AUTHOR NOTES
Yeah, sorry for not updating this, college has been a pain, but don't worry. I will be attempting to get chapters out more regularly from now on. Either that or oneshots. Massive thanks to Zencolour and the Discord group I am in!
Btw, this chapter has a cameo in it, see if you can find it!
Another massive thanks to LukerUpgradez for proofreading this chapter!
Pokemon move names will be capitalized if possible.
(Chapter 1)
Chapter 2 : A Feral Incursion
Light filtered through the thin green sheets of the canvas tent onto Axel's closed eyes. An unamused growl rose from his throat, before opening his bleary red eyes. Great … It was morning. Arching his back, his tongue lopped out as his tail twitched upwards, the Umbreon gritted his teeth as he started his morning routine.
Moving a paw to his muzzle, he grimaced. "Why do I even bother?" He already knew how hideous it looked, so why bother with reminding himself about it? His voice had an ounce of gravel to it. Looking round his tent, the interior was as bare bones as it could get. The Umbreon spotted his rucksack beside a much smaller one. Plodding along the canvas bottom of the tent, he opened it up to see what he had. Various bits of items glinted from the sunlight seeping through the tent. A groan came from his mouth. "This is too much stuff to carry around at once. I need to get rid of it." A rumble then came from the Umbreon's stomach. "Parting with some of this for some cash could work. I need to buy some more food."
Moving toward the smaller bag, the Umbreon undid its strap and looked inside. Two orans, a pecha, and a rawst berry, along with a nibbled on chesto berry. Licking his lips, the Umbreon shoved the rest of the chesto berry in his mouth, before popping an oran inside his maw as well. He shivered from the sudden rush of energy before closing the small bag up like it was.
Tilting his head away from the bag, the Umbreon found his vest. It was just a simple light brown leather vest with plenty of pockets and zippers on the side for ease of access. Axel grumbled. "For all the pockets and pouches on this, it still looks like a harness." Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes. The air around him and the vest shimmered like a mirage. Slowly, the Umbreon felt himself rise off the ground as the vest floated closer to him. Slipping over his head and front legs, the bottom and top of the vest zipped shut. Opening his eyes, the Umbreon fell onto all fours. "Just a morning routine to get through," he said to himself. Axel unzipped the tent entrance and let his thoughts wander. 'Even if it reminds me of them, I'm still happy I learned Psychic.'
Walking out of the tent, the Umbreon closed his eyes and flipped open one of the pouches on the vest. Digging his paw inside of it, he pulled out a light pink metallic box with a latch. Moving a few steps away from the tent, he set it on the ground, undoing the latch and opening up the pink chest in a few quick motions. The inside of it was empty, yet there were four buttons on the back of the box.
Letting out a sigh, the Umbreon eyed the back of the box before pressing in one of the buttons. A faint rumble came from the box. It then began to expand, and within seconds, it grew from the size of an eyeglasses case to the size of a bedside drawer before stopping. Axel then pressed a different button, this one a bright red. The box began to vibrate, causing him to step back, before a scarlet whirlwind erupted from the pink chest's opening. Like a typhoon, it swirled up the tent before drawing back into the box. The resulting impact caused the top of the box to flip and slam shut, startling the Umbreon into falling onto his butt.
Growling, Axel slammed the button opposite of the one he pressed the first time, shrinking the pink chest back to the size of a glasses case. He slipped it back into his pouch like it weighed nothing, snapping the pouch shut. The Umbreon mumbled to himself. "Time to get moving." Stepping on the grass, he decided to see just where he was again.
Looking upward was a canopy of trees, sunlight fluttering through the cracks. Oaks, maples, elms, all sorts of green deciduous trees were about. The Umbreon chuckled once, "Middle of the woods. Easy to get lost in…" Sticking his nose in the air, he sniffed a few times, before smiling. Fangs showing, the Umbreon looked around, "… and ripe with ingredients."
The Umbreon took off in the direction of the scents, eyes glinting wherever the sunlight decided to shine. The fresh dry scent of wiki berries was not too far from where he was. A few more sniffs and the sweet smell of mago berries could be picked up on, with the sour stench of iapapa berries mingling in with the mago berries. Axel picked up his pace towards the bounty of fruit.
