Author's Note:
Oof… The combination of the end-of-year rush of homework and finals for school did a fantastic job of killing my motivation! Never fear, however! This story – as well as Dimensions and Realities – will still be continuing! I ain't gonna drop them that easily!
With many thanks to Katelynn for the Favorite, not to mention SaoirseParisa for the Follow and Favorite for OCMaM and the latter on thisnacdount! 'Tis appreciated, both of you!
Disclaimer:
Pokémon and any other referential materials found in this story do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners and subsidiaries, and I claim no ownership of them.
Of Children, Men, and Monsters
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Return
Cue music – Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal Version soundtrack – Ruins of Alph
A mere twenty or so minutes after her second departure from New Bark, Marza was already regretting her somewhat hastily-made decision.
"Ugh… The least I could've done was wait for a half-hour, but I just had to go immediately without a solid five seconds of pondering otherwise…"
Oscura, looking as chipper and inexplicably energetic as always, simply shrugged at her human companion. Marza, in turn, sighed.
"Well, nothing to do but continue the search, because I would just look like a lazy, half-hearter if I turned back at this point, even if it's starting to get a bit hard to see…"
Indeed, a mere sliver of the sun was peeking over the horizon at this point of the evening, making it a tad difficult to see even thirty fret in front of her in these somewhat dense woods.
Perhaps more worthy of concern, however, was the fact that she was venturing into an unknown forest in an unknown world filled to the virtual brim with unknown creatures – and that's not to mention that she hasn't even been outside during the night in this world to begin with!
'Who knows what kinds of Pokémon could be venturing out at this hour, and the ones to come…?'
Marza restrained the urge to become frightened, reminding herself that she had Oscura – a strong, trustworthy companion, to be certain – by her side, and that the Larvitar has hardly shown sides of cowardice in the (admittedly short) time that she has known her.
'Better hope that she doesn't have any phobias that we're not aware of, and that they don't become a problem…'
She decided to derail that train of thought before it even left its station, lest it ship its panic-filled goods to the rest of her mind.
Fifteen additional minutes passed before Marza declared, "I need a break…"
She promptly plopped down next to the base of a nearby tree. Oscura looked a touch disappointed because of their halt in progress, but, understanding the situation, she, too, laid down, idly scooping up a few nearby pebbles before inserting them into her mouth. The resultant crunches were, despite the fact that rocks were being crushed, on the quiet side of the noise volume spectrum.
'Still wondering as to how the blazes some of these creatures can function the way they do…'
A few minutes passed before she began to feel the fatigue really get to her, a wave of sleepiness washing over her and tempting to fall asleep on the spot. She conquered this urge, however, rousing herself before asking Oscura to do likewise.
"Gotta wonder how long these woods go on for…" the human mumbled, genuinely curious, as the pair again resumed their search. The primarily green Pokémon near her feet quirked a would-be brow before shrugging. Marza, who only just now noticed this after who knows how many times this happened, requested, "Wait. Do that again."
An inquisitive "Tar?"
"The thing where you raised your eyebrow."
She complied, with Marza leaning in and looking at the Pokémon's expression with some amount of scrutiny.
"… Not gonna lie: That feels a bit weird to look at on a non-human face. Guess I just need to get used to it. I already am used to your human-powered intelligence, at least," she remarked.
"Oh, and you can let go of that expression now," the human stated, noting that Oscura was still locking her brows in their raised/lowered positions. Oscura gladly obeyed.
"Now, to get back on track. I'd rather get to sleep and rest my feet sooner than later…"
Yet another while passed before Marza's worries about wild Pokémon came to be realized, thought not necessarily in the way that she had anticipated. They were continuing to trudge along when the pair came by a small group of sleeping Pokémon whose appearances brought to mind an elephant, were elephants stout in height and of decidedly odd colors.
