"If a wild Golem or Onix shows up and tries to flatten us, I'm relying on you and your wings!" Arashi declared with a grin.
"Well, let's hope that doesn't happen," Astrid said back.
Astrid kept her guard up when they left Brushwood Tangle and Verdant Meadow behind them to venture into the crags, though not because of the wild ones traipsing around without a care. The Caterpie and Roselia were still utterly innocuous, and the air still felt fresh and wonderful, but still she kept an eye out for any visitors that wouldn't be so nonchalant. If Golems and Onixes lurked in the crags someplace, she certainly didn't want to disturb them and expend all of her energy before the actual task at hand could be dealt with, and if Cobalt had been crawling away from something and ended up further out, she didn't want to miss him.
Nonetheless, one question tugged at her mind. "Hey, Arashi?"
"Yeah?"
"What is this about 'evolution spots?' What are those, and why are they going away? I-I mean, I know what evolution is, but…"
Her partner giggled, giving her a nudge. "If you didn't know what evolution is, I'd be concerned!" he jested. "But an evolution spot is where you go to evolve. Like, in Lila's case, she found this weird crystal, and for others it's a pond, or a tree… It depends which spot you go to. Point is, they all grant you the ability to evolve if you meet the requirements- like for Lila, she had a Thunderstone, and for ones like us, it's a certain amount of battle experience. Basically, you go to one, you hear some voice talking to you that asks if you want to evolve, and if you say yes and you meet the requirements, you evolve."
"A-ah…" her voice trailed off as the Rowlet took it in. "So it doesn't just… happen?"
The Froakie laughed. "No, silly! I mean, I'd be perfectly happy if it just happened, but if someone else wanted to stay in a certain form forever, that'd be annoying! Why would it just happen?"
… She didn't really have an answer and tilted her head to the side trying to think of one to no avail. What Arashi explained certainly wasn't ringing a bell.
"As to why they're going away, well… No one knows for sure," her comrade continued. "Evolution has been prevented in the past due to distortion in the universe's balance, but this is a little different. The spots are literally disappearing, there's no voice coming from a pond or crystal and the spots themselves either get destroyed or get replaced by something else in their surroundings like they'd never been there in the first place. No one knows why it's happening, or if someone out there is doing it intentionally, but it's just getting harder to evolve these days."
She nodded, then gave her partner a glance. "You know, from what I can gather, there are a lot of things that no one seems to know on this world."
Arashi giggled, starting to beam again. "There sure are! Crazy Pokémon, Salem's shenanigans, evolution spots going away, everything involving you… Isn't it great?! We could be the ones to figure it all out, aha!"
'Great,' she wasn't so sure of. 'Precarious' and 'uncertain' seemed like far more fitting words.
Nonetheless, the crags themselves seemed relatively quiet, except for maybe a Geodude having a fit at a wandering Oddish some ways away. The clouds were still black overhead, though no downpour had started and didn't seem inclined to yet, but it still made Astrid thankful she hadn't been turned into a Fire-type.
"Arashi?"
"Yeah?"
"How many floors does this place have?"
The Froakie giggled again. "None, actually! It's like the meadow- it's just a place that everyone knows about!"
She nodded. "What kind of place?"
"Well, it's overgrown and it's a crevice," her comrade mused simply. "Well, I guess you could call it a ravine… Point is, it's in the middle of crags, but it's a little greener than you might expect- like, think of a forest stuck to a canyon wall. You see all kinds of Pokémon there."
And apparently one felt like making its presence known, for seemingly out of nowhere and without making a sound, Astrid caught sight of something moving in her peripheral vision… only to look up and see the claw of a Gligar reaching for her.
"Gah-!" the startled Rowlet cried, spreading her wings out and loosing a Leafage.
"Huh?" Arashi perked up at his comrade's cry, then noticing their company, "Hey!"
