I'm sorry I haven't been posting, but it here are more end of the year exams, and I've been struggling emotionally. Along with my worsening depression came writer's block, which took a while to get rid of.
Thank you for the reviews! I take them all into consideration, so thank you for writing them out.
But to ple1999...
What are you doing here? I know who you are. We know each other in real life. Why aren't you telling me these things? We spend at least two hours each day on weekdays close to each other, for Pete's sake!
Disclaimer: If I owned Pokémon, I'd be making sure there would be a remake of the 3rd Generation, okay. But I'm not. All I own are my OCs.
"It's pretty dark in here," commented Joanne as they entered the Dark Cave.
"Like its name implies," Marietta muttered. She reminisced about the last time she was there, then vanished it away from her mind almost as quickly as it came. It wasn't necessarily a good memory, after all.
'Still,' she thought, 'I don't remember it being this dim the last time.'
"Does Maria know Flash?" Asked Marie. "Or maybe... Mellow?"
"I'm afraid not. I thought that Effy would know." She looked down at said Pokémon, who was batting at some gravel.
The scientist sighed. "I guess we have to... Use another light source."
"Like what?" Without answering her companion, Marie pulled out a little flashlight, its small rays shining through the inky darkness. With her other hand she pulled out her Pokédex and turned it on.
"Hold this," she ordered Joanne before handing over the flashlight.
"I guess this works.." Its light was very limited, but the party could at least see a couple feet in front of them. The Pokédex also lit up their immediate surroundings.
"... We'll just have to rely... On Maria if it gets too dark.." The shorter girl gestured to the Noctowl, who hooted her agreement.
The pair started to walk further in, occasionally hearing the cries of the Zubat. The cave was mildly chilly, and Marietta was a little bit grateful that she opted for wearing thick layers (wearing a black sweater under her already warm black coat and skinny jeans) while Joanne shivered slightly and rubbed her arms. Occasionally, they bumped into aggressive wild Pokémon, and battled them together. (They were both pleasantly surprised at how well their battle techniques worked alongside the other; Marie noted the tanner girl's experience while Joanne complimented her analytical tactics.)
After the Breeder helped her companion up after tripping over a crack and climbing over a small ledge, they had reached a dead end.
... Though, not necessarily. A boulder blocked their path from going any farther, and Marie presumed that was the extent of their search and they would go back down to Violet City. She sighed and said,"That's about as far as we'll go... We should turn ba-"
"We could climb it," Joanne replied, ignoring her friend. "It's not too big of a boulder. We could scale it."
The scientist looked at her incredulously. "What? We can't do that!"
"Why not?"
"It's dangerous! Something could easily... Go wrong, and I don't believe there's something worth... Risking our lives for...!" You could hear the distress in her voice, almost pleading for her companion to listen a bit.
"But it'll be exciting! Think of the adventure, and what if there's treasure? C'mon, it might be really fun."
"Oh, that is the most ridic-"
"At least try."
She groaned in defeat, knowing that they would make no progress bickering with each other. "Fine... But I'm not responsible.. For whatever you do."
Joanne grinned at her in response, and said,"Okay then! Now, help me up so I won't slip, and then I'll help you."
"Umm... I'm not sure if... I'm strong enough for this.." Marie hesitantly murmured as she started to assist her companion in lifting her onto the gigantic rock.
"It's just a little bit of lifting. On three!" She turned to look at her before looking back up. "Now.. One.. Two.. Three!"
With a great effort, Marie pushed and lifted Joanne upwards, letting her to reach and climb on top of the boulder. She called down to the scientist, "Okay, now grab my hand, and I'll help pull you up."
She reluctantly trusted the Breeder, and with her assistance, climbed up the boulder alongside her. However, her hand slipped, and she dropped her Pokèdex, letting the grey device plummet below on the other side.
"You've got to be fucking with me right now...!" Marie leaned and stretched her arm down in a desperate way to try to catch the Pokédex, but slipping past her fingers by a couple of inches. Gravity decided to work against her, so her futile attempt made her lean forward too much and she suddenly realized she was crashing toward the ground.
'Crap, crap, crap!' She silently swore herself off in her mind for her carelessness, and sort of flailed. Joanne had tried to grab her back so she wouldn't fall, but ended up succumbing to physics like her companion, shrieking on the way down.
They both landed with a loud Thud!, the researcher on her arm and the breeder on her bum. Luckily, the boulder was at most ten feet from the ground, so they didn't sustain large injuries.
Marie felt a scathing sensation on her forearm, and her jacket felt slightly wet. However, she was more focused on the blistering migraine that throbbed in the back of her head, mixing and scrambling her thought process. She looked over at Joanne in a daze. It seemed like she was also in some pain, clutching her side with a wince. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the nefarious electronic encyclopedia undamaged, and grabbed it quickly.
"I told you that things were going to go wrong...!" The scientist angrily mumbled to Joanne.
"But hey, we made it to the other side," she cheekily reminded her with a grin. "And- What's that?"