Jumping over roots, the dark type sped closer towards his targets. The delectable scents meant he could save a little cash by grabbing a quick bite to eat. As he drew closer, a sharp and harsh odor slammed into his nose. An offending spicy aroma sizzled in his nostrils and made the Umbreon bat away tears. Despite the stinging, the smell was soon followed up by a faintly sweet undercurrent.
Axel stopped dead in his tracks. The Umbreon growled to himself. "Occa berries only grow in the damn tropics, not here." Another whiff confirmed yet another fear: the overpowering scent was heading towards him. His red eyes scanned for any place to hide and settled on a denser patch of grass nestled behind an oak.
Ears folded down and tail tucked between his legs, Axel breathed as slowly and as quietly as he could. His golden rings ceased to pulse, as his body did not want to give him away. The overpowering scent became even stronger as Axel forced himself as low as he could go against the earthy soil. The sounds of wood and hoof trotting against the ground was becoming louder by the second.
An earthy scent mixed with a generous dose of sweat came first. The footfalls were light, so it was probably a mudbray. The second scent Axel knew all too well. That reptilian musk that reeked of opportunity belonged to a kecleon. The wooden crate was probably a shipping box for the occa berries.
The Umbreon tried not to make a peep as he felt the merchant and his horse tread past him, the ridiculous stench of the occa berries making his eyes water. The duo's footfalls began to fade as they moved farther and farther away, and the stench of spice thankfully moved with them as well. Axel breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. His rings resumed their normal glow as his tails and ears moved back to their standard positions.
Sniffing once again, Axel trotted over to where the mago berries were first. "Green for goods and pink for personal," the Umbreon said to himself. From his vest, he fished out a green treasure chest and fumbled around with it before it grew to the size of a basket box.
Axel focused and closed his eyes. The air around the chest shivered before it opened with a short thunk. The mirage of air then moved over and swirled around the berries. One by one the berries were plucked from the bush and put into the green chest.
Lifting the chest off the ground, the Umbreon moved closer to the wiki berries. Soon after he finished picking those, he moved onto the Iapapa berries. When the Umbreon finally finished, he let out a sigh.
'That … was a lot more than I was expecting,' the dark type thought to himself. He was already sweating and he'd picked only a few berry bushes. 'Relying on that move is going to tire me out, dammit Axel, why do you keep doing this.' Axel let out a defeated sigh and pressed the button to shrink the box down to a manageable size.
Putting it back into his vest, the Umbreon looked around. The delectable scents wafted away in the wind. Axel looked around but shook his head.. "Guess I'll have to make do with this." With a quick look behind him, Axel continued in the opposite direction from where the Kecleon was going.
Scrounging in his vest, Axel pulled a small orange chest, let it grow, and pulled out a glass orb from within it. The glass orb was slightly smaller than his own head, glistened in the forest light, and a yellow sphere twirled within the glass. When the Umbreon put both paws on the orb, the yellow sphere covered the entire inside of the glass and turned a harsh red. The red color eventually shrunk down into a top-down topographic map with shading. "Real lucky I got this version, shading makes it easy as distortion to figure how steep the land is. Bit of a steal considering how cheap I got it … but most map orbs don't show you the next market over."
Axel casted a glance back at the orange chest. "I should really pick up a few more maps. If the orb shatters … I'm going to be lost." He looked behind him and growled, "I'm not going back now just to pick up more maps though. Might as well see where I am now in case I somehow break it in the next few seconds."
Axel peered into the orb. "So, Trailers forest is where I am. Behind me is the mystery dungeon and the ravine it crosses." Axel let out a sigh. "The camp at the end of that dungeon is the same even if you enter from the forest or ravine side. Pretty convenient rest stop. Doesn't need too many shipments either, the dungeon does most of the work."
With a smile, Axel looked forward on the red map. "Oh, so ahead of me is the waterfall." An exclamation point was overlaid on top of the location known as infernal falls. The Umbreon smirked. "That name's a really good way to make everyone think it's on fire, even though it's after an infernape who tried to dive off the top." The Umbreon shook his head and resumed reading the luminous map.
