"Denotes speech"

"Telepathy"

The name of literature or video game

[System Prompt]

Item or Skill or Attack

Last time on Pokémon ON-LINE! Two friends, Evelyn, an expert Pokémon player, and Clara, a studious girl, were learning how to survive in the land of Einkarus. Evelyn taught her friend the basics of Pokémon, and was promptly thrown off guard by the new "features" in Pokémon Online. Only through the power of friendship. Did the girls manage to make it out of there situation in one piece. Now we are thrust into the future where Hunter and the gang are level grinding through the fields of Einkarus. What will happen to them today? Find out now on Pokémon ON-LINE!

Chapter 4: Tightrope of Survival

It has been days since Klaus' announcement, and well the aftermath is what one would expect. More people like hardcore Pokémon players, and people who have a will to fight are out in the fields trying to locate the first dungeon to get out of this floor. While the people who were only here for a causal gaming experience like the older people and young kids are staying in town. As for me and my friends, we are most certainly in the former.

"Alright, Snivy use your Vine Whip attack!" I exclaimed as vines started growing out from the shoulders of Snivy.

"Snivy!" Snivy exclaimed as he slammed those vines towards the Kricketot, one of the numerous Pokémon our heroes have found themselves battling today.

"Kricketot," Kricketot exclaimed as it brushed off the damage. The Vine Whip didn't do as much damage as it would usually do, mainly due to how Kricketot is a Bug-type. Then Kricketot decided to use its Struggle Bug on Snivy.

"We got this Hunt," Justin said as he ran from behind me, and had Charmander use his Ember attack.

"Charmander!" Charmander yelled as embers started coming out of his mouth. The Kricketot could not stop itself from going straight into the embers.

"Kricketot," Kricketot screamed as it was consumed by the embers, which combined with the damage from the Vine Whip spelled the demise of the Pokémon. Upon scattering into a million pieces, Hunter and Justin checked what items they got from the Kricketot, another Sitrus Berry.

"Just a whole load of nothing," Justin bemoaned.

"On the bright side this means we can keep on going," I said being optimistic about level grinding. About five days in after non-stop grinding, we were about level 10, and our Pokémon ranged from level 8 – 13.

After getting the Life Herb for the young girl, we struggled in finding more quests. Which we figured was going to happened, given how all the high-profile quests have some sort of restrictions going for them. Any experience that we didn't get from a quest. We simply got from slaughtering a bunch of Pokémon which is something none of us really enjoyed doing, but it was necessary for survival. On the bright side, some things of note happened. We got some money we're potting for the future, and…

"Ledian!" A Pokémon known as Ledian screeched as it came flying right towards without warning, and while charging up a move known as Mach Punch.

"Watch out!" Justin yelled as he noticed the boosting Pokémon. We were caught by surprise.

Surprises is what led to the deaths of even experienced Pokémon players. This game is vastly different than any other Pokémon game on the market that none of us know what is truly in store. We were barely able to dodge the Ledian before it came back for second comings. Deciding it was time to struck, the Ledian switched to using a move called Supersonic. A move notorious for causing confusion. I don't know if the SwitchVR will stimulate the confusion part, but I sure as hell don't want to figure it out.

"Fletchling, Quick Attack."

"Fletchling!" Fletchling exclaimed as a white aura surrounded her. In the wake of the white aura laid a blue streak that seamlessly vanishes into the blue sky. Quickly ramming into the Ledian, Fletchling quickly circled back to her trainer, Jayden.

"Looks like I came here at the right time," Jayden chuckled as Bill and David quickly followed behind him.

"We could've handled it on our own," Justin assured himself, "but thanks for the save."

"Don't thank me quite yet," Jayden said as the Ledian picked itself back up.

"Ledian!" Ledian said as it got up ready to fight some more.

"Not on my watch, Froakie slow him down using your frubbles!" Bill said as Froakie ran up a tree and jumped throwing the frubbles like a true ninja.

"Mudkip use your Rock Throw," David said as Mudkip materialized some rocks to crush the Ledian, but even this did not stop the Ledian as it made the trudge forward desperate to use its Pound attack.

"This is just sad," I noted, "The poor thing is trying to fight further, despite being at the brink of death."

"I know, in a way I feel bad, but even then, we are fighting for survival," Jayden said as Justin used his Plain Spear to give the Ledian one last stab through the head. Ledian sparkled into a million pieces of glass. He got some rewards, and lo and behold we got…

Absolutely nothing.

