Sorry if you were expecting the previous chapter to be something great and worth waiting for. I guess I'm a bit out-of-practice from taking so long between chapters. Here's hoping this one's a bit better.

Vines & Briars

Chapter 17: Denzel's Trick & Rick's Ideal

Rick lost sight of Denzel part-way up the mountain, however the path was narrow and rather singular. The only way off the trail was straight off the cliff-side going into Denwood and the drop was already such that just about anyone would hurt themselves in the landing.

Denzel has to be straight ahead. He isn't suicidal.

He raced forward, the path soon leading him into a mystery dungeon.

Rick was quite aware of this as he proceeded, as he found himself going in directions that ultimately led higher despite making little sense. The sky was clear overhead yet Rick still found himself lost and had to rely on his instincts to lead him forward.

I wonder if perhaps that forest I originally woke up in was a mystery dungeon as well.

He had his doubts though about that idea, as the trail he was on regularly confronted him with other Pokemon residing in the area. That forest had had no one, save himself. A fair number of his opponents here were flying-types and Rick found himself wishing he hadn't left Zoe behind. He couldn't go back to get her though. He would lose track of Denzel if he did.

I've got to press on. Denzel can't sneak by me on this trail so long as I'm chasing him. I'm feeling sure of that much.

This thought in-mind, Rick dodged by the various birds who attempted to confront him on the trail and continue up the mountain. Occasionally, a fight was unavoidable, but Rick was in such a determined state of mind that he attacked ruthlessly, attempting to remove the obstacle as quickly as possible. What few opponents who could bar his way quickly found themselves wrapped, whipped, and summarily slammed into the ground.

One spearow that particularly dogged him found his vine around its wing and Rick violently yanked the small bird out of the air and lashed it twice with his other vine while it tried to peck him, before he swung the bird around by the leg and slammed it into a nearby rock-wall, knocking it unconscious and out of his way in one move. He wasted no time in continuing onward.

I'm not letting Denzel get away!

Truth be told, as Rick neared the end of the dungeon, his mind was descending into a haze. He wasn't entirely aware of himself and he was acting on instinct more and more, draining opponents bothered him little, finding the boost in energy to be nothing more than a means towards the end of chasing down his quarry.

It was only when Rick arrived at a cave that he paused as he saw Denzel quite clearly at the entrance to the cave.

The otter was grinning at him.

Then he vanished inside and Rick blinked, feeling quite a bit more trepidation about chasing Denzel.

He hasn't been running away from me. He's leading me on. He wants me to chase him.

It was only too obvious Rick was going into what was, in all likelihood, a trap. It was unclear what Denzel had in-mind exactly but given the nature of his foe, it was easy to assume it was nothing good. Rick breathed in and out a few times, bracing himself.

Trap or not, I'm going to beat Denzel and enlist his help.

He was about to start forward when he thought he heard a distant voice somewhere behind him. It gave him pause as he hadn't expected to hear anyone calling after him.

No. It's not Denzel and if it's Zoe, I'm sure she can take care of herself well enough to catch up in her own due time.

Shoving aside any thoughts or concerns about whoever was behind him, Rick ate some of the provisions he had brought with him, restoring some of his stamina and energy, then proceeded into the cave and into the mountain.

-0-

It was when he had progressed far enough into the cave that it became very clear to Rick what the suspected trap was. The cave itself was quite warm and portions of the floor were cracked and lightly glowed with an orange light.

This isn't just a mountain. It's an inactive volcano.

The heat was both a comfort and a worry for Rick, being what he was. He felt rather like he was in a greenhouse: hot and humid. The heat was enough to be quite comfortable, but not so much that he was burning up, which his plant-like body welcomed and thrived in.

On the other side of that coin though, Rick was more than aware that a volcano held magma and fire, and the thought of those all on their own caused Rick's instinctive fear of fire to go haywire and any feeling of comfort in the muggy heat was overridden by tension and extreme wariness as he delved further into the cave. If it hadn't been for his objective and his determination to see it through, Rick would've turned tail and left the cave.

Easy Rick... you can do this. Fire is a weakness... but it's not the end of everything. And besides that, look on the bright side: it's not active. So the magma shouldn't be an issue.

These thoughts were not much comfort though. Just because the volcano was inactive did not mean he wouldn't run across magma. The reality of being in a volcano also scared him, regardless of whether he was made of highly-flammable plant fibre or not. And then there were the majority of the residents of cave.

