An hour later, a grubby, yellow hand gripped onto the grass that lined the edge of the cliff. Once it found a solid hold, a similar hand joined it. Soon, the body of a Pikachu slowly heaved its way onto solid ground. It didn't stop to rest after its climb and instead, reached back over the drop and helped a similarly fatigued Charmander up. They both collapsed onto the ground, panting, their energy drained from the ordeal.
The cliff was only about a hundred feet, but to Joey, it felt like he climbed a mountain. He was proud that he managed to climb the entire thing, especially since the rock lacked rest stops. A loud rumbling came from his stomach to remind him how hungry he was. He rolled over and was to face Smokey, who must have been much more tired than he was because the fire type had to carry the bag up with him.
"Yo, Smokey," he said weakly, gaining his friend's attention, "Can you pass an apple? I'm starved."
Smokey nodded and removed the bag from his back. He opened it and took out two shiny apples and handed one to Joey. They both started to devour the fruit, desperate to satisfy their greedy bellies. Joey was good at dealing with hunger, but he practically inhaled the food. He didn't normally scale a cliff on an empty stomach and his body was not letting him forget that.
After they were done with their quick snack and regained some energy, they took a more detailed look at their surroundings. Sure enough, the river was to their left, widening before it hit the overhang and forming the waterfall. The sandy riverbank curved sharply up to meet the grass. The trees stood farther back from the river up top than at the bottom of the cliff, leaving two strips of grass about ten metres wide on both sides of the river.
They decided to try and find Kabi, since they finally scaled the rock face. Leaving the bag by the cliff, they started their search. It only took a couple minutes of walking along the river to notice something on the other side. A green cocoon was hanging by a silvery thread from one of the trees. It was slowly spinning and soon came to face them. The Pokémon was indeed a Metapod. They expected her to cry out in joy, but there was no reaction.
"That has to be Kabi," Joey muttered, "the location fits. That has to be her."
Smokey agreed, but was soon struck by the strange sense of Déjà vu. "Joey, this seems a lot like a-"
"Like a trap?" his friend finished his sentence for him and spun around. Joey fired a lightning bolt and struck a green thing from the sky. They watched the limp body fall to the ground with a dull thud.
"How... how did... how did you know that was coming?" Smokey stammered, surprised by Joey's amazing reflexes.
"As soon as I saw Kabi in the tree, I knew it was a trap," Joey explained, starting to walk over to where they saw the body fall, "as for the timing part, well, that was mostly luck. I don't know why she waited so long to attack. She could've gotten us as soon as we reached the top of the cliff."
"I should've seen that sooner," Smokey mumbled, "we talked about this and yet I still missed the sign that it was a trap. Maybe you were right about me being a burden to the team..."
"Don't say that!" Joey exclaimed, his tone turning harsh, "You are not a burden to this team. You carry your own weight, quite literally with the bag, but also on missions. If it wasn't for you, I'd have been killed by now. You blasted Manac, got me out of the cave-in, saved me from being crushed by a giant rock and, whether you like it or not, shooting flames from your ass was the only reason why we survived that day on Mount Steel. All that stuff I said to get you riled up was random crap that I made up on the spot to get you angry. Not a single thing I said was true. If it wasn't for you, Smokey, I don't think I'd last very long."
Smokey smiled a little. "Thanks, Joey. You're always the one to figure out a solution to these things, I guess I feel out of place."
"Just... don't ever think those things again, alright? And you always drag me out of the messes I get myself into. It evens out."
The body they shot out of the sky came to a rest close to the tree line. Its green body was darker than that of a regular Scyther, but Joey put that to it being blasted by electricity. His theory was backed up by as they got closer and electrical burns were obvious on the bug's armour. When they finally came within a few feet of the green lump they stopped dead in their tracks.
The green lump they thought to be a dead body of a Scyther was just that; a green lump. From a distance and moving really fast it, could be mistaken as the bug type, but the resemblance disappeared as soon as you got a close look at it. The thing Joey had shot out of the air was definitely not Talia.