"As expected," David said rather unsurprised.

Currently we are on Route 5, the route that leads out of the Urbsliva Forest. The same forest that we spent hours in trying to get the Life Herb. At the very least, I got the nifty Wolf Blade out of it. Which in turn taught me an HM, Hidden Machine, for those who don't know, HMs suck. They take a move slot in your limited four moves you have with a Pokémon, and they cannot be forgotten under normal circumstances. So, for the Wolf Blade to be able to use Cut makes me so happy. It means I don't have to waste one of Snivy's moves.

"Do you see that?" Justin said as he thought he saw something move along the brush.

"No," Bill said.

"Me neither," David added.

"I didn't spot it," I said prepping myself for whatever may come our way.

"But I felt it," Jayden tacked on, "I would recommend staying on guard."

"Got it." We were all prepared to strike first when something rather unexpected occurred.

"Wait don't shoot! I ain't trying to kill you!"

"Huh, ok…" I said still rather distrustful. You never know what people are willing to do. Believe me, my friends and I were betrayed by a guy a few days ago for a sword. Sure, that sword would give someone the advantage for a few floors, but after that its crap.

"Snivy," Snivy said making them trust them a little bit more. It seems like Snivy is a Pokémon who can snuff out great character.

"We have our weapons down," Justin said as the man walked around the tree, and to our shock it was an old friend. More specifically it was David's old friend.

"David?" the man with the bronze tunic and dirty blond hair asked.

"Percy?" David questioned, surprised that he would play a Pokémon of things, "What in the world are you doing playing a Pokémon game?"

"David, this is one of the first big Virtual Reality games. Why would I miss it?"

"Well, you do have a point," David reasoned, "Either way it's good to see you. How have you been doing?"

"Besides the whole 'die in game, die in real life' deal going on. I have to say I am doing pretty fine," Percy explained, "I kind of got lost from the people I have been traveling around with lately."

"I hope you can find them," Jayden said.

"Now where do you last remember being with them?" I asked hoping it would jog Percy's memory a bit.

"Me and the party were on a quest to qualm some raging Pokémon," Percy explained, "It was some fat ass rabbit we were fighting against. It overwhelmed us, so we decided to call a retreat."

"Hmm, did it look like it had mud on it?"

"Now that I think about it. The Pokémon sort of did have mud around it," Percy said. This gave me all the confirmation I needed. Percy and his party were fighting against a Diggersby. It's a plus sized Pokémon, and I would fully expect it to be sort of miniboss in this messed up game.

"I know the Pokémon you were fighting," I said as I looked through the Pokédex, and showed the dex entry.

Diggersby, the Digging Pokémon. A Normal and Ground Type. Using its ears, Diggersby could lift an object of a ton with ease.

"Yes, that looks right," Percy confirmed.

"Now what caused you trouble the first time?" David asked.

"Diggersby overpowered us, and I don't think we had the numbers to equal that out."

"Then we'll help," Justin said.

"Wait you will," Percy said unexpectedly.

"Were friends, right?" David asked.

"Of course, we are," Percy responded.

"And friends help each other," Bill added on.

"Thanks guys, I appreciate it," Percy said very much meaning the words he just said.

"Now where did you fight Diggersby?" Jayden asked so they could get the general area where Diggersby was fought.

"According to the map, it should be near a hill that is close to a river in Route 3," Percy said as he looked through the map.

"Where are we right now?" I asked having just completely lost my sense of location after what felt like ages of being around the same generic terrain.

"I believe we are on Route 4," David said looking through the Town Map, "We are just on the opposite side of Route 3."

"So, our fastest route would be going in a straight line?" Justin asked.

"It appears so," David replied.

"Well straight line it is!" I exclaimed as we started heading on our way towards Route 3. As I learned by looking at David's Town Map, the entire first floor seems to surround Exordium Town. Route 1 leads north, Route 2 leads south, Route 3 leads left, and Route 4 leads right. Each with some sort of special location which would connect to the town, and that town would be at the end of the map. That is the information others have been able to collect over the past three weeks. It's amazing to see it all compiled though.

Though it's great to see Percy again, something just doesn't feel right. Why would he hightail it all the way over to Route 4 when his party broke at Route 3? Wouldn't it be easier to meet up back at Exordium or Sinistram, the town that borders Route 3? Eh, maybe I am looking too much into this, and he did manage to make it to Route 4 without going into Exordium.