As befitted a volcano, the majority of the residents in the caves were fire-types. There were some rock and ground-types as well, and even a couple normal-types. Rick considered himself lucky whenever he didn't need to deal with a fire-type or something fire-related. He may have scaled the mountain with considerable aggression, but he used much more care in exploring the volcanic caverns, watching the corners he went around and slipping by residents whenever he could, otherwise going another route if he couldn't get through without a fight.

The one bright side to the situation had a sting to it.

Denzel, clearly wanting to keep Rick chasing him, had evidently been taking down the occasional resident on his way. A brief look at each of the dazed, unconscious fire-types in passing, told Rick that they had been hit from behind and naturally, with a good deal of water. Denzel could have sneaked by much like Rick had been doing... but the fact that he did this regularly and for little other reason, told Rick that Denzel was either being very sadistic and hitting them like this for some fun, or he was leaving Rick a trail. As much as Rick would've liked to believe it was the former reason, he couldn't deny it was the latter case as the soaked fire-types generally popped up just when Rick wasn't sure which way to go.

What is it Denzel's after anyways?

Rick continued to go deeper and deeper, following the trail of knocked out fire-types.

-0-

Rick finally caught sight of Denzel again, and the floatzel was up against a wall. A brief look around told Rick that he hadn't gone this way mistakenly, as there was another way out of this chamber... and furthermore, there was a hole in the wall over Denzel's head. He focused on Denzel and closed in.

"Are you finally done with this game of yours Denzel?" Rick asked, a little irritably.

Denzel didn't respond with words, but he crouched down, and then there was a small blast of water as he used a move to launch himself upwards towards the hole in the wall and he landed neatly inside. He then simply beckoned to Rick with a couple fingers and jogged inside the tunnel.

Ugh! I'm getting tired of this chase now. Next time I see him, I'm not letting him run any further.

Rick looked over the wall in front of him. He couldn't launch himself up the wall like Denzel, but the wall was sufficently craggy and uneven that it wasn't too hard for Rick to reach up with his vines and pull himself up. It wasn't as flashy or as quick as Denzel's approach, but it was effective and Rick reached the hole without issue and he proceeded inside after his target.

As it turned out, Denzel wasn't intending to prolong the chase any further, as the chamber Rick entered had no other entrance and Denzel was in the middle, waiting. The room was relatively much cooler than the rest of the volcano and there was even some grass growing in a patch of sunlight, which was coming in through a hole in the ceiling.

Denzel still had a grin on his face as he eyed Rick, his arms folded.

"Well then, you came all this way for me... let's see how much stronger you've gotten." Denzel said, his tone cocky. He then came rushing forward towards Rick and promptly attempted to bite him.

Reflex saved Rick from getting bitten by the otter a second time as he swept to the side and he lashed out with a vine. Denzel raised a shoulder and took the whiplash there and then he quickly turned and advanced on Rick as swiftly as before and attempted to punch him.

Having already moved to dodge one move, Rick wasn't ready to dodge a second time in such rapid succession and he was caught full in the chest by the blow. With a cut-off cry of pain, Rick was knocked back and rolled across the ground, getting up once he had stopped.

Ugh. Not sure if he's faster now or if he was just holding back the first time.

Denzel was coming at him yet again and something about his stance told Rick he was going to try and kick him next.

All these battles are giving me a good instinct for battles.

He waited a second, letting Denzel get closer, and then he rushed towards Denzel to get inside his guard. True to Rick's instinct, Denzel was just starting to lash out with a hard kick when Rick jumped at his chest. The snivy then flipped over in the air and attempted to slash Denzel with a leaf blade attack from his tail. Denzel was admittedly taken off-guard by the tactic, but sheer speed allowed him to react and he quickly swung an arm up to knock Rick away. He didn't get away entirely unharmed though as his arm hit the incoming attack; Rick was knocked over to the side and the leaf blade attack left a cut down the floatzel's arm, though it was much shallower than what the cut would've been on his chest, had he not countered it.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Denzel commented as Rick got up. Denzel briefly doused the cut in water, washing it out and then refocused on Rick.

"Why are you doing all this to other Pokemon anyways, Denzel?" Rick asked, shaking himself off a bit.

Denzel chuckled at this as he rushed towards Rick again and attempted to hit Rick with a hard left hook. Rick ducked under the swing and attempted to swing his tail around and cut Denzel in an upward swing.

"This right here is my reason." Denzel laughed as he quickly leaned back, narrowly avoiding the leafy blade, "I love a good fight and that's just what you're giving me. I want strong fighters!"

So he puts other Pokemon into dangerous situations, hoping they'll get stronger just so he can get a good fight out of them?

