Alright, it's occured to me prehaps I've been straying from the whole Poke'mon idea lately with my
story. This chapter is being dedicated to starting to fix that. It's not perfect, and yes, I still
will have Hybrids, of course, but now I have Poke'mon more directly related to the topic. As always,
please review when you're done and let me know what you think. Also, ideas are once again always
welcome. If you don't know my e-mail, it's firehybrid@swirve.com
Note: My new story, the one I said would be rated PG-13 for language and other stuff last time, will
probably be out within a week of this update.
Future notice note: Unless otherwise noted in this section, a chapter will be told from Dan's POV.
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Chp.17-Dark Fire and Black Ice
Over a week had went by, and we were about two days outside Lavander. We hadn't had any
weird occurances or attacks lately. Even still, we do have at least one Hybrid stand gaurd during
the night. We rotate each night, and before a new week begins, we draw straws to see who gets
stuck with three nights instead of two. Well, as luck would have it, I got the short straw, so I
had to watch over everyone for three nights. It's not too bad. Usually, at least one of our Poke'mon
can't sleep, and they keep me company during the night.
Anyway, during this night, Bulbasaur decided to stay up with me. I keep myself awake at
night by looking over my PokeDex or by listening to a Poke'mon just talk for a while. I figure
if I want to be able to understand Poke'mon better, I need to do things like a Poke'mon would do
it. By that, I mean learning through experience. Not like levels or anything like that(personally,
I don't believe in them.), but exposing myself to Poke'mon as much as possible. So far, I haven't
really picked up too much, but you need to give things like this time.
This night, I was listening to Bulbasaur go on about what his life in the wild was like
before he was captured and trained to be a starter Poke'mon. I listened for as long as I could,
but soon, it just got to be repetative, and my mind wandered. However, something did catch my
attention about one in the morning.
HOOOOUUUUUNNNNN...
"Raichu?" It sounded like something was howling. Bulbasaur stopped talking and listened to
it too. Seeing no one was awakened by the howls, I told Bulbasaur to wait here while I went to
check it out.
We were still deep in the woods, so their was a good chance that there were a lot of wild
Poke'mon around. Even if I couldn't get any tonight, maybe I could at least see where they gathered,
so I could come back later.
There was another howl, farther off. I followed it, realizing prehaps I was getting too
far away from the others. Just go a little further, and then go back, I told myself. You don't
want to lose the group.
I went about another couple hundred of yards, but I still didn't find the howlers. Dejected
and worried about the others, I decided to turn around and head back. About halfway there, though,
I could hear something...a LOT of something...heading toward me from the direction of the tent.
Whatever they were, they were out of sight, but not hearing.
"Uh-oh..." Maybe I'd better just go around them. I started to head off to one side, but
then I could hear them from that direction as well. I tried another direction. They were coming
from there too! I was surrounded!
I felt the butterflies begin to fly in my stomach. This couldn't end well. A bunch of wild
Poke'mon, trapping a creature that was a mix of human and Poke'mon? Maybe they'd just leave me
alone, but they'd probably attack. After all, I was in their territory. They'd probably see me as
a threat.
Something snapped, but I thought it was just a twig and ignored it. I stood there,
paralyized with fear. I didn't notice that the snap was in fact one of my bones shifting, till I
heard more and more of them. In my fear, I didn't even notice my hands were totally gone till I
started to notice everything around me getting rapidly larger.
"Raiiii..." *Nooooo...* Great, this was the last thing I needed. Now is not the time for this,
I thought as my clothes started to heap around me. My face felt like clay as it shifted to take on a
more Raichu apperance. Now I really felt like I was going to be sick.
My legs suddenly shrank till they were almost unnoticable. The sudden height loss caused
me to fall about a foot and land roughly on my back. I was really tangled up in my clothes this time.
Even as I struggled, I could hear the things surrounding me. I couldn't tell exactly what they were,
only that it didn't smell human or like any Poke'mon I've ever run into before.
I felt nothing else moving by the time I scrambled out from my clothes. Yup, I thought,
looking myself over and seeing I was now totally a Raichu again. I've done it again.
"Houndoom." *You, face me.*
"Rai?" *Huh?* I'd almost forgotten about the Poke'mon that surrounded me. Looking up, I
saw I was in the middle of a ring made of mostly Houndors, but there was one large Houndoom as well.
Seeing how much larger it was and hearing the tone of its voice, I quickly did as ordered.
"Houndoom?" it asked. *Why are you here?*
"Rai...Raichu, Chu Rai." *I...was studying these human clothes.*
"Houndoom, Hound Hound. Hound, Houndoom." *That's not what I meant. Why are you in
this area?*
"Rai...Raichu?" *I...got lost?*
"Hound? Hound, Hound. Doom Doom Doom." *Lost? You must be. There are no Raichus in this
forest."
That made the fur on my neck stand up. I don't care if you're a Poke'mon whose just trying
to figure out why someone is on your territory; whenever I hear the word, "Doom" repeated a lot,
I tend to get a bit scared.
"Houndoom Hound, Doom Hound?" it said, taking a step toward me. *There are not even Pichu's
here, so can you explain your presense?*
"Rai..." *Sure...* Come on, Gotem, think fast! Why would a Raichu be in a forest where
there supposedly aren't even any Pichu's?
"Rai...Raichu Raichu. Rai Rai, Chu Raichu Chu, Rai Rai." *I...ran away from my trainer.
He was bad to me, and I escaped to here so he wouldn't find me.*
"Houndoom, Doom?" *You don't like humans?*
"Raichu, Rai!" *No, human bad!*
I don't know, I just blurted that out! What could I say? I had a huge Houndoom looking at
me like I was a late night snack, and a bunch of Houndors surrounding me and growling. I got scared!
Houndoom looked at me like I was an idiot who couldn't talk right, but if I were in it's position,
I doubt I could disagree with it.
"Hound. Houndoom, Hound Hound, Doom..." *Fine. You may stay, but you need to learn some
guidelines first...*
For the next half hour, I was forced to listen about what trees I may sleep in, where I
could get my food and water, and basically how to live life out in the wild. I said nothing, but
just nodded at the appropriate times. I wasn't about to challenge them in anyway. Finally, the
Houndoom let me go. The Houndors moved to let me out, but as I left, the Houndoom called after me.
"Houndoom, Doom Hound." *By the way; beware the Sneazels.*
"Raichu Rai?" *Beware the Sneazels?* What was this thing talking about?
"Raichu..." *I will...*
Weridos, I thought, starting back toward the tent. I'd have to come back for my clothes
later, unless the Houndors and Houndoom took them. Oh well. A shirt and pants are well worth my
continued good health!
As I made my way back on all fours, my nose caught the smell of smoke. It wasn't like the
smoke from a grill, though. Something was on fire...and it was coming from the direction of the
tent!
"Rai!" *Oh no!* I ran as fast as I could, worried about what was going on. Where was
Totodile? Shouldn't he be putting this thing out?! And what about Bulbasaur, and my other Poke'mon?
What was happening with them?
By the time I reached my tent, I saw most of my stuff sitting against a tree. However, my
tent was reduced to a smoldering pile of...whatever tents are made out of. There was no sign of
any of the Poke'mon, or of Sara and Vaporeon. Where could they be?
"Raichu? Raichu? Raichu? Raichu!" I called out. *Sara? Vaporeon? Bulbasaur? Where are you!*
No one responded to my calls. Seeing I couldn't do a lot from my current position, I
scrambled up a nearby tree, finding it was rather easy, despite the fact I lacked fingers or hands.