"Joey... I have a feeling that Kabi wasn't the trap," Smokey stated very slowly.
Joey nodded, understanding what he meant. "This is..."
The bushes in front of them rustled and before either of them could react, something hit them with the force of small car. The blow sent the two friends flying through the air in separate directions.
Joey landed hard on the riverbank, the impact knocking the air from his lungs. The sand cushioned his fall, preventing his spine from snapping. His face felt like it was on fire where he got hit. Feeling it made the pain worse and his hand came away bloody. Smokey landed on a section of the bank farther from the waterfall, roughly the same distance from Joey as he was to the cliff.
A green blur materialized on a patch of grass between them. They recovered instantly from the first blow, jumping to their feet at the same time. There was no second guessing at who this Scyther was.
"You two are smarter than I thought," Talia said, "most people would be unaware of the trap in the first place, making the bag trick unnecessary."
Just her voice made Joey's mind cloud with rage. Looking over to his left, he could tell by the amount of smoke and flame that his friend was feeling the same.
"You know we're gonna kill you, right?" Joey growled, and much to his anger, Talia let out a shrill laugh.
"I highly doubt that," she smirked, "not with your puny attacks."
"I guess it's lucky that we learned some new ones," Joey replied, "Now, Smokey! NOW!"
Talia barely had time to react before a pillar of fire rushed towards her. She jumped up and hovered in the air above the flames. Smokey jerked his head up, changing the course of his Flamethrower. The Scyther buzzed through the air, the flames following her wherever she went. Talia was never hit though, as Smokey had to pause for breath after using the attack for so long.
She used this window of opportunity to rush the Charmander while he was preparing for another, her blades raised for the kill. A bolt of lightning blasted her out of the air, sending her crashing to the ground.
"No decoy that time!" Joey cheered as jumped back onto the grass. Talia rolled out of the way of the second Flamethrower, avoiding being burned by mere millimetres. The flames followed her as she broke into a sprint. Joey's eyes widened when he realized that she was running straight at him. Smokey saw this too and cut of his attack before it could fry Joey.
Only Talia didn't do the same. Joey couldn't avoid the attack and the Scyther's foot plowed into his face, sending him skidding across the grass. A metallic taste filled his mouth and he spat it out. The green grass became stained with red.
Joey struggled back to his feet. He looked around for Talia, but she seemed to have disappeared again. Smokey was also looking around frantically, his tail flame still burning taller than him.
Talia seemed to emerge from thin air right above Smokey. She was just out of the reach of Smokey's flame and the Charmander had no idea where she was. Joey tried to call out and warn his friend. He was too late. Talia was already speeding towards the fire type's head, her blades in the motion for a swift chop.
Joey didn't want to see the attack that would decapitate his friend, yet no matter how hard he tried, his eyes were glued to the scene. Talia brought her arm down on the Charmander's head, but to Joey's surprise, she hit him with the flat of her blade. Smokey slumped to the ground out cold. The Scyther stepped over the limp body, eying the Pikachu with an evil smile and her arms ready to slice.
Dozens of different emotions flew through Joey's mind. Relief, anxiety, anger, hate. But for the first time, his short temper was surpassed by fear. Why did she leave Smokey alive? Why was she taking her time in killing them?
His whole body trembling, Joey took some shaky steps back. He wanted to be as far away from the Scyther as possible.
"You cannot run, Joey," she reminded him. Her voice made him sick to his stomach. She was way too happy for this, "there is nowhere to flee. If you try, I will kill you like the coward you are. Then, I will kill your friend."
"Who said I'm going anywhere?" Joey snapped. His body had stopped shaking, some of his fear being replaced by anger for being called a coward, "you're gonna pay for the stuff you've done, and it's gonna be by my hands that you die."
