CH 4: High Voltage
"Hands in the air where we can see them." a mechanical voice pierces through the howling thunder. "You're the one who caused the spatial disruption in this universe aren't you."
A blue and silver bodysuit encased the humanoid figure. Her visor projected a soft light that quickly dimmed as it shined onto her target. Beside her, an armored quadruped flicked his tail-fin, as drops slipped off of it. His claws dug into the uneven ground, sinking slightly into the muk. Despite their blinding lights, the energy seemed to be absorbed into the blackness surrounding the monster.
"My my, aren't you two flamboyant. A little early for Halloween wouldn't you say?" it taunts, flicking a claw towards the two. Immediately the dense forest that surrounded them began to steadily transform into darkness.
"We don't have time for your games spector." the canine barks, a small cannon appearing from the side of his suit. It wires a crackling net which phases right past the amused foe. The shocked look on Silvally's face quickly shifted to fear however, as shadowy tendrils rose from the ground and began to wrap themselves around his feet. A metallic blast rings through the air as the humanoid figure's palms light up, but its damage to the ensnarements was rapidly healed. Despite their struggles, the inky vines slowly begin to coil around them.
"Call HQ, this is a…" the dog's voice is choked as multiple liquidy chains ensnare his muzzle. The fans on his head light up and multiple crescents of air slice through the constrictors, yet for every one cut, two more take their place. The duo are slowly lifted into the air as a crimson maw leisurely floats in front of them.
"Tell me… Lucario, from where is it that you originate? Your armor is clearly…. elaborate." he asks, unbinding the tendrils from their necks.
"I'm… part of an Ultra Recon Squad…. he.. here to stop you… from doing more damage to the multiverse." she sputters.
"Stop me? Really now? He chuckles. "What is this "Multiverse" you refer to, and how did you arrive here?" he further inquiries.
"Like we'd ever tell yo…" the dog pauses as a spike punctures his chestplate and hovers centimeters from his stomach.
"Speak wisely now." the shadow mocks, moving the jet black thorn up and down the indigo and white plating, creating a sharp tearing sound.
"You think the two of us… would ever tell you that?" Lucario responds.
"Fine, fine, if we MUST do this the hard way, I'll be ending this conversation here. Sweet dreams Ultra Recon Squad, I've got a mystery to solve." the wisp shouts as a purple vortex appears by his arm. The duo's fight for consciousness proves futile as the hypnotizing sight annihilates what little willpower they could muster. Their eyelids grow heavy as their shackles are slowly released and the rainfall once again becomes audible. Their weak flailing eventually concludes as the pokemon drift into an unbreakable rest.
"If what these two have to say is true, then I may have higher sights to aim for then planned." he laughs, disappearing into the concluding night with the agents.
"Look at us now, we're like a real exploration team clearing all this no problem!" Shen announces, moving energetically ahead of his allies. The claustrophobic brush of the forest slowly transforms into an open field, with speckled sunlight breaching the overhead leaves. Shaking the remaining foliage off of his legs and back, the Shinx prances forwards towards the opposite side leaving his allies slightly behind.
"Hey Shen, wait up. Didn't Chatot say there was something at the end? Jared asks, bounding after his teammate awkwardly.
"Yeah, a package like the one in that tree to retrieve. Can you go ahead and pull out that Escape Orb Nolan?" He shouts across the meadow.
A sharp scraping sound disrupts the serene atmosphere, as a lobster-like creature slides down the hollowed tree leaving large claw marks on his descent. His pincers fade back to their typical red coloring as he alights from the chiseled bark. "Hey Hey, you're here earlier than anticipated. I'm Crawdaunt, a veteran of Wigglytuff's Guild."
"Nice to meet you, Crawdaunt." Shen energetically replies. "So I'm assuming from this whole setup that we'll be battling you or something?"
"No need to spoil the surprise now. But yes, since you've already gone and spoiled it, I'll be fighting you as your final test. But enough introductions, let's get started Hey Hey!" Crawdaunt announces.
After the lobster's snappy response, his mouth begins to methodically open and shut as the air around him begins to appear distorted. "Ugh, of course we have a boss fight on the first day." Shen sighs, pulling back while monitoring his foe.
"Shen! Get back over here, I can't cover you!" Ralts shouts.
"I know, I know." he replies, attempting to dash back to his allies. Before he can get halfway to them however, the sound of torrents breaks his focus. The Crawdaunt blasts forward with streams of boiling water erupting from his claws, creating powerful wakes behind him. Once he reaches Shen, he grapples him with a meaty claw and lifts him a few feet above the ground, occupying his teammates with numerous spouts from his secondary appendage.