Axel peered to the left of the shown map. "East of the falls is flashfire river that ends in sauna lake. To the east of that lake is fizzle city. Have a few good scores there, plus the hotel isn't too bad. Bit small to be a city though. The library there helped with learning about the waterfall's naming at least."
Axel took his paws off the orb and the map collapsed back into the yellow sphere that it used to be. With a little psychic force, the Umbreon put it back into his chest, which he then put it back into the vest after it shrunk.
"I guess it's off to the waterfall, maybe I can sell some of this stuff."
The roar of the waterfall ahead was overpowering. Gallons upon gallons of water slammed into the water below. All of that freshwater was moving downstream into the flashfire river.
Peering into the rapidly moving stream, Axel shook his head, gazing into his own eyes as the water rocketed past. Scarlet red sclera with black as pitch iris and pupils stared back at him. Despite his battered appearance, it was hard to believe he was still nineteen. Yet his gaze wandered lower, he was looking at his neck. There wasn't any black fur, none at all. The Umbreon's pale skin was plain to see. The flesh there … it still looked like it had been seared. From his lower jaw to the base of his neck, the scarring was painfully visible. Not even his muzzle was spared; it was stripped of its fur.
"Three years … it really hasn't changed a thing," Axel sighed to himself. "Might as well get the mask ready if I even want to bother selling anything." The Umbreon turned away from the water and looked to the ground. "And not look like a wreck," Axel added.
Undoing a clasp, the Umbreon pulled out a golden box from his vest. A ruby adorned the top of the case. Pressing the back of it, it grew to the size of a gift basket before stopping. Pushing a paw into the front of the box, it opened up like a treasure chest would. Putting his face into the box, the Umbreon dug around in it before pulling an object out.
An ornate masquerade mask, with a thunderstone slotted into it stared back at Axel. The mask's front looked similar to a mightyena's face. Axel gently tugged the mask out and carefully put it on the ground beside the small chest. The air shimmered around the mask as it was pulled onto the Umbreon's face. It was a perfect fit, despite how awkward it looked.
The eyes of the mask gleamed as a beam of light wrapped itself around Axel's head. Axel let out a sigh as he looked over into the river. A perfectly normal Umbreon stared back and the reflection shimmered slightly. All of his scars had seemingly disappeared. 'Still a convincing illusion,' Axel thought to himself. He smiled back at the illusion before looking to the waterfall.
"Time to get it over with," Axel said to himself. Heading to the side of the waterfall, was a small alcove. The air reeked of water and limestone. The roar of the waterfall could be felt as the Umbreon moved further into the darkness.
'Real happy I can see in the dark right about now,' Axel thought to himself as he felt the walls of the cave. "It has to be nearby somewhere," the Umbreon grumbled to himself. Placing his front paws upon the walls, Axel sidled across.
Eventually, his paws came across a part of the wall that squished inward.
Dropping back to all fours, Axel afforded himself a smile. Quick as can be, the Umbreon pulled out his luminous orb before looking at the wall. Axel walked back to the squishy part of the wall, and continued forward, pressing against the wall. The wall flexed and bent, but it finally let the Umbreon through and it was as if he had passed through water.
It was a lot louder compared to the roar of the waterfall on the other side of the wall. And there was a miffed zoroark staring him in his face. Several scars decorated the vulpine's face,but the scar over his eye caught Axel's attention the most.
"Dosh or orb bub," the zoroark growled at him.
Axel put his paws on the orb and the yellow sphere turned red and showed the area's map. The zoroark's glare didn't soften, but he didn't strike either. "Good enough bub, move along. Can see the exclamation point on it. You better have some good shit to sell."
Axel let out a puff of air as he moved past the zoroark and into the marketplace proper. Pokemon of all shapes and sizes moved to and fro makeshift stalls. Lanterns dotted the cave's ceiling. Scents both chemical and inviting wafted around mons and their wares.
Axel wandered down the lanes of the bazaar, making sure not to bump into any mon. A Bisharp was looking over arm bands owned by a croagunk at one stall. At another stall, a Cinccino was haggling with a Luxio over the price of scarves. At a food stall with NOODLES crudely written in Unown at the top, a Dewott in a red cloak was hailing over a red leafed Bayleef to join them for a meal.
