Chapter 22
"Look at these fools!" Absol laughed savagely as he, Gardevoir and Darkrai viewed the events when Chespin and friends reached the shore.
"They've got guts," Darkrai said, "But our army will make short work of them. There are, after all, only three of them."
"True, Master," Absol said, "Oh, there's nothing I wouldn't give to be a part of all that beautiful slaughter!"
"You can go there if you want, Absol," Darkrai smiled, "I won't stop you. You'd be a good help out there, if the leaders of the army fail."
"Oh, I simply couldn't. They're capable, Master," Absol said, "The Meowstic especially. I've never seen psychic powers like theirs. Sorry, Gardevoir, I mean no offence."
Absol couldn't tell if Gallade's sister had taken offence to his words or not, as she just remained silent as usual.
"Although it is unlikely," Darkrai murmured, "I may have to send you to Lunar Island, if Rhydon and the others fail to capture Cresselia. Perhaps I will even join you. If these heroes have potential, it would be good to meet them… And bring them down."
"And you say I'm cruel?" Absol said jokingly, "They're only kids! They're probably just expendable rookies who Exploud sent just to get rid of!"
"That may be so," his master replied, "But, before we make judgements, let's watch what happens…"
"Attack!" Crawdaunt yelled, and his group began their attack on the three young heroes who had just arrived on the beach.
"We can take 'em, guys!" Chespin shouted, launching Razor Leaves, knocking the airborne Wingull and Skarmory out of the sky, to try and eliminate those whom he was weak against first. Froakie then knocked them down with Water Shuriken.
"Good teamwork, guys!" Fennekin encouraged before firing Embers at a trio of Pawniard with sharp looking blades protruding from their bodies.
"You all aren't half bad!" Crawdaunt said, advancing on Chespin, pincers bared, "I think I'll kill the plucky, loud brat first!"
Before Chespin could get out of the way, he was battered by a Crabhammer attack from the Dread Buccaneer.
"That hurt!" Chespin yelled, "You'll regret attacking one of the future elite members of Exploud's Guild!"
He sized up Crawdaunt. The pirate was intimidating with those two large pincers of his, but Chespin thought he could beat him one-on-one. He looked around at Froakie gracefully manoeuvring around the beach, taking down Pokémon with nimble movements that were so fast they couldn't block.
Fennekin, meanwhile, was making good use of her new Psybeam attack, lifting enemies with telekinesis and hurling them off into the water.
Chespin made his move, Vine Whips extending from his body like third and fourth arms, catching Crawdaunt by the pincers before he could try and retaliate.
"Gotcha!" He smiled.
"Oh, you think you've got me?" Crawdaunt smiled, "Look behind you, matey!"
Sure enough, behind Chespin was a Charmeleon, its maw open wide and its sharp looking fangs bared.
The lizard with the flame on his tail released a jet of flame at Chespin, causing a searing pain all across his body. His concentration broke, and the Vine Whips snapped, freeing Crawdaunt. The huge crustacean then whacked Chespin upside the head with another Crabhammer.
"Good work, me hearty!" Crawdaunt praised his subordinate.
"It was nothing, cap'n!" The Charmeleon said modestly before being sent flying by a Water Shuriken from Froakie.
Froakie ran to Chespin.
"You okay?"
Chespin gasped for breaths.
"Yeah… I'm fine…" He said raggedly, "He just took me by surprise…"
"Okay," Froakie said, "Well, now he's gonna pay for that!"
Crawdaunt laughed again. "Oh, am I?"
"Of course," Froakie said, "Nobody hurts my precious friends!"
Anger bubbled within him and rose to the surface when he sped towards Crawdaunt, facing down the Pokémon much larger than he or Chespin.
"Hey, Froakie, I appreciate the help, but this is my fight!" Chespin protested. Froakie just smiled back at him and kept going. Crawdaunt lashed out with his pincers, but Froakie was too fast.
Chespin couldn't believe what he was seeing. There were four, five… No, six of Froakie! His friend was using Double Team to make it look like there were six of him. Crawdaunt blindly slammed his pincers down indiscriminately, hitting thin air each time. Then, Froakie landed a Water Shuriken from behind, disorientating Crawdaunt.
"He's all yours!" Froakie called to Chespin, and sped off again to fight some more of the Dread Buccaneer's crew.
Chespin acted fast, making his move before Crawdaunt could gather his senses again.
