I'm trying my best to get back into writing. All I can say is just keep tabs on my story and I'll try to get up new chapters as soon as I can.

In the meantime, I hope this is a great chapter.

Vines & Briars

Chapter 11: Success & Failure

Rick was fairly happy to have someone along with him to help him find Quil or Rio in searching the Ferric Hills.

He just wished that Croc hadn't insisted upon coming when the big lug had such a huge gash up his torso.

The wound had already mostly stopped bleeding thankfully, but Rick was sure if the reptilian guild-member overexerted himself, the wound would most assuredly reopen and then they'd be in trouble, out away from the guild.

I really am grateful to Croc for his willingness to help now. But I can't help worrying about that cut.

Rick was also still trying to figure out how he'd managed to make such a huge wound on Croc. He was still quite certain that he didn't have a weapon of that sort. Just vines that could whip an opponent, and those had barely fazed Croc at all let-alone cut him.

All evidence pointed to Rick though. He had done it… somehow.

Now if I could just figure out how to do it again. It could be useful against other, more serious opponents.

Denzel was on the forefront of his mind on that subject. If he had a cutting weapon, something that powerful to use, plus a little more reaction time against the Floatzel, he would stand a better chance against the otter.

He couldn't use something like that though if he didn't even know how he did it.

Along with the matter on his mind, Rick also had to concentrate on navigation. The Ferric Hills quickly started to prove themselves to be immensely rough terrain, with rocks jutting out around every slope, shallow valleys that would be difficult to climb out of if anyone fell in, and there were plenty of rock-type pokemon dwelling in the hills, alongside steel-types, who were proving to be altogether more difficult for Rick to deal with. Croc was simply walking and stepping over the obstacles almost like he was just taking a walk. Rick had to crawl over many of them and work his way through.

Despite the injury on his belly, Croc proceeded to fight as he usually did: with a great deal of raucous charging and biting anything that wasn't rock or steel-type. Whenever they came across Graveler in the hills, Croc would inhale then expel a blast of water at the target, which never failed to knock any of the rock-types flat on their backs, where they didn't get up.

"Hah! Count yourself lucky, rocky. You don't get to tangle with my jaws." Croc taunted one as they proceeded past them.

Were Rick honest… he found himself just tailing Croc, who was proceeding to carve a path through everyone and everything that stood in the way.

Geez… how's he doing all this with that injury I gave him?

When they came across a Lairon (which was a four-legged pokemon with a considerable shell of metal armor over its back), Rick initially thought he would need to assist Croc in the fight.

The metal-plated Lairon charged at Croc and plowed into him, headfirst. Croc grunted hard as he caught the attack and skidded back several feet as the Lairon attempted to drive him back. As Rick started forward to try and lash the Lairon with a vine and help, Croc raised a hand up over the Lairon.

"Nice charge… HYAH!"

Croc brought the side of his hand down on the steel-type's head in a quick, but hard chop. The sound of the impact was a loud, dull *crunk!*

Amazingly enough, the Lairon was staggered by this blow and backed away, dazed. Croc glanced at Rick and gestured for him to proceed. Rick had to shake off his own surprise before stepping up and lashing the Lairon with a vine which finished it and it collapsed, KOed.

Though Croc gave him a little pat on the back for what he'd done, Rick was more than certain he'd simply been allowed the finishing blow. If Croc had wanted to, he certainly could've made the finishing blow himself.

What good am I? Croc is just taking them all down and I'm simply along for the ride here.

-0-

Their journey through the hills continued and after a while… they came to a clearing.

Looking around, Croc started investigating the area.

"This looks like about as far as we're gonna get. If Quil ain't here, he ain't here." Croc said, as he searched, clearly looking for some sign of Quil in the area.

Scanning the area himself, it looked that way to Rick as well. There was steep hill-side all around them and though the sound was faint, Rick could hear ocean up ahead, beyond the hills. There was nowhere else to go. Not for a fire-type like Quil.

So… were we wrong about him being here then?

Rick's contemplations were interrupted when the ground started to vibrate and shake, like an earthquake was starting. Rick had to steady himself with his vines to keep from toppling over and Croc spread his legs out a bit, adding some stability to his own stance.

*Crash!* *CRUNCH!*

First, a couple trees on top of one hill were knocked down and the remains slid down the hill to rest down at the bottom where Rick and Croc were.

Then the massive pokemon who had knocked those trees over emerged, jumped, and landed heavily in the middle of the clearing. A few rock-slides threatened to come down on the clearing right then though, much to Rick's relief, they did not.

It was primarily green in coloration, though the pokemon also had black markings accenting where his shoulders and knees presumably were. The rock-armor on it was craggy and otherwise covered the monstrous pokemon like rags draped over it, except for one diamond-shaped patch on its belly. The massive rock-type also had claws and a set of fangs that made everything about it quite clear: it wasn't friendly.

"This is MY territory, scoundrels!" it roared with a deep, somewhat gravelly voice, "I'll teach the lot of you to keep. OUT!"

Rick noticed during this time that Croc had clearly been just as surprised by this as himself… and then Croc's normally boisterous, hearty demeanor had vanished to be replaced by a quiet, serious focus.

Can he handle this? I can tell we're in a dangerous situation here and he's actually taking this fight seriously, but… given his injuries…

Croc didn't waste any words. He inhaled and spat a glob of water at the Tyranitar.

The rock-type crossed its arms in front of it, absorbing the attack with those arms and guarding the uncovered belly. It was the first time Rick had seen a move that was super-effective, not elicit so much as a flinch from the target.

As Croc attempted to advance on the rock-type, the Tyranitar bellowed and a black wave of energy erupted from it, sweeping the area around it and slamming across Croc. The wave died out before it reached Rick.