The Gligar let out an unhappy cry at Astrid's attack, but still she found herself with a claw latched to her face that she would have much preferred to not be there. Her feathers padded its pincer grip, but having her vision obscured by a claw and the pointed edges thereof trying to dig into her head wasn't that grand of a feeling. Their visitor's tail shot out from behind it and Poison Stung the Rowlet, while its free claw slung some of the sand on the ground at Arashi for a Sand Attack.
Nonetheless, the Froakie quickly shut his eyes to keep his vision clear and spit a Bubble at the Gligar, eliciting another cry of discomfort and loosening its grip enough to let Astrid wrench herself free.
"Ngh…!" Astrid grunted, stumbling backwards a few steps before regaining her composure.
Even out of the Gligar's grip, the Poison Sting had lived up to its name and gave her a stinging sensation, which Astrid did her best to ignore. The Gligar evidently was determined, for it swung one pincer for a Fury Cutter at Arashi the next second, but a Quick Attack from the Froakie was faster.
"Sheesh! Did you take us for prey?!" Arashi exclaimed, ramming into it.
"Apparently so!" Astrid cried, flapping her wings to loosen more glowing leaves.
Her comrade got out of the way and the Gligar looked up to see another Leafage raining down, at which it began to look dismayed as though it were reconsidering its actions. It tried to shield itself with its claws and wings, but in any case, it soon seemed to lose most of its energy. One more Bubble knocked it out, the gliding creature laying in an immobile heap next to a large rock.
Astrid and Arashi looked at each other.
"You okay?" asked the Rowlet.
"I'm fine," Arashi replied with no difficulty. "You? You're not poisoned, are you?"
She thought for a moment, still not thrilled about the stinging sensation caused by the Gligar, but she wasn't feeling particularly sick. "… I don't think so. It hurts, but I'm weak to poison, so I think I'll get over it."
He nodded. "Tell me if you need the berry."
They were on their way again, Astrid scanning the area even more after the encounter just to make sure nothing else tried to drag them off and eat them. Lucy the Swoobat raced by overhead, her messenger bag appearing to want to fly off of its strap with her speed.
CRACK!
A large bolt of lightning rained down out of the sky someplace further off in the distance, somewhere deeper in the crags to their east. Instinctively, Astrid jumped at the sound, her head swiveling every direction, but thankfully, it wasn't the Beast. It was only thunder.
Arashi grinned at the clouds. "Lila? Is that you?" he asked no one in particular.
Astrid sure hoped that it was, if it was another Pokémon causing it, at least.
A Larvitar peeked at them from an indent in one cliff side while munching on a rock, and a Fearow landed much farther up to perch while still peeking down at the ground below. Neither one seemed particularly inclined to go swooping in and start a fight, but Astrid certainly kept her eyes peeled for them and made note of the shape of every crag and cliff they passed by. Arashi gave their surroundings a few glances here and there, but he didn't seem near as cautious.
A bit of dust kicked up from behind the edge of one rock face along with the sound of plodding footsteps, and Astrid prepared for another fight while Arashi merely studied it inquisitively. A Rhyhorn charged out into their view, going straight for them but seemingly with a mind occupied by something else. It didn't seem intent on slowing down or stopping.
Astrid flapped into the air while Arashi leaped sideways, letting it dash harmlessly past them… and into another large rock, which it smashed into and shattered before coming to a stop. It merely shook its head, shook itself off, and trotted off someplace else without a care.
Arashi giggled. "You alright there?" he jokingly inquired, giving the Rhyhorn a glance.
Back to trekking.
The further they ventured, Astrid could see the greenery creeping up the sides of the rock faces where it hadn't been before as if the meadow terrain and steeper cliffs were vying for the same space. It didn't reach the top of the crags, but a few spiky protrusions up from the ground had all but their tips coated by grass and a few wildflowers. It looked somewhat calm and welcoming, if not slightly standoffish at the same time, and the Rowlet could easily see how a myriad of types could call it home.
The stinging sensation left too, gradually dulled as they walked along, which she was thankful for. Getting poisoned didn't seem like any experience she'd be itching to have.