"I know that will not happen," she scoffed, still approaching him slowly, her pace never increasing, "I know your limits, you pesky Pikachu. You cannot use more than a few weak electric attacks before exhausting yourself."
Joey took another step back and his foot slipped on loose stones. For a moment, his leg dangled in mid-air before he brought it back up to solid ground. He risked a look back and was greeted by the hundred foot drop, the spikes at the bottom still not looking the least bit comforting. There was nowhere to retreat now. He had just backed himself onto the edge of the cliff.
"Why are you doing this, Talia?" he asked, hoping to buy some time to think of a plan, "We talked to your leader, Gladios, and he said that there's no grudge between us anymore. You don't have to kill us."
"But I want to kill you," she replied. The distance between them was becoming shorter by the second, "you are the one Pokémon who has ever defended against my attacks for more than a few seconds. It is a shame that you will be dead before the day ends."
He kept his body and voice from shaking, as to not show fear. Talia could probably see right through it, but he wasn't giving her the satisfaction of seeing him scared. "So that's what this is all about? You're gonna kill me just because it's fun? And what about Smokey, what are you gonna do to him?"
"Once I have disabled you, I am going to make you watch while I kill your friend."
Joey couldn't help it. A violent shudder passed through his whole body at those words. "You're a goddamn psychopath! You kill and torture for fun! What the hell is wrong with you? What did we do to deserve this?"
"Your electrical attacks have been the only attacks that have hurt me for a long time. That means you are the only Pokémon, other than my own clan, to ever inflict pain on me. I do not like when that happens. So I am going to make sure that the last moments of your pathetic existence are the most painful you have ever know, both mentally and physically."
More pebbles fell off the cliff and onto the rocks below. Joey looked back down and honestly thought that plummeting to his death seemed a better fate than dying at the hands of a crazy Scyther. That feeling came and went quickly. He had already experienced death once and it was not something he wanted to repeat.
It could not end like this. The voice had said he came back for a reason, and he had to find out what it was. While he was unsure what the reason was, he was positive that it did not involve dying now. There had to be a way to get out alive. He could try to jump into the water and swim to safety, but that would mean leaving Smokey behind. He had that option back in the clearing, and the reasons for not choosing it were the same. There wasn't a chance in hell Joey was leaving a friend to die. He was not going down without a fight.
A single tear rolled down the Pikachu's fur and mingled with his blood. His whole body was shaking as it tried to prevent another one from escaping. The sight did not escape the Scyther's keen eyes though.
"Aw, do you think crying will get you out of this?" Talia taunted, stopping only a pace away from the defeated electric type, "Scyther are not known for their sympathy. Too bad you will never get to use that information later on in life."
Joey looked up at her with wet eyes. She could see the resignation in them. "Can't you just make it quick?" he pleaded in a small voice.
"No. I follow through on my threats," she replied coldly and lifted her arm to deliver the knockout blow. Joey shrunk back on his hind legs, like he was hoping to make himself a smaller target. A smile formed on her face at the Pikachu's reaction. She loved the fear her victims showed before their painful demise. She brought the flat of the blade down hard, aiming for the furred head.
Suddenly, Joey launched himself forward, darting underneath her scythe and through her legs. He spun halfway around and landed on his back, sliding on the slick grass. The Scyther just had time to turn around to see a thin lightning bolt flying at her. Talia jumped in an attempt to dodge the attack, but was struck in the chest. The strike sent her careening off the side off the cliff, out of Joey's sight.
"You're not the only one who can play dirty, you bitch," Joey muttered and rested his head against the ground, still shaking. He could not believe that actually worked. The attempt at copying Buzz's paralysis move worked on his first try. It was outstandingly lucky that it worked, but he couldn't complain. He was still alive, after all.
Joey kept an eye on the ledge, expecting Talia to fly up at any moment and finish him off. He hoped that she had fallen to her death on the rocks below, or possibly even drowned. However, he watched the cliff just in case. One minute passed with only the roar of the waterfall to accompany him. Two minutes passed. Five minutes passed and there was still no sign that she survived. He laughed in relief, still unable to believe his luck.
