Wardens Eternal
Chapter Two: The Beach Cave
Another shellos jumped out, ready to fight the pair who dared to intrude his home only to be swiftly defeated with a single tackle. The vulpix took a moment to brace herself, preparing for any retaliation, only to sigh when she realized that the sea slug did not attempt recovering.
To an outside observer, the shellos' attack was just another anticlimactic encounter. There wasn't any real severe danger or risk. Just another feral pokemon knocked aside in a single blow. Quite unremarkable in retrospect.
But to the vulpix, it meant everything: That momentary rush of adrenaline, the feeling of success, of accomplishment. The sensations felt foreign; having something she did by herself actually ending well for her was still a relatively new experience. With each step, the constant fear that something terrible was going to happen began to subside. The red fox wasn't as scared or submissive as she was just minutes before.
"Come on! Let's keep going!" The vulpix encouraged her companion before bounding deeper into the cave.
The luxio couldn't resist but chuckle with a smirk on the side of his muzzle. It was, rewarding, to watch the timid fox he met on the beach transform into someone else entirely. There was more of a youthful, energetic spring in her movements; the fear that previously dominated her actions had begun to lose its grip. Now all she needed was a little push to permanently break free of the confinement of her cowardly behavior.
He would be ready to give that little push when the time was right, but for now, he would let her proceed, keeping close enough to step in if things went wrong, but not enough to actually fight for her. She needed to do this herself, if he won it for her, the victory wouldn't have any value, and it would be for nothing.
"Are you coming? We're almost there!" The vulpix called back over her shoulder.
"We're almost there, almost-"
The luxio growled in pain as he almost collapsed under the massive surge of pain bombarding his head. The vulpix's words had triggered a mere fragment of a memory. No context, no recollection on who had spoken or why. Just the four words in a weary, yet hopeful tone.
"A-are you alright?"
Martian snapped back to reality when he realized the vulpix was standing over him with an expression of concern and a little afraid.
"I'll live," Martian groaned as he rose again to his feet. "Thought I was beginning to remember something, nothing other than a migraine."
"Are you sure? You're not hurt, are you?" The vulpix insisted, "M-Maybe we sh-should quit an-and go back. I-I don't want t-to get you h-hurt."
"Enough." The larger pokemon commanded, putting an immediate halt to both the vulpix's studdering and shaking body. They had made it this far, and he wasn't going to let her quit because of a little headache.
Truthfully, with four legs and a lower center of gravity, it was much easier to retain control of his balance and momentum. The migraine didn't interfere all that much, besides it was fading reasonably quickly.
As the source of concern passed, the two continued on into the caves. . .
Wardens Eternal
After a little while of wandering through the network of caverns and tunnels. The pair finally arrived in the final cavern to find their targets. The duo of thieves had their backs turned to the quadrupeds and were huddled together examining the stone relic they had stolen.
"Remember, they will try to degrade you with insults first, try to drag you down to where they have the advantage." Martian whispered into the vulpix's ear, "Everything they say is probably a bluff, an empty threat. Challenge it."
The vulpix silently nodded before taking a few steps forward, leaving Martian to hang back in the shadows.
"H-Hey!"
The two bullies jumped in surprise, spinning around until they found the vulpix.
"Oh, it's you." Zubat sneered, "The puny coward from the beach. Did you come down here to whimper and beg for your piece of junk?"
"Actually, you're just in time wimp." Koffing admitted, "We were just thinking about what to do with your rock. I thought it would be a good idea to smash it and sell the pieces as shards from an ancient statue. Collectors would pay a fortune for them! What do you think?"
"No! Th- That's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!" The vulpix panicked, the familiar weight of doubt ominously hovering overhead again.
"Then you have some awfully low standards, runt." Zubat scoffed, "Let's just smash it and leave it here. It ain't even worth the weight carrying it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Koffing reluctantly agreed. "Who would seriously fall for it? Aside from her, I mean?"