It was dark, though, and a Raichus night vision is about equal to that of a humans, so I couldn't
really see where I was going.
After I got about halfway up, I started to leap from branch to branch, trying to get to
the top. I'd figured I could get the best view from there. However, during my climb, I accidently
stepped on the tail of something. When that tail was suddenly pulled out from under me, it threw me
off balance. I swung my arms wildly about there for a few seconds as I tried to stay up. Finally, at
the last second, I collapsed on the branch and hung on for dear life.
"Furret, Fur Furret!" *Hey, watch it you clumsy rat!*
"Rai...Raichu?! Raichu..." *Sor...Clumsy rat?! Why you...* I got to my feet and saw Furret
more ahead on the branch.
"Raichu Rai, Rai Chu Raichu! Raichu, Chu Rai Rai!" *First of all, I'm a mouse, not a rat!
Secondly, that's no way to talk to your trainer!*
"Furret? Furret...Ret. Fur, Furret! Furret..." *Trainer? What are you...oh. Dan, I'm sorry!
I didn't know...*
I'd told all my Poke'mon about my tendecy to become a Raichu ever now and then, so they
knew if I wasn't around, and a Raichu insisted it was their trainer, they should at least humor it.
While I knew it wouldn't be the easiest adjustment to make, it was better than losing everyone if
they all went off to look for me.
*What happened to everyone?*(From here on out, I'm just writing the translations for
Pokemon speech.)
Furret told a story that began with Bulbasaur waking her up. There were a bunch of figures
outside the tent, making weird noises. Before they could wake the others, the figures attacked,
leaving slashes in the tent and abruptly waking up the others. Sara, once she realized what was
going on, ordered everyone to run. Furret ran out with someone else, but in her panic, Furret
didn't see who. By the time Furret got up the tree and turned to see what was happening, all
she saw was my tent burning, and most of my stuff on the ground next to it.
*Slashes in the tent?*
*Yeah, there were slashes all over. Hundreds!*
Hmm...what Poke'mon could've made slashes in the tent and light it on fire? I'd say the
Houndor's, except they don't have any claws to make slashes.
*Come on. Lets find the other one who ran out.*
We climbed down and started calling out for everyone.Furret and I stuck together as we
searched around, so we didn't lose each other. I guess it was about fifteen minutes or so before
we heard the yelling.
*Get it off me! Get it off me!*
We followed the yelling to a small pond. Totodile was flailing about in the middle of the
lake, like something was holding him down.
*Totodile! We're coming!* How exactly was I going to get out there? Even if I could swim
in this body, how could I really attack whatever was holding Totodile down without hurting him?
*Hang on!* Furret started to shake her tail. I watched this, not sure exactly what was going
on. Slowly, a blue piece of something began to fall out through the bottom of her tail. More and
more of it came out, until it finally landed on the ground.
*Huh?* Unless I was mistaken...and there was a good chance I was...Furret just knocked a
small surfboard out of her tail!
Before I could figure out what was going on, Furret grabbed the board in her front paws
and dove into the lake. Laying out on the board, she swam out to Totodile. It was amazing how well
she was able to swim with her small front paws. She made her way over to Todotile, looking for
what was holding him down.
*Alright, what's holding yo...* Suddenly, Furret sighed and shook her head. Then she did
something totally uncalled for.
SWIPE!
*FURRET!* She just swiped Totodile across the snout! What was that for?! Totodile
stopped moving and clutched at the scratched spot on his snout.
Furret said calmly, *Totodile...stop moving.*
*Stop moving?! Are you craz...oh.*
*Oh geez...* I sighed
The water stopped at Totodile's neck! I could've just walked in and help him out! Furret
leapt down off her board and pulled out the small plant that was stuck on Totodile's tail. They
walked back in together, with Furret pushing her board out in front of her.
*Well, that was needlessly dramatic...*
Totodile looked down at the ground. *Sorry...*. After a moment, he looked at me, confused.
*Wait, should I know you?*
*Geez, didn't you guys get this the first time we explained it?...*
After explaining who I was once again, I asked Totodile if he had anything to add to Furret's
story. Totodile said a blue beam of something nicked him as he ran out, but not enough to do any
damage or slow him down. However, it felt really cold.(Some how, during all this, Furret put away
her surfboard, but I didn't see it myself.)
A blue, cold beam? What could that be? Nethier Pokemon had any clue, nor did I.
*Come on, let's go back. We need to find the others!*
We all started back toward the tent. How exactly were we going to find the others? Maybe
I could pick up their scent back at the site and follow that to them. Still, then what? We'd
probably have to fight whatever took them in the first place, and if Furret and Totodile were
right, there'd be a lot of them to fight.
As we closed in the site, I heard something mumbling over by my stuff. I told the Poke'mon
to wait at a distance, then I quietly snuck over toward the equipment. Something was looking
through our packs and taking stuff out. It was robbing us!
Still moving slowly and quietly to avoid attention, I snuck up behind the creature. It was...
a Sneazel? At the moment, it was inside Sara's pack and was throwing things out behind it. It still
didn't seem to notice me. Hmm...should I? No, that's wrong...but going through our stuff isn't
exactly right, ethier.
While the Sneazel continued to raid Sara's pack, I moved up to the flap of her bag that
closed the section Sneazel was currently in. Closing the flap, I clicked the the buckles in place,
trapping it.
*What the...hey!* The flap suddenly moved as Sneazel tried to break through, but it held.
*Guys, come here!* I called out.
Sneazel made several unsucessful attempts at breaking out with force. When Furret and
Totodile were about halfway to me, Sneazel finally got smart. It slashed through the flap, trying
to make a hole to escape. Quickly, I moved in front of the hole, just far enough to avoid getting
hit, and laid on my stomach, looking in the hole.
*Hi.* I said with a little smile. Sneazel looked at me, confused.
*Uh...hello.*
*You should stay.*
*Stay? Why?*
*Do you want 100,000 volts running through you?*
*No...*
*Then stay."
Sneazel decided not to take the risk I was bluffing(which I was) while the others made
their way over. They quickly looked in at the trapped dark-type before we talked about what to do
with it. After a few minutes of discussion, we came up with a rather cruel, yet effective idea.
While I got some rope out of my bag, Totodile and Furret forced Sneazel out and held it
by the arms to keep it from escaping. After I'd gotten a good deal of rope, the three of us proceeded
to tie Sneazel to a nearby tree. For the first and probably only time in my life, all the time I
spent in the Boy Scouts learning knots finally came in handy. I instruced Totodile how to make the
knot(He was the only one of us with decent hands for things like this) so that Sneazel couldn't
escape.
We explained to Sneazel what was going to happen. If it told us what we wanted to know, we
would let it go. If it didn't, Totodile was going to spray it with water. If it still refused to
say what we wanted to hear, Furret would scratch it. If it STILL refused to say what we wanted to
hear, I would give it a little, "shock", therapy. Sneazel seemed none too pleased with this, but
it really didn't have much of a say in the matter.
*Alright, why are you stealing our stuff?* I asked.
*Your stuff? These things belong to humans.* Sneazel replied.
*They belong to...our trainers.* It ocurred to me that Sneazel would probably be confused
by the concept of creatures half-human and half-Pokemon, so I decided to avoid the subject.
*We require...* it started to say, then stopped.
*We? We who? Require what?* Nothing. *Totodile!*
*Got it.* Totodile opened his mouth and used Water Gun on Sneazel.
GLUGLUGLUGLUGLUGLUG!
*Blhey! Blop!* Sneazel cried out.
