A/N: 16/10/2021. Major edits done to this story. Changes done to this story. Chapters don't match up anymore. For those who have re-read this story, I'd advise going back because they don't match up anymore.
Chapter Eighteen: Attack
Time with Liza was very productive as they were working in an environment that they were not used to and which was challenging to live in for an extended period of time. They also had the benefit of guidance and experience from those much older than me and my family.
It was Lance who observed that Frogadiar and Prinplup should have evolved before beginning their training under Liza – they were too strong and knew to many moves to just be in their second evolved forms. After going back through the reports that he'd been given, and seeing a few of the videos that Liza had taken for him, he came to the conclusion that Zweilous should have also involved. After a little bit of thought and conversations with a Professor Sycamore, he came to the conclusion that spending so much time in close proximity to Riolu's Everstone had slowed their evolution. Allowing them to train beyond what they should have been able to achieve before evolving.
Professor Sycamore was interested in finding trainings – taking a broad spectrum of brand new to new – who would be willing to have one of their Pokemon using an Everstone Stone to see if the rest of their team was impacted. However, use a research project would require a lot of funding and my Case Study is unique because my training program is different to what trainers typically use. Once I'd begun my journey, without a member of my family wearing an Everstone Stone, Professor Sycamore would be able to partner with Professor Oak and get the funding he needed from both the Indigo League (because Lance was very interested in seeing the results of such a study) and Kalos League because a second case study would be in place to monitor my unique training method.
During her time in Charcific Valley, Prinplup didn't learn any new moves because she had reached her limit in her second evolved form. She'd tried, oh, she'd tried but I could see that it wasn't possible. So, I focused on making sure that the moves she'd learnt before coming to the Valley – with a particular focus on her water type moves and aromatherapy – were as strong as they could be. Using her water type moves in such a contrasting environment would increase their power and she also learnt to use them more effectively as she had to be careful of her own personal hydration.
Frogadiar was similar to Prinplup in that the majority of his move-based training was based on increasing his ability and effectiveness with water type moves. However, he did add one more move into his repertoire: Hydro Pump. A lot of his training was also done with Riolu and me at his side, as he began learning to fight with his body which he would be much easier when he became a Greninja. He didn't mind not learning anymore new moves because he enjoyed punching, tripping and throwing people in order to beat them instead of hitting them from a distance with Bubble. He was also beginning to incorporate his close combat moves into this fighting style, like with lick and smack down.
Noivern had finally gotten a handle on his larger form and managed to relearn how to use his sneak attacks, something he was inordinately pleased with as it had taken him nearly a year and half to get back to this form of fighting. With his hidden ability of Infiltrator, he taught his family not to rely on using Protect to defend themselves because there were things that could get past it. That hadn't stopped him from learning Protect himself thought, because it could be very useful when defending from some distant type attacks if they didn't have the time to get out of the way or they couldn't as they were shielding another member of their family. He also learnt Endure, so he could take a hit as was inevitable when he liked getting in close and then back out in order to attack.
Zweilous, my sweet, stubborn dragon. Since she was only on her second evolution and had a great potential, she could still learn moves. With her dark type energy, I decided to focus on increase her potential in this area teaching her night slash, double hit and foresight. On her next evolution, her final evolution, we'd be with the Blackthorn Clan where she could learn to fight and harness her dragon type energy without becoming overwhelmed with the hostility that came hand-in-hand with being a dragon.
My emanation Pokemon, my sweet fighter, Riolu was ever so determined to help me learn how to harness my Aura. As I was getting closer and closer to being able to push my Aura outside of my body, he'd decided to learn Aura Shield. Aura shield wasn't a move learnt by Pokemon, but rather invented and learnt by humans but Riolu knew that he should be capable of it because he could use Aura. He also knew how to use Protect, so it wasn't to much of a stretch for him to take that feeling and that knowledge and use his Aura instead. It took him three months to learn how to do it, and then he started teaching me as he worked on mastering it. However, I wouldn't let him focus on just learning to use his Aura, instead I encouraged him to practise and work on learning Shadow ball, Shadow Claw and Mega Punch. Learning to harness the ghost energy meant that half of my family now had the ability to stand against ghost type Pokemon and have more than a chance of winning.
