled up on the ledge.

Weavile breathed in and out heavily, but then snicked with delight as he beheld the picnic basket on the ledge next to him. He quickly opened it and climbed inside of. After a brief moment of rummaging around inside, Weavile quickly popped back out and held a small plastic cube in his right claw. Inside the cube was a Deluxe Sweet Pokepuff.

Weavile held the box up to the light and oohed at the treat inside. She took a close look at the hard plastic box and saw a small locked clasp that kept the lid closed. Weavile looked at the look inquisitively, and then set it down on the ledge as he took another look through the picnic basket. He took his head out of the basket, picked it up, and turned upside down. He shook it for a few seconds, until a tiny key fell out and clattered against the rock ledge.

Weavile jumped about excitedly, still holding the picnic basket over his head. He tossed the basket over the edge and then reached down with his left claw to grab the key. He brought up his claw, but looked at it in confusion when he saw he didn't have the key. He looked down and saw that the key was still resting on the ledge. Weavile bent down and placed his left claw over the small, flat key, and then quickly pinched and pulled up. Seeing the key was still on the ground, Weavile growled angrily and stomped his feet impatiently.

Weavile got down on his stomach and placed both his claws on either side of the one inch long key. He then slowly brought his claws in so that the tips of his middle touched the edges of the key. He then slowly brought his claws up, and saw that the key was being lifted up by his middle claw tips. Weavile breathed out excitedly, and his breath knocked the key out of his fragile grip.

Fuming with frustration, Weavile snarled and scratched at the ground in rage. He then brought his head down and started biting at where the key lay. He did this for about a minute, and then quickly stood up holding the key in his mouth, smiling gladly around it. Then, his tiny nose gave a twitch, and he sneezed. Weavile stood still as a statue with his mouth agape as he watched the tiny key glint in the sunlight as it was sent flying into the woods below and out of sight.

Weavile fell to his knees miserably, his lip trembling, and turned to look at the locked hard plastic box. He gave the Deluxe Sweet Pokepuff a look of longing, and his stomach gave out a loud gurgle. Weavile then turned to look out at the land before him, then his ears twitched upwards and he gasped as an idea came to him. He got up, grabbed the box, and used his claws to quickly slide down the side of the mountain.

Weavile stopped beside a railroad track, and snickered at his own cleverness. He jumped onto the track and placed the box on the metal rail. Then he bent down, placing his head behind the box, looking through the plastic and down the tracks. He narrowed his eyes, focusing hard as he tried to tilt the box so that the Pokepuff slid closer to one side as he tried to balance the box on the edge of the rail. Weavile scowled as the box kept falling off the rail, and simply slammed it down dead center.

Suddenly, Weavile's left ear twitched and turned to face behind him. He quickly recognized the sound as a train whistle, and refocused on the plastic box. He lined up his left claw with the rail, and thrust it forward towards the box. His claw touched it at a point pretty close to dead center. He slid the box over a bit so that his claw touched closer to where the lock was, but when he let go of the box with his left claw, it fell off of the rail.

Fuming over his failed plain, Weavile stood back up and stomped his feet angrily. Pouting, he went to take a step forward, only to find that his feet wouldn't move. He looked down and saw that his foot claws were stuck within one of the wooden railroad ties. Both of his ears then shot up when he heard the train whistle. He turned and saw the train fast approaching from a distance away, and let out a fearful cry before grabbing his right leg with both claws and pulling desperately. Another whistle from the train increased the look of panic on his face. Weavile bent his legs and attempted to jump, but his claws held him tight. He made another attempt, but then fell forwards, flailing his arms as he landed chest first on the metal rail.

Weavile looked upwards and sideways, and screamed when he saw the approaching train. He quickly sat up, raised his claws, and went at the wooden railroad with Fury Swipes. He looked up at the train and down at his legs repeatedly as he kept up his attacks on the wooden railroad tie. His eyes lit up when he managed to cut through one side of the wood, and he quickly pulled his arms in and attacked the part of the wood on the other side of his stuck feet. His eyes were wide with terror as he saw the train close in on him, and as he tensed up his legs and pulled as he hacked with Fury Swipes, he suddenly felt himself lurch backwards and out of the train's path in the nick of time.

Weavile lay on his back, his chest heaving up and down as he caught his breath. He lay there until the train had passed and the forest was relatively quiet. He then slowly sat up and sniffed, his eyes focused on the plastic box next to the train tracks. Weavile dragged himself wearily over to the box, unable to stand, and picked it up. He tapped the hard plastic a few times, then looked at the look. He raised his free left claw, and jabbed the lock with his middle digit. To his surprise, he found that his claw was stuck inside the lock. Frustrated, he tried pulling his claw out, but to no avail. He gripped the box tightly and twisted, closing his eyes as he grunted with exertion. He then heard the sound of something breaking. He opened his eyes and gasped when he saw that his claw was free and the lock had shattered completely.

Filled with a sudden boost of energy, Weavile jumped up and spun around, grinning madly as he flicked the lid of the box open, took out the Pokepuff, and dropped the box on the railroad tracks. He admired the Deluxe Sweet Pokepuff for a moment, and then held it close to his face with both claws as he licked the frosting off the top of it, walking off into the woods as he enjoyed the treat.