*You heard it.* Totodile stopped and Sneazel gasped for air. *Alright, let's try this again.
Why are you going through our trainers stuff?*
*We require supplies for the great battle ahead of us.*
*We who?*
*The Sneazels who live in this forest.*
*Who are you fighting?* Furret asked.
The Sneazel refused to respond once again. Will this thing ever learn?
*Furret, Fury Swipes!* I instructed.
*O.K., O.K!* Sneazel yelped. *We're fighting the Houndor's who are trying to take over our
territory.*
*Fine...* Wait...Sneazels had pretty sharp claws...and a blue, cold beam...
*Ice Beam!*
*Huh?*
*Why did you attack our trainers tent?*
*Tent? What is a 'tent'?*
*It's that thing that you Sneazels attacked before with all the people in it.*
*We...* Pause.
*Be that way...* I closed my eyes and began to concentrate on charging up. I could feel
electricty begin to surround me totally. *Raiiii...*
*We thought they were allied with the Houndor's, so we attacked them!* it quickly confessed.
*Good.* I stopped with the electricity and opened my eyes. *Where are they now?*
*Back with the others. You'll never get your friends away.*
*And why not?* Totodile asked.
*They are frozen in ice. It will be impossible to free them without heat, and I notice you
have no fire amoungst you.*
*Where can we find the others?*
Sneazel gave us the directions to the rest of the group. Great, now all I have to do is
get my friends, who are frozen in ice, melt that ice somehow, and escape before anyone noticed.
That's not hard...
*Hey, what about me?* Sneazel cried as we turned to leave. *You said you'd let me go if I
told you what you want!*
*I did.* I admitted. *However, you didn't read the fine print. I said I'd let you go. I
didn't say when I'd let you go.*
Sneazel started to yell and scream, but we ignored it and followed it's directions to where
the others were. Hey, Sneazel didn't mention anything about the tent burning. Maybe it didn't
burn the tent. Maybe it was the Houndor's after all. Oh well; better worry about that later. I've
got more important matters to take care of.
It was about a half mile walk to where Sneazel had directed us. There was a little valley
that we looked down into. Sneazels were off in various groups, mostly talking about the battle
ahead or eating various foods. However, something else caught my attention.
Off in one corner of the valley, sat six blocks of ice. In that ice were five Pokemon and
one Hybrid. Vaporeon, Bulbasaur, Nidoran, Pidgeotto, Railina, and...a Vulpix? Sara! She must have
changed when they were attacked. Unfortunetly, they were also surrounded by a ring of Sneazels, so
we weren't going to be able to get them in any direct manner.
One Sneazel in paticular got my attention. It was much larger than all the other Sneazels,
and seemed to be in charge, judging by the way the other Sneazels offered food to it or got out
of the way if it was walking in their direction. When this large Sneazel got up onto a large rock,
everyone of the others turned their attention to it.
*Sneazels! Heed my words! Today is the day we overcome the evil that has been threatening
us for months! These evil dogs have attacked our kind, stolen our food and ravaged our peaceful way
of life! Now we must take a stand, or be forced to suffer at the paws of these evil creatures!*
the large Sneazel declared. The other Sneazels cheered at this and yelled, *Down with dogs!*.
*These guys don't like Houndor's, do they?* Furret said, peering down at all the action
below us.
*No they don't.* Totodile agreed.
*Regretfully,* the lead Sneazel called out after everyone had calmed down. *my daughter will
not be able to join us for this battle. Has no one any new news about her whereabouts?* There were
a few murmurs amoungst the group, but no one said anything. The big Sneazel shook it's head. *I
fear for her safety, but we must defeat the evil dogs tonight, before they have the chance to
strike us again. Once they are defeated, then we can focus our energies on finding her.*
*Geez, you'd think it be more worried about finding it's daughter than going off into some
slaughter.* I thought aloud.
I was laying on my stomach, looking down at all this. This left my tail out in plain sight,
and of course I wasn't paying any attention to it. However, I soon regretted not keeping an eye on
it.
CHOMP!
*OW!* Something bit my tail! Whatever it was, it was biting with all it's strength, trying
to hang on. I ran around in circles, hoping to knock whatever it was off, but it held on.
*Hey, that looks like fun!* I heard a new voice say. Soon...
CHOMP!
*OW!* Now I had TWO sets of teeth biting on my tail! *FURRET! TOTODILE! GET THESE THINGS
OFF ME!*
*Hey, get off!* Furret yelped. She grabbed the owner of one set of teeth and started to
yank, then Totodile grabbed the other pair of teeth and yanked as well. While they tried to remove
them, I tried with everything I had in me not to scream bloody murder.
Finally, I felt one set of teeth be removed, then the second one gave way. I held my now
managled tail, rubbing and blowing on the spots where I'd been bitten. Poor tail...you've been so
good to me. I'm telling you; my tail doesn't get enough respect! It keeps me from shocking myself
with electricity, its picked locks for me; it's the most useful part of my body. Now it's all
mangaled, with teeth marks still in it. I gotta learn to be better to my tail!
*Whoa...* O.K., that was totally not normal thinking! I think I was starting to act a bit
like a Raichu again. Still, that was scary, even if I was thinking like a Raichu. Blowing on my
tail a little longer, I turned to see who'd just violated me.
*Huh?* Furret and Totodile were holding the attackers, even though they weren't struggling.
It was a small Houndor and Sneazel. There was no way these two could've been more than a few months
old.
*That was fun!* the Houndor said with a smile, looking at the Sneazel.
*Yeah, it was great!* the Sneazel agreed.
*Not for me!* I yelled. Wait a minute...a Houndor and a Sneazel together? That's weird.
*You two are friends?* I asked.
*Of course we're friends!* the Sneazel said.
*But...don't Sneazels hate Houndor's?* Totodile asked.
*Well, my parents and the other Houndor's don't like them,* the Houndor said, looking at
the Sneazel. *but she's fun to play with!*
*My daddy and the other Sneazels don't like the Houndor's...* Sneazel added, *but I don't
know why. He's a nice friend, but daddy didn't want me to be with him. He said that his kind were
bad and they'd take everything from us.*
*Daddy? Is he the one down by the big rock?* Furret let her go so she could go look in
the valley.
*That's Daddy! Daddy! I'm O.K.!* she yelled down. They didn't react in the valley. We were
probably too high up for them to hear us.
*My parents say that they need the land to survive, but I'm confused.* the little Houndor
said. *This is a big forest. Why can't we share?*
*I don't know...* Furret said. Totodile, seeing now that these two weren't going anywhere,
let Houndor go.
*Mr. Raichu, why can't they share?* Sneazel asked, giving up trying to call down.
*I'm not sure. Sometimes older people make up their minds about things and don't want to
change them, even if it's wrong. I really can't explain it.*
We stood around in silence, trying to figure out what to do. We all watched the actions in
the valley. I tried to figure out how to get the six giant blocks of ice away from the Sneazels
and free my friends held inside. Well, maybe Houndor could melt the ice...but then I'd still have
to get them out the valley in the first place...
*Oh no!* Sneazel cried out. *Daddy, don't go!*
*What's going on?* The lead Sneazel down below had gotten together all the other Sneazels,
and they were now marching out of the valley in the direction of the Houndor's.
*The battle will soon began, and our victory will follow!* cried the lead Sneazel as they
continued marching on.
*Ms. Furret, Mr. Totodile, Mr. Raichu, you have to stop them!* Houndor said, looking at
all of us.
*Us? Why us?* Totodile asked with a hint of alarm in his voice.
