~0~
"Speech" human speech
"Speech" Pokemon speech
"Speech" Pokemon speech to humans.
"SPEECH" Pokedex speech.
'Speech' telepathic speech
This manner of speech to signify a thought-process.
~0~
Lucy AKA Gardevoir lvl 39 - significant moves: teleport, confusion, magical leaf and reflect. Light screen, Psychic
Fenrir AKA Nidorino, lvl 38- significant moves: peck, poison sting, double kick and horn attack.
Cinder AKA Ninetales, lvl 37- significant moves: ember, confuse ray, quick attack and will-o-wisp. Flamethrower.
Aerodactyl, lvl 17 – significant moves: bite, wing attack, supersonic.
Eevee, lvl 17 - significant moves: tackle, sand attack.
~0~
"But at least one of the Spartans has had multiple battles in which his presence has caused the necessary fuzz."
"Fuzz?"
Both the marines as the civilians present in his battles hailed him as a hero…it was very annoying to cover up his presence at the battles when for all intents and purposes, he should not exist."
"Did it work?"
"The first time. But Spartan-zero-zero-five has had the…misfortune to be noticed in multiple battles. Tales of his exploits have just been too wide-spread to efficiently cover it up."
"A hero? Five?"
"Yes. But seeing as how tales of an unidentified but active Spartan can boost morale so easily, we allowed the rumors to keep existing."
- conversation between Captain Wren and Jennifer Sunfield.
Three hostiles, three shells to take them out. But they were coming so easily at him…they were slow and moving in one direct line. He didn't need to waste ammo on them; he could simply beat them to death with their weapons. But that would be so slow…so boring…he was itching to use his shotgun and this was one perfect time to use it.
But so utterly useless and meaningless; a disabled enemy was an enemy that could not attack him. He could simply incapacitate them all with a simple blow and move on.
But they attacked him and they should die for that. They were enemies and enemies needed to be killed: simple as that.
But his team would blame the unnecessary violence on him…and he did not want to compromise his position with them anymore than it already was; quite fragile.
So he decided to cut both ways some slack; he jumped to his side until he had a clear view of the three closest targets and then pulled the trigger.
Not three times, but once. The shell left the barrel and the pellets spread out marginally; just enough for the projectiles to carve their way into and even through the legs of the approaching 'ninjas', crippling two and hurting a third. But before the third man could actually recover, he sprung forward with blinding speed and kicked him in the head; sending him crashing into the next wall….
…smashing through it…and the next…before he exited the house through another badly placed paper door. That boot to face action wouldn't be very healthy, but then again. Collateral damage in engagements was acceptable to a certain degree.
As the three remaining hostiles stopped in their tracks to gawk at his intense speed, allowing the three Pokemon that were targeting them to take them out with ease. Cinder used her Confuse Ray on one, causing him fall to the ground in an attempt to keep standing upright. Fenrir tackled one and brought him down by sheer force and weight, while Lucy simply decided that the way she wanted to take her target down was by beating a Spartan's record for furthest punted hostile.
A record that she actually came pretty close to shattering; sending her targeted enemy through the paper door and into the forest beyond. Impressive.
"Move out." He told his team and burst through the door that Janine had used to escape through. There were a few reasons why the Gym-leader's daughter would not escape: the first and most prominent one was that she was being chased by a Spartan. So calling that a chase would be and overestimation of her chances, seeing as 'chase' would imply that she had the possibility of getting away.
Yes; she was being HUNTED by a Spartan.
Second reason: two mind-reading Pokemon and one that was immune to toxins and could hear you breathing from half a mile away were also hard to get away from.
Third reason: his air-support would be waiting for the signal to commence the attack. Said signal being the first shot fired and said attack being the complete obliteration of the mansion. With all escape-routes cut off and no reinforcements for the gym-leader to spare, her defeat was almost certain.
A reflection of light to his right got his attention and he diverted from his path, looking to his right.
On a small pedestal, to his right, was a blue greenish Poké Ball. It was simply lying there as if it was a treasure of some sort.
'Net Ball. Great for catching bug and water types.' It said.
'First prototype of Fuchsia store.'
That seemed like something he could use sooner or later, so he took it with him. Stuffing the ball in one of his duffel bags, he resumed the hunt.
He wouldn't get cocky though; if he overlooked his ability and chances even for a second, the chance of losing the target would increase dramatically. No; he would stay focused on the mission and keep on moving and fighting as if this was a usual mission: one without hope.
He stepped through the various rooms and chambers with a grace that he knew was unmatched; utilizing his body to the sheer maximum efficiency and never losing momentum. Various traps were set off as he moved through the building, but he either evaded or reflected all of them and continued onwards. He could hear the footsteps of his target and they were getting closer and closer.
Although they were also being muffled by the loud, violent noises of Aerodactyl completely tearing the upper rooms off of the building. Strange thing, that dinosaur. It was a mere child if he was to believe Lucy, but it possessed the strength to at least rival an Elite in close-combat quarters, so there was that. And it could fly, resist bullets and eat things. Much like an Elite.
Was this thing the prehistoric equivalent of the Elites or was he just overthinking things now? No matter; Aerodactyl would serve its purpose to keep the heat on Janine and in the meantime he would catch up to the female.
His Pokemon took their sweet time to catch up with him, but he paid them no mind. He had an objective and they would not slow him down one bit.
Thundering up the nearest stairs, he dove to the side to avoid both a flung dagger and a piece of falling debris. The dinosaur had the worst timing and Janine was still trying to keep him distanced from him. But if she was desperate enough to throw her weaponry at him, then he was getting closer to her.
"Persistent one!" She cried and slid through a narrow opening in a wooden wall. He did not hold delusions that he could fit through that hole with his body and instead chose to increase his speed for plan B. Plan B was something he always had at hand when stealth or low-profile Operations went hairy. It usually involved blunt violence and overwhelming force and this day was not an exception. He crashed through the wooden door and realized –perhaps a bit too late- that he would need his armour to effectively get through obstacles like these.
Ah hell, it didn't even matter. It seemed that he used smash-and-roll more often as a breach and clear means than the actual breach and clear itself. He made a mental note to change the way he entered hostile rooms and came up with his shotgun at the ready. Well…the past had offered him smarter ideas than trying to clear a room wielding a M90 one-handed. Still; his reinforced bones would enable him to handle the recoil without too much trouble.
The only person in the small room that he had stumbled into was the daughter of the Gym Leader, Koga. She was wearing a katana-sword in one hand and the sudden intrusion of her room caught her by surprise. Too bad for her: he needed Intel.
He fired his weapon and the projectiles smashed into the bladed weapon, knocking it out of her hand.
"Wha-" She stuttered, but had no chance to say anything else. He took two steps forwards and –resisting the urge to smack her over her head with the butt of his gun- gave her a mere shove, knocking her to the ground.
He cocked his weapon and aimed it at her head –the message would be clear. "Stay down." He ordered the young woman and waited for the rest of his team to catch up to him.
'Master, where are you?' Lucy's familiar voice asked him in his head.
"Upstairs." He called, hoping that they could hear him. If they couldn't, he would simply have to start his interrogation himself.
Turning to face the target, he thought of the first thing to ask for. "What's the situation in Saffron?"
She swallowed and tried to keep up a brave face, but it was very obvious to her that he was having the upper hand and that she was unnerved by his presence. And he was all too aware of his appearance and how it worked with other people.
His Pokemon arrived at the floor roughly around the same time that Janine decided to answer. "Rocket's hideout, Sabrina stays there …it's a fortress! You won't in there!"
Too much information for his liking, but still. She talked. That was good. "Sabrina?"