"Have you tried contacting your party?" Justin asked apparently noticing the same issues that I did.

"I've tried, but none of them messaged me back," Percy explained.

"Well, that is quite unfortunate," I noted before adding, "Oh well, guess we get all the treasure."

"Looks like someone decided to be a bit bold today," Bill said.

"Well, Percy's party is going to have to pay for ditching Percy."

"I think they ditched each other," Jayden butted in.

"Eh, who cares, rewards are rewards," I replied, "Either way, allons y."

"Allons y," David repeated as we headed towards the source of battle.

As it turns out, Percy's party did indeed ditch each other. Each individual member from the party of four, got several people to help them. Ranging from beta testers to players with powerful enough Pokémon for early game Pokémon.

"So, this is the entire group," Justman012 said taking note of the large raid party around them. It really feels like its overkill for one simple Diggersby.

"I didn't know you guys would bring the calvary?" Percy said as he met up with his party, or more like the loose association of people looking for a way out of this game.

"We sure did," one of the men said wearing a grey tunic, and pants.

"Now we will surely bring down that Diggersby," another man said. This man looked like the spitting image of the other guy, expect this man was wearing a tanner tunic then the other guy.

"Totally," a woman from East Asian descent said, "unlike last time where I was caught off-guard by the Diggersby." Though if I am going to be honest, the voice sounded like it was getting overdubbed by some sort of program. While nearly unnoticeable to the naked eye, her voice could be heard just a few milliseconds slower than what the speed of sound in air would travel. What's odd about this is last time I ran into someone who didn't speak the same language as me, I could hear said language.

"I suppose we should introduce our friends," Percy said as he pointed to us in order, "I am KaoZombies919. That man in blue is SonicKing 42, a rather fun guy to be around. That is Raid, another fun person to be around. That man right there is Jayden, who can be rather annoying at times, but he can be real fun too. The Indian dude is Justman012, he acts all serious, but he can have fun, and finally that dude right there is my homie, Can_O_Beans."

"Nice to meet you all," the man with the grey tunic said, "I am RebelRunner57, this is my new friend, SharkysFistnChips, and this is my other friend, Red." Sharky kind of looked like his namesake, I mean the blue tunic he has on, and the facial features add up. He has that kind of pirate look. As for Red, it's clear that he joined the game to try and roleplay as the Legendary Pokémon Trainer. That's fine, and all more he is trying to stick to the script of fan Red. The one who only says one phrase, dot dot dot.

"My name is RunnerRebel75, and those people who agreed to help out against Diggersby are the ImmortalPinkBall, D4C, and John Smith," The man in the tan tunic said as he pointed out each of his new companions. Apparently, the ImmortalPinkBall is a massive Nintendo fanboy, and is still fawning over being trapped in a Pokémon game. Hell, he was even a beta tester for this game. D4C was some random person who managed to get caught in the crossfire of this crazy game, and interestingly his gamer tag was short for Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. At first glance this John Smith person seemed crazy for the fact that he would use his actual name for an MMORPG, but then I realized after taking a look at the man. There is no way that man is named John Smith in real life.

"I am ViperSnake, and this is my new friend, ShieldLeaf." ShieldLeaf gives out those competitive Pokémon player vibes, and to a degree she reminds me of Paul from Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl.

"Here is a warning for Diggersby," ViperSnake said quickly changing her tone from the previous sentence, "Diggersby is an Alpha Pokémon."

"Alpha Pokémon?" D4C asked.

"An Alpha Pokémon is an absurdly strong Pokémon first introduced in 2021's Pokémon Legends: Arceus," ImmortalPinkBall explained, "They are noted by their larger than average size and red eyes."

"A real force to be reckoned with, I don't know how many times I was killed by an Alpha Pokémon," ShieldLeaf said having played Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

"Well, that's why we should procced with caution," RunnerRebel75 finished.

"So, I am guessing the plan is just like any old raid battle?" I asked.

"If you mean going straight for it and dodge the attacks, then yes." ViperSnake said. Then in a moment's notice we started charging towards the Diggersby.

"Diggersby?" Diggersby said as it noticed us running towards it.

"DIGGERSBY!" Diggersby roared as all of us were instantly thrown back.

"Woah," I exclaimed as the force of Diggersby's yell flung me to a tree. Fortunately, I was not injured when I made impact with the tree. It looks like all hell is breaking loose though.