Someplace further down the line, the ground steeply dropped off and she quickly figured out what Arashi meant by 'a forest stuck to a canyon wall,' for a ravine stretched out before them almost halfway to the horizon and its walls were coated in greenery more lush than that which attempted to overtake the cliffs. Bushes sprouted from cracks in the crevice walls and trees grew on the bottom surface, and in the deep green grassy patches were dots of vibrant color from wildflowers. A Nincada crawled up one side of the crevice and an Aron appeared to be sleeping in a corner. From a glance, no out-of-place Heracross was visible.
Yet, the thing that easily caught Astrid's attention was what appeared to be the opening to a cave towards the end of it. She eyed it.
"Here we are!" Arashi declared, looking down into the crevice with a big grin. "So if Cobalt is still here, we should find him somewhere down below!"
Astrid nodded, then said to her comrade, "Here, let me get us down there."
She swooped Arashi up and fluttered as smoothly as she could down to the bottom, being careful to avoid stray branches and mossy rocks jutting out from the ravine wall. She set Arashi down easy then landed herself.
"Cobalt?" Arashi called, readjusting the bag's strap.
His voice echoed around the crevice and garnered several looks from their feral company. The Aron perked up at the call and started to look rather frustrated at being roused.
"Hey," Astrid said, giving her comrade a nudge and gesturing at the little iron-clad one.
It shook its head and charged at them, head poised to Headbutt whoever it happened to ram into first, but a Leafage from Astrid made it stall for a tiny moment while she and Arashi jumped out of the way. A growl of aggression came from it before it lurched to Tackle the Froakie, who again dove out of the way and spit a Bubble at it.
"Sorry, little guy!" Arashi cried.
The bubbles made it fuss and try to shake them off, and another Leafage from Astrid finished it off.
"Oh, come on, I've been woken up by weird strangers several times now and I didn't have that reaction," Astrid remarked, giving the Aron a glance.
"Hey, maybe it was having a nice dream," Arashi mused with a grin.
Somehow, Astrid doubted that, but nonetheless, she gave the cavern opening another look, then looked back to Arashi. "Is there supposed to be a cave over here…? You didn't mention one…"
He studied it too. "Well, it's not a dungeon unless we stumbled across a new one, so let's go check it out! I haven't heard about one specifically, but hey, maybe Cobalt is hanging out there!"
… That didn't bode particularly well in Astrid's mind seeing as caves didn't just randomly appear out of nowhere, but she figured it was worth a shot in any case and nodded. Maybe Cobalt had punched the wall too hard or a Rhyhorn crashed into it by accident, she considered. Arashi hopped over to it and she flapped along to keep up.
The front walls to it certainly appeared to be chipped out by something, for several small pebbles and larger jagged chunks littered the ground, though the grass outside already threatened to mask the remains of the broken stone. It wasn't such a big cave, little more than five meters in diameter, and the grassy exterior of the crevice didn't extend inwards to it as if it hadn't been continuous with the rest of their surroundings. It much more resembled an enclosure that had been sealed away by a stone wall to its front, and then had that stone wall smashed in. That much wasn't unreasonable- Astrid recalled Rush making quick work of the stones blocking their path back in Tranquil Tunnel, and if the crevice had been rumored as an evolution spot, perhaps someone had smashed it down in their investigation.
That explanation grew far more reasonable when the limp body of a certain cobalt blue Bug-type met their eyes slumped down to one side, out of view of the outside.
"Cobalt!" Arashi cried on noticing him.
Instantly both he and Astrid rushed over to the Heracross' side, Arashi taking the bag off and reaching inside for an Oran berry.
"Mr. Cobalt? Are you okay?" Astrid asked, gently nudging him with one wing.
No response came from the Heracross, but from the cave entrance, a large thud could easily be heard. Both of the youngsters looked up, and instantly Astrid's eyes went a bit wide and her feathers ruffled out.
They weren't alone in the cave, for another creature with folded wings and a brightly burning tail looked them over with eyes peering back from a draconian head- a Charizard. Arashi's eyes went a bit wide too, the Froakie clearly not having expected such. All three conscious occupants of the cave studied each other for a second, Astrid and Arashi a bit unsure of what to do and the Charizard scrutinizing them.