Flipping back to his feet took a surprising amount of time to do. Joey stood on all fours and cautiously approached the edge. He peered over the drop, expecting to see the mangled body of a Scyther below. He did not expect to see a something green rush towards him and smack him in the face.
The familiar feeling of weightlessness came back to him as he soared through the air, ending when he crashed back into the ground. He thought he heard something crack on impact and pain shot through his chest.
Joey tried to get back to his feet, but something stomped down on his chest, breaking another rib. He looked at it and saw that it was a green, three clawed foot. Red liquid coated it and Joey recognized it as his own blood.
"I underestimated you," an angry voice hissed from above, "that was a nice trick you pulled on me. Too bad you only succeeded in making me angrier and my blades duller, which results in your death being so much more painful."
His face was already starting to swell, but Joey managed to glare at Talia through one eye. He noticed that her chest plate had a large scorch mark on it from his lightning.
"Then why don't you get on with it already," he growled. Talia laughed, only no humour existed in the noise.
"Maybe I should kill you first," she suggested, "seeing as you tricked me before. And I am sure that the thought of me torturing your friend to death would hurt you more than anything else I can inflict on you."
Fear flashed through Joey's mind. He wasn't faking it this time. The thought of Smokey being tortured to death because he pissed off Talia was horrifying to him.
"Ah, yes. I thought so."
Talia raised her blade for the last time. The sun glinted off its tarnished surface, making Joey close his eyes from the brightness. Maybe the voice told the wrong person that they had a reason for coming back. He was going to die and he kept his eyes shut so he wouldn't see the blade kill him.
The sudden sound of flesh being pierced met Joey's ears. He waited for the agony to follow it, only it never came. Was his body too tired to register the pain? He cracked open his eyes and his jaw dropped.
A third blade had entered his vision, spouting from the burn mark on Talia's chest. Green blood covered its sliver surface and a drop of the liquid fell from the tip, landing in Joey's mouth. He resisted the urge to void his stomach.
Talia looked down at the familiar limb with a look of surprise before slowly sliding down its length and collapsing to the ground. With the weight off his chest, Joey was free to roll onto his side and throw up the remnants of the apple.
"You act like this is the first time you have seen someone die," a familiar feminine voice said from behind him.
"No, but it's the first time I've ever tasted their blood before," Joey responded and spat to remove the horrible taste. The blood in his saliva mixed with green to and produced a grotesque combination of colours on the grass. His old grin returned as he faced his rescuer, "Thanks for the timely save, Stiletta."
The Scyther looked down at the battered Pikachu showing genuine surprise that he recognized her. However, that surprise was never voiced.
"It had to be done," she said, a look of sorrow replacing her calm features, "she would have killed you both if I had not intervened. I had to kill her, or she would continue her slaughter of innocent lives."
Joey nodded. "How did you know to follow us?"
"We saw another cloud of smoke rise from the forest. Gladios sent me to investigate, fearing that you two had started another fire," she paused, taking in a different level of Joey's question, "how were you aware that I was following you."
"Huh? ...Oh, I saw some leaves rustle after Smokey created the smokescreen," Joey answered, than with a small chuckle, "I wasn't positive that someone was following us. It was more of a guess. That's why I kept asking Talia questions that I already knew the answer to."
"You wanted to make her intentions clear to those who you thought were listening," she finished for him.
"Yeah, pretty much..."
"That was a smart move. If you had not made her reveal that she had been torturing others, I would not have killed her. I overheard your plot to assassinate a clan mate and was prepared to simply watch the events unfold."
"Well, I'm glad you didn't decide to kill us yourself," Joey said, eyeing Talia's body, "then again, you don't seem to finish them off anyways."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm no doctor, but last time I checked, dead bodies tend not to breath."