He remembered Lucario practising a Fighting-type attack with him, saying that when he evolved he would become a powerful hand-to-hand brawler and needed to start practising his Fighting attacks early if he wanted to get stronger. The move he was going to try and use was one he hadn't yet perfected, so trying to use it was risky.
Chespin moved towards the dizzy crustacean at a speed not quite as fast as Froakie could go, but fast enough. He then punched Crawdaunt very hard in the torso, knocking him back and sending him sprawling on the sand. After that, Chespin felt a surge of power inside of him.
I did it! I used Power-Up Punch! He thought happily, resisting the urge to jump up and down with excitement. He hoped Lucario was watching from the Nightmare Realm, and that he was proud.
That was for you, Lucario…
Fennekin and Froakie were doing their best to work their way through the rest of Crawdaunt's crew as the captain fought against Chespin. Froakie tirelessly ran across the beach, launching Water Shuriken and getting up close to enemies and whaling on them with punches and kicks.
"Froakie! Did you see that attack Chespin used a moment ago?" She called.
"Yeah!" He answered after kicking down a Graveller, "That was Power-Up Punch! I can do it too, but that was way better than one of mine!"
They had been close by when Chespin used the Power-Up Punch on Crawdaunt. Inside, Fennekin felt an unbelievable surge of pride. Her best friend was growing up alongside her. Froakie had just smiled to himself, and continued making short work of Darkrai's grunts.
"You little pipsqueaks aren't half bad!" A Seismitoad said as he used Mud Slap on Fennekin. She yelled with pain at the super effective attack, then picked herself up and focused her mind on trying to hurt this foolish servant of the enemy. He was lifted in the air, and shouted out curses as it happened. He tried to fight it, but Fennekin's newfound psychic abilities stopped him from breaking free and falling back down to the ground. She threw him, and he flew far away. Fennekin smiled as she heard branches breaking. She could get used to these new Psychic moves.
"Nice one, Fennekin, but you need to be more vigilant!" Froakie called, stopping a Raichu from launching an Electro Ball at her by cancelling it out with a large Water Shuriken which forced its way through the electricity and whacked into the large orange mouse-like creature.
"Thanks for the save, Froakie!" She looked around her, "That seems to be all of the crew wiped out! Will we go help Chespin fight the leader now?"
"No," Froakie said, "I think he can handle it on his own. Besides, we're on a mission to find and protect Cresselia, so we have to move fast. We split up, and move through that forest!"
"Okay, got it!" She called. Froakie had already set off quickly.
Fennekin took one last look at Chespin and Crawdaunt, the last two conscious Pokémon on the beach apart from her, struggling against one another. It looked fairly even, but Crawdaunt seemed to be getting worn out as his movements got sluggish.
Good luck, Chespin… She thought as she turned towards the forest and moved onwards, in search of Cresselia.
Chespin was fighting hard against the Dread Buccaneer.
"You know, I fought a Fighting-type recently," Crawdaunt said, "He had the type advantage over me, but my friends and I still throttled him!" He then laughed hysterically.
"What do I care?!"
"I reckoned you would care, laddie," Crawdaunt gave a wicked smile, "Considering the fool was one of your own! You're from Exploud's Guild, are you not?"
Anger blazed inside of Chespin as he realised that Crawdaunt was talking about Lucario.
"That's my friend you're talking about!" He roared passionately, which only caused Crawdaunt to laugh harder.
"Ah, what a fool he was, thinking that he could defeat our Master!" The Dread Buccaneer was clearly trying to rile up Chespin so that he would make mistakes and lose his concentration on the fight. Chespin promised himself not to let that happen.
Fennekin and Froakie have already headed off into the forest, so it's just me and him left. I need to finish this… Fast!
"He fought bravely!" Chespin cried, "And at least he fought for the right side, unlike you!"
For the first time, Crawdaunt lost his cool.
"Don't you ever say I walk the wrong path, you filthy land-lubber! That's the greatest insult you could ever say to a pirate! If I weren't such an amiable Pokémon, I would have your head right now for that! Fortunately for you, I'm just going to savour in this murder… Relish it, just like a real warrior of the sea would!"
Chespin kicked his limbs, sweeping them and causing him to lose balance. He roared with rage: He hadn't been expecting the Low Sweep, another skill Lucario had taught him during their training. He tried to keep himself from falling, but failed. Embarrassment and shock showed on his eyes. He had lost his irritatingly calm demeanour.