"Yes! The most powerful of us all…she is our secret weapon!"
A single person as a secret weapon? What was she, a Spartan? "Who is she?"
The girl smiled. "I propose a game. As a Ninja, my father was the very swiftest warrior that Rocket has in their ranks. As his daughter, I am trained in his ways. If you can outmatch me in speed, I will tell you what you want to know."
That was not the deal she had offered him before, but seeing as he never actually participated in deals it did not matter. A little display of his capabilities would surely loosen her lips. "Deal."
The girl smiled and got to her feet. "I hold out my hands, like this…" She placed her hands in front of him, palms aimed upwards. "If you can hit my hands in one go while I am unable to hit yours in the same manner, I will talk like a bird."
Deal.
He placed the shotgun on his back and held his hands up in the same gesture. "Ladies first." He said.
'Ever the gentleman!' Cinder said.
Janine smiled and gestured with her hands. "You hit me and I don't hit you; that's the only way."
He sighed and decided to play with her ridiculous game. It was the same kind of reflex-training that he had done with his fellow-trainee's back at training. First one to grab the paper: one at top who initiated and one below who had to follow. Pointless here.
She glared at his face with the upmost focus, never wavering in her unyielding stare. He watched her for a few seconds before a momentary twitch in her facial muscles betrayed a sudden weakness; one he did not need to exploit to win but that would grant him even more overwhelming victory. His hands flashed downwards and before she could even blink, they initiated contact with her own hands.
A loud clapping noise echoed through the room as he smacked her hands, scoring a point for him. Even though he could easily interrogate her ONI style to get the Intel, showing her that she would be utterly beaten on her own terms would be a better way to get information. Besides; she would cooperate with him willingly if he did so. Patience was the virtue here.
"How…" She muttered and looked down at her hands, before looking up at him again. "You got lucky; now it's your turn!"
He complied and held his hands in the same gesture that she had, preparing the stupid game to continue.
She held her hands above him and averted her gaze, seemingly wanting to concentrate as much as she could.
There was nothing to betray her next coming motions, nothing to signal what was to come. And still he was many times faster than she was, taking his hands out of their position before hers could even come close.
She swore when she noticed that she had failed not once, but twice and looked at him again. "How swift is your body?" She asked incredibly. "Nobody has ever beat me except for my father…how did you?"
"A deal is a deal." He said. "Tell me what I want to know."
She looked at him with a strange expression, one he was unable to identify but he knew would complicate this case unnecessarily.
"Yes…I keep my promises. As a proper warrior should." She angrily said and crossed her arms. "What do you want to know?"
"This…Sabrina. Who is she?"
"The Gym Leader of Saffron. The most powerful psychic mankind has ever witnessed and she is Team Rocket's to command."
The Gardevoir on his team glided up to meet him and puzzled him with a next statement.
'Take note of how she said 'Team Rocket's to command' and not 'ours to command.'
He did take notice of that. It meant that she did not see herself as a member of Rocket. Meaning that she was still wavering, no matter how loyal she was to her father.
"What is Rocket's ultimate goal?"
"As I said, I do not know. Giovanni rules them –us, that is- strictly. He never tells us his plans."
"What were you told?"
She sighed and crossed her arms in an angry gesture. "Just the usual 'we will serve the world a greater purpose' story. That…and…"
He did not interrupt her, yet she stopped herself. And he knew why; he had heard it too. In fact, he had heard it before she did but didn't do anything to give it away, lest he stop her from sharing her intel. But now that it was becoming distinctive enough for HER to hear, he would have to take action.
He had been hearing the faintest footsteps as of yet, outmatched by a sneaking Spartan but still very light-weighted. Turning around, he grabbed his shotgun and aimed it at the door. The tearing and snapping noises at the roof had faded away about a minute ago and the silence was almost eerie.
'Are we expecting trouble?' Cinder asked him, but he merely held up a fist to silence her and stepped into the hallway. There his query was: the Gym Leader himself.
"Very good." The man said. His features were sharp and his posture radiated self-confidence and arrogance. "Your senses are inhumane. Who are you?"
He pulled the trigger and his weapon discharged.
The lethal blast caught the man directly in his feet; the remaining pellets carved holes in the ground even as the man screamed with pain and fell to the floor, unable to escape the speed of a gun. Some Ninja he was.
"No!" Janine screamed and ran towards him, brandishing a dagger. Lucy spun around and caught the female in a powerful psychic field, preventing her from doing anything but stare daggers at them.
"You promised…" She growled, her voice growing cold and hard. Her eyes never left his face, not even to glance at her wounded father. "You promised that you WOULD NOT HURT HIM!"
"J-Janine…" The Gym Leader stuttered.
"I said he would live." He said and walked up to the man, before pulling out his combat knife and holding it against his throat. He grabbed a fistful of Koga's hair and pushed his head down, making it easier for the veins to be sliced open together. "Even that might change."
"I'll kill you for this!" She said, recomposing herself enough to stop the screaming. "What more do you want?"
'Master, she would have given us the information without you using violence.' Lucy softly protested.
That might be true, but he had no reason to believe that the two criminals would simply surrender their intel just like that. They might be lying or scheming and he wasn't planning on having to deal with an attack in his back as soon as it was turned. "There are Alien artefacts scattered all over this town and a criminal bunch of fools run wild? No police, no government and no army? Think again."
The girl's eyes shot to her father in concern before she hastily formulated a reply. "Don't do anything rash here, alright? We can work this out."
"Janine…don't give in!" The man coughed.
"No father, I told you that your path was doomed. We might yet be able to redeem ourselves now." Then she turned towards him again. "I too believe that there is more at stake than people can imagine…but I really do not know what or how. Kill us if you must, but that doesn't change your position. You can't win."
Like that would prevent him from giving all that he got and trying. "Saffron is Rocket's base of operations. Giovanni there?"
"I have no reason to believe that he will be anywhere else."
"Good."
He released the wounded man and moved to the nearest window. Aerodactyl's lack of activity was becoming suspicious; the Pokemon would have found something else to attack. So why wasn't it making noise again?
"We're moving out." He called and his team followed him without hesitation. He could hear from a sudden tremor in the ground that his Psychic partner had released Janine, allowing the two fallen Shinobi to reunite with each other in the proper way. Not dead and without posing a threat to him.
"Blast it." He ordered Cinder. As the Ninetales prepared to destroy the wooden wall that stood between him and the freedom of the road ahead, he noticed that the daughter was still glaring at him. If looks could kill…well, he'd be dead already before he ever got to meet her, but still. She wasn't too happy about it.
The wall caught fire and crumbled away under the intense heat, enabling them all to exit the building within seconds after the fire had been set. His feet hit the ground and without even rolling to dissipate the blow, he started to move. His Pokemon also seemed unfazed by the height, but that was purely because they were cheating. Even the small Eevee was seemingly unimpressed by that height, while a normal human would have to roll at least once to avoid damage. Well, creatures that had been used for combat against each other for who-knows how long had to have been built sturdy.
'So…one new enemy later; what will we do now?' The vixen asked him.
He started going towards the treeline, before remembering that he should take Aerodactyl with him if he were to have every possible advantage he could muster. "Lucy, bring our air support back."
She nodded and teleported away, leaving him alone with the rest of his team until further notice.
He sighed and walked deeper into the forest, hoping that the Gardevoir would be back soon and that he might continue fighting. When he turned back to see if his Pokemon were following him, he noticed that the Ninetales was indeed walking after him.
With a newspaper in her jaws. That was weird; where had she found that? And when? More importantly, why did she think it significant to their current situation?
"What?" He asked her and took the thing from her. "Did you hear me say fetch?"