Stiletta's gaze shot to the other Scyther's body. The back was slowly moving up and down, unmistakably the motion of breathing. She approached the fallen clan mate and crouched next to her.
"It would be cruel to let her die like this," she mumbled, hardly audible. Using her foot, she flipped Talia onto her back. Blood poured from the wound and flowed down her chest to the grass. Stiletta placed her blade on her neck in preparation for the execution, "I am sorry, sister, but you have to atone for your crimes."
Even though Talia's features remained the same, it seemed like she understood what Stiletta meant. She just laid there and accepted the fact that she would die.
"Wait," rasped another familiar voice. Joey looked up from Talia's body to see that Smokey had regained consciousness and was limping over to where they stood. A gash ran along the side of his head from where he was hit. Dark red blood flowed freely from the cut, blending with the colour of his skin.
"If you really want her to 'atone for her crimes,' then you'll leave her be," he said, "She's been killing and torturing others for fun, because it amuses her. Sorry, but I don't think she deserves a quick death."
"Yeah, Stiletta, she did threaten to torture me to death," Joey added, "and that's just because I hit her with a lightning bolt. Look, I hate seeing people die. Then again, it's not like we can do much for her, even if we tried. Some important things seem to be missing from her chest. I think I'll have to agree with Smokey on this one. We don't have to cause any more injuries to her. That wound looks painful enough as it is."
Stiletta nodded and turned her back on her sister. Joey watched as she walked away without a word. He looked back at Talia. Only her eyes showed any expression, this time filled with hate. They had taken the last thing they could from her: a quick death to end her suffering.
Even though she had caused pain to countless numbers of lives, Joey couldn't bear to watch her suffer. He hated seeing scenes like this, so he also turned his back on the fallen Scyther and joined her sister.
As he walked, he heard Smokey say something that was just above a whisper. "I may not have been the one to kill you, but I told you I would make you pay for murdering Daya."
Joey shuddered at his friend's words. The Charmander glared at Talia with the more hate than Joey had ever seen on anyone, Pokémon or human. He tore his eyes from the scene as he came to a stop next to Stiletta. She gazed out across the river, her face showing no emotion. However, Joey knew that under that blank look hid great pain.
"I'm guessing it's hard to kill a sister," Joey said to break the tension, "I've lost family members before, but I was never the one to kill them. The person who killed my dad was never found. I know how it feels. I'll never see my little sis again. She was really young the last time I saw her. She's great, always smiling no matter how bad things-"
"Talia was not my actual sister," Stiletta interrupted, "we refer to each member of our clan like we are a family. My only true sibling would be Tabak. Even so, I was so close to Talia, I might as well have killed a sibling."
She gazed back at Talia's body with solemn eyes. The fallen Scyther was dead, indicated by the chest no longer moving up and down. "May I ask you for a favour?"
"It's kinda hard to say no to the person who saved my life," Joey replied with a smirk, "What is it?"
"I know that you do not have feelings for her..."
"Putting it a tad lightly there..." Joey added in an undertone. Stiletta continued like nothing was said.
"... But I would prefer if she were to receive a proper funeral. Not a grave, but rather cremation. Do you think Smokey would be willing to do that?"
Joey watched how his friend just stared at Talia's dead body. Even from that distance, he saw that his friend's eyes were filled with hate. "Yeah, something tells me that Smokey would jump at the opportunity to see her burn."
"You have an odd sense of humour," Stiletta observed.
"You'd be surprised how often I've heard that," he chuckled and turned back towards the river. His laughing stopped abruptly, "aw, man. Not again."
Stiletta cast him a sideways glance before he continued. "Can I ask you for a favour also?"
"Depends what it is," she responded.
"Nothing too difficult. Since you have wings, can you get Kabi? She's hanging from a tree across the river and you can just fly over there and get her for us."
"Why are you unable to do it?"