*Your big Pokemon. Our parents will listen to you. We're too little to do anything.*
*Oh...* I looked down in the valley. Our friends weren't being gaurded anymore...but
Houndor and Sneazel were looking right at me, and while they may have been both dark-types who
usually aren't so nice, the looks they gave me broke my Raichu heart.
*O.K., we'll stop them.*
*WHAT?!* Furret looked at me like I was nuts. *How are we going to stop all of them?!*
*I'm not quite sure, but we need to make sure they don't have the chance to attack! Come
on!*
We all ran as fast as possible to get ahead of the Sneazels. For what felt like an hour
we ran, trying to call to them to stop. Our voices were lost with their own shouting and talking.
There was no way they heard anything we said.
Finally, atop a large hill, the group of Sneazels stopped. We had ended up at the bottom
of the hill, but still our voices didn't reach them. Then Furret saw why they'd stopped.
The Houndor's, with the lead Houndoom, were standing across on another hill, all of them
watching the Sneazels. They all looked like armies, staring down their oppenents before the battle
began. It looked like something out of a movie.
Then it happened. The Sneazels charged down the hill toward the Houndor's, and the Houndor's
charged down to them. Both armies were lead by their leaders; the large Sneazel and the Houndoom.
The battle had begun!
*NO!* Houndor yelled. *Stop! Don't fight!*
We had to do something, fast! Maybe if we had some sort of peace sign...but what? What
would two races of Pokemon recognize as a symbol of peace?
I glanced back over at Sneazel and Houndor, who looked on at the charging armies with horror.
They looked kinda cute together at first, but now they were scared and saddened. The armies had
maybe twenty seconds before they met, and then...that's it!
*Bite me.*
*What?! Dan, even I know that's bad human language!* Furret said, shocked.
*I mean it!* I looked over at Sneazel and Houndor. *Bite my tail!*
The two of them seemed confused, but they must have noticed the urgency in my voice. They
leapt and latched on to my tail while I tried not to scream. Oh man, if this didn't work...
*Hang on!* I ran in between the two hills, right in between the charging Pokemon while
dragging along Sneazel and Houndor.
*OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!* I yelled as loud as I could, waving my arms
about and basically causing a scene. *Bad Houndor! Bad Sneazel! OW!OW!OW!*
*You foolish Raichu! Are you tryi...HALT!* Houndoom started to yell at me, then must have
noticed the Houndor attached to my tail. At the mention of "HALT!", all the Houndors stopped dead
in their tracks.
*What? Daughter! STOP!* The lead Sneazel also ordered its kind to stop. Yes! It worked...
for now.
*Guys, let go!* I yelped. They stopped biting and I repeated my attempts to soothe my
damaged tail.
*Son! Where have you been?* the Houndoom said as it ran over to the little Houndor.
*Daughter! You had us all worried!* The lead Sneazel ran over to his daughter.
The two leaders were within a few feet of each other, worried more about their children than
their oppenents. After a few seconds, though, they realized how close they were to one another.
Houndoom began to growl and bare its teeth while Sneazel hissed and held out his claws so they were
pointed forward.
*Why did you kidnap my son?!* the Houndoom accused of the Sneazel.
*Me? You're the one who stole my daughter!* Sneazel shot back.
*Guys, no one stole anyones kids!* I said, stepping in between the two tense Pokemon. *They
ran away on their own!*
*What?! Get out of the way, rat. I won't be held responsible for what happens if you stand
in my way!* Houndoom warned.
*For once, I agree with them.* Sneazel threatened. *This is not your place to interfere!*
*Can't we just settle this like dignifed Pokemon?* I suggested cautiously, still unmoving.
*NO!* both of them said in perfect usion.
*Come on, the forest is huge! Why can't you share it?*
*Share? They wouldn't share a Berry with us!* Houndoom said matter of factly.
*They've already taken over half the forest! What's to stop them from taking the other half?*
Sneazel said with a hiss.
Oh man, this looks real bad. If I didn't settle this quick, they were gonna attack again,
and I'd be right in the middle of it! What am I gonna do...
Rumble!
Everyone looked to see where this new sound came from. It happened again, and then we found
the source.
*I'm hungry...* the little Sneazel said, clutching at its stomach.
*Me too...* the little Houndor agreed. He walked over to a nearby apple tree and looked at
one of the bigger apples. Soon, he shot an Ember at the stem. The little fireball easily burnt
through the stem, and the apple fell to the ground. Houndor nudged over the fallen apple with his
muzzle toward the little Sneazel. When it was close to her...
SLASH!
The Houndoom started toward its son, but it wasn't Houndor who was slashed. Sneazel cut
the apple into two perfect halves, which fell away from each other. Sneazel picked up one and began
to eat, and Houndor began to chow down on the other one.
I looked around at all the other Pokemon. They all just stood their with the most shocked
looks on their faces. What they just saw seemed totally impossible to them. A Sneazel and a Houndor
working together? They couldn't believe it.
*See?* I pointed out. *Your kids can work together. Why can't you?*
No one said anything for a minute. Maybe they were realizing how dumb they'd been. No one
said another word till both Sneazel and Houndor were done eating. Finally, Houndoom spoke up.
*Prehaps...we've been a bit greedy...*
*We could give you a little space...* the lead Sneazel admitted.
Slowly at first, all the Houndors and Sneazels joined together, talking and following the
kids example. After a while, they were all chatting like they were good friends.
The other Pokemon joined us, and we got lost in the conversations and apple-eating. It was
almost sunrise when it occured to me about the others. I asked the lead Sneazel if he could release
everyone. As a token of thanks to me, he agreed, and the Houndoom offered to melt the ice for me.
We went into the Sneazel valley, and Houndoom and the Houndor's went to work melting the
ice. They freed Sara first, and naturally, she was scared. She was about to attack the Sneazels
when I got to her and convinced her everything was O.K.(She later apoligized for burning the tent.
Apparently, while she was changing into a Vulpix, she tried to spit an Ember at a Sneazel, but
missed and ended up hitting the tent, causing it to catch fire.)
*Where'd did your trainer get that Pokemon?* Sneazel asked, looking at Vaporeon just before
they thawed him out.
*Uh...don't know. He caught him before me.* I lied.
*Oh...Where is your trainer anyway?*
*Probably...hiding. He's a smart kid, but he's a bit of a scaredy Meowth.*
Finally, everyone was thawed out, and while they weren't too happy about being frozen solid,
they just wanted to get out of here. So did I, to be honest.
We were just about to leave when the little Sneazel and Houndor came over to me. Sneazel
whispered something into my ear.
*Guys...* I moaned. They looked hurt. Oh well, one last time couldn't hurt...
*Alright...* I stood with my back to them, tail held out.
CHOMP!
CHOMP!
*OW!*
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Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry if it's a bit late. The next chapter might be a bit late as well, but
that's because I'll be working on my new fic, so try not to get too upset. Keep your eyes open for
it!
Once again, I have a small bit from the 8-bit theater at nuklearpower.com
(Theif, Fighter, White Mage, Red Mage, Black Mage are all about to apply for the Light Warrior job.
However, only four can apply.)
Note: None of the following statments apply to me. Well...maybe the saving throw thing.
R.M.: All right, we need to reduce our number by one.
W.M.: We'll have to do the adult thing...
R.M.: Lie about our saving throws?
Thief: Steal from the elderly because they can't defend themselves?
B.M.: Nuke an entire town with a spell, blame it on Fighter, and run like heck?
Fighter: I knew that was you! I don't even know any magic!
