As Percival continued from the path, he reached down and patted his beloved Pokemon on the back. Already with their first badge in tow, he was excited to see where his journey took him, as he entered into the Crystalline Caverns, a jewel-shrouded cave known for housing thousands of electrically-charged crystals, and allowing certain Pokemon to evolve. As he wandered, he wondered what awaited him, as he trekked intrepidly through the dark, yet bright cavern, in an eerily silent manner.
That was, until he heard a concussive shout, and was knocked to the ground as the crystals around him splintered and shattered in an almost majestic yet disturbingly loud manner. The noise was deafening, and as he stumbled back to his feet he glanced around, spotting what seemed to be the culprit. Calling on Fluffles, he leaped at the target, managing to grab it by what seemed to be an exhaust pipe, as Fluffles did the same. Working together, they started pulling on it, trying to expose it to the light. As they did, another blast emitted from it, and while they heard the full force, only the feedback went through the exhaust ports, sending them tumbling away. However, they spotted an electrical orb of energy strike the Pokemon they were just clinging to, illuminating it: an Exploud, a sort of living boombox Pokemon that was incredibly powerful. The potent waves of energy surged again, as the Exploud aimed up, shattering the crystals far above it, illuminating the whole battlefield.
Amid the debris was an electrical, yellow spider: a Galvantula, which retaliated by wrapping its electrical webbing around the normal-type powerhouse. However, more importantly, there was a girl, slightly older than Percival, adorned in a red cap and matching red hoodie, along with khaki pants. The glittering electrical bits contrasted perfectly with her black hair and pale skin, her thin features and pale hazel eyes intensely glaring at her opponent, as she ordered her Exploud. "Now, Boomer, use Boomburst! Finish it off!" The webbing, although caught around the Exploud, was not enough to eliminate it, as Boomer blasted the Galvantula into the back wall, knocking it out.
Percival ran up to the girl, beaten and bruised, but impressed by her confidence despite the proximity of the battle to her. "Congratulations, ma'am! You were really brave in that battle." The girl smiled down at Percival, brushing away a bang of hair that threatened to cover her left eye. "Thanks. It was nothing. Boomer and I do that all the time. It's what I like to call 'adrenaleveling'. My name's Kyla. What's yours?" Percival, a little concerned with the implications of the name 'adrenaleveling', responded with both an answer and a question. "I'm Percival, a rookie trainer not exactly from around here, and I doubt you are either. What's this 'adrenaleveling' thing?"
Kyla smirked slightly, in a playful and slightly condescending manner. "Oh, adrenaleveling basically intensifies the danger of a fight, so you and your Pokemon have to fight harder and focus more. It really helps finish battles quickly to mitigate danger, and gives your Pokemon an excuse to go all out. How do you train?" Percival basically just responded, "The...usual way. I know that's rude, but I don't think what you're doing is safe." Kyla nodded in agreement, explaining, "It's very dangerous, but that's what I like about it. Our journies are all about the thrills, don't you think? And a safe little Gym Battle rarely gives that same rush. By the way, I have one badge. How about you?"
The two compared badges, both having received them from the same Gym Leader. Apparently, Kyla had fought him a few days earlier, and was just training in this cave, where her Loudred evolved into the Exploud that loomed above them as they spoke. Her fight was equally hard to Percival's, although she just brute-forced through it, managing to just scrape out a win. Percival remembered that, to some degree, Kyla really was living the lesson he had supposedly learned from that battle, which was something he just... wasn't ready to do. Either way, he realized it was time for a formality.
"Wait, shouldn't we be battling? It's really the only way for trainers to greet each other." Kyra nodded, surprised that someone who appeared so meek in their brief conversation beforehand would take the words out of her mouth. "One Pokemon each, although I do have two," she mused, as she called for Boomer, who by now had recovered from his previous battle, to enter into the fight.
"Fluffles, come on in!" The plushie Pokemon rushed in, ready to battle. "Boomer, start with Boomburst!" Another massive wave of sound rippled over Fluffles, as Percival managed to sneak in a "Bide" before the wave of sound drowned him out. If she kept firing off those Boombursts, everyone was likely to lose their eardrums soon, but, more importantly, she could drown out some of Percival's more complex strategies. And that was a problem he would need to find a work around to. Preferably one that would occur on accident, so he could best her while utilizing Fluffles' prone status to said accidents.
For now, however, he was content to watch his Pokemon suck in the forceful power of the attack, realizing that one or two more, maybe a few, really, and he was going to be the loser of the battle before he even had a chance to strike. "Fire it off again!" Percival managed to quickly fire off a "Dodge to the left!", as Fluffles managed to duck away, but was still caught up in the full power of the blast, and sent hurtling backward, leaving a dent in the wall. "Hold your ground for a bit longer, Fluffles!" Exploud took a small breather, and Kyla, noticing the exhaustion of its vocals, immediately called out, "Keep up the pressure, don't stop attacking. Rock Smash!"
The fist collided with Fluffles, beginning to heavily crack the wall behind the pink bear. One more solid hit, and Fluffles was going to go down. Luckily, Kyla's brash offensive had given Fluffles the window he needed, as, had she spaced out Boomburst more, it was likely Fluffles would have went out easily. But the troubles weren't over yet, as a final Boomburst echoed directly down on Fluffles, as he released his Bide. The white light and white noise collided, creating a powerful explosion of waves of the most powerful natural forces in the universe, aside from perhaps Space or Time. With the forceful, potent echoes from the explosion, the wall began to erode, chip, and break. The blast had sent both Pokemon back slightly, but since Exploud had aimed down, while Fluffles aimed up, Exploud was sent up, over Fluffles, who braced himself as a wall of rock began crashing down in tiny, electrical and non-electrical shards, sharply puncturing into the floor and bombarding the Exploud, who tumbled to the ground, but not before fainting from all the wall's impact.
Unfortunately, before Percival could celebrate his victory, he realized where Exploud had landed. Ouch. Fluffles had fallen unconscious from the impact the Exploud made as it landed on top of the poor little bear. Nodding calmly, and stooping down to congratulate Fluffles, he made sure both Pokemon were okay before uttering words of praise and recalling his Pokemon, only for Kyla to recall hers and utter the same words. "Thanks for checking up on both of them for me, Pers. I think that was a good battle, if I do say so myself. What would you say?"
"I mean, um, I think it was good, but, not exactly the best for the area around us, if you know what I mean." Kyra looked at him, rather puzzled. "I'm confused. We've been chipping away at these rocks for a while. What's the problem." Percival grimaced. "They are." A horde of red, white, purple, and yellow eyes glared at them from the dark. They were in trouble, to say the least.