Axel sniffed around but shook his head. "Too many scents, can't smell exactly what I want." Axel shook his head as he passed another food stall, but then narrowed his eyes at the stall across from him. A crudely drawn question mark was beside a poke coin sign on the banner above the stall.
Fencers.
Sell it and trade it.
"Well that's good, need to … off load some stuff," Axel mumbled to himself as he moved closer to the stall. A Doublade manned the counter, while a Cinderace smiled from behind, marveling at all the goods in their stall.
A ghostly monotone voice came from the Doublade. "Oh hello fine sir or madam, what business do you need?"
The Cinderace quickly elbowed the living sword, before turning to Axel with a pained grin. "He means … do you wanna trade or sell, buddy."
"Do you have any thunderstones?" Axel asked.
The Cinderace smiled. "Of course, we have a fine selection of thunderstones!" The duo of fire and steel quickly scoured their little stand, and pulled out a selection of stones. Five stones were set on the counter in front of Axel.
'The one on the left is flickering, it won't last more than five days. The right one is … glowing, they over charged it, it's practically a bomb.' Axel mulled over the choices as he looked them over. 'The middle one is the only decent one, as is the middle left ... but the middle right stone feels the safest.' The Umbreon let out a sigh of relief as he made his choice. "I'll trade for the middle right stone."
"A wondrous choice sir-" started the doublade, but he was rudely shut up with a fist thinly cloaked in flame. Axel flinched, which didn't go unnoticed by the Cinderace.
"Eh, what about eight K, reasonable ain't it? We had to go through a lot to get that one in particular."Sneered the cinderace.
Axel narrowed his eyes near instantly. "I could sneak into any town and get a stone like that for nearly half of what your asking. Even here, I'm sure I can get something better than that."
The fiery rabbit's smile seemed to grow with each word. "Sure about that bub? No competition here, 'specially in regards to that stone, if you catch my drift. Had to draw over the stall after the chumps who were in it last … let's say had to take a hike."
Axel grimaced and kept his eyes on the snickering lapine. 'Oh, so implying you kicked the others sellers out of here and stole their shit makes it easy for a monopoly, really fun.' Axel shook his head as he turned away. "You can keep it, I'll try my luck elsewhere."
Axel looked back just in time to see the Cinderace shoo him off with an errant flip of his hand before the rabbit went back grinning at a new sucker across the Umbreon just let out a sigh and kept walking. 'I wanted that stone, but I am not paying a markup that bit, more than double is killing it.' The canine grumbled as he moved from the busy center to the farther reaches. 'There's gotta be a place where I can offload my goods in this place. Those two would probably only give me pocket change considering how much they were overcharging.' The Umbreon squinted and realized there was a side path further down leading into a tunnel with the words shipments carved into the wall.
Axel continued down, heading deeper into the cavern. Azure lanterns hung above as the cacophony of noise that came from the main hub of the market died down. Pawstep over pawstep lead from badgering voices to unrealistic silence. However, little by little, the voices came back.
Not as language, but as a mishmash of growls, howls, and rattling chains.
Red tinted lanterns hung overhead illuminate the collection of cages that laid before Axel. Black and white Zigzagoons thrashing against metal and steel. A collection of vulpix huddled together in a mesh, glowing with the energy from a Protect. Axel looked around in shock. "What in the world is going on here," the Umbreon mumbled to himself.
The Umbreon walked past the caged pokemon, grimacing. 'I should have expected ferals, shouldn't I.' Axel thought to himself as he wandered about. Voices aside from growls could be heard, as well as the slam of something in the distance. The Umbreon dimmed his own natural light as he stalked closer. He could see two massive wooden doors, both guarded by a Thievul.
Axel kept quiet as he heard murmuring rise into a collection of cheers and boos. Tilting his ears, he could make out a booming voice through the doors. "OK, OK, SETTLE ALL YOU RUFFIANS! FOR OUR NEXT PET, WE HAVE OURSELVES A PUPITAR! BID STARTS AT NINE THOUSAND!" Axel shuddered as he felt the cheers from a crowd nearby.