Yet, the one with the burning tail broke the silence, starting to grin. "Don't worry about the Heracross- I've been seeing to him," she said, eyes narrowing a bit.
Astrid breathed a sigh of relief at hearing a voice as opposed to a growl, but still, another Pokémon present set her on edge just a bit.
Arashi broke into a grin again as well, removing his hand from the bag and slipping it back on. "Really? Sheesh, that's nice! Apparently he's been gone for way longer than normal, so I was a little worried for a second!"
The Charizard chuckled. "Don't be- he's alive. You thought I was wild, didn't you?" she inquired.
"Y-yes," Astrid responded quickly.
"I hoped not, but I knew it was possible!" Arashi replied.
Both the Charizard and Froakie laughed, Arashi taking a few hops closer to her while Astrid still eyed their company with a bit of caution. She hadn't seen a Charizard anywhere on their trek there, so why she was randomly appearing as soon as they entered the cave bugged her just a little bit. She had to have been watching them from somewhere, but her motives for such, they obviously couldn't know.
"Say, what's your name? I haven't seen a Charizard around these parts in… well, ever!" Arashi asked amiably.
"Zariel," she replied, still grinning while looking him over. "And you?"
"I'm Arashi! Nice to meet ya!" was her answer, the Froakie reaching up one hand which she reached down to shake (though her clawed appendage practically swallowed his).
The Rowlet was still silent, feeling a bit more at ease with Zariel's friendly gesture, but the Charizard's gaze fell on her next, one draconian eye narrowing more than the other and her fangs getting bared even more than the norm in a smirk.
"So you must be Astrid, right?" Zariel inquired without missing a beat.
The one in question froze, her eyes going wide and feathers puffing out again. Arashi didn't seem to think much of it, though he did give his comrade a curious glance back.
"H-how did you know that…?" the smaller winged one inquired hesitantly.
"Hah! Maybe she heard about our team!" Arashi happily posited.
"I didn't, actually," Zariel immediately said to the contrary, eyes still locked on the Rowlet. "But I certainly know who she is."
Astrid blinked, hardly daring to move a muscle. "D-do I know you…?"
"No. But I know you," the Charizard replied with a slight growl in her voice, her claws twitching just a bit but the grin still gracing her jaws. "You're the human.~"
And at that, both she and Arashi froze, the Froakie's eyes likewise going wide. Their shared glances conveyed their stupor better than any words could, and Zariel chuckled a bit with smoke escaping her nostrils.
"Who told you that?!" Arashi cried, hopping closer to his friend's side. "No one else is supposed to know that, except for…!" then, with a sudden ray of hope, "Wait, are you with the Expedition Coalition?! Last I checked, there wasn't a Charizard on their team, but maybe I just didn't hear about a new member! If you're up to no good, you wouldn't be helping Cobalt!"
Zariel cackled at the idea, more smoke coming out of her maw. "Me?! On a team like that?! There's something that'd never happen!" she brushed it off completely. "Kid, I haven't helped anyone except my boss and my comrades. I was simply sent here to guard the important things for the time being. I thought I could lure someone that knew something about that little ball of feathers here if I knocked the Heracross out and kept him fainted long enough for anyone to notice, but instead, I got the little ball of feathers herself!"
That answered one question- why Cobalt had been gone for such a long time- but raised several more.
The Froakie deflated, the ray of hope leaving for uncomfortable uncertainty. "Then who told you?! I know it wasn't my mom or dad or me!"
Astrid too wanted to know the answer, but the smoke escaping the Charizard's mouth and nostrils wasn't boding well for anyone, especially not herself nor the fainted Cobalt. She eyed the bag her comrade held and thought about quickly retrieving an Oran berry to revive their target with, so that maybe the Heracross could shed some light… but that thought was overshadowed by another.
