Eyes filled the rage; he lunged, his sharp, serpent fangs sinking into the fur coated flesh. He drew back, as his enemy screamed, clutching its arm. Then, gnashing its puny teeth, it swung its clawed arm at him. He moved his head back, but the scratching attack grazed his neck.

Another day, another bleeding scar, mused Venom the Arbok as he raised his head and hissed loudly at the Zangoose, who was clutching its bleeding arm. At least I'm not the only one going home hurt.

Venom had had a slight disagreement with the Zangoose he was facing; the mammalian Pokémon had made a snide remark about Sevipers to its friends, who had long since left when things got rough, after Venom made it known to the creature that his father had been a Seviper. One thing led to another, and, well, here we are now.

Instinct is a beast, a monster. It has no pity, no remorse. It exists so that its host may feed, and it may be satisfied. Perhaps some of Venom's father's instinct lived on in him. Perhaps there was a part of him that wanted to tear the Zangoose apart. A part that controlled him. In nature, there is no evil. Only instinct. Only winners, and losers. Only predator, prey, and the prey that got away.

And sometimes, it was just personal.

Venom raised his head again and hissed loudly, glaring at the wounded Zangoose. An Arbok glare was nothing to sneeze at; plain and simple, it was scary. Lesser creatures were paralyzed by the sight of Arbok glare. Zangoose normally wasn't one, but this one had taken quite a beating. It might work.

The Zangoose simply stared angrily at the snake. "You'll… pay for that…" she grunted, clasping her arm.

"I'm sure I will," Venom shot back, ignoring the pain in his neck. Despite the bleeding scratch, he smirked. "But I might need a real warrior to make that happen."

The Zangoose lost it. Screaming, she raised her arms, good and bad, and charged, swinging he long claw. Venom was barely impressed as he leapt into the air and burrowed into the ground, using Dig. The Zangoose froze, trying to find a sign of the snake's whereabouts. She barely had time to react when he burst out of the ground behind her and wrapped his violet scaled coils around her, immobilizing her and squeezing hard. The Zangoose gasped for breath, and Venom stared into her eyes. It was then she noticed how horrifying this all really was.

"Now," Venom hissed, "what was that you said about my father?"

The Zangoose simply gasped for breath and choked. Venom got bored of it quickly; he was the son of a Seviper, not a Seviper himself. Zangoose weren't his thing. Besides, this wasn't his territory, so he had no reason to hunt it down and kill it.

Sighing as he released his former pray, he said, "Scram!"

The Zangoose didn't need another word. She turned around and ran as fast as her grievous injuries would allow her to.

Venom smirked. "Smart kid."

Then, when she was out of sight, he allowed himself a groan as he slid his bloody body through the grass of the field, as the sun began to set on the world. The scratch, though not fatal, hurt. It was incredibly unpleasant to have to slither around with a bleeding wound on his neck. You try it, see how you like it. You won't.

Venom, despite the pain, grinned. He led a lonely life, out here in the wild, and a dangerous one at that. He had seen his share of battles, and he had won most of them. Or, if he hadn't he had escaped with his life, at the very least.

A flock of pidgey and spearow flew overhead, all heading towards their nests for the evening. Rattata ran into their burrows, a pack of Pikachu began to stare at the sunset together. Oddish began to pop out of the ground and began to walk around, their leaves swaying in the late day breeze. Venom sighed as the evening air filled his nostrils, making him feel sleepy. It had been a long day, and all he wanted was to return to his burrow and sleep. In the distance, he could see dark storm clouds approaching. Thunder storms always did help him sleep. He felt a small grin come across his scaled lips.

Using his tongue, his primary scent of smell, believe it or not, Venom tracked his way to his burrow. Home sweet home came into sight soon enough, and Venom almost smiled. But then, his nose was assaulted by a new scent; an unfamiliar one.

His eyes narrowing into slits, Venom ducked under the tall grass. He slowly and silently slid towards his burrow. He licked his tongue against his fangs, making sure they were nice and sharp, and ready to fight, if need be. The unfamiliar scent soon grew stronger as he reached his burrow. He could detect the faint sound of breathing inside of it. Someone decided to take his home without asking.

Venom felt his rage boiling over. That wasn't going to fly.

Slithering closer, he reached the edge of the hole. He sniffed the air again. The scent was closer. Angry, he slid into the hole, baring his fangs, expecting to see maybe a Meowth or another Zangoose. Maybe a Sandshrew.

What he found, was a whimpering, almost pathetic creature.

A tiny brown reptile lay in his burrow. A skull mounted on its head, and a bone in its arms, it was curled into a ball, trying to keep warm in the coming evening cold. Venom vaguely remembered his father telling him about Cubone, a Pokémon that wore a skull and carried a bone like that when he was a child. He hadn't seen his father in a while, but he could remember the advice the old snake had given him.

One bit of advice had been, 'defend what's yours'.

Rearing his head back, and spreading his hood, Venom hissed as loudly as he could.

The Cubone cracked open one eye, and uncurled itself slightly. "Oh," it said in a female voice. "Hi."

"'Hi'?" repeated Venom angrily, hissing again. He could feel poison exiting his venom sacks and dripping into and down his fangs. "What are you doing in my burrow!"

The Cubone stood and yawned. "I didn't know it was your burrow," she said, her voice tired. "I'll be gone in the morning." She began to lie down again.

"No," Venom replied. "You'll be gone, now!"

Confused, the Cubone asked, "But why? I don't take much room up, and I like your burrow. It's more than big enough for two. Can't I just stay one night?"

Venom decided that a little negative encouragement was needed. He burst forward, his jaws wide open.

The Cubone didn't even move as the snake's jaws, open wide, flew towards her body. She did, however, cry out in agony when the teeth dug into her skin. Venom released her, after a few seconds, and she collapsed to the ground of the burrow, crying and rolling around.

Venom stared at the odd sight before him. Trying to think of anything to say or do. Finally, he said, "You can leave now," as angrily as he could muster, given the situation.

He curled up in the back of the cave and sighed as the wails grew louder.

"Why'd… you hurt me!" the Cubone wailed, as tears ran down her skull mask. "It hurrttttssss!" she whined.

Venom's eyes narrowed into slits. "Be quiet and go away," he hissed as loud as his tired lungs could muster.

The Cubone didn't do either, and it's wailing increased.

Finally losing his temper again, Venom yelled, "What do you want with me? Go home!"

"I… I don't have a home…"

That would explain it, Venom though unhappily. "Then go make your own. Stop stealing mine."

"But I don't know how…" The Cubone whimpered.

The sound of thunder echoed through the air. Something started to pitter-pat on the ground. Rain.

Cubone sniffled again.

Venom sighed. "Fine. Stay for the night. I don't care." He curled up in the corner and remained silent.

The Cubone stopped sniffling and whispered, "Thank you."

Venom sighed. "Don't mention it," he hissed. "Please. You can leave in the morning."

The hole was silent after that. Venom tried to relax and forget about the snoring infant in the cave.

That is, until she wrapped his tail around her, in order to keep warm

Had he not been very, very tired, Venom would've squeezed.

Submitted OC's will be in the next chapter!