"Oi, Nick, you wanna watch this show?" One of the Thievul called out to the other. The other Thievul nodded. "Sure, beats staring into the dark seeing shadows, scooch over Tricky." Nick said to his friend as he tried to look through the cracks in the wooden door. Axel shook his head as he slunk past the duo of foxes. "They are really not paid nearly enough to care," Axel snickered to himself as he continued exploring. Continuing through the cavern, Axel was found at a crossroads, one direction leading right and the other left.
Azure light flickered from the right, and caught the Umbreon's attention. "Ok, what's causing that," Axel grumbled to himself as he went down the right path.
The flickering light soon turned to a crackle of flame, and an azure wisp of flame was hovering in mid-air. It wavered left and right before heading down the tunnel. Axel followed after it, as a gentle walk was all that was needed to keep pace. The sound of crackling fire was all that Axel heard as he continued walking.
The tunnel soon opened into a small room, dim lights hanging from the ceiling. More cages of feral pokemon, yet most of them seemed to be asleep. "Where are you leading me," Axel asked the flame. The flame simply crackled as it changed direction and it dove into the collection of cages.
A moment later, one of the cages was illuminated with soft blue light. Looking over the room, Axel headed toward the cage with a cautious trot. "This can't be some kind of trap, can it?" Axel muttered to himself in confusion. Coming to the front of the illuminated cage, Axel narrowed his eyes as he met eyes with the pokemon inside it.
A scruffy Riolu cupped the blue flame with both paws as it returned Axel's gaze, its ruby eyes glinting in the darkness. On the Riolu's right aura feeler was an ear tag embedded into it. The tag had 300 poke scribbled onto it. Axel shuddered as the Riolu kept its gaze on him.
"Uh … hey there ..." Axel said as he began to step back. A worried whine came from the Riolu before the canine closed their eyes. The flame in lept from the Riolu's paws, before it grew and changed shape. A massive letter of flame floated in-front of Axel.
R
Axel shook his head in astonishment, "what in the … R? That your name or something?"
To Axel's surprise the Riolu let out a happy "Riolu." Axel took a step closer, and noticed that the tag in the dog's ear had the letter M scribbled onto it. A nearby Poochyena had the letter F scribbled onto it's tag.
Axel nodded slowly. "Well I guess you're a boy then."
The Riolu quickly nodded, before he grabbed the bars of his cage and shook them. The rattling of a lock was clear to hear. Energy similar to that of a Protect shimmered across the cage. The Riolu let go after a few seconds, which made the cage stop shimmering, and the massive letter soon morphed into something else.
BREAK
Axel stared flabbergasted at the Riolu, "Are you insa-"
"Doesn't that damn mutt ever shut up?!" A voice bellowed from the tunnel. The sound of hurried footfalls caught Axel off-guard as a Floatzel bolted into the room. The frustration on the water-type's face soon melted into confusion, then outrage as he caught sight of the Umbreon. "Oh by CRESSELIA! A thief messing with my product!" Axel vainly tried to protest, but was shut up by an outstretched paw. "Can it mutt! I might as well double my profits by selling you out. Those big wigs will pay top price for a fully evolved mon, even if I do have to rough you up. Besides, I'm sure at least one of the bastards wants a proper slave and not a pet. You'd fit right in."
The Riolu was now growling and the flame had completely disappeared. Axel's hackles raised in anger at the Floatzel. "Guess the choice has already been made for me then," Axel said as violet crackles of electricity shot from his fur. A fan of pitch-black energy erupted from the Umbreon. The wave of darkness slammed into the lock and bars, which was briefly stopped by the glass-like Protect shattering, followed by the crushing and bending of the cheap metal. Not a second later, the bars were blown off with a sturdy kick from the Riolu.
Bolting out of the cage, the Riolu landed beside Axel, the both of them glaring at Floatzel. "I guess we're doing this together then ... R." Axel shrugged at R, who nodded back.
The Floatzel only guffawed at the duo. "WOW, two dumbass mutts for the price of one." The twin tails of the water type began to spin up, "I'm going to enjoy beating the shit out of you two."