'Very funny. Be happy that I found this!'
He sighed and ran through the pages, searching for anything that might be useful.
Breaking news! Elite Four retire from the league and disappear!
Elite four? Right; members of the Pokemon League, where skilled fighters would come to challenge them. First fix world, then test skills. He skipped the page.
Officer Jenny's report: 'Rocket is unstoppable!'
He skipped the page.
Sexually frustrated Charizard nearly rapes her trainer; how do you deal with these problems?
He froze in his position for a few second when he read that. He had no idea what a Charizard was, but he hoped to whatever deity that cruised the skies of Kanto that it wasn't a Fire-type.
Skipped the page. Rapidly.
Scilph Scope is taken over by Rocket! Saffron despairs.
Scilph Scope? Had he heard that name before somewhere? Well, the title said Saffron so that had to mean something? If this 'Scilph' was taken over by Team Rocket, it had to have some sort of function that had attracted them there in the first place. So a building…taken over by terrorists…in Saffron, their main hub. Taken over sort of implied that there were people that lived there besides them…meaning that there was resistance in the city. Whether that resistance was alive or dead was still unclear though. There was a date above the article, but without proper guidance that would be completely useless.
And he would NOT go around asking people what date it was. No way.
"Where?" He asked the Pokemon.
'Your newest victim carried it with him.'
Because of the Rocket thing? Or…because of the other thing? It was hard to believe that a man like Koga would be the perverted type that got off on the idea, but then again: he was a Spartan. He was the pinnacle of warfare and having no idea of what people were like. Besides; Pokemon making advances on people might be a regular thing on this world. They DID possess human-level intelligence and he knew that some of them resembled humans alright; a creature with the muscled body of a man and in possession of FOUR arms could make a lady go crazy. He had had female marines attempting to flirt with him before…even though it took one of his superior officers telling him to seek isolation to actually make him realize that they had been hitting on him in the first place. And he didn't even have four arms.
What was he thinking off again? Oh yes, terrorists. So Team Rocket was in possession of the entirety of Saffron city but was also struggling to keep control over it…that would be a weakness. A weakness he would have to exploit.
An overhead scream called his attention back to the matter at hand; scattered in forest with team.
Aerodactyl sailed overhead and landed in a clearing a few dozen meters to the left of his position. At roughly the same time as the creature reappearing, Lucy also materialized.
'He was hunting.' She stated.
Hunting? The thing JUST had dinner. It ate roughly half of their catch in its frenzy. What did it need to sustain it?
Cinder said something in her own native language and Fenrir responded in kind, initiating another fine conversation in Pokemon language that he could not follow.
"Move out." He said, trying to keep his thoughts off of the raging torrent of problems and scenarios. He had long ago learned to never dwell on the 'what if's ' of combat, but this world was already breaking as much established rules as it forced new ones onto him so he might as well keep to his own thoughts while his team moved.
'So? Big fight coming up, right?' The curious Fire-type asked him. 'With this Sabrina-lady huh? Any idea what you are going to do?'
"Kill the enemies, complete the objective. Same as ever."
He assumed that Cinder was speaking to all of them with her mind. 'Boring…do you never try mixing things up a little? Talking your way out?'
She remained silent for only a moment before adding: 'Right…I forgot. Sorry.'
Good. That didn't need explaining-
'You are socially awkward. Letting you talk to people would be worse than letting mister fly-boy over there talk to them.'
What?
'Now there Cinder, do not insult our master like that. He did not deserve that.'
She craned her neck and gave Lucy and odd glance. 'Coming from you? He was being rather violent against that man. –no offense to you, of course!'
"None taken."
'Well...this time was justified-'
No more than any other.
'-seeing as the man was affiliated with the bad humans; he would have come back to hurt us later.'
'But we kind of made an enemy out of his daughter. She does not seem like the type you would want as an enemy, right?'
'Do I sense a hint of fear there, Cinder?'
'From me? Bah!'
Silly females. They had reached the small open field where Aerodactyl was roosting and judging by the bloody smears covering his maw, he had already feasted on whatever it was that he had found. Eevee was staring at the large creature with her ears in her neck, seemingly very intimidated by the sight.
"You done yet?" He asked the dinosaur. "We're moving."
It shifted its gaze from the ground towards him and the eyes narrowed. A soft hiss escaped its throat and it started moving towards their position, placing one clawed appendage in front of the other in its slow but very threatening advance.
He sighed and prepared himself for another game of domination above submission with the reptile. But before either of them could make one hostile move towards the other, the little Eevee darted out from underneath his legs. He could simply reach out and grab the thing, but it had to have a reason for its behaviour. So he let it.
Eevee stopped when it –she- was close enough for the Aerodactyl to reach out and swallow her whole. He would interfere when it did that; he would never tolerate such tensions to exist in his team.
The prehistoric Pokemon lowered its head and brought it closer to the mammal, as if it wanted to sniff her scent or something like that.
"Eev?" The female replied in turn and crawled even closer. She was officially closer to the reptile than he would want to see her and if those two did not break up soon, he would either force them to or order them to get a room.
'This is new.' Lucy said.
"You don't say."
'You misjudge my words, master. The young one's thoughts have calmed down. Death is no longer on the forefront of its thoughts.'
"I thought that you were the only one to calm him down?"
'It seems you thought wrong.'
What was with the sudden shift in her attitude? One moment she was being gentle and caring, her voice sounding more like a subtle caress than sound, and the next thing he knew her voice flung through his head with enough force to cause his mind to tremble slightly in its aftermath. Mood swings probably…she DID resemble a human female and it was commonly known that human females had certain days on which they would behave like Covenant Brutes.
Perhaps this was such a day?"
Eevee and Aerodactyl were close enough to touch each other now and if the large monster suddenly got violent, there would be a chance that he would be too late.
The two noses touched each other-
-Aerodactyl flinched-
-and he jumped forwards. The reptile had made a sudden move and if didn't act quickly, the newest member of his team would become the first casualty as well.
But nothing like that happened. The resurrected animal merely changed its facial expression to one he could not read and the evolutionary animal happily squealed and darted forwards, ignoring every dangerous aspect of Aerodactyl so that she might get closer to him.
'Is he smiling?' Cinder cautiously asked.
'It would seem so, yes. Curious: even I never had the ability to calm him just like that.'
"He is a kid."
'Correct master.'
"She is a kid."
'Correct master.'
"Problem solved. They will look after each other. On to Saffron city."
'And the murderous psychic Human whom Rocket considers their ace in a hole.'
Horribly phrased. "Correct Cinder."
'And the many dozens of combat-ready humans that want to kill us.'
"Correct Lucy."
Fenrir growled something and promptly took the lead, taking their conversation elsewhere. The sight of the fluffy animal walking side-by-side with the not-so-fluffy animal was mildly disturbing…but he could not yet understand why he felt that way. There was only one reason why he had taken the thing with him in the first place and that was because of the scientific interest that his enemies showed in it. But he had yet to find out just exactly what was so interesting about the creature –and he had no way to find out himself. He would have to find another scientist to interrogate and simply wish real hard that this one would not get blown away by a Forerunner ship taking off,
That was another frustrating factor: the obviously advanced alien interference in this land. A pyramid, erected after a war with two unknown parties? No way; something extra-terrestrial in origin would NOT simply appear without reason. It had to have been present for a long time, just waiting for the right moment to show itself. But the Forerunners were hailed as gods by the Covenant –that was something ONI was sure of. But if that was true…the ancient aliens would have to be dead. The only thing they left behind was these structures and artefacts…which they were still active. The Pyramid had been excreting mechanical flying drones at a rapid pace.