Rick grudgingly had to admit Denzel's goal lined up with his actions as Rick was fairly sure he himself had gotten stronger thanks to Denzel's mischief.

He could get someone killed though. He's not picking on those who can take the challenge. He's trying to make anyone he happens across, tough their way through his trials. I may have survived, as could Rio or Quil... but what about someone like that torchic I helped at Moss Cave?

"Alright. You want a fight, I'll give you a fight alright." Rick growled and jumped before spinning around, swinging his tail in a hard horizontal slash.

Denzel still had speed over Rick though and he reacted by falling over onto his back so the leaf blade went over him and he then swung a foot up and caught Rick in the belly with it.

"Agh!" Rick yelped and the impact knocked him over Denzel's head and he bounced roughly across the ground once before coming to a stop. Despite already feeling sore from the hits he'd taken, Rick got up once more.

Denzel was already rushing towards him again.

Ugh, I think I can keep up with his speed, but I need more power too otherwise what few hits I can get in, he'll simply bat to the side.

Unfortunately, Rick was incorrect about keeping up with Denzel, as the otter struck faster than ever and, in a burst of water, closed the distance between them before throwing a straight punch at his face. Rick had no time to react at all and he was launched backwards where he slammed into the rock wall and then slid to the ground.

He got up again, coughing as he had had the wind knocked out of him somewhat by the impact with the wall. Denzel was on him again in seconds and swung a foot around, kicking him again and knocking him to the side.

"Hey, I thought you said you would give me a fight." Denzel said, sounding sincerely disappointed as Rick struggled to his feet yet again, "Come on, stop holding back on me!"

Rick's temper had been steadily on the rise, from a mixture of aggravation with the fight, and now with anger directed at Denzel and his methods.

Errrrrrgh... I hate bullies and he's one of the worst sort. He hurts you because he finds it entertaining.

Vague memories were at the edges of Rick's mind... he could remember the fights he'd gotten into with others, standing up to bullies and the way he'd been the one to get into trouble, as the bullies had frequently been the ones in need of care.

The memories felt almost solid, yet they weren't quite tangible... Rick couldn't focus on them or keep them in-place where they belonged. He wanted to remember, but the memories didn't want to stay.

Still, Rick found his pain lessening as he tried to remember, pulling his thoughts away from the pain.

Denzel struck again while Rick was trying to think and Rick was knocked back yet again, coming to a stop amidst the grass and sunlight.

I won't fall to him. I'll stand up for everyone else he's bullied. I hate it!

Taking hold of these thoughts, Rick's mind cleared and became rather blank. He acted on purest instinct when Denzel came at him once more. The floatzel attempted to knock him out with a hard punch to the head, but Rick swept to the side and swung his tail under Denzel's arm.

"Aaaaaaaggghhh!" Denzel howled from the pain as his side got cut-open by the leaf-blade attack and he staggered back, gripping the gash.

Rick moved and positioned himself to fight again.

"I've had enough of your bullying. I'm ending it right now." Rick said, quite coldly. He didn't react when he briefly glowed, grew in size and burst from the light completely changed.

Rick now looked more snake-like than ever, his body thicker and larger and there were a couple leaves lining his back, standing up like fins. He still had the distinctive fan-like array of leaves on his tail, but the gold-colored leaves along his shoulders were now meeting in the middle of his chest in a v-shaped crest. Denzel was still taller than him, but the height difference wasn't so extreme now.

Unaware of his change, only focused on the source of his hate, Rick rushed towards Denzel and lashed out with two vines at once. Denzel tried to raise an arm to block the attack, however Rick's evolution had amplified his speed and it was more on-par with Denzel's own speed now. As a result, the attack lashed Denzel's cheek and arm before he could ready himself for it, or completely register Rick's change, and he staggered back more.

Rick smoothly transitioned from his lashing strike to swinging his tail around and up, catching Denzel in an upward, diagonal swipe with it. The cut was even worse than the one he had inflicted on Croc. Denzel screamed from the pain.

"S-Stop- e-enough, I-" He said, starting to panic, but his words were cut off as Rick lashed his vines out again, wrapping them around his neck and he violently yanked the floatzel to the ground, slamming him onto his stomach.

Rick let out a yell as he jumped afterward and flipped in air, swinging his tail down, aiming it at Denzel's neck.

Rick however was taken by surprise when someone rushed in on the scene. He had been so focused on Denzel, he not seen them there, nor did he see them as they hit him hard in the side.

"Gah!" Rick was knocked out of the air and smashed into the wall not far away. He blacked out almost immediately.