Thank you to my readers for all the reviews and support! Now, I have a question for you all. So far, I've changed the story line of the game slightly and no one seems to have minded. So, will it annoy anyone if I mess up the story line some more, mostly when they go to the future with Dusknoir. Just wanted to get some feedback before I start writing it out.
Jak was greatly annoyed. They had explained the concept of an exploration team to her, focusing on the word team, saying that they were all partners, equal with none valued over the others. It would seem that it was all talk. Why else would they completely ignore Jak by socializing with the 'great' Dusknoir?
Jak was certain he was hiding something. The way he acted, all pleasent and well mannered... When you could clearly see someone's flaws, be it greediness, cowardice, arrogance, depression, insanity, then you knew they had nothing to hide, it was all out in the open. But when they acted like the model citizen, trimmed lawn and a white picket fence, that meant they were hiding something. Given how... perfect the Dusknoir acted, then he must have been hiding something big. Something dark. Something sinister.
But would her 'team' listen? No! The Eevee drooled all over him and Sol didn't seem to have a problem going all buddy buddy with him. Really, it was hopeless trying to reason with them. Naive and without a clue as to how the world really works. Town life must have dulled their instincts.
Jak should have just left. A clueless pack was nothing but a liability. She almost did after seeing the three of them chatting away in front of the store for the second time. Jak had stomped off, fuming, but had found herself back at the guild. She just couldn't abandon them like that.
Jak supposed that if this really was a team, then it would be her job to protect her partners, even if it was from their own stupidity and misplaced trust.
Jak waited on the second floor of the guild, standing in a corner by herself away from the small crowds centered around the boards. Sol had said Jak needed to get used to being around large groups, but Jak really didn't like it. She just felt so exposed. With all those people around, it was impossible to keep and eye on them all and equally impossible to be ready for a sudden attack. So Jak would keep her back to a wall and watch them all.
Eventually, the Eevee and Sol returned to the guild. Jak nodded to them when they entered, but did not join them while they checked the boards. Jak did not care what jobs they did, and so many were clustered at the boards, a tight knot of
Pokémon forming an impenetrable wall. How could they stand being so close together?
Soon they walked over to Jak, holding a few scraps of untacked paper.
"Not a very wide selection today, but here's what we got..." the Eevee began, leafing through the pages.
"Team Wanderers!"
Down the stairs from outside, two small, blue Pokémon ran, a Marill and a Azurill. They stopped in front of the group.
"Eevee and Sol! And..." the Marill said, but stopped upon seeing Jak, unsure of who she was.
"This is Jak, the third member of our ragtag group. Jak, this is Marill and Azurill," Sol introduced them.
The two Pokémon said hello, but their hearts weren't in it. Something had them worried.
"What brings you two here?" the Eevee asked. "Weren't you going to the beach to look for your Water Float?"
"Yes, but... we need your help. We were at the beach, but instead of our item, we found this..."
The Marill handed a creased piece of paper to the Eevee. He straightened out some of the wrinkles and read the footprint runes outloud.
The Water Float from the beach is now in our possession. Just try to take it from us! We'll wait in the deepest part of Amp Plains. But knowing how weak and puny you are, I bet you can't even reach us! Chaw-haw-haw!
"Wait, it actually says 'Chaw-haw-haw'?" Sol asked, a faint smile on her lips.
The Eevee gave her a sour look and continued reading.
Can't handle it? Go cry to your big-shot friends! Chaw-haw-haw!
"Hey! This note! It's a... It's a ransom note! Isn't it!"
"No, they didn't actually ask for anything," Sol said. "This is bait, and really obvious bait at that. 'Chaw-haw-haw'? Team Skull, anyone?"
"You guys!" The Eevee said with a face full of panic. "You can't even think about going! It's probably a trap!"
"Ya think?" Sol snorted.
"But the Water Float is very important to us!" The Marill exclaimed. "We need to get it back! But Amp Plains is filled with electric type Pokémon, and I can't hope to stand up against them..."
"No problem!" The Eevee said. "We'll get it back for you."
"Really? You will?"
"No, we're just screwing with you."
"Sol!"
"What? I'm not allowed to try and lighten the mood?"
"This is definately not the time for that."
"It is a trap," Jak joined into the conversation. "Only a fool would go."
"So we're all in agreement, then," Sol said in a voice full of false cheer. "Let's go bite the hook like good fish and risk our lives for an inflatable toy!"
"Yep! So no more tears!" The Eevee either choose to ignore the blatant sarcasm or didn't catch it.
"Ok! W-we're sorry to bother you about this. Thank you!"
"Don't worry, we'll get it back for you. We promise! Let's go, Sol! Let's get to Amp Plains!"
"Whoa, hold on!" Sol stopped the Eevee before he ran up the guild stairs. "I hate being the responsible one, but shouldn't we think this through a little more? It's obviously a trap and you want to waltz right in?"
"Yep. We need to help those little brothers however we can!"
"A plan would be prudent, don't you think? Maybe a little backup? Loudred and Sunflora would be happy to help, maybe even Diglett or Dugtrio. They would be good against electric types."