"After climbing up that cliff, the last thing I want to do is be caught in the river and tossed over the waterfall. There are some rocks down there that I really don't want to meet after falling from a hundred feet. Something tells me that it would hurt a lot to find out how sharp they are."
Stiletta stayed silent for a few seconds, thinking the offer over. "Okay. I will do it," Joey breathed a sigh of relief, but she wasn't done yet, "but what do I receive in return? By saving your life and rescuing Kabi, I think I should receive some sort of compensation for these deeds."
"You want a reward?" Joey asked, "Like what? Money, supplies, my first born son? Come on, help me out here."
The Scyther smiled a bit. "I think the reward you would have received from this mission would be sufficient. After all, none of you would be alive if it was not for me."
"How about half?" Joey suggested, "We did help you with the dealers and the clean up. That should count for something."
"Half it is then," Stiletta offered her blade and Joey hesitantly shook it, not sure if that is what he was supposed to do. Apparently he didn't offend Stiletta and the Scyther took off across the river. He had just enough time to wonder if she would be angry when they told her the job was free before she came back, towing the Metapod on a silvery thread behind her.
Stiletta dropped the smaller bug Pokémon on the ground next to Joey. With a frown, he realized that the Metapod was the same size as him. When he tried to lift her up, he found that she was also heavier than him.
"Well, at least you're safe and out of that tree," he said to Kabi. She didn't respond, but he could somehow tell that she was relieved.
Joey looked around and saw that Stiletta had rejoined Smokey. She was talking to the fire type, most likely discussing the matter of cremation. The Charmander sent a confused glare over to him, signalling that Joey should get over there right away.
"Don't worry, Kabi, I'll be back. No one's going to hurt you anymore. Just wait here, okay?" Joey told the Metapod. He could tell that Kabi didn't want to be left alone, but she seemed to understand. Smokey made a gesture for him to hurry up, so Joey left her and sprinted towards his friend.
"Did you tell him what we're doing?" he asked Stiletta once he got near. She nodded and he turned to Smokey, "Are you going to do it?"
"I don't really have a choice," he replied bitterly, "you told her I'll do it, so now I'm kind of stuck doing it."
"Okay then, so what are you waiting for?" Joey said, "hurry up with the flames and then we can get out of here!"
Smokey started to breathe deeply and took a massive breath before releasing his Flamethrower. A large black cloud came out, instead of a jet of flames. Frowning, Smokey tried again, only to get the same results.
"Is something wrong?" Stiletta asked, not pleased by the display.
"The fire's not there," Smokey mumbled, releasing another black cloud, "I can feel it, but for some reason I can't release any of it. Not even my fireballs will come out."
Joey checked out the Charmander's tail flame and noticed that it was fairly small. "Dude, your fire is tiny. I think you have to get it bigger for your fire attacks to work."
"I know that. I just can't concentrate to get it bigger," Smokey sighed.
"Let's try getting you angry. That seemed to work before."
"I'm not so sure..."
"Daya's dead, you can't evolve, you didn't get to kill Talia, your mom got captured, your dad left you and you shot flames from your butt," Joey listed off, "any of that help?"
Smokey's tail flame got a little bigger, but quickly died down to its normal size. He breathed out a small, white cloud. "It's not working."
Joey's gaze drifted from the fire type's tail to his head. He noticed the large gash along his friend's head. "Maybe you got concussed when you got knocked out. It would explain why you're having trouble thinking."
"That could be it," Smokey touched the cut and winced, "Do you think an Oran berry will heal it?"
"If it can heal a broken leg, it should heal a broken brain," Joey pointed out, "I think I'll get one too. This cut is starting to bother me. Blood keeps dripping into my eyes."
"That cut will never fully heal," Stiletta said before they left. Smokey continued, but Joey turned back.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Oran berries will help with healing," she explained, "but a cut like that will leave a scar, no matter how many berries you consume. If you are worried about your appearance, then you should know that it will be no more than a faint line. Still noticeable, but not horribly. Just be thankful that you are alive."