Marie looked to where her partner was staring. At first, she only saw a hole in the ground, but she noticed a pale, yellow point protruding from it, rising up until it was revealed to be a drill. She stared at it in slight confusion, before realizing what it was.
"Shit," she muttered. The taller girl looked over at her, and the scientist started to explain. "I think we just disturbed... A Dunsparce nest.. Maybe even several.."
As she finished talking, the Pokémon had poked its head up, and started slithering out of its burrow. And then another. And another. A few more Dunsparce began to come out, until there was around fifteen.
"This doesn't look good.." Marie began to get up, Effy trotting over to her and preparing herself, and glanced at Joanne. The other ignored her, and stared at the land snake Pokémon in surprise and wonder.
"Wow.." She whispered in near excitement. Now, it was Marietta's turn to be confused, but she wasn't for long. "I never realized that they were so big!"
"... What?"
"Well, you only see the animated Dunsparce on TV, and they're always really, really small. I didn't know they were this big!"
The scientist was always aware of the size of the pale yellow Pokémon, and had a sort of respect for them. After all, they were nearly as tall as her. But although she knew of their shy behavior, she also knew about their ability to swarm.
Marie quickly scanned a Dunsparce, before releasing Pineco. She told Joanne, "They're mad. They're going to want... To fight us... Get ready."
She nodded in response, and unhooked a Pokéball from her belt then threw it into the air.
"Go, Narwhal!" Joanne yelled out. The bright flash dissipated, and revealed a sleek Ponyta.
One of the Dunsparce attacked first, a young one who hadn't quite reached adulthood. It puffed up and turned a slightly crimson hue, as if in embarrassment or anger, and went slithered furiously over to Pineco before hopping up into the air and slamming into the insect. Other members of its family started to follow suit.
In surprise, he recoiled backwards and cried out in pain as they smothered him. Gritting her teeth, Marie called out to him in a somewhat regretful tone,"Pineco, use Selfdestruct!"
The pinecone began to glow a brilliant blue, before suddenly exploding violently. Marie shielded her eyes from the burst with eyes and squinted, Joanne doing the same. After the brilliant display, it dissolved and knocked out Dunsparce and a fizzled out Pineco was left. She remorsefully withdrew him, muttering under her breath a quiet "Sorry" and "Thanks for your hard work."
Effy pawed at her friend's leg, and they looked at each other. Without even having to speak to her, Marie knew what she meant, and telepathically said to her, "You ready?"
"Whenever you are," the Espeon mewled.
In the midst of this incident, Joanne and Narwhal had faced some of the other Dunsparce, with only three being knocked out by the explosion. After defeating one, they began fighting a rather large land snake.
"Use Tackle," Joanne called out to her Pokémon in a loud voice, eliciting him to ram headfirst into his opponent. The Dunsparce let out a wail of pain before attempting to slam into the pony again. Unbeknownst to him, however, another angry Dunsparce was behind the Ponyta, glowing a bright white before releasing a silver orb towards Narwhal*.
Knowing that he was too distracted to notice it, the Breeder yelled out, "Maria! Night Shade!"
Swiftly, the owl's glowed pink and she became surrounded by a purple aura, before releasing several dark rings at the ball, making it dissipate into nothing. She then quickly swooped down quickly towards the cowardly Dunsparce and knocked it out. Without being commanded to do so, Narwhal ran at the other Dunsparce, becoming enveloped in flames then tackling into it.
"Nice Flame Wheel," Marie commented offhandedly as she saw the spectacle, somewhat impressed by the Pokemon Breeder's skill. She quickly turned her attention back to her own battles, with many of the pale gold Pokémon going against Effy. Said feline sat there, tense, waiting for the command.
" Go." She immediately disappeared from her friend's order, leaving the Dunsparce confused until one of them was suddenly hit and fainted, with only a white trail left behind. They cried out as each was attacked, until only one was left standing.
Joanne put Narwhal back into her Pokéball after thanking her, already finished on her side. Maria flew down and perched herself on a large rock, waiting.
"P-Please, leave us alone!" The lone wild Pokémon stuttered out meekly to Effy in a weak defense. "We only wanted to protect our nest!"
"Why did you see us as a threat?" The lilac Pokémon moved elegantly towards it, forked tail swishing back and forth and eyes glinting.
"We thought you were going to attack us! We felt a tremor, and then suddenly there were those humans and that Noctowl! The elder thought that it would eat all of us after you took us down!"
Effy looked at it amusedly before relaying the message to Maria, who wasn't listening. After hearing it, she hooted in laughter before telling the Dunsparce, "Don't be silly, young Dunsparce. I'm more of a... Fish type of eater."
The pale snake sighed in relief, before getting more fidgety and saying, "But what about my family? Are they just going to die here?"
Marietta, having being told by Effy what they were saying, looked directly into the Dunsparce's eyes (?) and said, "I'm going to assume you understand me... I apologize for us frightening you and your relatives.. We had fallen from that boulder under my companion's-" She looked accusingly at Joanne. "Insistence. I hope you forgive our intrusion..."