The floating gas Pokemon shrugged before hovering over to the stone before getting ready to headbutt it into dust.
That's when the grip of fear on the vulpix snapped, and her strength returned in full. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she reared up on her hind legs, releasing a barrage of small balls of fire as she slammed her front paws back into the ground. By far, her most powerful Ember attack to date.
The attack nailed the unsuspecting Koffing directly in the back, knocking him away from the stone and effectively halting his attempt at destroying it.
"Why you little- Die!" Zubat demanded as he dove at the vulpix with glowing fangs, barely having time to acknowledge the shadow that draped over him before a maw of teeth clamped shut on his wing.
Martian had made his move the moment the vulpix's attack impacted the poison type. As he predicted, the zubat tried to rush the fox with his fangs. The former human made sure to be in the right position to intercept that attack. It was an unexpected, but welcome surprise when the bat screamed in agony as the luxio's fangs channeled a powerful electric shock into his wing.
Thunder Fang, one more thing a human couldn't usually do. Maybe becoming a pokemon wasn't so bad after all?
The luxio landed on his feet with the bat still trapped in his jaws, to maximize the potential of his situation Martian briefly thrashed his head around taking the zubat for a ride before discarding him and throwing the flying rat away. Zubat hit the ground, rolling groaning in pain as the last remains of the electrical energy caused his wings to twitch uncontrollably.
Now it was Koffing turn to hesitate, trying to piece together how his buddy just got jumped and taken down so quickly. The vulpix seized the opportunity for a perfect Feint Attack, capitalizing Martian's distraction to solidly plant her paw in the back of Koffing's head, hard. The impact sent him flying.
The poison type soon face planted the cave floor not too far from his ally. Zubat managed to get airborne again with a frustrated sneer on his face that promptly disappeared when he realized he was outmatched. On his right was a very angry vulpix getting ready to unleash another fire attack and to his left was a huge luxio armed with big claws and barred teeth, teeth that seemed to have electricity arcing from one carnivorous tooth to the next.
There really was only one choice.
"Come on, get up get up get up get up!" Zubat panicked as he tried to get his friend up and moving. When the ball of toxic fumes didn't budge, and with both of the quadruped pokemon slowly advancing closer to him, Zubat finally grabbed Koffing and ran. Dragging his friend as fast as he could across the cave floor, the bat somehow accelerated even faster when the luxio gave chase nipping at the flying rodent's tails with another Thunder Fang.
Martian continued to chase Zubat to the entrance of the chamber before stopping. That said, he wasn't going to let them off that easy just yet. The former human took a stance and inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with air as his newly retractable claws extended, anchoring him to the ground. Time seemed to slow for a moment; the only sound that broke the silence was his own heartbeat.
Thum Thum, Thum Thum, Thum Thum, Th-
The luxio roared, dominating the air with his voice. The roar echoed throughout the cave network, bouncing and repeating off of every solid surface. An uncompromising declaration of strength, a rumble that seemed to shake the earth, an invigorating warcry.
Even as the echoes began to fade, the luxio could still feel the charged energy and passion that still clung to the air. He could feel the power throughout his body, every minute smidgin of electrical energy, every drop of blood, every fiber in his being: Thier strength unwavering, and all at his command.
The vulpix ran over to the stone the thieves left behind checking it for any signs of tampering before laying down with a massive sigh of relief to find it undamaged. She reached out with a paw and pulled it in close to her chest before curling up around it. It felt so good to have it back, to have it right close to her heart where it belonged.
"Hey, are you going to be alright?" Martian asked as he turned to face the vulpix again. Whatever that stone was, it was clear that getting it back was a tremendous personal victory for her. Hopefully, she'll walk away from this a lot stronger and far more confident in herself then when it began.
"Better than I could imagine," The fox admitted, "I'm used to running away from trouble, I never had the strength to actually face it on my own before. I'd always chicken out and run. I definitely wouldn't have dared to clear out a Mystery Dungeon to get this back on my own. Thank you."