So where did that leave him? Something far greater than he could imagine was going on; the native animals all defied the laws of nature as if it was default for them. They could not be natural, that is simply impossible. And the nation he found himself in was cut-off from the other ones; without a governing body or even military presence to guide it. Anarchy. And Team Rocket took the full advantage of that, taking over almost every major city in Kanto. But why? What was in it for them? Money and power meant nothing when your own life was at stake and with the psychic hostile on the roof of that spire obviously being able to indoctrinate humans with its mind, they should be focusing on the bigger picture.
Also…the artefact on Vermillion? What was all that about –the Gym Leader there being brainwashed by a powerful Psychic…was that Sabrina or the armoured Pokemon? Did these two work together? Or did the one work for the other? No…that could not be true.
Whatever feelings he still understood, the feeling that he got on top of the Pyramid was still very clear to him: not under human control.
It was with the Forerunner presence attempting to kill him. That let only a few remaining options for him: either Rocket was working to gain control over the country and were blind to everything else, or they were actively trying to figure out what the alien activity meant and trying to control it.
That, or Rocket was under direct control of the Psychic Pokemon. But that idea was ridiculous; no creature could dominate an entire organization like that.
So how? And why?
He would find out when he assaulted Saffron. That much was clear.
'Master? Are you alright?'
"Just thinking."
'About what?' Cinder curiously added.
"The coming battle."
'You are already working out how to win? That is excellent.'
Sort of. "How are the two infants?"
The psychic-type seemed thoughtful before she carefully answered. 'I do not know…the little one is having no trouble with keeping Aerodactyl under control…but the reason for that is not one I can discern myself.'
Meaning that she had no idea. Great.
He stopped in his tracks and held his hand up; their signal for stop. His team obeyed him without question and even the two young ones stopped moving.
He heard a faint rushing sound ahead…it didn't sound like any organic form of movement, but the creatures in this world challenged the laws of physics on a daily basis so yeah…there was that.
"Movement ahead." He told his companions and then resumed walking, dropping to a crouch with his assault rifle at the ready. He circled to the right and hoped to flank the hostiles ahead in such a move. But after two minutes of moving like that, the rushing sound became familiar to him/
And he wished that it simply meant enemy movement. Because enemy movement he could deal with; hostile targets could be targeted and destroyed.
'I have a bad feeling about this…' The fire-type complained and this one time, he agreed with her.
The trees parted and he stumbled upon a raging river, easily a hundred meters wide.
"River." He muttered and crept closer to the riverbed, hoping that there would be a bridge somewhere to help him cross the damn thing. But both the left as the right sides were completely devoid of any way to cross the body of water that did not involve swimming.
The water did not even move that fast, but he had no idea how cold it would be and if there would be any dangerous indigenous life-forms in the water that could compromise him. The occasional splash at the surface of the water indicated that it was in fact animal-habitat and if the most recent water-types were any indication of their physiology, there would be no swimming.
And if he had a water-type Pokemon with him that could support his weight, he could simply use that to get to the other side. But he had two Pokemon with a weakness to water, two Pokemon that looked like they couldn't even swim in a stagnant pool without drowning and one that could levitate.
He could simply recall his entire team and let Lucy teleport him to the other side, or let her use her telekinetic powers to carry him there.
Or he could ride Aerodactyl to the other side…well, that plan might have to wait for a while.
"Think you can teleport us?" He asked his partner.
It didn't take her long to formulate a reply. 'No…I cannot see the other side clearly enough to risk it and I do not trust myself enough to risk a blind-jump.'
So they were stuck on the other side until he could come up with a way to cross it. He could build a raft and use that…but again, indigenous life-forms. He could walk all the way to either side and search for a way to cross, but that would be a waste of time and effort. The answer lay with the apparent driving factor behind this world: its inhabitants.
He would have to catch a water-type and ride that to the other side. Great; yet another creature to take care off and with that, his team would be complete.
"We need a Pokemon to cross this." He said and prepared the last Poké Ball he had. Originally he had been given five of them by the old Professor, but the Net Ball in the mansion seemed ideal for this situation. If a large Water-type Pokemon raised its head, he would weaken it with his team and then catch it. With it, he would cross the river with Aerodactyl providing air-support from above.
That way, he would have optimal chances of reaching the other side.
"Lucy, do you feel anything in the water?"
'I feel an abundance of life down there, master.´
Good. "Bring as many as you can up in the air; I'll catch the one that will allow us to cross this."
The Gardevoir did not question his orders and obeyed him without trouble; surrounding herself in that all-too common aura. Then she gestured with one hand and as if they followed her command, a dozen of creatures leaped out of the water.
But those would not do…would they? Pokemon usually evolved in bigger, stronger versions of themselves when they grew tough. These things however, didn't look like they were capable of doing even that.
They looked like large goldfishes; with shining red scales and long white whiskers. They could also resemble those old Chinese fishes…koi's something. They were a foot long in length and looked about as useful as a Grunt with one leg.
One of them called his attention though. While the rest of these specimens was completely red, this one was tinted blue. Albinos were by definition white, so this was either a mutation or a special case.
'Which one do you choose?' Lucy asked.
They looked completely useless, but if he stumbled upon the sea again he would need a proper Water-type to assist him. Besides; Cinder had looked equally useless to him, but had turned out to be psychic and capable of breathing fire. Perhaps this one would surprise him by being capable of excreting drinkable water. That would be invaluable –ignoring the blatant disregard of all the laws of chemistry, of course- and it would serve him well in the coming fights.
Yes. He would choose that golden one.
"The golden one."
The rest of the fishes were dropped back into the river as the psychic released her grip on them, only keeping the golden one suspended in the air.
He threw his ball at the fish when his partner had brought it closer and watched with slight satisfaction as his newest teammember was enclosed in the capturing capsule. The ball bounced up from the ground and shook heavily. That couldn't be right; could Pokemon escape from these things?
The ball shook again. Twice.
And again. Three times. And then it remained like that, unmoving and silent.
Captured. No other Pokemon had resisted him as much as this one; that had better be a good sign.
"They obey me once I capture them, right?" He asked his team.
Two female affirmatives confirmed his thoughts and he let the Pokemon out again, hoping that his team could talk it into sticking with them.
In the meantime…a new problem. He had been unable to catch a proper Water-type to use in his effort to cross the water. That left only two options now; making a raft, or riding Aerodactyl.
And he had no time nor equipment to make a working raft in such a short notice. He would have to try his luck and fly the reptile to the other side. Time to test Eevee's ability to control the mean thing.
He would rather ride a hostile Banshee into space than doing this though. At least religious genocidal aliens could be reasoned with…
~0~
The human had captured another Pokemon to add to his team. Now there were six of them. Cinder, the kind Ninetales, told her that they were a close team and that they never left anyone behind. But the actions of her new trainer hadn't inspired much confidence in her up to now: he was a deadly warrior, but behaved so strange and violent. And not once had he tried to talk to her in a kind way, like Humans were supposed to do. Well…like she thought humans were supposed to do. The problem was that she didn't know what they were like now: the only ones she had met in her short, new life were the mean ones and her trainer.
"Hello there!" Sweet Lucy said to the odd-looking Magikarp, Why was that thing so shiny? "Are you ok?"
"Oh my…" The pokemon replied. "I have been captured? By a trainer?"
"Well…yes. We are very sorry for robbing you of your freedom like this, but we need your help." Wasn't it normal for Humans to catch Pokemon out of the wild? Cinder and Lucy had told her that they had been saved by the trainer, but did the same thing go with the rest of them?