W.M.(to herself): I think I'm gonna vote myself out...
story. This chapter is being dedicated to starting to fix that. It's not perfect, and yes, I still
will have Hybrids, of course, but now I have Poke'mon more directly related to the topic. As always,
please review when you're done and let me know what you think. Also, ideas are once again always
welcome. If you don't know my e-mail, it's firehybrid@swirve.com
Note: My new story, the one I said would be rated PG-13 for language and other stuff last time, will
probably be out within a week of this update.
Future notice note: Unless otherwise noted in this section, a chapter will be told from Dan's POV.
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Chp.17-Dark Fire and Black Ice
Over a week had went by, and we were about two days outside Lavander. We hadn't had any
weird occurances or attacks lately. Even still, we do have at least one Hybrid stand gaurd during
the night. We rotate each night, and before a new week begins, we draw straws to see who gets
stuck with three nights instead of two. Well, as luck would have it, I got the short straw, so I
had to watch over everyone for three nights. It's not too bad. Usually, at least one of our Poke'mon
can't sleep, and they keep me company during the night.
Anyway, during this night, Bulbasaur decided to stay up with me. I keep myself awake at
night by looking over my PokeDex or by listening to a Poke'mon just talk for a while. I figure
if I want to be able to understand Poke'mon better, I need to do things like a Poke'mon would do
it. By that, I mean learning through experience. Not like levels or anything like that(personally,
I don't believe in them.), but exposing myself to Poke'mon as much as possible. So far, I haven't
really picked up too much, but you need to give things like this time.
This night, I was listening to Bulbasaur go on about what his life in the wild was like
before he was captured and trained to be a starter Poke'mon. I listened for as long as I could,
but soon, it just got to be repetative, and my mind wandered. However, something did catch my
attention about one in the morning.
HOOOOUUUUUNNNNN...
"Raichu?" It sounded like something was howling. Bulbasaur stopped talking and listened to
it too. Seeing no one was awakened by the howls, I told Bulbasaur to wait here while I went to
check it out.
We were still deep in the woods, so their was a good chance that there were a lot of wild
Poke'mon around. Even if I couldn't get any tonight, maybe I could at least see where they gathered,
so I could come back later.
There was another howl, farther off. I followed it, realizing prehaps I was getting too
far away from the others. Just go a little further, and then go back, I told myself. You don't
want to lose the group.
I went about another couple hundred of yards, but I still didn't find the howlers. Dejected
and worried about the others, I decided to turn around and head back. About halfway there, though,
I could hear something...a LOT of something...heading toward me from the direction of the tent.
Whatever they were, they were out of sight, but not hearing.
"Uh-oh..." Maybe I'd better just go around them. I started to head off to one side, but
then I could hear them from that direction as well. I tried another direction. They were coming
from there too! I was surrounded!
I felt the butterflies begin to fly in my stomach. This couldn't end well. A bunch of wild
Poke'mon, trapping a creature that was a mix of human and Poke'mon? Maybe they'd just leave me
alone, but they'd probably attack. After all, I was in their territory. They'd probably see me as
a threat.
Something snapped, but I thought it was just a twig and ignored it. I stood there,
paralyized with fear. I didn't notice that the snap was in fact one of my bones shifting, till I
heard more and more of them. In my fear, I didn't even notice my hands were totally gone till I
started to notice everything around me getting rapidly larger.
"Raiiii..." *Nooooo...* Great, this was the last thing I needed. Now is not the time for this,
I thought as my clothes started to heap around me. My face felt like clay as it shifted to take on a
more Raichu apperance. Now I really felt like I was going to be sick.
My legs suddenly shrank till they were almost unnoticable. The sudden height loss caused
me to fall about a foot and land roughly on my back. I was really tangled up in my clothes this time.
Even as I struggled, I could hear the things surrounding me. I couldn't tell exactly what they were,
only that it didn't smell human or like any Poke'mon I've ever run into before.
I felt nothing else moving by the time I scrambled out from my clothes. Yup, I thought,
looking myself over and seeing I was now totally a Raichu again. I've done it again.
"Houndoom." *You, face me.*
"Rai?" *Huh?* I'd almost forgotten about the Poke'mon that surrounded me. Looking up, I
saw I was in the middle of a ring made of mostly Houndors, but there was one large Houndoom as well.
Seeing how much larger it was and hearing the tone of its voice, I quickly did as ordered.
"Houndoom?" it asked. *Why are you here?*
"Rai...Raichu, Chu Rai." *I...was studying these human clothes.*
"Houndoom, Hound Hound. Hound, Houndoom." *That's not what I meant. Why are you in
this area?*
"Rai...Raichu?" *I...got lost?*
"Hound? Hound, Hound. Doom Doom Doom." *Lost? You must be. There are no Raichus in this
forest."
That made the fur on my neck stand up. I don't care if you're a Poke'mon whose just trying
to figure out why someone is on your territory; whenever I hear the word, "Doom" repeated a lot,
I tend to get a bit scared.
"Houndoom Hound, Doom Hound?" it said, taking a step toward me. *There are not even Pichu's
here, so can you explain your presense?*
"Rai..." *Sure...* Come on, Gotem, think fast! Why would a Raichu be in a forest where
there supposedly aren't even any Pichu's?
"Rai...Raichu Raichu. Rai Rai, Chu Raichu Chu, Rai Rai." *I...ran away from my trainer.
He was bad to me, and I escaped to here so he wouldn't find me.*
"Houndoom, Doom?" *You don't like humans?*
"Raichu, Rai!" *No, human bad!*
I don't know, I just blurted that out! What could I say? I had a huge Houndoom looking at
me like I was a late night snack, and a bunch of Houndors surrounding me and growling. I got scared!
Houndoom looked at me like I was an idiot who couldn't talk right, but if I were in it's position,
I doubt I could disagree with it.
"Hound. Houndoom, Hound Hound, Doom..." *Fine. You may stay, but you need to learn some
guidelines first...*
For the next half hour, I was forced to listen about what trees I may sleep in, where I
could get my food and water, and basically how to live life out in the wild. I said nothing, but
just nodded at the appropriate times. I wasn't about to challenge them in anyway. Finally, the
Houndoom let me go. The Houndors moved to let me out, but as I left, the Houndoom called after me.
"Houndoom, Doom Hound." *By the way; beware the Sneazels.*
"Raichu Rai?" *Beware the Sneazels?* What was this thing talking about?
"Raichu..." *I will...*
Weridos, I thought, starting back toward the tent. I'd have to come back for my clothes
later, unless the Houndors and Houndoom took them. Oh well. A shirt and pants are well worth my
continued good health!
As I made my way back on all fours, my nose caught the smell of smoke. It wasn't like the
smoke from a grill, though. Something was on fire...and it was coming from the direction of the
tent!
"Rai!" *Oh no!* I ran as fast as I could, worried about what was going on. Where was
Totodile? Shouldn't he be putting this thing out?! And what about Bulbasaur, and my other Poke'mon?
What was happening with them?
By the time I reached my tent, I saw most of my stuff sitting against a tree. However, my
tent was reduced to a smoldering pile of...whatever tents are made out of. There was no sign of
any of the Poke'mon, or of Sara and Vaporeon. Where could they be?
"Raichu? Raichu? Raichu? Raichu!" I called out. *Sara? Vaporeon? Bulbasaur? Where are you!*
No one responded to my calls. Seeing I couldn't do a lot from my current position, I
scrambled up a nearby tree, finding it was rather easy, despite the fact I lacked fingers or hands.