Water enveloped the Floatzel as he rocketed toward Axel. A self assured grin was plastered on the water-type's face. Axel's body tensed for a moment before he slammed himself into a row of cages, narrowly avoiding the weasel as he flew by. Twin voices, the two thievul from the door, called into the room. "Hey! Quinta! Is something going on down there?!"
The Floatzel bared his teeth as he bellowed in the direction of the tunnel. "Get back to your posts if you even want to think of getting another poke from me again! These are mine, you two bastards!" Quinta turned his gaze back to Axel and R. "I'm gonna make you two regret pissing me off." R growled in response, a snarl coming from the pup. Axel moved closer to R as crackles and blackened sparks ruffled his fur.
A disgusting sneer plastered itself on Quinta's face, his twin tails spinning faster and faster. Axel charged forward, launching a pulse of pitch as black energy at the water type. R let out the best of a roar he could and rushed forward, fire and fury burning in his eyes. Quinta spun around, his tails slamming together as the air around him shattered into a whirlwind. Sickles of wind slammed into the pitch-black wave, detonating it into a thick miasma of smog.
Axel coughed as he halted his assault, vision blinded by dust and gravel. His ears twitched as he tried to pinpoint where the weasel was through the smog, but couldn't focus even if he tried. His ears reeled as a cry was shouted into them. He shook his head as he braced for whatever impact was about to happen.
"Rise and shine dumbass!"
Twin tails slapped into Axel's muzzle, like a magikarp jumping up a waterfall. The Umbreon spun out, stars dancing against his vision. Wait, was that his mask?! The afterimage of Floatzel about to rake his face in was all his eyes could make sense of. Well, a Floatzel about to claw his face anyway.
Quinta was currently preoccupied with his arm trapped in a transparent screen of light. R's arm was outstretched as his feelers floated upwards against gravity's pull, his paw glowing with white light. "How does a brat like you know Protect?!" Quinta pulled frantically at his stuck arm as Axel righted his vision. Disgust filled the panicking Floatzel's eyes as Axel met his gaze, "and you look like a damn freak!"
Axel acted before he even registered what he was doing. He lunged at Quinta's trapped arm, his own jaw opened as if he was about to yawn. The Umbreon then bit down on the arm. Hard.
There was only a second of silence before Quinta's agonizing scream echoed throughout the room. Axel thrashed, and slammed the caught arm against the sides of the Protect, shattering it. The Floatzel yanked his arm back in terror and barely managed to pull it out of the snarling Umbreon's mouth. "Y-you mongrel," Quinta screamed at Axel. "I'll-"
"Riolu!" R's fist rocketed into the Floatzel's face with a silvery sheen in an instant. Quinta stumbled back and crashed into a row of cages, an aggravated growl erupting from the weasel. Twin streams of blood gushed out of the busted nose of the water type. He clutched his wounded arm as the ground beneath him grew redder with each second. The stench of iron began to permeate the room and swirled in Axel's nostrils.
"Y-you b-bastard," Quinta sputtered out. Heavy pants came from the floatzel as he glared daggers at R and Axel. Axel was growling in fury, hackles raised. R's fist glowed silver as he pulled back, charging up another punch.
The cavern shook as rocks and pebbles were shaken loose from the ceiling. R growled as they frantically looked around. Quinta kept his eyes on Axel. Axel shook his head as rock buffeted his body. He would hear all of the ferals in the room now, all frantically slamming or howling inside the cages.
Footsteps ran from the tunnel, making a beeline for the Floatzel. "Boss! We gotta get out of here, now!" The two Thievuls from before had forced Quinta onto their backs.
Quinta struggled and growled. "You idiots, what about-"
"Boss, the guilds are raiding the damn place, we don't have time to save any of this shit!" One of the Thievul, Nick, cried out. Sweat streamed from the Umbreon's body as the trio of bandits sped off into the darkness of the cavern as Quinta's outcries echoed against the rumbling walls of the cave. Axel's attempt at wanting to question the duo of foxes died in his mouth before he could even ask what they were freaking out.