The Dunsparce moved his head in a way similar to nodding. "I should also say sorry for attacking you guys. Please, help us!'
"What're they saying?" Joanne asked the scientist, not aware of the contents of the conversation.
She raised an eyebrow in response, before replying, "Because of you, the Dunsparce thought we were going to... Attack them and let Marie eat their bodies.. Now, we need to heal them..."
She formed her mouth in the shape of an O in understanding. "Okay. Then you take those over there and I'll take these here, okay?"
The pale girl nodded. They quickly swept over to the Dunsparce, spraying them with potions and feeding them for the next two hours. They then carried them over to the hole, where a greyish yellow Dunsparce crawled out. It mumbled in a quiet voice, "Thank you for taking care of the young'uns. They get riled up easily."
Marie blinked and said, "It was partially... Our fault anyways... We'll take our leave now, and I hope... You guys do well..."
After waving goodbye, she moved in the opposite direction from the nest, Effy trotting alongside her. Joanne and Maria followed suit, until they were far away enough from the Dunsparce.
"We're going back." Marietta's voice was unwavering and blunt, leaving no room for questions. She walked to a small ledge that would quickly get them back to the entrance of the Dark Cave.
"Why?" The Breeder stopped behind her. "If we go onwards, we could even reach Blackthorn City!"
"I was planning on getting to Violet City," she snapped back. "I have business there to complete, and it'd be better to span as much territory as we can. If you want to leave, fine."
Joanne was taken aback by her coldness and frowned, before a sudden realization seemed to dawn on her. She then broke into a grin, and said, "Okay then. Let's go back."
Marie, surprised by her change of mood, just nodded, and the companions climbed down the ledge, towards the light of the exit.
It started to get dark halfway down Route 31, and Joanne said it'd be a good idea to set up camp, locating a small, safe clearing.
After seeing to their injuries (Marietta had unsurprisingly bruised her shoulder and drew a long cut on her arm while Joanne had bumped her head and scraped the back of her knees), the Breeder and researcher put up their own tents (green and brown respectively) and each did something different. Joanne began to prepare both of their dinners, Marietta collected firewood to start a fire (looking at the local fauna and Pokémon while doing so), and Effy and Maria stood as lookout for their trainers.
After their campsite was ready, they sat in a small circle around the fire, the only light illuminating their faces. Marie was writing in a black book, most likely of their encounter and the behavior of the Dunsparce, while eating the sandwiches Joanne made. She, in return, was reading what looked like a fantasy novel. Both of their Pokémon were out of their balls, Ashes delightfully devouring both the sandwiches and promised apples, Pineco hanging and sleeping from a nearby tree, Mellow the Igglybuff sitting comfortably in her owner's lap, and Effy and Maria chatting quietly with each other.
The air was a bit tense. The two humans had barely talked to each other after leaving the Dark Cave. The scientist had felt slightly guilty for her harsh tone towards the other, and wanted to make amends.
"I'd like to apologize," Marie awkwardly murmured aloud as she rubbed the nape of her neck. Joanne looked up from the story, surprised she spoke. "I shouldn't have spoken so rudely to you. For that, I am sorry."
The breeder looked at her for a few seconds, then uncrossed her legs. Smiling, she leaned forward and replied, "It's fine. You meant well, after all."
She furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that..?"
Joanne shrugged. "You were obviously really angry, but you were also worried and a bit casual about it." Seeing that it just made the other more confused, she continued. "When we first met, you were speaking passionately about the Pokémon, yet you were much more reserved and quiet while we talked. Even in battle, you were like that. But when I protested at going back, you spoke in the same passionate voice, and even now you are!... I'd like to think you speak like that with people you're comfortable with."
Marie blinked, surprised at Joanne's acute observation. "... Then, what do you think this means?"
Joanne smiled her kind, relaxed smile. " I think that means we're friends, and you were worried about me. Am I wrong?"
She pondered on what the tan girl said, and realized that she was right. Marie had never felt so quickly comfortable around another person in her life (except for Professor Elm, who warmly accepted that while she was a genius, she was still only a small, frail child). She wasn't used to having friends of the human kind, yet here Joanne was, a strange, easygoing, and intelligent girl who had immediately stuck to her.
Finally, she said, "... No. You're entirely right. I think that means we're..." She hesitated. ".. Friends. Shockingly."
Joanne laughed. "You aren't like they said you were."
"... What?"
"There was a lot of people talking about how the prodigy of the science community was cruel, cold, and evil. Someone even said you were the incarnation of the devil."
"Well, that's certainly.. Out there."
"But, you know, you're actually really kind. Very unusual and awkward, yes, but you're a good person."
Marie smiled softly. "Thanks."
For the first time in years, Marietta spent most of the night talking with someone rather than writing. And Effy and Maria looked over at them knowingly.
I figured some wild Pokémon inherit moves from their father, Ancient Power in this case.
Please critique and review!