It was dark, though, and a Raichus night vision is about equal to that of a humans, so I couldn't
really see where I was going.
After I got about halfway up, I started to leap from branch to branch, trying to get to
the top. I'd figured I could get the best view from there. However, during my climb, I accidently
stepped on the tail of something. When that tail was suddenly pulled out from under me, it threw me
off balance. I swung my arms wildly about there for a few seconds as I tried to stay up. Finally, at
the last second, I collapsed on the branch and hung on for dear life.
"Furret, Fur Furret!" *Hey, watch it you clumsy rat!*
"Rai...Raichu?! Raichu..." *Sor...Clumsy rat?! Why you...* I got to my feet and saw Furret
more ahead on the branch.
"Raichu Rai, Rai Chu Raichu! Raichu, Chu Rai Rai!" *First of all, I'm a mouse, not a rat!
Secondly, that's no way to talk to your trainer!*
"Furret? Furret...Ret. Fur, Furret! Furret..." *Trainer? What are you...oh. Dan, I'm sorry!
I didn't know...*
I'd told all my Poke'mon about my tendecy to become a Raichu ever now and then, so they
knew if I wasn't around, and a Raichu insisted it was their trainer, they should at least humor it.
While I knew it wouldn't be the easiest adjustment to make, it was better than losing everyone if
they all went off to look for me.
*What happened to everyone?*(From here on out, I'm just writing the translations for
Pokemon speech.)
Furret told a story that began with Bulbasaur waking her up. There were a bunch of figures
outside the tent, making weird noises. Before they could wake the others, the figures attacked,
leaving slashes in the tent and abruptly waking up the others. Sara, once she realized what was
going on, ordered everyone to run. Furret ran out with someone else, but in her panic, Furret
didn't see who. By the time Furret got up the tree and turned to see what was happening, all
she saw was my tent burning, and most of my stuff on the ground next to it.
*Slashes in the tent?*
*Yeah, there were slashes all over. Hundreds!*
Hmm...what Poke'mon could've made slashes in the tent and light it on fire? I'd say the
Houndor's, except they don't have any claws to make slashes.
*Come on. Lets find the other one who ran out.*
We climbed down and started calling out for everyone.Furret and I stuck together as we
searched around, so we didn't lose each other. I guess it was about fifteen minutes or so before
we heard the yelling.
*Get it off me! Get it off me!*
We followed the yelling to a small pond. Totodile was flailing about in the middle of the
lake, like something was holding him down.
*Totodile! We're coming!* How exactly was I going to get out there? Even if I could swim
in this body, how could I really attack whatever was holding Totodile down without hurting him?
*Hang on!* Furret started to shake her tail. I watched this, not sure exactly what was going
on. Slowly, a blue piece of something began to fall out through the bottom of her tail. More and
more of it came out, until it finally landed on the ground.
*Huh?* Unless I was mistaken...and there was a good chance I was...Furret just knocked a
small surfboard out of her tail!
Before I could figure out what was going on, Furret grabbed the board in her front paws
and dove into the lake. Laying out on the board, she swam out to Totodile. It was amazing how well
she was able to swim with her small front paws. She made her way over to Todotile, looking for
what was holding him down.
*Alright, what's holding yo...* Suddenly, Furret sighed and shook her head. Then she did
something totally uncalled for.
SWIPE!
*FURRET!* She just swiped Totodile across the snout! What was that for?! Totodile
stopped moving and clutched at the scratched spot on his snout.
Furret said calmly, *Totodile...stop moving.*
*Stop moving?! Are you craz...oh.*
*Oh geez...* I sighed
The water stopped at Totodile's neck! I could've just walked in and help him out! Furret
leapt down off her board and pulled out the small plant that was stuck on Totodile's tail. They
walked back in together, with Furret pushing her board out in front of her.
*Well, that was needlessly dramatic...*
Totodile looked down at the ground. *Sorry...*. After a moment, he looked at me, confused.
*Wait, should I know you?*
*Geez, didn't you guys get this the first time we explained it?...*
After explaining who I was once again, I asked Totodile if he had anything to add to Furret's
story. Totodile said a blue beam of something nicked him as he ran out, but not enough to do any
damage or slow him down. However, it felt really cold.(Some how, during all this, Furret put away
her surfboard, but I didn't see it myself.)
A blue, cold beam? What could that be? Nethier Pokemon had any clue, nor did I.
*Come on, let's go back. We need to find the others!*
We all started back toward the tent. How exactly were we going to find the others? Maybe
I could pick up their scent back at the site and follow that to them. Still, then what? We'd
probably have to fight whatever took them in the first place, and if Furret and Totodile were
right, there'd be a lot of them to fight.
As we closed in the site, I heard something mumbling over by my stuff. I told the Poke'mon
to wait at a distance, then I quietly snuck over toward the equipment. Something was looking
through our packs and taking stuff out. It was robbing us!
Still moving slowly and quietly to avoid attention, I snuck up behind the creature. It was...
a Sneazel? At the moment, it was inside Sara's pack and was throwing things out behind it. It still
didn't seem to notice me. Hmm...should I? No, that's wrong...but going through our stuff isn't
exactly right, ethier.
While the Sneazel continued to raid Sara's pack, I moved up to the flap of her bag that
closed the section Sneazel was currently in. Closing the flap, I clicked the the buckles in place,
trapping it.
*What the...hey!* The flap suddenly moved as Sneazel tried to break through, but it held.
*Guys, come here!* I called out.
Sneazel made several unsucessful attempts at breaking out with force. When Furret and
Totodile were about halfway to me, Sneazel finally got smart. It slashed through the flap, trying
to make a hole to escape. Quickly, I moved in front of the hole, just far enough to avoid getting
hit, and laid on my stomach, looking in the hole.
*Hi.* I said with a little smile. Sneazel looked at me, confused.
*Uh...hello.*
*You should stay.*
*Stay? Why?*
*Do you want 100,000 volts running through you?*
*No...*
*Then stay."
Sneazel decided not to take the risk I was bluffing(which I was) while the others made
their way over. They quickly looked in at the trapped dark-type before we talked about what to do
with it. After a few minutes of discussion, we came up with a rather cruel, yet effective idea.
While I got some rope out of my bag, Totodile and Furret forced Sneazel out and held it
by the arms to keep it from escaping. After I'd gotten a good deal of rope, the three of us proceeded
to tie Sneazel to a nearby tree. For the first and probably only time in my life, all the time I
spent in the Boy Scouts learning knots finally came in handy. I instruced Totodile how to make the
knot(He was the only one of us with decent hands for things like this) so that Sneazel couldn't
escape.
We explained to Sneazel what was going to happen. If it told us what we wanted to know, we
would let it go. If it didn't, Totodile was going to spray it with water. If it still refused to
say what we wanted to hear, Furret would scratch it. If it STILL refused to say what we wanted to
hear, I would give it a little, "shock", therapy. Sneazel seemed none too pleased with this, but
it really didn't have much of a say in the matter.
*Alright, why are you stealing our stuff?* I asked.
*Your stuff? These things belong to humans.* Sneazel replied.
*They belong to...our trainers.* It ocurred to me that Sneazel would probably be confused
by the concept of creatures half-human and half-Pokemon, so I decided to avoid the subject.
*We require...* it started to say, then stopped.
*We? We who? Require what?* Nothing. *Totodile!*
*Got it.* Totodile opened his mouth and used Water Gun on Sneazel.
GLUGLUGLUGLUGLUGLUG!
*Blhey! Blop!* Sneazel cried out.