"Rule one of a Rescue Team, it's a TEAM effort. Always stick with your group." the crustacean sternly lectures, his eyes focused on Shen's repositioning allies. Shen struggles against Crawdaunt's prickly grip, barely able to move his paws within the veteran's ever tightening grip.
"How in the world does that lobster shoot water from his claws?!"
"You're only just now questioning this Jared?" Nolan retorts, curving a jet away from his horn.
"Well… that's fair…" Zorua timidly replies.
A faint crackling noise catches the Crawdaunt's attention, and his eyes jolt to the captured Shinx whose tail is glistening like a Christmas light. "You may have experience on your side, but I think you should take us more seriously." Shen exclaims, swinging his tail towards his captor's chest. Crawdaunt's exoskeleton jitters but in response the annoyed foe chucks Shinx straight up into the air.
"Alright, maybe I WILL take you seriously if that's really what you want!" he shouts, shooting a bombardment of stars up towards the descending Shinx. Right as they connect, Shen is caught in the air unsteadily by Nolan's grip, and jerked away.
"Thanks for the save, but this guy HURTS!" he exclaims, bouncing quickly on his left forepaw.
"That's karma for taunting him!" Nolan replies.
"And there's more where that came!" Jared yells as the star atop Crawdaunt's head shines a bright white. A salvo of stars and jets of water shoot towards the trio who break off to either side of the opponent.
Nolan haphazardly grabs a seed out of his bag and telekinetically propels it towards the crustation who easily deflects it. In the brief opening, Zorua darts forward and collides with Crawdaunt, the dark ball ricocheting off his plating. "You'll have to do better than that to pierce my shell." he taunts, countering the duo with an elongated breaker from his claw.
"How about this then!" Shen shouts across the field as a bolt dances through the air. Crawdaunt's eyes widen and he quickly rotates, attempting to deflect the attack with his glowing claw, only partially softening the blow. Nolan hastily parts the incoming wave in half, granting an opening for Jared's riposte, the canine zigzagging towards his foe. Zorua leaps upward swiftly and slashes at the enemy with three enlarged glistening claws.
Crawdaunt angrily wills through the pain and nabs Jared in midair, launching him towards Shen. Bits of fur and grass rip through the air as Jared rockets through the air towards his teammate. The impact hits home and in the newfound advantage he flips back to Nolan. "Let's see now what your family has taught you Hey Hey!" he exclaims. Once again he blasts water from his claws, surrounding his body in a liquid blue aura. Nolan narrowly evades the brunt of the attack but is caught out of position as a purple bomb slams into his chest.
The knockback sends him rolling backwards clenching his bruised torso. A psychic force levitates Nolan centimeters from the ground, reducing the damage, but the poison quickly saps a large portion of the rookie's strength. Ralts's brown bag lands close by, scattering its organized contents across the field.
"Nolan! You ok?" Shen asks, pushing Leon off him as he dashes towards two berries. "Jared! Buy me some time." he announces to his partner who gives a disgruntled nod. Jared hesitantly charges towards the restabilizing crustacean.
"Phew, this is some good exercise, these old joints haven't worked this hard in a while." Crawdaunt whispers between breaths. Evaluating the situation, he arcs multiple blasts towards the Shinx and turns to face Zorua head on. "Now how is it that plan on holding me off little Zorua." he beckons.
"I… haven't quite figured that part out yet.." he replies, skeeting to the right of his enemy. His small paws flatten against the moist grass and Zorua slips under Crawdaunt's claw. He launches himself into the side of the lobster, barely phasing him. The darkened paw fades back to its original hue and Jared falls back to the ground clenching his paw.
"Nice try, but using a dark type move wasn't a great idea." Crawdaunt retorts as pieces of his armor begin to fade. His exoskeleton glimmers in the sun as he twists his shoulders. Suddenly with newfound speed he skirts towards the bewildered Zorua who stands frozen in place. Crawdaunt swings an azure claw at his adversary who barely avoids it as he's ripped backward.
"That was wayyy too close!" Shen exhales, watching the portion of the ground beneath Jared fade from pink to its normal coloring.
"He's gonna finish us off in a few blows if we let him keep going. What's your game plan?" Nolan replies, swallowing a small peach colored berry.
"Erk… well considering the ineffectiveness of you and Jared's attacks, I'll need to find a way in. I've got a slight idea, but I'll need you to follow my lead for a second." he answers, sprinting to back up his friend.
"Just keep up the evasive moves Jared, I've got an idea!" The air around Shen begins to snap as dashes.
"Nolan, can you hit those leaves up above Crawdaunt? I need you to just dump their water on him!" he announces.
"He's a water type Shinx, what the hell will that do?" Ralts sarcastically replies right behind his teammate.