"Oh dear girl… I don't think I have seen you before." Magikarp said. "But I am glad that a human has chosen me to take under his wing!"
"Glad?" Cinder asked from her position a few meters away from the shore. "How are you glad?"
"This river is exhausted; food has become scarce and the just a few minutes ago, the complete surroundings changed!"
That would be the Searing-Storm from which they had taken shelter, yes. For a Magikarp, this individual was very intelligent. Well, it would have to be in order to survive amongst so many specimens. And with its golden colour…it would stand out like spikes on a human.
"Yes…that is part of the problem we are facing. So you will help us?" Lucy asked.
"I would do anything for the lovely trainer that has given me a chance to live!" It happily said.
"That is good. We need a way to cross this river, and-"
Her attention was called when the trainer suddenly appeared next to her, kneeling next to her small form.
"Eevee. I require assistance. Nod if you can understand me."
She remained frozen in place, intimidated by the sheer stealth that such a large male could possess.
She did not want to have anything to do with him; he was scary and mean and she disliked him. There was nothing she would do for him until he had proven himself trustworthy enough to work with.
And yet she still nodded, indicating that she understood him perfectly. Why would she do something like that?
"I will ride Aerodactyl to the other side of the river. I need you to keep him calm like you always do."
Hold up…he was going to ride Fluffy? Why would he want to do that! Fluffy would tear him apart if he even touched him! Perhaps…perhaps this was the reason why he wanted her help? Wait…he had said so already.
The Aerodactyl had been very kind against her, and she in turn. She didn't understand how she 'calmed' him down, but she simply touched him and he calmed underneath her touch. Since then, he was a friend. He was kind. He was Fluffy, her new best friend.
But if they were going to cross this river for some reason, they would indeed need to do so on his back.
She nodded again, confirming that she understood his plan.
"You will need to stay on top of him while we fly. I will hold on to you, but unlike the rest you will need to remain outside of your ball."
That was a good thing! She disliked having to be stored in that dreamlike trance like that! But…flying on Fluffy? Just like that? He must be crazy.
And still she nodded. Stop doing that!
He picked her up in his large, strong hands and carried her to Aerodactyl.
"H-hello…" She hesitantly said.
The Pokemon turned to face her and then looked at his trainer. Did he understand what was going on? Or was he feeling protective towards her, because her trainer was holding her like that?
"Ehm…trainer wants us to…fly…with you."
He cocked his head and his eyes focused on her again. He was so big! If she were to stand on her trainer's head on her hindlegs, the two of them would still be smaller than him.
He growled at them and lowered its head. Was he being mean or did he want them to take their place on his back?
"Lucy, Cinder, Fenrir! Tell your new friend we move now!"
He recalled them one by one after they had told the Magikarp that they were leaving and then turned back to the two remaining pokemon: him and her.
Now that the others were gone, the only one she could still trust was Fluffy. Well…both telepathic girls had told her that she could trust her trainer. This would be that moment…the moment where she would find out if her trainer was going to hurt her or not.
The trainer placed her on top of Aerodactyl's head and then mounted him. She had never before seen a human sitting on a Pokemon like that…was that supposed to be normal or not? It looked weird. Math himself wasn't very cute and only cute creatures were supposed to hug, right?
Well…Fluffy wasn't cute either…at least not on the outside. He was her best friend, so he would have to be nice!
"Hold on." The trainer said and placed his legs behind the grey wings, before reaching out and grabbing her again. His hands placed her on a position on the scaled neck, right underneath the human's chest. It wasn't a position where she would like to be, but if she did not calm the Pokemon with her presence he would engage their trainer in a fight to the death. And she did not know who would win that fight. Why did males always have to fight about everything?
The Aerodactyl curved its neck backwards and glared at the two passengers sitting on his back, not looking particularly happy about his situation. But he behaved –and that was all that she wanted.
"Good job!" She told it. "Now…just fly to the other side of the river, would you? Please?"
The creature did not reply in any way; of course it didn't, it could not talk like they did. But at least he understood her and that was all that she required from him.
"Go." The trainer said and at that moment, she took it upon her to translate the word to something that Fluffy would understand.
"Go ahead; fly!" She happily cooed and then pressed herself against the heavily muscled neck. Aerodactyl was a very powerful creature; even though he should have the light frame to keep himself afloat in the sky, he was very heavily build and muscled. It didn't even show that much, but she could feel the muscles underneath the skin and her instinct told her the rest.
The legs kicked themselves off of the ground-
- his wings unfolded and revealed themselves in all of their majesty once again-
- and they took off. Three strokes of his wings were enough for the three of them to takes the skies and for the second time in her short memory, she soared into the sky. This time felt both better and infinitely worse: even though she was flying with her friend and her trainer towards a destination that was clear, she was in more danger than she had been with the Bad Humans. At least they had had the decency to keep her somewhere safe during the trip; there was nothing to prevent her from falling to her death this time, except for her trainer. But seeing as she had already fixed herself on trusting the man called Math for just this once, she wouldn't complain too much.
She would scream in fear though.
The journey to the other side didn't take too long; after two minutes of nerve-wrecking, gut-wrenching and mind-numbing flight they had arrived at the other side, where the riverbed ended at the shore.
The voyage at Aerodactyl's back had not been a pleasant one. He had constantly attempted to go after flying Pokemon in the air, swimming Pokemon in the water or even towards a completely different direction. His sudden and chaotic movements had nearly thrown her free not one, but three times. Only the timely intervention from her trainer had saved her from falling into the water –and even though it was wet and blue, the river would not have saved her.
Because Fluffy had decided that simply flying to the other side wouldn't be enough, oh no. He had flown high into the sky, taking altitudes that even the other Pokemon had not dared to reach. Once again, the trainer had been forced to take action and called him out on his actions.
It had been a wonder that they had even reached the other side in one piece. And as soon as her human dismounted the Rock-type, he had snapped at his leg.
"Fluffy!" She yelled, hoping that her angry tone would not offend him in any way. "That was bad! Bad!"
Her friend growled and averted his head, not even bothering to try and go against her scolding. Good. That way, he would learn not to eat his friends.
Math grabbed his Poké balls and released the other Pokemon too, allowing the six of them to celebrate the new victory. And because she had been chosen to ride Aerodactyl as the first of her new team, she felt special too.
Special her –rider of Pokemon.
~0~
'So what do we do now?'
"Continue to Saffron."
'Don't you think we should take a break now, master?'
"Why?"
'You rode Aerodactyl together with Eevee. That is not nothing.'
"Yes it is."
'With respect…I was not talking about you.'
Math looked over his shoulder and spotted the young Eevee, lying on her back on the ground with her legs in the air, faking death. The Rock-type was curled up around her, allowing her head to rest on his tail.
"We're wasting time."
'Nobody knows that we are coming master; Saffron will wait for us and we cannot fight if we are tired, can we?'
"Fine. Half an hour, but first a debriefing."
She sighed and sat down next to a fallen tree, using the once formidable organism to rest against. Her master was still so narrow-mind when it came to the future; if he couldn't broaden his views soon, he would get hurt because of it. .
But he was making small progress at least: he had saved Eevee all on his own without anyone influencing him and he had even chosen to keep the Magikarp with him. Of course her shiny golden scales were a mystery to her too, but she was different from the rest of them. Apart from her colour, there wasn't anything that set the Magikarp apart from the rest of her species: Cinder had been psychic and in trouble; capturing her was a mercy. Fenrir was absolutely needed to augment their team and test her own capabilities. Aerodactyl had been a little accident, but proved to be a risk to his surroundings and himself. Taking him with them had also been a mercy…only more of a mercy to the rest of the world than to the creature himself.