"You… Filthy little land-lubber!" He said, trying to get up. However, pain coursed through his legs and back after the fall.
"That's for talking bad about Lucario," Chespin said, then tied Crawdaunt up in a Grass Knot. The pirate tried snapping away at it with his pincers but he was tied up too tightly.
"Goodbye, Dread Buccaneer," Chespin said, "I'd love to stay and fight, but me and my friends have a battle to win, so I can't waste my time with small fry like you!"
He threw the much heavier Pokémon out to sea, creating a huge crash of water. He had thrown Crawdaunt quite far out, but the spray still reached the edge of the beach where Chespin was, so he got soaked. The water was rejuvenating for the young Grass-type, who had just won his first real battle on his own.
I can't believe I did it, without much help from Froakie or Fennekin! He was more shocked than relieved. Still, Crawdaunt had only been the first foe he'd have to face; There would be others, and they'd probably be stronger than the Dread Buccaneer.
Chespin was elated as he stepped over the unconscious bodies around him, and prepared to head off to look for Cresselia just as his friends had.
He thought of the sadness and insecurity he had felt when he had worried about being the weak link of the team, which was now starting to fade. He could take on Darkrai's grunts just as well as Fennekin or Froakie!
As he swiftly made his way through the dense forest with thick-trunked, vine-entangled trees, he couldn't help but smile as he thought of all he had overcome recently and how he had grown.
From a darker patch of the forest close to where Chespin was, a pair of eyes tried to keep up with him.
He's probably thinking he's so great after beating that fool Crawdaunt… The large Pokémon thought to himself, trying to keep up, all the while concealing his large footfalls and getting his single, drill-like horn stuck in hanging vines from time to time, cursing lightly when this happened.
I'll show you who the great one is…
Froakie dashed through the forest, sometimes scaling trees to get a clearer view of the whole island and seeing if he could find any sign of Cresselia. So far, he'd had no luck.
He had had to take down the occasional enemy or two, but they were just meaningless to him now. He was focused on surviving and protecting Cresselia. This tree-covered battlefield was his element; He could sneak up on unsuspecting enemies who were presumably looking for Cresselia just as he was, and quickly dispose of them by silently leaping down from the trees, clasping his hands around their necks and causing their eyes to close and their breaths to become desperate. So far, fourteen servants of Darkrai had suffered this fate since he had left the beach.
What he hadn't noticed until now, though, were the two Pokémon who had been tailing him for most of that time.
He threw himself down from a branch and turned to them, sizing them up. They were bipedal felines, a male and a female. The male was blue, with white tufts of fur and markings, while the other was that colour scheme but reversed. Their eyes glinted with malice; The male's green with blue pupils, the female's yellow with orange-red ones. They each had two tails.
Froakie didn't like these two Pokémon. He remembered Tyranitar telling him about their species, and how they had acute Psychic powers that surpassed most other non-legendaries of their type. They were Meowstic, the Constraint Pokémon. Tyranitar had mentioned that they were very rare Pokémon, and very few got to see one.
This must be my lucky day, getting to see two… Froakie thought to himself as he approached the two felines.
"You two have good stealth skills," Froakie said, "I've been trained to sense Pokémon following me, but I only picked up on you now. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"You're one of the Pokémon sent by Exploud," The male one said.
"So, naturally, we, two of the army's leaders, have made the decision to hunt and kill you." The female finished his sentence.
"Now the hunting part is over," The male began.
"So now all that's left is to… Kill you." The female said, then they both moved.
They were fast, he had to say. But he was faster. He dodged a double Confuse Ray by leaping onto the ground, then stood back up and looked at the twin cats.
"This…" He said, "Could be interesting."
A/N: Here's Chapter 22. For what it was, I think it turned out quite good, but what I have planned for the rest of the battle promises to outshine it. Chespin got some development in this Chapter, and we get to see just how much our strong-willed young protagonist has grown since Chapter 1. The short sequence between Froakie and the Meowstic towards the end was pretty cool, too. Well, at least it was when I pictured it in my head. I'm going to try and get Part 1 finished (3 or 4 Chapters to go!) before December. I need to take a short break from this story after that, as I have tests and I need to start planning the story again, and finalising the entire arc of Part 2. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for reading. I'll see you all in the next one!