"Well that sucks," Joey muttered. He made the mistake of feeling the wound and flinched at the contact, "I'm here for less than a week and I've already got a permanent scar. At least I didn't get decapitated."
He looked back and saw that Smokey was talking with Kabi. His mouth was moving, but was unable to hear what they were talking about. A shadow loomed over him and he turned to find Stiletta glaring down at him. He took a step back to give himself some breathing room, only to have the Scyther close the gap immediately.
"I know that you are smart, Joey, so let me make this clear," her tone was icy, sinister even, "if you ever cross me, I will kill you. If I want you dead, there will be no escape. You fight your battles with a combination wits and strength, thinking of tactics to keep yourself alive and get what you desire. But if you or your friend tries to trick me out of the reward, then the consequences will be dire. Do you understand what I am saying?"
Joey nodded and backed away. "I understand perfectly. And don't worry about us leaving you. I don't stab people in the back..." Stiletta gave him a glare and he realized what he said, "oh... no, I didn't mean, like... actually stabbing in the back. Well, also that, but... what I meant to say is that I don't betray people. Especially those who've helped us."
"I am going to move Talia's body to a more suitable location," Stiletta said, beginning to walk in the opposite direction, "remember what I said."
Joey began to walk towards the cliff. "Yeah, sure. I'll keep it in mind. Definitely not going to screw you over."
As he finally turned his back on the Scyther, she said something that was just audible. "By the way, when someone gives too much information in a statement, it usually means they are lying."
Choosing not to respond, Joey walked away without a word. Smokey gave him a curious look.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
Joey sighed. "I may have made a mistake."
"You've made many," Smokey said, anger creeping into his voice. He walked to one side of Kabi and indicated for Joey to do the same, "What was this one?"
Doing as he was told, Joey went to the other side of the Metapod and they lifted her up. Fortunately, she was lighter than the plank they had to carry earlier. She also wasn't on fire, which was a huge bonus.
"She warned me that she would kill us if we screwed her out of a reward," Joey said, trying to keep his voice as low as possible.
"While I was talking to her, she mentioned that she was receiving half of this missions reward. Did you say that?" Smokey's eyes bulged when Joey nodded, "What were you thinking? Parvo told us that he could-"
"I know the reward for this mission, okay?" Joey interrupted. He cast a glance backwards to see if Stiletta noticed the outburst. She seemed to be unaware, "That's why I think I screwed up. I just need to think of a way out of this."
"Maybe if you told me what you were planning on doing, we wouldn't have gotten into this mess! Stop making plans without me. Especially when I'm involved in them!"
"Look, I'm sorry. I know I messed up, but I can still get us out of here. She was the one who suggested that she get our reward."
"She wanted the whole reward at first?" Smokey asked. Joey nodded and he lowered his voice, "You made her agree to half of it? Half of zero is still zero!"
"I was trying to make it look like there was an award!" Joey hissed, "If I agreed right away, it may've seemed suspicious."
"Brilliant plan then! You did an amazing job," Smokey's voice was dripping with sarcasm, "Now all we have to worry about is fighting another Scyther if she doesn't take too kindly to receiving half of a substantial zero Poké reward!"
"At least I tried to think of something!"
"Maybe you should've waited for me then!"
"I would've, but you were too busy watching Talia die!"
"Okay, let's just stop this arguing," Smokey sighed and lowered Kabi to the grass. They had arrived next to their pack, "we're not going to accomplish anything unless we both think together."
"Agreed," Joey copied Smokey and lowered his side of Kabi too, "let's get some food in us and we can figure out what to do when we feel better."
Smokey rummaged through the bag and brought out two of the blue berries. He tossed one to Joey and they both devoured the soft fruit. At once, Joey felt the pain in his face start to fade as the odd sensation of his skin being stitched together began. The cut on Smokey's head also slowly healed and the two friends were back a relatively healthy state in no time.