The Pokédex rattled out, "Pokédex Number Two Hundred Thirty-One: Phanpy, the Long Nose Pokémon. Typing: Ground. Ability: Pickup. As a sign of affection, it bumps with its snout. However, it is so strong, it may send you flying."
"Pokédex Number Two Hundred Thirty-Two: Donphan, the Armor Pokémon, and the evolution of Phanpy. Typing: Ground. Ability: Sturdy. If Donphan were to crash into something with its hard body, even a house would be destroyed. Using its massive strength, this Pokémon is handy in clearing rocks and mud slides blocking mountain trails."
'Adorable on the first, intimidating on the second. Also, "evolved form"? Better ask about that later… Anyways, better not to wake up this family, if it is indeed one…'
"Come on, Oscura. Quietly, now… Don't want to wake them up…!" Marza mumbled, not willing to risk an altercation against Pokémon that may very well be a great deal stronger than Oscura.
Unfortunately, a twig snapped beneath one of Oscura's feet, prompting a twitch from the Donphan's ears. It quickly rose with a loud snort, looking angrily at the two companions and shuffling its feet against the dirt, like an enraged bull ready to charge.
'What do you mean it woke up from a snapping twig rather than my Pokédex!? In fact, why did I even take the thing out in the first place!?'
"… Okay, bad luck, Oscura. Back away slowly, like with that Spearow…"
The pair of females did just that, with the human raising her arms in a non-threatening manner. The Armor Pokémon still stamped at the ground, heartily encouraging her retreat, only backing down when its two foes were a few dozen feet away. When the Donphan did this, Marza picked up Oscura and just about ran in the opposite direction. After glancing around, the Donphan huffed, sat down, curled up, and dozed off again, the young Phanpy crawling up to it in a successful attempt to retain warmth.
Marza couldn't help the grunt of pain that escaped her lips when she finally came to a stop a couple of minutes later, hands on her slightly wobbly knees as she panted softly after she put Oscura down.
"Should've run a bit slower… Ngh… You still feeling okay, Oscura?"
Said Larvitar nodded emphatically, still not appearing winded in the slightest despite how much walking, running, and fighting she's had to do that day.
"Consider me envious of your energy, then…"
A break would not be coming to her quite yet, however! The sounds of a scuffle sounded out nearby, which happened to include the cries of that one Pokémon that Marza had been looking for. Beckoning for Oscura to follow, Marza fast-walked towards the sounds of the fight that was evidently happening, not being too shocked when she saw Chikorita attempting to fight back against a group of Spearow. The key word in the previous sentence was certainly "attempting" – there were no less than half of a dozen of the Flying-types incessantly pecking at the poor Grass-type.
"Hold on, there, Chikorita! Assist her, Oscura!"
Cue music – Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal Version soundtrack – Battle! (Wild Pokémon)
The Rock/Ground-type joined the fray as was dictated, the combination of her sudden joining of the conflict and Marza's somewhat loud voice immediately scaring two of the bird-like Pokémon off. The remaining four, however, stuck around, glaring at their new-found opposition with a large amount of distain.
"You alright, Chikorota?" inquired the only present human, quite concerned for the quadrupedal Pokémon's well-being. The Pokémon managed a relieved nod, if not shaky, getting back on her feet after a bit of struggling.
"Well, you don't really look fine to me, or Oscura, for that matter! Stay behind us – we'll manage these miscreants!"
One Spearow had decided that it had grown sick enough of waiting for the human's spiel to end to the point where it abruptly let out a battle cry (a shrill squawk, much to Marza's pain in the ears) and charged toward Oscura. The Rock Skin Pokémon reacted quickly, grabbing it, twirling around on the would-be heel of her foot, and throwing it toward a tree. It crashed against the rough bark, crumpling to the ground, feathers thoroughly ruffled and evidently unconscious.
The other three Spearow were hardly discouraged – in fact, they only looked to grow more indignant at the fall of their flock member, or whatever that specimen may be from their perspectives. The three avian Pokémon then charged Oscura all at once, determined to bully the intruders out of their turf.