Croc withstood this attack and continued to charge forward towards the rock-type, where he attempted to raise a hand and strike with the same kind of chop that had downed the Lairon previously.

It seemed this monster-pokemon was wise to such tactics though. He clapped both hands over Croc's one, halting the attack.

"Don't think I don't know how to protect myself, you drenched muscle-head." It growled at Croc, then he opened his mouth and sank his fangs into Croc's back.

Rick could hear electricity flowing and sparking as Croc cried out in clear, serious agony.

The Tyranitar then shoved Croc away, who staggered backwards, looking very weak and faint, and the rock-type started to inhale deep. A pure, glowing power gathered at its mouth.

Rick recognized the incoming attack, his heart speeding up with his realization at what Croc was about to get hit with.

No! I can't let this happen again!

Again?

Rick didn't have time to be confused at his own thoughts though. He shook off his brief moment of confusion and charged into the fight, where he then jumped at the Tyranitar and lashed out with a vine at the vulnerable belly-patch.

"Gah!" the rock-type yelped with surprise when he suddenly felt a sharp sting across his belly. The Hyper Beam he had been readying to fire at Croc, unintentionally got fired downwards instead towards his feet, carving a deep furrow in the ground and narrowly missing Rick.

Rick landed, the blood pounding in his brain and he could feel panic edging into his mind. He'd just made a target of himself now and he was more than aware that he was likely in over his head picking a fight with something that was a good five times his size…

"Why you little weed…" the rock-type growled weakly, his own attack having drained him of energy for the moment as he recovered from the expenditure. Of course, Rick was so small, and the attack so comparatively weak, the Tyranitar hadn't really been truly hurt by the vine whip though there was a smarting mark across the patch on its belly. Nonetheless, it had hurt enough to distract him.

"I'll stomp you into the ground!" he then roared and attempted to do just that, raising a foot and attempting to flatten Rick underneath it.

Rick scurried out of the way and jumped to lash the exposed patch of belly again with his vines. This just proceeded to enrage the Tyranitar further, as he was finding Rick to be like a mosquito he couldn't swat.

For his part, it was all Rick could do to not scream in terror as he moved to evade every attack and continued to harass the rock-type. He couldn't risk standing still to try draining energy from his opponent and he had no idea how to do that cutting attack still and anything else wouldn't have been effective, so he was focused on hit-&-run tactics.

After only a minute of this though, the Tyranitar inevitably got fed up with Rick's tactic. He wasn't bothering with blocking as the attacks were so minor, but they were annoying him to no end. With a violent roar, he unleashed a wave of the dark energy that Croc had previously shrugged off. Rick did not have Croc's stature or strength, so when the wave of energy hit him, he was blasted backwards and ended on the ground.

Urrrghh… ow… how the heck do I beat this guy?

The massive rock-type was about to try stomping on Rick when Croc came charging in and landed a hard chop to the belly-patch Rick had already whipped several times. There was the loud staccato *CRACK!* of rock being split and the Tyranitar staggered back and away from Rick with a howl of pain, gripping the point where he'd been struck.

"Hey! I think I'll ask ya to leave my little buddy alone, jerk!" Croc snarled at the rock-type, he then inhaled deep… and fired a thick stream of water at the Tyranitar. Given his size, Rick was mildly astonished that Croc was capable unleashing so much water. He certainly didn't look like he could hold that much. But then, Rick's own existence was somewhat under question if he had been human once.

The pressurized blast of liquid hammered the Tyranitar until it was backed into a wall of the small arena. The pokemon bumped into the wall, and the rocks overhead shifted… then came down.

The Tyranitar's cry was cut-off when the rock-slide promptly buried him.

Croc took a moment after having unleashed his attack to catch his breath… then looked back at Rick.

"Hey there Rick… thanks for buying me a minute or two eat some Oran Berries and pick myself up. You're not too hurt, are you?"

Rick got up, dusting himself off.

"No. A little bruised up, but I'm alright."

Croc nodded, and looked over at the rock-pile.

"He'll have survived that… it just buried him and gave us a few minutes. We'd better get out of here while the getting's good."

"What about Quil?" Rick asked; Croc shrugged.

"He ain't here. I'm pretty sure we would've seen him on our way, or here in this clearing if he were."

…So… all I did was buy Croc some time… and for what?

Rick sighed, looking over the clearing and feeling despondent.

Then he noticed the small hole in the ground, going into the hill. It was amidst so many rocks and quite small, so it was little wonder they had overlooked it at first… especially given how the Tyranitar had come in on them almost as soon as they had arrived. It was a fortunate thing no rock-slide had covered the hole.

"Wait… right there." Rick said, heading over to the hole and shifting some of the smaller rocks aside so the hole was more in-view. Looking at the hole, Rick was pretty sure he could easily crawl in with his slender form… and it looked wide enough that perhaps…

Croc came over and looked for himself.

"No way I can fit in there. If you wanna check it out, go ahead. You're the only one here who can. Just hurry though, alright?"

Rick nodded and put his head into the hole, then proceeded to slide in on his belly, his snake body quite suited for the going in with little trouble at all. The tunnel curved a bit, and went down slightly… but it wasn't long before he came to the end, and there in the small, somewhat compact chamber…

"R-Rick…Is that- it is you!"

Quil was scratched up and a little bruised… but he was alright. And quite happy to see Rick. The fire-mouse promptly crawled up to Rick and embraced him in a warm hug. Instinct wanted to send a thrill of alarm through Rick at having a fire-type hugging him, but he was so glad to see his friend again, he didn't care.

I finally am getting the team back together… I found Quil.