A guild breach was the absolute last thing Axel needed right now. He scurried over to his mask and slammed it on. He prodded against the thunderstone in the mask and panted. 'I don't need this to break, I don't need this to break, this needs to work!' He tapped the stone again as the howling of the ferals screamed in his ears. 'Don't BE-'
The Umbreon then felt R's paw prodding him. Axel jolted from the other canine's soft paw pads pressing against him. Axel looked confusedly at the pokemon, "What was that for?!" The Riolu ran to the tunnel where the Thievuls had came from, and beckoned him to follow. Axel shook his head, "y-you know a way out?" R nodded and held out his paw for a wisp of blue flame to appear, his aura feelers rising.
FOLLOW
R took off down the tunnel and Axel scurried behind him. Another deafening rumble shook the cave system as small stalactites fell from the ceiling, crashing into the ground below. The duo of canines had run back to the massive set of two wooden doors, now fully ajar. R waved over Axel and the two dashed inside.
The Umbreon was in awe of the massive bidding hall, with bright red curtains and a black onyx stone stage to sit the bids on. Rows of padded benches, big enough to sit a tyranitar, studded the room. Axel noticed that few of the benches seemed trampled over. "I'm wondering how a place like this emptied out so fast." The echoing sound of the rumbling cavern was all that he could hear.
R sped up to the top right corner of the room, and to a portion of the wall that looked the same as any other part of it. Axel followed closer and tilted his head as the Riolu inspected it. The blue canine slammed his paw against it. The wall bends inwards, causing R's tail to wag feverishly.
"A zoroark is still keeping that up? How?" Axel pushed against the wall and passed on through it. A moment later R passed through and grinned. He formed the blue wisp of flames into letters once more. Axel noticed that the blue of the flame seemed brighter than the past few times.
REMEMBERS
Axel looked on in confusion, before nodding. 'I wonder how long that pup has been here, I'll ask him later.' Axel pointed ahead with his paw, "let's go, I don't want to be stuck here any longer." R nodded and turned the massive letters back into a blue flame, before speeding ahead of the Umbreon.
Axel felt the rumbling of the cavern lessen the further he walked through the tunnel with R. The scent of damp stone and grainy rock soon slowly changed into the scent of grass and dirt. There was also the scent of dried blood from the mask, but Axel didn't care all that much about that. "I think we're getting close."
The tunnel soon dipped upward into what Axel could easily see to be a half-finished basement. He could see wooden planks and embedded nails making a ramp down into the tunnel. R growled as he ascended upwards, coming to a stop as two wooden double doors stood in his way. Axel shuddered as R reared his fist back, "Hey, maybe you don't need to break everything?" R nodded with a whine, and then pushed on one of the doors, opening it easily. Axel breathed out a sigh. "I think I'll check us both into a hotel after this mess … pup."
R tilted his head, but forged ahead past the doors. Axel mumbled to himself as he followed the Riolu, "Right … he's a feral, probably doesn't even know what a bed is." Axel shook his head as he looked around the new room. R was sniffing at a ruined couch, poking and prodding at it. Axel sat down in the middle of the room, tail swishing idly.
"Ok, time to figure out where we are … uh, R." Axel fumbled around with his vest before pulling out his small orange chest. "Orange for location and my origin." Clicking open the chest, Axel pulled out a glass orb, which turned red as he placed it down with both paws. A topographic map formed in an instant. "Ok, so we're back at trailer's-"
R's stomach grumbled. Axel turned his attention away from the map and towards the Riolu, brows quirked. "Y-you're that hungry? I could hear that from here." The Umbreon stepped away from the orb and scoured the inside of the house. "There has to be something in here, right?"
Axel tilted his head at an ajar icebox, the bottom of it completely empty of said frozen liquid. He saw several cans scattered about on the wire rack in the icebox. He felt a tingle in the back of his mind and pawed them out of the box and onto the ground. He turned his head only to see R staring at him, a frown on the Riolu's muzzle. Axel jolted before frantically settling his gaze on one of the cans.
Axel read the label aloud, "Beef stew, mild." He tilted the can to see it's underside, before setting it down smiling. "This thing still has two years left on it." The Umbreon pushed the can over to R. "Just pull the tab at the top, then pull the other way to open it. It tastes ok when it's cold."