Finally, there was Altaria who had begun expanding her move pool beyond flying and normal type moves. She added Imprison, Ice Beam, Uproar, Breaking Swipe and Solar Beam to her repertoire. I hadn't even known she was learning Solar Beam from one of the wild fire types Pokemon until she used it in one of their practise paired battles.
I had never been so glade for the overachieving nature of my family until my last day at Charicific Valley.
It was 16th January and Liza had already determined that we'd learnt all she could offer us. We were simple helping her run through her daily chores while waiting for Chloe to have a quiet day which would allow her to run my 'introduction to Fostering with the Blackthorn Clan'. Instead of a nice peaceful day, my family was forced to fight harder than they ever had before in order to protect me.
A loud and furious roar tour through the Valley. The roar was familiar to her – the Alpha Charizard. Which meant that whatever he was alerting the Valley too, had managed to sneak past the guard and Pokemon who watched their boarders for threats. His roar wasn't just a warning, it was the roar he used when he flew into battle. Their home was threatened.
Jenny turned instinctively towards the noise, activating her Aura sight, but whatever was happening was outside of her current passive range. She could stress herself, loose conscious acknowledgement of her body and 'see' further, but that wasn't a good idea if there was threat in the Valley since she might not react in time.
"Riolu?" Jenny questioned as her family moved to surround her.
Their postures were all defensive as they turned to face the direction that the Alpha's cry had come from. Vulpix leapt up to my shoulder so that he was able to react directly to any threat against her person, while Altaria took up position at her back. From the right of her training area, I 'saw' Liza run from her home and jump on the back of Charla who had swooped from the skies to catch her and carry her towards the threat.
"There are a large group of poachers attacking," Riolu explained.
Anger surged through the family at this announcement. I hadn't hidden the truth of their conception from them, or my injuries, which means that they all had a desperate anger towards those who would attack and take advantage of innocent Pokemon. Riolu had been the closest to the horrors of this world as he'd been on the island with me, but Lucario had kept him hidden from the world, which made this their first true confrontation with those horrors.
"How many? Are those fighting holding their own, and where has the young retreated to?" I questioned.
"I can see twenty, maybe twenty-three humans, each with at least four Pokemon fighting with them. they also seem to have machines of some kind. Liza and the Alpha are helping the wild Pokemon hold their own, but there is a splinter group of about five which have broken away and is heading to the nests." Riolu reported. "The nests are where the young and non-combatant's have retreated."
"Alright, then we need to interfere. If they make it to the nests, the mothers will be forced to fight which will endanger the young. But first…" I pulled out my Poknav. They needed help because they were outnumbered, and destroying the Valley wasn't an option.
"Come on, Come on," I muttered as the ringing tone sounded.
I'd chosen to call Lance first as he would know which resources were in the area and could be deployed to help whereas, if I'd phoned Chloe, she'd have to come herself which might take longer. Of course, this was all relying on the hope that Lance wasn't in a meeting and so able to answer the emergency phone which I had called instead of the standard phone number I typically used to talk with him.
"Jennifer," Lance deferred to using my full name considering the serious nature that phoning the emergency phone implied. "What happened?"
"The Valley is under attack. Between thirty and thirty-five poachers." I reported quickly.
"Where's Liza? Who else have you contacted?" Lance demanded.
"Liza's engaged the poachers alongside the Alpha and several other wild Pokemon. You were my first call." I shrugged at this last admittance.
"Alright, I'll send back up. you need to get somewhere safe." Lance ordered, using a strength and authority that he had never used in my presence before.
"I can't. There's a target group heading for the eggs." I explained. "I've got to intercept them before they reach the nests."
Before Lance could protest this cause of action, I hung up and jumped on Altaria's back. She'd been ready and waiting, so the moment I was on her back she took to the air. Staying low to the ground she flew to the chock point between where the poachers were coming from and the nests, the rest of the family following.