"Snivy," I asked as the grass snake revealed himself, "You ready?"

"Snivy!" Snivy exclaimed as he readied himself for battle.

"Ok, Snivy get close to Diggersby by using Tackle!"

"Snivy!" Snivy exclaimed as he went as close to the Diggersby who immediately noticed the Grass Snake Pokémon and decided that a move was not necessary. The 'sunlight' that is provided allows Snivy to avoid the ears of the Diggersby who quickly found itself on the side of a Wolf Blade strike.

"Diggersby!" Diggersby exclaimed as it was mildly damaged by the Wolf Blade.

"Furret use your Agility attack!" ImmortalPinkBall exclaimed as Furret created afterimages of itself

"Diggersby?" Diggersby said in confusion at the amount of Furret's around him, and D4C used that opportunity to use one of his daggers to splice through Diggersby's ear causing even more damage for the Digging Pokémon.

"Got a load of that," D4C said right before he was flung away as a result of Diggersby's cry.

"That isn't good!" Justman012 said as he readied himself to strike. It doesn't really look like they delt that much damage to Diggersby. Wondering what level Diggersby is, Justman012 took out his Pokédex.

DIGGERSBY LVL. 23

HEALTH: ?/?

All Justman012 could tell was that Diggersby's health was still in the green. Which makes sense considering that the other Pokémon and players level were all lower than twenty, numbers play major roles in games. Especially in games like this one, where one wrong critical hit and your dead.

"So, you see it too," Can_O_Beans said behind Justman012.

"That the health is barely going down despite our efforts. Its not like its that hard to see."

"It's almost like its regaining its health or something," ShieldLeaf said as she deduced that Diggersby must be doing something in order to stay alive this long. Looking around its clear there are a variety of Pokémon. Some minding their own business, and some spectating the fight. It is not just Pokémon from one specific region either, like much of this floor its consisting of lower leveled Pokémon from every Pokémon game prior. Pokémon such as Rattata, Kricketune, Spewpa, and Audino. Wait, Audino! Audino's ability is Healer, but Healer works on status conditions. Unless Healer has been buffed, but what is the chance of that happening. It has to be something else.

"…" Red said as his Pikachu created multiples of itself to try and confuse the Diggersby even more.

"Bug Bite!" Raid exclaimed as his newest Pokémon slithered its way to Diggersby while it occupied fending off swords and attacks.

"Weedle!" The Weedle exclaimed using the attack on Diggersby before getting flung off. After Weedle got flung from Diggersby, he used Poison String on Raid's Plain Sword in the hopes of maybe getting some of that poisonous property on it.

"Agggrhhhh!" Raid yelled as used the Sword Skill known as a Horizontal Arc against the Diggersby.

"Damn that barely did any damage at all," Jayden said with full knowledge that this Diggersby just won't quit. Though it still did more damage than what it would've done without the Poison String.

"Yeah, it's almost like its invincible," John Smith remarked.

"…"

"I believe it's a high defense," RebelRunner57 said with full confidence.

"Even Pokémon with the highest defense would be taken out by now," ViperSnake said with surprise.

"Then Diggersby has to be healing right now!" ShieldLeaf exclaimed.

"Hold on, I don't think that is ye case," Sharky said noticing that the health has never actually gone up.

"I hear what you say. 'right let's take down these Audino down!"

"Wait what?!"

"Scorbunny, Double Kick!" ShieldLeaf commanded as Scorbunny begrudging went towards those Audino to do a one two kick combo.

"Audino!" Audino exclaimed as they yelped in pain.

"Cut it out!" Can_O_Beans shouted as soon as he realized that the Audino were in fact not healing the Diggersby.

"They are just observing and got them angry!" D4C made note of as some of the Audino just started to sing using their Disarming Voice.

"Scorbunny!" Scorbunny exclaimed as her ears were in immerse pain due to the Disarming Voice.

"Scorbunny are you ok?" ShieldLeaf exclaimed as she became a little concern about Scorbunny's wellbeing.

"Scorbunny," Scorbunny said albeit a little forced.

"Let them have it…"

"HOLD ON A SECOND!" I yelled getting annoyed at the treatment of Scorbunny by ShieldLeaf, "The Audino's weren't healing Diggersby if they were then some sort of green sparkle would've been around Diggersby every time it was healed! Diggersby just has a massive defense and health."