R licked his lips as he pulled the tab, before ripping open the top of the can. The mild smell of watered down meat and preservatives filled the room. Axel turned his gaze back to the cans as he heard the Riolu chow down. "I'll just save one of these for myself and try to ignore your … eating." Axel mumbled as he shoved one of the cans into an open slot on his vest.
Axel plodded over to where the orb was and peered into the map. "Huh, just a little west of the waterfall." His ears and tail wilted as soon as he said that. 'You were supposed to sell something, you idiot!' The Umbreon's ears and tail soon returned to normal as he looked back at R.
R had just finished up the entire can, wiping away juices from his muzzle with a free paw. The Riolu's ears perked up and he walked over to the Umbreon. Axel pointed to a spot on the orb and said, "Ok, so we're going to head to Fizzle city to get some actual sleep. I'll mess with that tag on your dreadlock organ later and I don't want to risk anything yet. If we move now and follow the flashfire river, we can get to the city by sunset."
R only tilted his head.
Axel's eyes darted about, before pointing back at the city's location. "We go here." R nodded and smiled. Axel let out a sigh, putting the orb away and giving one final look to the interior of the house. Aside from the ruined couch and icebox, there really wasn't much to the home. It was just a room that stunk of canned meat now.
Axel walked over to the door and pulled it open, the scent of fresh leaves and soil wafting into his nose. He could hear the rustling leaves as a gentle breeze ruffled them. R looked around, his eyes squinting from the sunlight. Axel pressed his paws into the grass and began to walk. He tilted his head over his shoulder and said, "we need to go north, then east to get to the city."
R followed after the Umbreon. Axel peered past the trees, seeing the ground began to change from flat to hilly. Axel smiled as he felt the warm sun's rays across his back. He heard R sniff the air, before deciding to take a whiff himself. The scent of leaves and …
Axel's hackles raised and he growled, "wait … metal isn't something you find in the forest." Axel rushed into the bushes beside him and dimmed his markings. R followed after him, laying on his belly besides the umbreon. Axel whispered to the Riolu, "I need you to stay quiet, this doesn't smell good." R nodded as a faint humming became louder.
The humming soon changed into a rumble, as if someone had turned on a power generator. The ground shook as the source revealed itself. Red clashed with black metal as it hovered above the ground. A rectangular chassis with sloped armor glistened in the sunlight. A massive turret atop the vehicle glowed faintly as electricity flowed throughout the machine.
Axel held his breath as the scent of multiple pokemon floated into his nose. There was a strong musk of sweat and perspiration, a clear sign of fighting types. Another sniff made him grimace. The smell of burning charcoal, only fire types made that stench. The rumbling dimmed down, now replaced with the stomping of pokemon. Axel could see crimson and onyx boots crush the grass beneath them. Tilting his ears, he could make out what was being said, matching the legs and feet to the voice.
"Next target is a city?" What seemed to be a Monferno asked.
"After we take it, it'll be the perfect place to offload the prisoners from the armored carriers ahead of the tank," A Darmanitan responded.
"Quiet, we'll be there by nightfall," A Machamp called from the front.
Axel's hackles raised, and he gave a worried glance to R. The Riolu's mouth was curled into a snarl, the canine tensed and ready to pounce. R sucked in a breath and put his paw over R's closest paw. The Riolu's ruby eyes darted toward Axel, but R relaxed ever so slightly. The Umbreon let himself sink back into the ground, waiting for the group to pass.
Axel felt the rumbling and stomping die out, the sounds far enough away that he knew he could move safely. A terrified sigh escaped his mouth as he pulled himself out of the bushes. R growled in the direction of the group, but Axel turned away. Pulling off his mask, Axel took out the golden box and shoved the mask into it, the item disappearing into its depths before he tucked the box away in the vest.
A shuddering gasp came from Axel. "R … the city is a no-go." The Riolu turned around, his face contorted into a confused stare. Axel's eyes were full of fear, "pup, we don't stand a chance against whatever in the distortion that was." R looked to the ground, but nodded slowly. Axel gulped as he put a paw on the riolu. R nodded firmly as Axel spoke.
"We're gonna head south and try our luck with the ravine. Lay low instead of getting wrapped up in something that is going to get us killed."
End of Chapter 2