*You heard it.* Totodile stopped and Sneazel gasped for air. *Alright, let's try this again.
Why are you going through our trainers stuff?*
*We require supplies for the great battle ahead of us.*
*We who?*
*The Sneazels who live in this forest.*
*Who are you fighting?* Furret asked.
The Sneazel refused to respond once again. Will this thing ever learn?
*Furret, Fury Swipes!* I instructed.
*O.K., O.K!* Sneazel yelped. *We're fighting the Houndor's who are trying to take over our
territory.*
*Fine...* Wait...Sneazels had pretty sharp claws...and a blue, cold beam...
*Ice Beam!*
*Huh?*
*Why did you attack our trainers tent?*
*Tent? What is a 'tent'?*
*It's that thing that you Sneazels attacked before with all the people in it.*
*We...* Pause.
*Be that way...* I closed my eyes and began to concentrate on charging up. I could feel
electricty begin to surround me totally. *Raiiii...*
*We thought they were allied with the Houndor's, so we attacked them!* it quickly confessed.
*Good.* I stopped with the electricity and opened my eyes. *Where are they now?*
*Back with the others. You'll never get your friends away.*
*And why not?* Totodile asked.
*They are frozen in ice. It will be impossible to free them without heat, and I notice you
have no fire amoungst you.*
*Where can we find the others?*
Sneazel gave us the directions to the rest of the group. Great, now all I have to do is
get my friends, who are frozen in ice, melt that ice somehow, and escape before anyone noticed.
That's not hard...
*Hey, what about me?* Sneazel cried as we turned to leave. *You said you'd let me go if I
told you what you want!*
*I did.* I admitted. *However, you didn't read the fine print. I said I'd let you go. I
didn't say when I'd let you go.*
Sneazel started to yell and scream, but we ignored it and followed it's directions to where
the others were. Hey, Sneazel didn't mention anything about the tent burning. Maybe it didn't
burn the tent. Maybe it was the Houndor's after all. Oh well; better worry about that later. I've
got more important matters to take care of.
It was about a half mile walk to where Sneazel had directed us. There was a little valley
that we looked down into. Sneazels were off in various groups, mostly talking about the battle
ahead or eating various foods. However, something else caught my attention.
Off in one corner of the valley, sat six blocks of ice. In that ice were five Pokemon and
one Hybrid. Vaporeon, Bulbasaur, Nidoran, Pidgeotto, Railina, and...a Vulpix? Sara! She must have
changed when they were attacked. Unfortunetly, they were also surrounded by a ring of Sneazels, so
we weren't going to be able to get them in any direct manner.
One Sneazel in paticular got my attention. It was much larger than all the other Sneazels,
and seemed to be in charge, judging by the way the other Sneazels offered food to it or got out
of the way if it was walking in their direction. When this large Sneazel got up onto a large rock,
everyone of the others turned their attention to it.
*Sneazels! Heed my words! Today is the day we overcome the evil that has been threatening
us for months! These evil dogs have attacked our kind, stolen our food and ravaged our peaceful way
of life! Now we must take a stand, or be forced to suffer at the paws of these evil creatures!*
the large Sneazel declared. The other Sneazels cheered at this and yelled, *Down with dogs!*.
*These guys don't like Houndor's, do they?* Furret said, peering down at all the action
below us.
*No they don't.* Totodile agreed.
*Regretfully,* the lead Sneazel called out after everyone had calmed down. *my daughter will
not be able to join us for this battle. Has no one any new news about her whereabouts?* There were
a few murmurs amoungst the group, but no one said anything. The big Sneazel shook it's head. *I
fear for her safety, but we must defeat the evil dogs tonight, before they have the chance to
strike us again. Once they are defeated, then we can focus our energies on finding her.*
*Geez, you'd think it be more worried about finding it's daughter than going off into some
slaughter.* I thought aloud.
I was laying on my stomach, looking down at all this. This left my tail out in plain sight,
and of course I wasn't paying any attention to it. However, I soon regretted not keeping an eye on
it.
CHOMP!
*OW!* Something bit my tail! Whatever it was, it was biting with all it's strength, trying
to hang on. I ran around in circles, hoping to knock whatever it was off, but it held on.
*Hey, that looks like fun!* I heard a new voice say. Soon...
CHOMP!
*OW!* Now I had TWO sets of teeth biting on my tail! *FURRET! TOTODILE! GET THESE THINGS
OFF ME!*
*Hey, get off!* Furret yelped. She grabbed the owner of one set of teeth and started to
yank, then Totodile grabbed the other pair of teeth and yanked as well. While they tried to remove
them, I tried with everything I had in me not to scream bloody murder.
Finally, I felt one set of teeth be removed, then the second one gave way. I held my now
managled tail, rubbing and blowing on the spots where I'd been bitten. Poor tail...you've been so
good to me. I'm telling you; my tail doesn't get enough respect! It keeps me from shocking myself
with electricity, its picked locks for me; it's the most useful part of my body. Now it's all
mangaled, with teeth marks still in it. I gotta learn to be better to my tail!
*Whoa...* O.K., that was totally not normal thinking! I think I was starting to act a bit
like a Raichu again. Still, that was scary, even if I was thinking like a Raichu. Blowing on my
tail a little longer, I turned to see who'd just violated me.
*Huh?* Furret and Totodile were holding the attackers, even though they weren't struggling.
It was a small Houndor and Sneazel. There was no way these two could've been more than a few months
old.
*That was fun!* the Houndor said with a smile, looking at the Sneazel.
*Yeah, it was great!* the Sneazel agreed.
*Not for me!* I yelled. Wait a minute...a Houndor and a Sneazel together? That's weird.
*You two are friends?* I asked.
*Of course we're friends!* the Sneazel said.
*But...don't Sneazels hate Houndor's?* Totodile asked.
*Well, my parents and the other Houndor's don't like them,* the Houndor said, looking at
the Sneazel. *but she's fun to play with!*
*My daddy and the other Sneazels don't like the Houndor's...* Sneazel added, *but I don't
know why. He's a nice friend, but daddy didn't want me to be with him. He said that his kind were
bad and they'd take everything from us.*
*Daddy? Is he the one down by the big rock?* Furret let her go so she could go look in
the valley.
*That's Daddy! Daddy! I'm O.K.!* she yelled down. They didn't react in the valley. We were
probably too high up for them to hear us.
*My parents say that they need the land to survive, but I'm confused.* the little Houndor
said. *This is a big forest. Why can't we share?*
*I don't know...* Furret said. Totodile, seeing now that these two weren't going anywhere,
let Houndor go.
*Mr. Raichu, why can't they share?* Sneazel asked, giving up trying to call down.
*I'm not sure. Sometimes older people make up their minds about things and don't want to
change them, even if it's wrong. I really can't explain it.*
We stood around in silence, trying to figure out what to do. We all watched the actions in
the valley. I tried to figure out how to get the six giant blocks of ice away from the Sneazels
and free my friends held inside. Well, maybe Houndor could melt the ice...but then I'd still have
to get them out the valley in the first place...
*Oh no!* Sneazel cried out. *Daddy, don't go!*
*What's going on?* The lead Sneazel down below had gotten together all the other Sneazels,
and they were now marching out of the valley in the direction of the Houndor's.
*The battle will soon began, and our victory will follow!* cried the lead Sneazel as they
continued marching on.
*Ms. Furret, Mr. Totodile, Mr. Raichu, you have to stop them!* Houndor said, looking at
all of us.
*Us? Why us?* Totodile asked with a hint of alarm in his voice.