And Eevee had been captured by the Bad Humans and probably used for experiments; also, she would have died in the crash had he not captured her.
Wait…a debriefing?
The human took a position in the middle of his team and did not even once have to ask for their attention. They immediately offered him their unwavering responsiveness: he spoke so little that every small word that came out of his mouth was a victory to all five of them. Well…all six of them now.
"Listen up team. The situation as following: I do not come from this world. I am a soldier from a different world; fighting in a war to protect humanity. I seek to return to my people and Saffron city has the means to allow me to communicate with them. If we're lucky, they will arrive in a few weeks. Until then, you will all have to learn how to become strong and defend yourself when I leave."
He paused for a moment to let his throat recover and then continued. "Saffron City is crawling with enemies. If we are to fight and win, we will need to be at our best. And I mean you. First of all: team cohesion exercises."
Exercises? Seriously?
"You will all need a name. Aerodactyl? You will be known as-"
"He already has a name!" Eevee cried out. Turning to face her, she continued. "Tell him! You have to tell him, please!"
She nodded at the child and addressed her master. 'Math, it appears that Aerodactyl already has a name.'
"Come again?" He said.
'Eevee says that he already possesses a name.'
"Fine." He turned to face the brown Pokemon and spoke to her directly: "Which is?"
The small individual did not hesitate for a second and instantly gave her reply. "His name is Fluffy!"
Her heart skipped a beat when she heard that. Apart from the sheer innocence and sweetness that came together with the lovely little Eevee, such a name was completely unfit for him. The ferocious, wild animal did not even REMOTELY resemble anything fluffy and quite frankly, that caused the name to suddenly become fitting.
Fluffy the Aerodactyl. How original.
Still, she hesitated to pass the message on. Cinder looked very taken aback by the name; with a good reason. She was the fluffiest one in their team. Perhaps she was jealous?
That dislike and jealousy towards Aerodactyl was only more reason for her to accept the name. 'She says that his name…is Fluffy.'
She half expected her trainer to oppose the request or downright decline it, but he did no such thing.
"Fine." He said and turned to face Eevee herself. "Does he have a name for you as well?"
"Nope." She bluntly said, practically oozing with glee that her nickname had been confirmed.
"Then I will come up with one." He was silent for half a minute before he continued talking, officially giving Eevee her 'designation.' "It is only fitting that you should bear his original name then. Your name is Phoenix."
She inhaled sharply when she heard such a name being addressed to such a cute being. How did Math even come up with these names?
Turning to face the last Pokemon without a proper name, he looked down at the Magikarp. The newest addition to the team seemed like the weakest one as well; what sort of name would he pick for her?
"Your official designation shall be Havoc. You are to respond to that name from now on."
Havoc…a nice name, just like Phoenix. Did these names mean anything or were they simply made-up from his military tinted mind? For a child of war like him, he came up with these names very easily. Perhaps it was a hidden talent? Giving people nicknames?
"Excuse me…what?' Magikarp replied. Was she referring to the name, the mission or the whole not-from-this-world thing?
'So…debriefing over?' Cinder asked.
"Yes."
"Good!" after that, the Fire-type smiled and joined Fenrir, who was currently being the victim in his trainer's teaching methods. But that was alright: the Nidorino always seemed to enjoy the lessons of his pack-leader.
Seeing as their trainer was turned towards Fenrir to teach him something about utilizing the opponent's balance for own benefit, she could make use of their new free time to talk to Eevee and Magikarp. That is; Phoenix and Havoc. These names didn't fit them at all…
"It seems that you two are in need of information." She tried.
The two remained silent, but she could sense that she had their attention alright. "We do not know what is going on lately, but there are strange things going on. The fate of our world hangs in the balance and if we do not act, all shall be lost in darkness."
"How would you know this?" Havoc replied.
"Because we faced it. Together with our trainer, we fought Bad Humans and twisted pokemon and even demonic creatures that are not of this world. I saw what evil is on the loose in this world and I will not rest until we have vanquished it."
"Bad Humans? I believe that; they had me as their prisoner." Eevee –Phoenix- replied.
Cinder and Fenrir were currently listening to the instructions of their trainer and didn't listen to her. Fluffy the murderous Aerodactyl was still sleeping, paying even less attention to them at the moment.
"I do not know about this…all I ever knew was the river and how it was slowly getting corrupted. Perhaps this is the work of the 'evil' you describe?" Havoc asked.
"Yes!" She replied, feeling glad that the newest member was such a clever lady. She seemed to understand the gravity of the situation and didn't waste time with asking questions. "Indeed! Our enemy has managed to launch an enormous habitat into the sky. What they aim to do with that, I do not know. But it released intense energy enough to destroy the town of Fuchsia –and nearly destroy your river."
"So that was what it was…" The Magikarp responded. Faint anger emanated off of her and Lucy felt her doubts increasing too. "But…who did that then? These…Bad Humans?"
"Bad Humans…yes. And a twisted Pokemon with more power than should be possible. It did not come from nature itself, I can tell that. It was wearing strange armour…his armour felt like the same material that his demonic creations had."
Her master was done talking and was walking to the edge of the forest now, picking up sticks and disregarding them again, as if they weren't pretty enough for him. Cinder was happily walking after him, as if she wanted to guard him from something.
She shook her head and resumed her focus on the task at hand. "Havoc…Phoenix…our trainer is not simply human. He has been twisted by his world…a fate that I regret, but understand. War is all he knows…fighting is his sole goal and he will stop at nothing to do what he believes is right."
"That sounds horrible…" Havoc whispered –which was a hard thing to do when you were a fish. "Who did that to him? How old is he even? He looks strange, as if he should not belong here."
The golden Magikarp had no trouble keeping herself afloat in the river, a testimony to the many years that had strengthened her. Pokemon like her did not survive for long without skills, seeing as they were the preferred meal of many carnivorous creatures. She sounded and felt old for her kind, but there was something else in her body. It felt…off. It was like Havoc's mind was old but her body fluctuated. No; it would fluctuate. It was hardened and tough, but it had untold potential.
Was that the feeling of approaching evolution? Most of Matt's Pokemon had been younglings, but if he had captured an older individual who was nearing evolution…that would most likely please him.
"He never told us…but I suspect that it was his own people who corrupted him. As for his age; he is not much older than twenty summers. Barely an adult for human standards." She added.
"So he is also young?" Phoenix asked.
"Yes…he is. But we shall help him survive in this world he does not understand. We will stop him if he goes too far…because that is what he needs. Someone to stop him."
'It is not like anyone else can him stop…or me, for that matter.' She thought.
"So what is your name then dear?" Havoc asked.
"Me? My name is Lucy. The Nidorino is called Fenrir and the Ninetales over there –whom I suspect is scared of water- is called Cinder."
The fish was being very nice. Too bad that she could not do anything without water…perhaps her next evolution would fix that? That would be excellent; Matt would want her to fight.
"I am sorry to have to ask this Havoc…but what can you do? I mean…our trainer requires us to fight. So what can you do in a fight?"
Disappointment was arising from the Magikarp's mind now. "I am sorry…I cannot do anything else than flop around or bash into the enemy with my body. I might be tough-build, but my weight is not enough to cause damage. But I know that I can evolve…and it approaches soon. Perhaps I can be of assistance then?"
She smiled. "You just need more experience to evolve…you seem to have lived long, but perhaps you simply lack battle experience? In that case, you can watch our fights with the enemy."
A sudden tinkling in the back of her mind cautioned her and she broke the conversation off, wanting to be prepare should they be attacked by the enemy.
"Speaking of fighting…" She said and turned her head towards the direction from which she felt human emotions arising. "I believe you shall have your experience soon. The enemy is approaching."