The nests were hidden between the rocks, but there was a large river of warm water that ran past the back of the nests – a river which flowed through the whole Valley to give the Pokemon here somewhere to drink and play. Despite being considered hidden, the poachers were making a bee-line for the nests which means they'd known where they were before they'd decided to attack. The large attack force Liza was facing was the distraction, and the precision team I'd moved to intercept were the strike team meant to get as many eggs as possible and get out. With numbers like this, and a plan as sound as this, these poachers were experienced.
We touched down just in time to meant the poachers as they reached the choke point.
"Altaria, take to the air. You're watching their backs and keeping an eye on the nests – they don't get past us. Noivern, you're in the air and herding, don't let them split up. Dive and Sneak." I began issuing orders in the moments we had before the poachers were in hearing distance. Dive and Sneak was a code we'd come up with so that Noivern knew he had to use his evasiveness in order to pick at his opponent.
"Prinplup and Fragadiar, team up and remain distant to make openings. Vulpix and Deino, use those openings and get close and hit hard. Riolu, you're covering everyone's backs." I broke them all up to work as a complete team instead splitting into two teams. That might change once we were facing our opponents, but at the minute I was assuming that we were going to be heavily outnumbered and perhaps out experienced.
Prinplup and Frogadiar settled about five metres in front of me, one and a half metres away from each other. A good defence formation that would allow them to defend each other's backs without interfering with each other's attacks. Riolu stationed himself about half a metre directly in front me, allowing him to both shield me and move to assist his people. Noivern settled himself in the air, between Prinplup and Frogadier but high enough to be able to see the filed of battle. Altaria flew back so she was slightly behind me, but ahead of the mothers who had emerged from the nest to defend it when they sensed us.
Everyone settled into their places only moments before the poaches became visible to the family's sight and within reach of their attacks. Seeing the barrier before them, the poachers released their Pokemon, they had three each.
They each had a poison type on their team, likely to take down the mothers without doing lots of damage to them: Arbok, Nidoquee, Muk, Weezing and Victreebel (I was starting to worry that my family was going to develop a general hatred of Vicreebel's if they kept endangering me and the family). They also each seemed to have a ground or rock type on their team, likely because fire type Pokemon were weak against them and they were resistant to the fire: Sandslash, Goldem, Rhydon, Mamoswine and Aggron. There last Pokemon seemed to have no rhyme or reason and was likely the personal Pokemon choice of each of the poaches as opposed to being picked purposeful for the mission: Hypno, Blastoise, Machamp, Typhlosion and Darmanitan.
Without a word from their trainers, the Pokemon fell into a type of battle formation which seemed practised. With the way the moved, it seemed to confirm my theory that this group of poaches were highly trained. I didn't know how highly trained, but maybe trained enough that my team would struggle to fight them and win. Hopefully, Lance's back up would turn up swiftly because I really didn't want my family to get seriously harmed or killed and yet we couldn't abandon the wild Pokemon.
Lucario had taught me what it meant to be an Aura Guardian and, even if I didn't have that title, I was an Aura user and it was my responsibility to uphold the rights of an Aura Guardian in the absence of one. Aura Guardian's were people who looked after Pokemon and protect them against anything and anyone who might want to hurt them. Even though I wasn't an Aura Guardian in name or strength, I was one at heart. Everything in me hummed with the will of life and with-it meanings and responsibilities that I could now follow.
"Frogadiar, give us cover," I got the fight started.
He didn't hesitate to cover the area in a thick coat of inky-smoke, completely obscuring their entire family from sight. They all knew how to fight without their sight.
"Weezing, take down those pests – Poison Gas." Poacher one snorted, not taking us seriously as a threat.
"Muk, add your poison to theirs." Poacher two tagged on.
"Hypno, put them to sleep." The third one encouraged.
"Altaria, coat the field." I ordered. "Relieve the team."