"No way! Dusknoir doesn't go running for help, and neither do we!"
"What?! Eevee, what has gotten into you lately? I'm fine with you admiring someone, maybe not to the extremes you take it but still, I have to draw the line when it starts to put you in danger."
"We can do this! We know it's probably a trap, so we won't be taken by surprise, and we have all the equipment we need."
"One should not walk needlessly into danger. Jak thinks we should think up a real plan, get a larger pack together, or both. History won't remember how dramatic our failed frontal assualt was."
"We'll be fine! Let's go!"
The Eevee left the guild and marched down the path. Sol shook her head then followed. Jak watched with narrowed eyes.
What was the point of being on a team if no one listened to you? Now, now was the time Jak should leave. They were reckless, unthinking, headstrong. Sooner or later, most likely sooner with the way this was going, they were going to get themselves hurt and Jak would end up paying the price for their stupidity.
But she couldn't, even with her instincts screaming at her to go and never look back. For whatever reason, this was Jak's pack now. If something like this had happened back in the wild, Jak would have snuck out the moment she got the chance. Town life was changing her, no, the Eevee and Sol were changing her, and she didn't know what she thought of that.
Feeling frustrated and annoyed, which was quickly becoming her default emotion whenever she was around these two, Jak jogged after them.
Amp Plains was an unusual place. From a distance, the area looked like a sort of natural step pyramid with flat areas that would jump up suddenly and steeply to another 'step'. It was easy to see where they had to go, but much more difficult actually getting there. Most of their time was spent circling the steps, looking for a path up the steep bits.
And the wild Pokémon of the area, completely vicious and would attack on sight. At first it was mostly Shinx, Plusles, Voltorb, but the closer they got to the top the more they saw Electrike until they were the only other Pokémon they came across.
For the first time, not counting their first tumultuous meeting, Jak got the opportunity to see Sol fight with a staff. It was still an odd, alien concept to her, fighting with a weapon instead of moves, but watching Sol... It was like the staff ceased to be a seperate object and instead became an extension of the Riolu. It truly was a sight to behold, like watching an intricate, deadly dance.
Of course, that didn't mean Jak was planning on getting one any time soon. She would stick to her moves, her Ember and her Dragon Rage, like a true Pokémon. What could she say? Old habits die hard.
Fighting tooth and nail, the trio clawed their way to the top of Amp Plains, sporting a few bruises and the Eevee looking like a giant fluff ball from all the static electricity (which Sol found extremely hilarious) but otherwise unharmed. The top 'step' was shaped like a bowl, the sides angling upwards with a flat area in the center. A thick layer of clouds blanketed the sky and the air crackled with electricity. Every few moments, a boom of thunder echoed throughout the plains.
"This is definatly not a welcoming place," Sol muttered, staff in hand as she scanned the area. "Let's get a move on before we get struck by lightning. That is so not the way I plan on dying."
"You have a planned way of dying?"
"Sure do. When I die, it'll be from getting launched into the sun after a series of hilarious yet unlikely coincidences."
"What is wrong with you?"
"So many, many things. Now, I assume that thing over there is the Water Float?"
Sol pointed to the far end of the bowl where a yellow ring with a large, blue circle was placed on the rocky ground. When she started to walk towards it, everything suddenly turned dark.
"Hey! Who turned off the sun? If it's someone about to attack us, you gotta tell me how you do that before the impending beat down."
"Sol, so not the time!"
"What? I'm curious, and it's an awesome trick. If I could do that, I'd go all supervillian and demand tribute from all for not turning off the sun. Though that would put a wrinkle in my plan of eventually getting launched into the sun... Ok, nevermind."
"YOU!" A snarling, anger filled voice called out. "Why did you come here? This is our territory!"
"Scary voice from the dark! Scary voice from the dark! Assume fetal position!"
How was it that Sol could take a serious and dangerous situation and somehow make it all seem like a ridiculous farce? Really, she had to be doing that on purpose. Not for the first time, Jak was questioning the Riolu's sanity. Then again, Jak was the one still following her, so what did that mean about the Charmander?
As the Eevee would say, so not the time. Jak grabbed both ahold of both of her partners and dragged them over to the wall where she remembered seeing a large crevice eariler. They huddled inside, eyes straining into the darkness for any sign of movement.
"So you're going to hide like that?" the voice continued. "All right. That just makes this easier, having you trapped. We'll just sneak quietly to get as close as we can... then we'll strike!"
With a fierce growl, Sol pushed her way out into the open.
"It's not exactly quietly sneaking when you announce the plan!" she yelled. "So why don't you just come out and face me instead of hiding like a coward!"
Not smart, not smart at all. Jak knew that ways of the wild, not Sol. What she just said... The voice would take that as a challenge to their territory, a challenge they would have to accept. Any chance of this ending peacefully just went out the window.
A laugh, cold and confident, filled the air. The darkness lifted to reveal a yellow and blue dog like Pokémon standing on the rim of the bowl with a large number of smaller, green Pokémon standing around him.