Oscura was strong, yes, and faster than her appearance would make most believe, but three swift birds attacking her from various angles – all of them just out of reach in the air, no less – was definitely quite the disadvantage to work against. When she reached out to attack one, another would interrupt her with a beak stab in a blind spot, leaving Oscura with a rather small amount of windows to actually hit her foes.
Considering their quick-to-anger natures, their synergy was quite startling.
"Oscura! Be patient! You're physically tough – shrug off the blows and be patient with your strikes!"
But it would seem as if she was too frustrated to listen, not even appearing to hear her partner's words as she continually missed her attacks.
Marza felt a bead of sweat form on her head, grimacing as she thought, 'This is clearly not good…'
Marza struggled to determine her next action: 'Those Spearow don't look too tough… And who knows what they'll do to us if I don't do something… Guess I'll just have to do this, then…!'
After a few seconds of self-calming, Marza leaped into the fight herself!
Her entrance was sudden enough to catch the three Tiny Bird Pokémon off-guard. Marza roughly grabbed one of her foes, glaring at it briefly before running up to a tree and smashing its skull against it. The thing went unconscious almost immediately, feathers comically flying from its head as it slowly slid down the tree to the ground.
'Oof… Hope I didn't give 'em a concussion or some such…'
The other two Spearow were distracted to the point where Oscura found the opportunity to tackle one of them out of the air, body slamming the one that was to her left, knocking it out and removing it from the fight in the process.
This just left the final one able for battle. It was understandably bristling its feathers in tension, glancing back and forth between the slowly approaching human-Pokémon combination in an almost paranoid sort of way. These notions were quickly put to a halt when a leaf-like projectile shot between Oscura and Marza, hitting the poor Pokémon straight in the neck and sending it sprawling to the ground.
Marza turned around to see Chikorita as she let out an satisfied huff, despite her shaky countenance. She shot the Pokémon a grateful grin before turning back to Oscura, who promptly ran in to finish the job, clambering over the Tiny Bird Pokémon and socking it in the face.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
And before the fourth, Marza decided to step in.
"This one's had enough, Oscura! It's unconscious already! Calm down!"
Oscura's metaphorical hand was clenched and raised above her head for that fourth strike, but upon hearing Marza's voice, she backed off, eyes widening in shock as she truly token in how much she had – to put it bluntly – messed that poor fool up. Already, both of its eyes were bruising up, and a third bruise was swelling up just above its right eye. She got off of the injured Pokémon and ran over to Marza, clutching at her leg and rubbing her head against it, clearly having an internal struggle.
Marza sighed, bending down and petting Oscura, saying, "I understand how frustrated you were there. I was, too, as was Chikorita, in all likelihood. But you've got to learn to rein in your anger. These Spearow probably had this coming, yes, but you don't need to take it any farther than knocking them ot, now matter how frustrated you may be. Alright?"
Oscura nodded, and when raised her head to look Marza the eyes, tears were just barely visible at the corners of her eyes. Marza promptly picked the Larvitar up and held her close, worry overtaking her for some moments.
'It's almost like she's scared of herself…'
This continued for a minute or two before a small chirp was let out, and the two glanced over to Chikorita, who was clearly feeling awkward at having to interrupt this touchy-feely moment.
"Ah, right… Professor Elm sent us to get you. He was very worried when you ran off just as night was beginning to fall, as was I when I heard of this!"
Chikorita looked a bit guilty, and were there not a language barrier, would have likely attempted to explain her reasoning. Thankfully, her guilt-riddled expression alone sufficed for Marza, who, exhaling softly, asked of the Leaf Pokémon, "Can you just come with us back to Elm's place, please? My feet are just about killing me, and both you and Oscura hardly appear to be in the best of possible shape…"
Chikorita nodded her consent, rising to all fours (still shaking somewhat) and plodding along after Marza, expression just as wearied as the Larvitar-carrying human's…