Altaria sung a light note as she coated the cloud that her team was hiding in with a gentle breeze which signified the use of Aromatherapy. With the sweet smell of this move lingering on the field, they would not be affected by status effecting moves such as sleep or poison; even if it didn't stop sleep from starting to get its claws on them, Altaria also used Safeguard behind Aromatherapy which would stop the hypnosis from working.
From within the cloud, Prinplup sent out her strongest hydro pump, while Frogadiar used water pulse – aiming for Mamoswine and Aggron respectively as some of the largest and strongest Pokemon on the poacher's team. Vulpix appeared from within the cloud for a moment in order to hit Victreebel with a serious of blue-fire embers, while Deino tackled Arbok with a thunder fang and used her hold on the serpentine Pokemon to throw it at Muk whose poisonous body consumed its team mate. Noivern suddenly appeared among the Pokemon, landing a powerful steal wing on Mamoswine before retreating.
Confusing the opposing Pokemon even more, Riolu danced and jumped between them which stopped them from pursuing my family and targeting anyone specifically. Noivern occasionally dropped down and landed a hit on one of the other Pokemon – keeping them destabilised because they didn't know in what direction the next attack was coming from.
"Burn out Victreebel and Weezing!" I assessed the situation and changed up their targets slightly in order to give them the best chance.
Nidoqueen and Aggron dived into the cloud of smoke – frustrated with the hit and run tactics that was being used against them and the only two who wouldn't be affected by the lingering poison. By diving into the cloud however, they prevented the rest of them from using their long rang attacks at will.
"Deino, dark pulse and bite the Aggron, Noivern get into the cloud and bring down that Nidoqueen, use dragon claw and steel wing. Frogadiar, back up Riolu."
Frogadiar leapt from the cloud, surrounding by aqua jet as he slammed into Darmanitan who had been about to catch Riolu with hammer arm.
"Prinplup, the Golem!" the boulder Pokemon had been in the process of using dig in order to get past them, but my warning allowed Prinplup to disrupt the attack with whirlpool which captured him in a spinning pool of water – causing damage as it tossed him about.
"This brat is really starting to annoy me," one of the poachers growled, returning his Nidoqueen, while another was forced to call back Muk and Victreebel.
"Rhydon, the girl." Another poacher ordered.
"Sandlash, Hypno keep that Riolu busy."
"Machamp, Typhlosion, occupy the Frogadiar!"
The poachers had clearly had enough of this delay as they started ordering their own Pokemon to split up my family. They were ordering their Pokemon to attack my family in pairs in the hopes of overwhelming them while they can't fight together. They really weren't paying attention if they thought such a plan would work.
"Weezing, Houndoom, get rid of that fox!"
"Blastoise, help Aggron deal with that Deino!
"Darmanitan, Tyhlosion you've got the bat!"
"Golem, Momoswine bring down Prinplup!"
"Riolu, foresight, shadow force! Deino crunch and focus blast! Noivern, tailwing and Dragon breath. Vulpix, mystical fire and shadow ball. Prinplup, swift and drill peck. Frogadiar, Hydro pump and smack down." I rattled off starting moves, knowing that my team were trained enough in independent fighting that they would be able to work out what I wanted of them – like Vulpix using flamethrower to blow up Weezing leaving him with only the one opponent to fight.
"Altaria, Moonblast." I threw myself backwards to avoid the blast of air from Altaria's furious form moving to intercept Rhydon.
"Altaria, ice beam and steal wing." I continued moving back so that Altaria could fight without causing me harm.
I watched the battle closely, calling out moves occasionally when I saw an opening that had been missed by my family as they were so involved in the battle. They took a few hits, and as time went on, I could feel that they were starting to grow tired, but they kept going and they started taking down the poachers Pokemon. Weezing had been the first to full to Vulpix, but the rest followed.
"Well," one of the poachers commented as their last Pokemon was brought down. "You are surprisingly annoying."
"But you're Pokemon are exhausted, they won't be able to stop the rest of our team." another poacher spoke with clear arrogance – this was the leader of the team.