"I am Manectric! I am the leader of these Electrike! Now, prepare to fight!"
"Wait!" the Eevee cried, running up to stand by Sol. "We didn't come here to make claims on your territory, or to fight you!"
"Tell that to the trail of fallen members of my clan you left behind!"
"It's all right, Eevee. If they want a beat down so badly, I'm happy to oblige."
The Manectric howled, a long, drawn out sound that sent chills down Jak's spine. The gathered Electrike jumped down and charged the exploration team, growling and snapping while sparks danced across their bodies.
The trick to fighting electric type Pokémon was to avoid physical contact. Thundershock and Spark were so much more effective when touching a Pokémon than when used over a distance. This was fine for Jak as long as she focused on fire attacks, and Sol had her staff which was, for the most part, safe since wood was not a good conducter of electricity. It was harder for the Eevee, but he mostly stayed back out of the main fighting, throwing out Oran berries whenever Jak or Sol needed them, using support moves with the odd Sand Attack or sleep seed whenever an Electrike got to close.
Jak sent a burst of fire into the center of a group trying to flank Sol. They yelped and scattered, one limping away with injuries too severe to keep fighting. Another jumped at Jak, getting close enough to sink its teeth into her leg and hit her with jolts of painful electricity. The Charmander clawed at the Electrike's back, leaving a mess of bleeding wounds until it released her. A blast of fire in its face sent it running and a berry from the Eevee numbed the pain of the bite marks.
There was just so many of them. Jak would take one down just for another to take its place, all under the watchful gaze of the Manectric. He hadn't moved from his place atop the wall, standing there as still as a statue.
An Electrike latched on to Sol's arm while another hooked on to her leg. They yanked and pulled, trying to pull her to the ground where she would be defenseless. During the fighting, Jak had drifted too far away to help as more and more of the attackers swarmed her partner, and was having her own troubles.
Blood poured from numerous wounds, her blue and black fur drenched with red. Electricity crackled around her, harmless to the Electrike sinking their teeth into her skin but no doubt causing Sol much pain. But still she stood, refusing to go down, like a hero straight from legend.
"You. Better not. Have. RABIES!" Sol howled, ruining the whole hero image, but then, her whole body seemed to glow with an intense inner light.
The light turned into a ball, forming between Sol's hands as her eyes glowed a bright yellow. Then the ball was sent rocketing forwards, blasting away all the nearby Electrike. Focus Blast! But Jak had never seen that move used so powerfully before! Weren't Sol's moves usually weaker than normal?
The remaining Electrike retreated back, watching the Riolu cautiously. Sol was drained from the move and fell to her knees for a moment, staff held loosely in one hand at her side. Slowly, she tilted her head back to look up at the Manectric.
"Are you going to continue to hide behind lackeys or are we going to finish this once and for all?"
The Manectric jumped down and stalked over to Sol. She got back to her feet, battered and bleeding from a dozen injuries but a her eyes remained fierce and without a trace of fear. It was then Jak remembered why she stayed. Sol was a person worthy of respect with a core of steel underneath all the sarcasm and insanity. Sol was her alpha.
The Electrike gathered around the far end of the bowl with the Eevee and Jak on the other side, the Manectric and Sol between them. They sat and watched as their leader faced the trespasser. Jak kneeled and watched as the two leaders circled each other.
"What's going on?" the Eevee asked in a hushed voice.
"It is a fight between alphas. We must not interfere."
Sol spun her staff in circles, while the Manectric crouched low to the ground. Silence descended on Amp Plains while the two sized each other up.
It was the Manectric who struck first, jumping towards Sol with claws outstreatched. She danced back out of the way, then dashed forwards immediately with a Quick Attack. She managed a glancing blow with her staff before the Manectric dodged, the attack nothing more than an annoyance.
As the battle progressed, Jak's heart sank. Sol was outmatched, and it was only a matter of time before she lost. Sol realized it too, her expression turning grim but refusing to give up. Already tired from the earlier fighting, her only hope was to end this quickly. It was a slim hope, but that had never stopped her before.
A blow landed on the Manectric's shoulder, but it left her open to a slash across her staff. Instead of retreating as was expected, Sol pressed the attack, bringing her staff around in an arc to crack against her opponent's side. He yelped, and Sol took the opportunity to stomp down on one of his front feet. The Manectric howled and sparks crackled as he focused his power. Sol quickly stepped back, but it did no good.
It was true, wood was not a good conducter, but force enough charge down something and it'll pass through whether the material liked it or not. It was lucky the end of the staff was touching the ground when the powerful bolt of electricity struck, hitting the metal cap of the staff and traveling downwards. The wood caught fire and burst in a shower of splinters, and Sol hastily dropped the staff, her hands scratched and burned.
Well, that staff didn't last long. At least this time Sol couldn't hold Jak responsible.
A feral smile solit across the Manectric's face, knowing that he had one. An Energy Ball, massive in size, formed in the air. It grew as bright as the sun, painful to look at and sparking with electricity. And the Manectric sent it hurtling through the air towards Sol.