'Guard the important things.' Evolution spots certainly seemed like important things… important, hard to find things. 'I haven't helped anyone except my boss and my comrades.' The wanted poster in town flashed across her mind. 'Current number of subordinates unknown. Only known underling is a Charizard who has also escaped apprehension thus far; suspected to also be in contact with an aquatic species.'
The pupils in the Rowlet's eyes practically turned to little pinpricks.
Their visitor, on the other hand, chuckled flippantly. "I'll give you three guesses," Zariel taunted without a care.
Arashi took one. "That weird beast with the wire body."
The Charizard seemed to perk up, however, but still she replied with a smirk, "… No."
"S-Salem…" Astrid stammered faintly.
At that, two sets of eyes fell on her again, Zariel's in glee and Arashi's in surprise.
The Rowlet nudged her comrade. "W-we need to get out of here."
Zariel laughed again, several embers coming from her mouth along with the smoke as her eyes practically bored holes in Astrid. "Oh, a smart one, are you? Didn't even need all three."
"W-wait a second!" Arashi exclaimed, a bit uncertain. "You're with Salem?!"
"The poster, Arashi, the poster," Astrid said quickly.
At that, the realization seemed to hit him like a Rock Blast too and he broke into an awkwardly flustered grin. "Aha, I'm honestly not sure whether to be excited about this or concerned…!"
Astrid had no idea what part of that decision was hard to make, for she certainly had no trouble in being worried about every aspect of their situation. Whatever was going to happen, she couldn't see it ending well in their favor at all. She almost preferred the sparking Beast to this creature- at least one of them lacked the muscles and facial structure to smirk so wildly, and getting burnt to a crisp as opposed to getting fried by electricity was a moot point any way she looked at it.
Zariel certainly seemed to be reveling in the panic and uncertainty. "I sure am, Smiley," she snarled with glee at the Froakie, then back at Astrid, "Word around the block was that humans-turned-Pokémon are insanely valuable… and if what I've seen and heard is correct, then that's damn right. She prefers you alive, but…"
The Charizard exhaled a wild breath, with it coming a burst of flames that dissipated, but the look on her face said the next one wouldn't be so harmless. Nonetheless, Astrid could feel its heat, and even Arashi noticed it.
"… Sometimes I just can't help myself, ahahaha!"
Astrid shook her head. "You have got to be kidding me," she mused flatly.
Whether Zariel or the gods were kidding or not, when their company exhaled a Flamethrower, both she and her comrade moved, only giving Cobalt a glance to make sure his carapace didn't get melted or the like. Whatever Zariel had done to him, they didn't have time to tend to. Arashi hopped and Astrid flapped as fast as they could along the cave's perimeter, the Flamethrower sticking close behind them but thankfully petering out after a few seconds.
With the Charizard standing in the way of the exit, there wasn't much hope of simply escaping. Astrid's mind raced trying to figure out some way to get by her, so that at least if the fight were to continue, they wouldn't be so boxed in. A Leafage would be beyond useless against a foe like Zariel, for she'd likely just burn it even if the Rowlet went for the eyes again. The only moves in Astrid's arsenal that would do any good required direct contact, which certainly wasn't favorable, but it would have to do even with the Charizard's claws flashing and fangs bared…
Arashi spit a Bubble at their assailant which Zariel's eye twitched a bit at, but she didn't seem to notice it too much and instead her maw filled with what looked like pale blue sparking smoke. Astrid flew at her and delivered a Peck to her snout as Zariel breathed a Dragon Breath at Arashi, which the Froakie swiftly dove out of the way of and dashed forward in a Quick Attack. The cave's opening was close, but Zariel wasn't intent on letting them leave, for she gave her wings a hard flap to create an Air Slash that knocked them away from her and back towards the cave walls. Had they not seen the move with their own eyes, they wouldn't have known the blades were made of air, for they felt exactly like the real thing.
"Ngh…!" Astrid grunted, flapping to shakily regain her balance in the air.
"Owwww!" Arashi fussed, shaking himself off.
The Rowlet's feathers had been sliced clean through in several places, and Arashi's body had a few new scratches on it that hadn't been there before. Both of them had definitely been in better health before the attack, and the Charizard laughed.