"That actually makes sense!" ViperSnake exclaimed as she realized one painful fact. This game is going to be much more difficult than the beta she had previously played, but this means absolutely everyone has been buffed which means.

"By yer look, I assume ye know how to overwhelm the Diggersby," Sharky said.

"Indeed, I do, we have to throw all our defense lowering attacks like Tail Whip, and Leer. Then we go into an all-out attack," ViperSnake suggested.

"…"

"That sounds like a good plan to me," KaoZombies919 agreed.

"Let's do this, guys!" I yelled as me and the boys got our weapons out, and our Pokémon pals ready.

"…" Red said steering straight into ShieldLeaf who was still stubborn over her idea being right, but Red has been practicing the classic Red glance. Which strike compliance into the heart of ShieldLeaf, something that Scorbunny was thankful for. In a moment's noticed we fired out as many Defense lowering moves as possible in order to get Diggersby's defense to the absolute minimum it could be. Diggersby was not liking this whatsoever and went to try to kill us before we could kill it. Then after a few minutes of dodging Diggersby attacks we finally got Diggersby Defense to the lowest it could be. From there we all went to attack, and not even Diggersby's Alpha status could've saved it from the barrage of attacks it would take.

"ARGGHHHH!" I yelled as I used the Wolf Blade's Cut skill to slice through Diggersby while Raid made a simple slash through Diggersby's with a Poison String induced Plain Sword to finish off the Diggersby once and for all. I could hear was the sigh of relief as Diggersby shattered into millions of glass pieces.

"And that my friends is how you defeat a Pokémon in style!" I exclaimed as our levels jumped up to level 12, and the Pokémon we used jumped up to level 10 – 14. A little less of a level increase but still a welcomed level increase, nonetheless.

"Looks like we got something," Raid mentioned as everyone checked their inventory to see that they got three Potions, five Pokèballs, and some Stardust.

"I guess it wasn't a complete waste of a day," Justin noted as our heroes walked through Route 3. After defeating Diggersby, we parted ways with Percy and the others. As Percy decided to go back to Exordium, in order to start scouting for something they decided during the battle. While we decided to try and explore Route 3 more in depth, because it simply sounded like a fun thing to do. Maybe we will find a new Pokémon friend like Bill's Weedle, or Jayden's Fletchling.

"Yeah, we managed to raise our levels more then we have over the past few days," David added.

"And I learned a cool technique to use with Weedle," Bill tackled on.

"Who knew that the string wouldn't break when wrapped around the sword," Jayden mention.

"Oh oh, I better develop my skills. I'll be outmatched soon by elemental powered regular swords," I chuckled.

"With the power of the Mudkip Plain Axe!" David exclaimed as he raised his axe to the sky.

"Woah watch where you pull that thing," Justin said with no disdain in his voice, "I rather die in battle, and not in an axe accident."

"Snivy," Snivy said chuckling at these humans, they are rather entertaining.

"Fletchling," Fletchling exclaimed as she fired an Ember.

"Snivy!" Snivy exclaimed rather upset that Fletchling almost hurt him.

"Fletchling," Fletchling said bowing down to apologize. Her only intention was partaking in this lighthearted fun like her partner.

"Snivy," Snivy sighed forgiving the Fletchling.

"Its nice to know that they made up," I said smiling having observed the whole incident.

"Who made up?" Jayden asked.

"Nothing," I said before we promptly heard a high-pitched scream.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! HELP ME!"

"Where did it come from," Justin wondered.

"I don't know, but I think we need to act fast," I said running in the direction of the yell which just so happened to lead to a cave. Though it looks scary, if someone needs help, I will not hesitate to do what is right to help others. Besides the person who needs help could be someone's sister, brother, or friend. So, I ventured into the cave with Snivy to find the source of the scream.

TO BE CONUTINED…

A/N: So we are inching closer and closer to the floor one boss fight, but first there is someone who needs help. I wonder who it could be? If you made it to this point without clicking out of the page. Thank you for taking the time to read through this chapter. Please feel free to review what you liked, what you disliked, and how I can improve on my writing. I will reply to the reviews after each chapter. Oh and feel free to PM me.

PREVIEW:

A cry for help came from a cave. As such, Hunter and Snivy dashed to the cave to help out in whatever way they can. Though this chance encounter will lead to a series of events that could change the fates of our heroes, forever.

Next Time:

Lifelight

Till Next Time!