"You said you'd follow my lead, just trust me on this one, not like your attacks will do much to Crawdaunt anyways!" Shen yells.
"I never!… ugh, alright." Nolan responds, shooting a wave of telekinesis at the ceiling. Water begins to flood from the cup shaped leaves onto the field, pausing Crawdaunt's barrage.
"What in the world?" Crawdaunt whispers as rainwater further dampens his plating. He launches a volley of jets towards the reuniting comrades who narrowly scrape by them.
"Help me get in close, I've got this." Shen whispers to his teammates.
"Sure, but I'm not catching you when you get smacked." Nolan argues, garnering an eye roll from his partner.
While Shen bolted to the left, and Jared to the right, Nolan carefully dashed forward, bending incoming jets around him meticulously.
"Hey lobster…. Erm… I bet you won't see this coming." Jared timidly taunts getting a confused look from his adversary.
"Is that seriously all you got?" he answers while attempting to block Shen's assault with a gaping claw. Shen easily slides underneath Crawdaunt's defense and rotates for a direct attack. Biting onto his leg, a resounding CRACK resonates through the meadow as Shen's electricity pours into the soaking lobster. His opponent's entire being seems to shake as the water rattles atop his exoskeleton. After a few moments, the crackling settles as Shinx slowly releases his grip and collapses onto the ground, Crawdaunt falling onto a knee shortly after.
"Alright… alright… I give. That was a sick move you kids pulled back there." he exclaims between coughs of smoke. "I'll…. be meeting you three back at the guild… just let me catch my breath here."
"I… second that option." Jared exhales. The Zorua flops onto the ground, covering his underbelly in more wet grass.
Nolan leans against a nearby stump and silently reorganizes his bag, telepathically floating items back to him. Setting aside four Oran Berries, he lightly throws them towards his allies and Crawdaunt, who eats the entire fruit in a single chomp.
"What's this… supposed to be?" Jared asks, rotating the berry in the grass.
"Or..rrn berry…" Shen replies, his mouth covered in blue juice. "Man, these are like a 5 hour energy or somethin, I'm feeling all pumped up again!" The Shinx bounces up from the ground and fruitlessly attempts to wipe the grass off his paws.
"Five hour energy?" Ralts questions.
"It's…. nevermind, I'll explain later." Shen chuckles.
"You three handled yourselves well out there Hey Hey. Even if I'm not exactly in my prime." Crawdaunt announces, protruding an Escape Orb via his satchel. "I'll catch you three later today, gotta relay the news to ol Wigglytuff."
"Alright, thanks a ton Crawdaunt. You pulled some cool techniques yourself." Shen happily answers, helping Jared up with his forepaw. "Let's grab that box and hit the road guys!"
A yellow flash fills the area as the smiling Crawdaunt vanishes, leaving small golden ripples in his wake. As the trio open the package, they find a small golden figurine of an apple, and Shen passes it to Nolan who stashes it away. "We make a pretty swell team, dontcha think?"
"You two were… better than your first impressions exhibited." Nolan replies, scanning his two teammates. "I wouldn't be opposed to sticking around."
"Alrighty then, you ok with this Jared?" Shen questions.
"Wha… Oh, yeah, I wouldn't mind having someone experienced around." Zorua responds shyly.
"Yeah! This is gonna be fun! Oh wait, we need a team name don't we? Hmm… ooh, how about Team Shaded Psyshock?" Shen asks.
"That… I'm not sure… We need something flashy that rolls off the tongue. Something like Team Ace or something.." Nolan replies.
"That's fair…" Shen agrees. "You got anything Jared?"
"Erm… I'm not good at this sorta thing…" he answers, tilting his head slightly downward, a red hue tinting his face. "Maybe something like… I don't know… Team Traverse?"
"That's a GREAT NAME! What do you mean you "aren't good at this sorta thing."" he cheers with a wagging tail, only heightening Jared's nervousness. "All in favor of Team Traverse?"
"No complaints from me." Ralts replies, nodding his head in agreement.
"Then it's settled then!" Shen shouts, sticking a forepaw in the air between his allies. Nolan touches it with his hand while Jared slowly joins them. "Let's make Team Traverse the best team we can!"
Authors Notes
Hello, and welcome back. So yeah, I'm gonna have to change my update schedule to a regular of every 2 weeks per ch due to increasing schoolwork draining motivation (plus my xenoblade 3 addiction). I hope you enjoyed this ch though, I know my writing isn't the best, though hopefully y'all enjoy it and all that. Feel free to comment with any suggestions/improvements/critiques cause I hope to improve significantly in my writing and every bit helps. Have a great one and all that, and look forward to ch 5 next next tuesday :).