Fenrir's ears turned towards the same direction she was staring and he started to growl.
"What is it?" Phoenix asked them. "You said enemy?"
A cloud of dust became visible in the distance and the human emotions changed their pattern as they discovered their own position.
"A heavy human vehicle…approaching our direct location." Fenrir said and got to his feet, preparing to engage the enemy.
Soon it became apparent who was attacking them; as a black vehicle with four wheels grew into their sights.
"Over there!" a voice yelled.
"Pokemon! Let's capture them!" Another one said.
Two shots rang out and the wheels suddenly burst; all air leaving them and stranding the vehicle they were supposed to carry.
"What the hell-"
"Ambush!"
She felt the well-guarded mind of her trainer as he stepped into the clearing, his weapon in his hands. He didn't bother to fight the approaching Bad Humans, but he was facing them as if he was ready for a fight.
"Sick 'em." He said and Cinder appeared by his side.
'My pleasure.' She cooed happily and jumped towards the riverbed, standing tall and proud.
"Damn! He's got us outnumbered!"
"Not true; we each have three Pokemon, he has five."
"Six! A Magikarp in the water!"
"…"
"Oh! Never mind, attack! "
She bristled when she heard those words. These humans did not have respect for her newest teammember and now they would pay for it!
It would be so easy to simply manipulate the metal of the car and dump it into the water with the roof closed and keep it down until the situation was resolved…but that would be senseless. And Havoc needed experience, so…she would leave the fighting to them.
The Rocket Humans unleashed their own Pokemon and revealed a slightly impressive team. A very large Nidorino, two Golems, an Arbok, a Machoke and a Magneton. They had the advantage in types and minds. They could not lose.
Matt did not say anything, but he didn't need to. His team knew how to handle itself and even though both Phoenix and…Fluffy…were new and inexperienced, their combined effort would surely be enough to win with ease.
"Fluffy, time to fight!" The small Eevee yelled and said Fluffy immediately exploded into action, uncurling itself and letting loose a vicious scream.
The enemy was unfazed by what they thought was an attempt to scare them, but that was a mistake. They assumed that Aerodactyl wanted to intimidate them…while it was merely releasing pent-up hatred and murderous intent. It was focusing on them instead of bluffing.
She identified the most dangerous enemy for close-combat: the Machoke. Even though her trainer would have no problems with showing that oversized wannabe warrior who was the best, it would be a threat to the other physical fighters in her team.
She didn't know which enemies her friends had chosen to fight, but that did not matter anymore. She would simply destroy the ones who dared oppose them and that would be it.
But before she could even lift her hand and obliterate the Machoke, a shape untangled itself from behind her and flung itself at the Fighting-type. It happened so incredibly fast that she had no idea what had just happened. In the span of one meager second, something had moved from at least half a dozen meters away to her position to fight the Machoke.
First she thought that it was her master coming to their aid, but then the blurry after-effects of thinking faded away and she realized what had really jumped into the fray without a second thought. Lovely Fluffy had deemed to muscle-bound Pokemon to be HIS prey and had latched onto the humanoid creature, overpowering it with ease and bringing it to the ground. While Aerodactyl was mauling the unfortunate Pokemon, he presented his own body as one big opening to the rest of the hostiles.
The Magneton was the first to recover from the shock and as the Nidorino charged forwards, joined by the Arbok and one Golem, it charged up to deliver a lethal shock to Fluffy.
And he was weak to electricity. This was something she had avert at all costs; Aerodactyl was a valuable member of their team; the only flying one and her master's only means of transport until she could trust herself with doing something as a long-range teleport.
Throwing up a light-screen to protect him, she moved forwards and attempted to get a grip on the Electric-type with her telekinetic powers.
But luckily, she wouldn't have to wrestle with an opponent that was resistant to her style. A burst of flames drove the Magneton backwards and created room for herself to move freely.
"My turn!"
It seemed that Cinder had joined the fight as well.
"Good, beat him while I cover Eevee!" She replied, forgetting the fluffy one's new name. Cinder was strong against the Magneton and while Fluffy was mauling the living daylights out of Machoke, the rest of their team could take out the remaining ones.
Two Golems and an Arbok left and –wait one, where was the Nidorino?
Violent screams and tearing noises quickly answered that question for her and she jerked around, hoping that her team wouldn't be messing around too much for the battle to turn towards the enemy's favor.
The large Nidorino was facing Fenrir and the two of them were continuously bashing each other with their horns, causing multiple wounds whenever a horn pierced another one's skin. Droplets of blood were covering the ground as the combatants kept on trying to skewer each other. Even though Fenrir's horn was smaller than his rival's, he was obviously more proficient with it.
The rivalry between two Nidorino's was a terrible thing to watch: they were both covered in holes and the lethal toxins would have annihilated everything but another poison-type like them. They kept on fighting with each other in that deadly locked form of combat while the storm raged around them. Even the mighty Golems steered clear of two territorial Nidorino's; a fact that was being fully exploited by her. Without the two Earth-types for backup, the Arbok was an easy prey for her.
As the battles around her raged on, she utilized her Psychic powers and annihilated the serpent, knocking it out with one hit. With Machoke and Magneton either out of the picture or VERY out of the picture, that only left the two Golems to beat. That could be a problem, as the only teammates that were attracting their attention were the two least combative ones: Eevee –Phoenix!- and Havoc. The Magikarp could simply take cover underneath the water, but for some reason she wasn't doing that.
While one Golem was advancing towards the helpless Eevee and the other one tried to outflank Cinder, Havoc was repeating a pattern of swimming a few meters away, making speed and jumping out of the water before landing again and splashing water all over the ground.
And seeing as Golems did not like water, this one actually slowed down and tried to circle around. Havoc was doing an excellent job in covering Eevee…but that wouldn't last long. If the enemy's mind wasn't as thick as their skulls, they would soon figure out to simply use ranged attacks.
She could not allow that, but which one to take out? The one attacking Phoenix, or the one attacking Cinder?
When the answer presented itself to her, she felt like smacking herself in her face. Why not both?
She focused on concentrating her abilities and created a sphere of pure Psychic energy, pouring every ounce of power into the apparition to make it as volatile as possible.
"Cinder…heads-up!" She cried and detonated the sphere, sending two spikes of intense charged energy in both directions and striking both Golems simultaneously.
The effects were…impressive, to say in the least. Both Rock-types were blown out of their paths and Cinder was just in time to dodge the tumbling brick and made perfect use of the distraction to blast the Magneton out of the air with a Flamethrower.
That was one less hostile to worry about; the two rockheads were wounded but not yet out. And now that Cinder was focused on the battle –and one of the humans had called back the severely wounded Machoke, leaving Aerodactyl clear to focus- they could all concentrate on those.
The Bad Humans were yelling all kinds of things and both of their Pokemon were throwing rocks everywhere, causing severe tremors and doing what not to cause them severe problems.
But the only ones who were having any trouble with the quakes were the humans in the area: the two Bad ones were falling and trying to get back up and falling again, while her own trainer was merely jumping from one tree to another to avoid ruptures and rocks coming his way.
He was superior to the other humans in so many ways. He was stronger, faster, more agile and even more intelligent than any human being could ever hope to be. Compared to him, the rest was just…pathetic. Human beings…so easily outdone by Pokemon and yet this one was so much better. She was lucky to have him as her master.
"Wrap it up." He called and with that, ordered his team to finish the battle.
A combined sand-attack from Phoenix the Eevee and a vicious body slam from Fluffy the Aerodactyl took one of the Golems down, while Cinder was pouncing around the other one, desperately trying to find an opening to take the confused hostile down.