"I wonder how much I can roast a Rowlet before she dies…~" Zariel chirped sadistically, eyes glinting in mirth. "You wanna help me find out, Astrid?! I'm sure Salem could fix you up afterwards!"
Another Flamethrower showed that evidently, Zariel really did want to know. Astrid and Arashi scattered, the heat coming off of it nonetheless being too close for comfort.
"That is sick!" Arashi protested.
Astrid certainly agreed with her comrade, but words seemed almost as useless as a Leafage. The Air Slash had left her feeling weak, and Arashi didn't seem to be faring significantly better even if he countered Zariel's Fire-type and wasn't weak to the Flying-type move they'd just been hit with.
Nonetheless, another Bubble flew at Zariel, which she ignored with another twitch of her eye to instead create another Air Slash. Astrid beat her wings as fast as she could to nearly the touch the top of the cave, which thankfully put her out of range of the attack, but another Dragon Breath came for the Rowlet, while another Bubble made the Charizard growl.
Nonetheless, Astrid flew to avoid it just barely, instead dropping down on the ground next to her comrade. "Berry," she said quickly, keeping an eye on Zariel for another attack.
Arashi reached into the bag and retrieved the light blue berry she sought, while Zariel's maw filled with smoke and flame again. The Rowlet took the berry in her beak as the Flamethrower fired, both her and her comrade fleeing to opposite sides of the cave while Cobalt stayed as motionless as ever.
"You can only hold out so long," Zariel taunted.
Astrid hoped they wouldn't find out exactly how long was 'so long,' and that they'd be able to weasel out of her grasp some way or another. The Charizard was certainly making things difficult in that regard.
Another Dragon Breath shot off at Arashi as he spit a Bubble, but the bubbles were easily overtaken and the Froakie had to dart out of the way again, the ground getting scorched where he had stood moments before. Astrid tore a chunk out of the berry with her beak and swallowed it, carefully catching the rest with one foot before scarfing it down too. Her strength returned, and she darted for Zariel again, aiming a Peck. However, Zariel chuckled under her fiery breath and drew one clawed fist back, smirking wickedly at the Rowlet... and Oran berry or not, Astrid felt her strength leave almost as fast as it had returned when Zariel Mega Punched her.
"AGH-!"
Crack!
CRACK!
The Rowlet felt something snap within her form when Zariel's attack connected, then felt something else break from her colliding into it. It was almost too fast to register, though for the umpteenth time, something didn't feel… quite right.
There was a new hole in the cave wall that hadn't been there seconds before, through which she could clearly see Zariel, Arashi, and Cobalt's limp form. The cracked walls on the edge of its opening told her that it was the result of Zariel's Mega Punch, which definitely lived up to its name. The Charizard had punched her clear through the stone sheet.
Yet, the little leafy avian wasn't flapping her wings or moving at all, but she was still stuck in the air. Why that was, she couldn't place.
"ASTRID!" Arashi's frantic cry snapped her out of her daze, her comrade looking absolutely petrified.
And all at once, it registered. The horrendous pain she felt registered.
Her eyes drifted down, where the leafy bow on her chest was gone. She caught sight of it on the ground, torn in half and covered in a sticky red liquid mixed among some more scattered feathers, more red trickles dripping down onto it.
… The same sticky red liquid dripped down the rest of the feathers on her front too, slowed only by the big, haphazardly conical crystalline shard impaling her that probably would've ripped her body in half had Zariel given her punch a bit more force. The shard had streaks of blood along it too, along with a few pinkish fleshy fragments that she really did not want to think about. Whatever they were, she was sure they weren't supposed to be on the outside.
Zariel seemed to laugh, and Arashi looked panicked, the Charizard not even paying him any attention as he frantically hopped closer. If words were leaving their mouths, she couldn't make them out.
Perhaps she would have made a slight groan or shriek, maybe said a word or two, but no sound came out of her beak. Try as she might, her body wouldn't listen.