Joey felt his face and, true to Stiletta's word, felt a ragged line across his face. He sighed. His face would be like that forever. As a human, he never received any major scars. He had a few from random accidents (a heavy, diamond studded watch gave him a small scar on his forehead when it slipped of its owners wrist), but never got one that would actually distort his appearance greatly.
"How do you think we should approach this?" Smokey asked, "We need to tell her before we get back home that there is no reward. If we time it right, she may accept it. As long as she doesn't go psycho, I think we should be fine."
"We need to tell her when she's in a good mood," Joey added on, "the only thing she asked of us is that you burn Talia's body. After we do that, we tell her the truth. If she's still pissed, maybe we can offer her an actual reward."
"How'd that work?"
"I'll say that I forgot that there was no reward. Then you take that chance to offer her another amount, like five hundred or something. Or maybe just the remaining supplies."
"That might just work," Smokey said, smiling.
"Yeah. It might. Can you breathe flames again?"
Smokey's tail flared up and he released a small jet of flame from his maw. Joey backed up from the heat, taking a step towards the edge.
"Nice. Okay, ready to put the plan into action?" he asked his partner. Smokey nodded and they began to head back over to Stiletta. They took one step and the ground underneath them began to shake. Not just where they were standing, but the whole forest. Both friends lost their balance at the same time. Smokey fell forward onto his face and Joey stayed on his hind legs, trying desperately not to fall over.
He took a few steps backwards in an effort to steady himself. His last step resulted in his foot resting half off the cliff, the back half supporting most of his weight. Becoming unbalanced, he began to windmill his arms in an effort to realign himself. The efforts failed, and he began to fall.
A clawed hand grabbed onto his wrist. Joey teetered on the edge for a few seconds, staring down at the rocks below.
"You're not going anywhere!" Smokey growled and hauled Joey back onto grass. The earthquake was short lived and the ground calmed down.
"Thanks," Joey said breathlessly, "I did not want to end up like that Meditite."
"Don't mention it," Smokey said, "you would've done the same for me."
Joey nodded and looked across the clearing. Stiletta was watching them from afar. "We're fine! You good?"
"Yes, the earthquake did not affect me," she called back. Her voice sounded strangely calm for being so loud, "I am going to go look for firewood. I suggest that you join me."
She didn't wait for them to respond and disappeared into the woods.
"Dude, that's gotta be, like, the second time I've almost been killed from an earthquake," Joey laughed, "third if you count Thunderwave Cave."
"That was an explosion," Smokey corrected.
"Same thing."
"No, it's not."
"Let's go join Stiletta," Joey pushed his friend sideways, "she needs help."
"I don't know," Smokey said, slinging the bag over his shoulder, "last time we took a step, it caused an earthquake."
"Maybe you should lose some weight then, tubs," Joey laughed.
Smokey shot smoke out of his nose. "I'm not fat! Buzz is just weak."
"Whatever you say..."
Smokey punched the smaller electric type in the arm before starting towards the forest. A massive crack, like a thunder clap, came from in front of them. It shook the ground like a miniature earthquake.
"What the hell was that?" Joey mumbled.
Smokey never got the chance to answer. Instead, the ground dissolved beneath their feet. Joey managed to cast a terrified glance over to his friend before all three Pokémon plummeted towards the rocks below.
There has been an update to chapter 8 for my old readers. That would be the first half of Team Spartan's Thunderwave Cave adventure. If you don't feel like going back and reading it, don't bother then. Nothing much was changed in the update.
The things that changed are:
-Leaky's explanation of the cave. He doesn't mention anything about a dungeon, but still tells them that the cave had floors for unknown reasons.
-He also gives them a map of the cave. With the map, Joey never uses the 'left hand on the wall' technique to get them through.
I think that's all I changed. Anyways, I changed these for a reason, which will become clear in future chapters.
And just a little fun fact: the past three chapters were originally supposed to be one big one. But they totaled nearly 23000 words, so they got split.