And she was able to provide that. Not the opening, but the taking down. She unleashed a crushing attack on the Ground-type's mind and annihilated the small blunt walls that stood in front of them. She separated the link that connected the mind with the body and the Pokemon fell to the ground, no longer able to think coherent thoughts as it was stuck in the small hole that it still possessed.
It wouldn't be up to fight for quite some time.
"That was easy." She smiled and checked the fight between the two Nidorino's. Even though the bigger one should be physically superior, Fenrir kept drawing it into positions where its stance was worse off than before. Eventually, he gored his rival with a particularly powerful thrust in its side and that was the end of the fight. The biggest Nidorino collapsed and sunk to the floor, moments before being called back inside of its ball. Good! The enemy was defeated and now her own trainer would take manners into his own hands.
"Hands on your head, knees to the ground." He told the two Bad Humans, but he didn't even need to force them to surrender. They simply sank through their knees with their hands in their necks like he told them too, like good little obedient creatures.
Funny sight to see humans on their knees. It was…strangely pleasing.
"Put them to sleep." He ordered her and stepped towards the vehicle, keeping his rifle at the ready. One of the Humans jumped to his feet and tried to attack him, but he simply kicked the man in his head and the body flew into the woods. He wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, so that was one less person to take care of.
She glided up to the other man and surrounded his mind with darkness, letting him slip into a deep psychic-induced sleep. Perhaps not as pleasant a rest, but still asleep nonetheless.
"What do we have here?" Matt said and threw a handful of items to the ground. Amongst them were three strange spraying bottles, a greenish black stone, two empty Poké Balls and money.
"That was…brutal." Havoc said and started flopping up and down the riverside. "Are you alright? Is anyone wounded?"
Phoenix strolled towards Fluffy and promptly placed her head on his own bony head, closing her eyes in the process. "I'm fine."
"Me too." Cinder said and started licking a large gash on her front-paw. "Well…partially."
´"I'm good." She said, remembering a sentence that her master had once done. Military words and sentences were pretty good at cutting to the chase.
Fenrir didn't reply, but instead kept to himself. His was bleeding from a lot of places and if the dark patches on the ground were any indication of his blood loss, he would be in serious trouble indeed.
"Fenrir?" She cautiously asked him. He was lying with his head on the ground now, letting his head rest on the nearest rock. "Are you okay?"
No reply. Was he turning into their trainer or was he simply too hurt to speak?
No…there was something else. In one dark corner of his mind lay the answer: he was very angry. For some reason the fight had infuriated him greatly. Was it because he had been wounded to such a degree by a different Nidorino? Even though it had clearly been physically superior? Was that a part of his crazy territorial rivalry thing too? Or was he simply mad that he had made a fool out of himself in front of all of them?:
"Fenrir…we can help you. I can help you recover."
Still no reply. Fine.
Eevee looked up from her little cuddly position with Aerodactyl and stared at Fenrir for a while. Then she got to her feet and walked over to him, before lying down next to his right flank. Her soft, warm fur had to feel soothing on those wounds and even though she would get bloodstains on her, she still attempted to comfort him with her presence.
She really was an innocent little ball of fur. It was a welcome change for this team; between the two violent males and the tricky Fire-type, a pure naïve girl like her would even out the odds. And now that their team was complete, they could all start training like crazy to take on the world.
"Hold on." Her master said and walked over to the wounded animal, holding a brown spraying bottle in his hand. Before anyone could ask him what he was doing, he sprayed the contents over the multiple injuries of the Nidorino and watched as the he writhed in anger and pain, nearly knocking Phoenix off of his side.
But at least the medicine –because that was what it had to be- worked. The wounds that had been treated by it stopped bleeding and soon, Fenrir's breathing calmed and he was ready to talk again.
"This was interesting…" Cinder said as she finished cleaning her legs.
"Did you monitor the engagement Havoc?"
"Excuse me?"
"Did you watch the fight?" She translated for her.
"Eh…yes."
"Then nod."
When Magikarp confirmed her trainer's question, he sat down on a patch of dirt to join his team in the relaxing.
Cinder's eyes flickered towards the empty jeep and the sleeping Bad Human before she padded up to Matt and sat next to him, placing her head on his lap. He ignored her presence and instead focused on the collection of sticks he had gathered in the forest, all perfectly cleaned and sharpened to elongated projectiles.
"Lucy? Can you propel objects using psychic powers to use projectiles?"
That took her aback. 'Why, yes I can. I did so back in cerulean city when I was still a Kirlia. Might I inquire as to why you need to ask this, master?'
"Efficiency. Why bombard someone's mind when you can skewer them with these?"
The idea of goring someone with such wooden projectiles was insulting and disgusting…and strangely interesting. What was he proposing?
'It does not take much energy to turn something into a projectile; more mass, more energy.'
He took the meter-long branches and tore them in half, before refining the new ragged edges. "When necessary and facing a psychic opponent, use things like these to distract them before engaging them with the mind."
Was she seriously being lectured by her own master on how to attack people with her mind? Was he actively seeking to insult her? 'I do not need ideas on how to disable my enemies, trainer mine.'
"Don't get cocky Lucy. Take all the help you can get or you will die. That goes for all of you."
She was about to deliver a mean comeback when he resumed talking. "Look at Havoc. A Pokemon with no capability except swimming and still it watches you, taking in whatever experience it can get in order to evolve into something useful.
"Is he always so thoughtless? Someone ought to teach him some manners!" The Magikarp angrily snapped.
"He was trying to give you a compliment." Cinder said from her cozy position. "It's his way of being nice."
His words were wise, but the message behind it was clear. 'Don't get cocky'…she wasn't being cocky in any way!
"Take five while I scout the terrain ahead. We move soon."
And with that, the warrior got to his feet and moved again. As soon as he had disappeared between the trees, she released an explosive sigh and lowered her head. Despite all of his faults and his shortcomings, she still loved him for being who he was. And…perhaps he was right. He did have more combat experience than she had and it showed clearly in his behaviour. Was she being childish? Or was there more behind her own thoughts? Curious…she had never thought herself possible to hide her own feelings for herself.
"It seems we are growing closer to each other." She softly said and watched as Eevee quickly ran to the river to clean herself, while Havoc merely laughed and splashed water on her stained body.
"Get it off get it off get it off get it off!" She yelled.
"Stay still or I'll miss!" The kind Magikarp yelled.
Fenrir was looking very puzzled by the unraveling scene, while Cinder merely laughed at the panicking Eevee. It had taken her quite some time to realize just what was covering her pelt like that. And Fluffy the murderous Aerodactyl? He was sleeping again.
Yes…their team was a mess, but closer than a 'Spartan' could ever get in his lifetime. Matt ought to realize that sooner or later.
But right now, the sheer amount of caring and friendship in everyone's mind was enough to drown out her doubts and fears. For now –just this once- they could sit down and relax without trouble.
And it felt good.
"So exactly how did you meet our new trainer?"
"I was lost in a forest I did not know, for reasons I do not know. When I was attacked by strange Pokemon I did not recognize, he came like a knight in white armour to safe me. That was just a few days ago, but I stayed with him ever since."
"Didn't you have any parents to protect you?"
"My parents were gone. To this day I'll know just what happened…but perhaps I will one day find out."
"I never saw your kind before, Lucy? What is up with that?"
"Like I said, forest I did not know. Perhaps our trainer was traversing some unexplored place, where my kin could stay without fear of being discovered by Humans? Why the sudden interest in my past?"
"A past is a special thing…I am curious as to how it should work."
- Conversation between Lucy and callsign Phoenix.