*Your big Pokemon. Our parents will listen to you. We're too little to do anything.*
*Oh...* I looked down in the valley. Our friends weren't being gaurded anymore...but
Houndor and Sneazel were looking right at me, and while they may have been both dark-types who
usually aren't so nice, the looks they gave me broke my Raichu heart.
*O.K., we'll stop them.*
*WHAT?!* Furret looked at me like I was nuts. *How are we going to stop all of them?!*
*I'm not quite sure, but we need to make sure they don't have the chance to attack! Come
on!*
We all ran as fast as possible to get ahead of the Sneazels. For what felt like an hour
we ran, trying to call to them to stop. Our voices were lost with their own shouting and talking.
There was no way they heard anything we said.
Finally, atop a large hill, the group of Sneazels stopped. We had ended up at the bottom
of the hill, but still our voices didn't reach them. Then Furret saw why they'd stopped.
The Houndor's, with the lead Houndoom, were standing across on another hill, all of them
watching the Sneazels. They all looked like armies, staring down their oppenents before the battle
began. It looked like something out of a movie.
Then it happened. The Sneazels charged down the hill toward the Houndor's, and the Houndor's
charged down to them. Both armies were lead by their leaders; the large Sneazel and the Houndoom.
The battle had begun!
*NO!* Houndor yelled. *Stop! Don't fight!*
We had to do something, fast! Maybe if we had some sort of peace sign...but what? What
would two races of Pokemon recognize as a symbol of peace?
I glanced back over at Sneazel and Houndor, who looked on at the charging armies with horror.
They looked kinda cute together at first, but now they were scared and saddened. The armies had
maybe twenty seconds before they met, and then...that's it!
*Bite me.*
*What?! Dan, even I know that's bad human language!* Furret said, shocked.
*I mean it!* I looked over at Sneazel and Houndor. *Bite my tail!*
The two of them seemed confused, but they must have noticed the urgency in my voice. They
leapt and latched on to my tail while I tried not to scream. Oh man, if this didn't work...
*Hang on!* I ran in between the two hills, right in between the charging Pokemon while
dragging along Sneazel and Houndor.
*OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!OW!* I yelled as loud as I could, waving my arms
about and basically causing a scene. *Bad Houndor! Bad Sneazel! OW!OW!OW!*
*You foolish Raichu! Are you tryi...HALT!* Houndoom started to yell at me, then must have
noticed the Houndor attached to my tail. At the mention of "HALT!", all the Houndors stopped dead
in their tracks.
*What? Daughter! STOP!* The lead Sneazel also ordered its kind to stop. Yes! It worked...
for now.
*Guys, let go!* I yelped. They stopped biting and I repeated my attempts to soothe my
damaged tail.
*Son! Where have you been?* the Houndoom said as it ran over to the little Houndor.
*Daughter! You had us all worried!* The lead Sneazel ran over to his daughter.
The two leaders were within a few feet of each other, worried more about their children than
their oppenents. After a few seconds, though, they realized how close they were to one another.
Houndoom began to growl and bare its teeth while Sneazel hissed and held out his claws so they were
pointed forward.
*Why did you kidnap my son?!* the Houndoom accused of the Sneazel.
*Me? You're the one who stole my daughter!* Sneazel shot back.
*Guys, no one stole anyones kids!* I said, stepping in between the two tense Pokemon. *They
ran away on their own!*
*What?! Get out of the way, rat. I won't be held responsible for what happens if you stand
in my way!* Houndoom warned.
*For once, I agree with them.* Sneazel threatened. *This is not your place to interfere!*
*Can't we just settle this like dignifed Pokemon?* I suggested cautiously, still unmoving.
*NO!* both of them said in perfect usion.
*Come on, the forest is huge! Why can't you share it?*
*Share? They wouldn't share a Berry with us!* Houndoom said matter of factly.
*They've already taken over half the forest! What's to stop them from taking the other half?*
Sneazel said with a hiss.
Oh man, this looks real bad. If I didn't settle this quick, they were gonna attack again,
and I'd be right in the middle of it! What am I gonna do...
Rumble!
Everyone looked to see where this new sound came from. It happened again, and then we found
the source.
*I'm hungry...* the little Sneazel said, clutching at its stomach.
*Me too...* the little Houndor agreed. He walked over to a nearby apple tree and looked at
one of the bigger apples. Soon, he shot an Ember at the stem. The little fireball easily burnt
through the stem, and the apple fell to the ground. Houndor nudged over the fallen apple with his
muzzle toward the little Sneazel. When it was close to her...
SLASH!
The Houndoom started toward its son, but it wasn't Houndor who was slashed. Sneazel cut
the apple into two perfect halves, which fell away from each other. Sneazel picked up one and began
to eat, and Houndor began to chow down on the other one.
I looked around at all the other Pokemon. They all just stood their with the most shocked
looks on their faces. What they just saw seemed totally impossible to them. A Sneazel and a Houndor
working together? They couldn't believe it.
*See?* I pointed out. *Your kids can work together. Why can't you?*
No one said anything for a minute. Maybe they were realizing how dumb they'd been. No one
said another word till both Sneazel and Houndor were done eating. Finally, Houndoom spoke up.
*Prehaps...we've been a bit greedy...*
*We could give you a little space...* the lead Sneazel admitted.
Slowly at first, all the Houndors and Sneazels joined together, talking and following the
kids example. After a while, they were all chatting like they were good friends.
The other Pokemon joined us, and we got lost in the conversations and apple-eating. It was
almost sunrise when it occured to me about the others. I asked the lead Sneazel if he could release
everyone. As a token of thanks to me, he agreed, and the Houndoom offered to melt the ice for me.
We went into the Sneazel valley, and Houndoom and the Houndor's went to work melting the
ice. They freed Sara first, and naturally, she was scared. She was about to attack the Sneazels
when I got to her and convinced her everything was O.K.(She later apoligized for burning the tent.
Apparently, while she was changing into a Vulpix, she tried to spit an Ember at a Sneazel, but
missed and ended up hitting the tent, causing it to catch fire.)
*Where'd did your trainer get that Pokemon?* Sneazel asked, looking at Vaporeon just before
they thawed him out.
*Uh...don't know. He caught him before me.* I lied.
*Oh...Where is your trainer anyway?*
*Probably...hiding. He's a smart kid, but he's a bit of a scaredy Meowth.*
Finally, everyone was thawed out, and while they weren't too happy about being frozen solid,
they just wanted to get out of here. So did I, to be honest.
We were just about to leave when the little Sneazel and Houndor came over to me. Sneazel
whispered something into my ear.
*Guys...* I moaned. They looked hurt. Oh well, one last time couldn't hurt...
*Alright...* I stood with my back to them, tail held out.
CHOMP!
CHOMP!
*OW!*
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Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry if it's a bit late. The next chapter might be a bit late as well, but
that's because I'll be working on my new fic, so try not to get too upset. Keep your eyes open for
it!
Once again, I have a small bit from the 8-bit theater at nuklearpower.com
(Theif, Fighter, White Mage, Red Mage, Black Mage are all about to apply for the Light Warrior job.
However, only four can apply.)
Note: None of the following statments apply to me. Well...maybe the saving throw thing.
R.M.: All right, we need to reduce our number by one.
W.M.: We'll have to do the adult thing...
R.M.: Lie about our saving throws?
Thief: Steal from the elderly because they can't defend themselves?
B.M.: Nuke an entire town with a spell, blame it on Fighter, and run like heck?
Fighter: I knew that was you! I don't even know any magic!
W.M.(to herself): I think I'm gonna vote myself out...