"W-what do you you want from me!?" Tai shouted at the absol, stuttering a bit. The absol gave no response, and took a single slow step forward. Out of the shadows and in the sunlight, it's black claws, face and horn only looked darker.
"Why are you always chasing us?" he yelled again. Tai honestly didn't expect a response that time either, but the absol spoke.
"It doesn't matter. You will come with me... or you will die," they said flatly. They took another step forward. "Give up or I'll take you in pieces."
Before now, Lucky had been too dumbstruck to speak. The absol's threat had snapped him out of it, and he boldly put a paw protectively in front of Tai. "Oh no you won't," Lucky said. "Not while I'm around."
The absol showed no sign of alarm. "You? You wish to fight me?" they deadpanned. Their face then took on a twisted, disturbed grin. "Good. It's been awhile since my last bloodbath."
In a flash, the absol was in the air and falling upon the two with an impossibly dark horn. Lucky violently shoved Tai out of the way, with barely enough time to avoid the Night Slash himself.
Lucky quickly rebounded, and his body glowing an electric yellow as he slammed himself against the bounty hunter. Tai caught on to his plan right away, and was on his feet and swiping his claws in an instant.
The absol did not flinch in the slightest, as if they hadn't felt anything at all. Lucky wore a face of near horror, seeing as his attack went unregistered against the dark type. The absol seemed to have more interest in Tai though, as the sneasel dashed back out of range.
As hard as he tried, his running from before could still be felt in his limbs, and he completely failed to outrun the bounty hunter once they started their pursuit. Tai desperately put his claws up protectively in front of him, trying to block the attack that was coming, but never got the chance.
The absol ran straight past the ice type, then turned around and slashed at him before he had a chance to turn around. The attack was a direct Slash to Tai's back, and it cut deep. The pain was overwhelming, and he fell to all fours with the sheer impact. He wanted to get up and away from the absol, but with the pain pulsating from his back, just trying to keep breathing became his priority.
Suddenly, three sharp claws drove into his shoulder, shoving him back into the oh-so-familiar ground. And somewhere between the inability to breathe and what was probably his loss of blood, his consciousness slipped away...
The absol stood over the sneasel, looking down at the wound they had inflicted and the red that stained the fur of their white paw, smiling. They looked as if they were about to finish him off, but a flash of light and a Shock Wave coursing through them reminded them of the shinx.
Lucky watched as the bounty hunters head slowly raised to look at him, blood glistening of their bladed horn. A small part of him regretted doing that.
The absol dashed toward their new target, horn glowing a pink color before they swing their head and fired two Psycho Cuts. Lucky was ready for the first one, and nimbly dodged out if the attacks path. However, it put him in the direct path of the second psychic blade.
Lucky flew back a few feet from the sheer impact. The cut wasn't deep, it had cut clear across his entire chest, spreading the pain into his shoulders. He tried to stand, but failed, legs buckling due to the pain. The absol's run had turned into a walk, nearing him at a speed that could only be described as torturous.
"Poor little shinx..." they cooed. "Tried to be brave. And now they will die."
The dark type towered over Lucky now, smiling down at him as he looked back, horrified and panicked. When the absol raised their blade however, an explosion of flame struck their backside and knocked them over, instantly singing their white fur and the grass below them.
For the first time Lucky had seen, the bounty hunters face changed into something other than their crooked smile. A face of pure hatred and rage.
"But of course, the universe isn't about to let you die," they said with clenched teeth, and both the absol and Lucky looked to see what had attacked.
Lucky's eye nearly lit up with joy, looking up the hill, for on top were three figures he knew well. A zangoose, a mawile, an ironically enough, another absol, wearing a red, yellow and orange scarf respectively. The three spoke to each other for only second before charging down the hill.
"Team Starburst!" Lucky exclaimed in a whisper. It was loud enough for the bounty hunter to hear however, and they turned back to him to finish what they started.
Just as they were about to bring their blade down on the shinx again, team Starburst's zangoose tackled them to the ground. Both rolled from the disorganized tackle, but on their feet only a second later.
"So damn CLOSE!" they growled, and with no reaction from the zangoose, the two began their attack on one another. The two seemed very evenly matched, with neither one landing any hits. Claws and blade smashed and blocked each other, over and over, like crossed swords wielded by skilled swordsman.
While the absol and zangoose clashed against one another, the other two scarf wearing pokemon rush to help Tai and Lucky. Sneaking around the battle, the scarfed absol grabbed Lucky by the scruff of his neck.
"Hey, what the- Sol, put me down!" Lucky demanded, very upset that he was being carried like a lost litten.
"Oh, becwase you clwarwy had tings under contwoll," Sol retorted, barely able to speak through Lucky's fur. Lucky didn't have a comeback for that.
Sol had carried Lucky up the hill, a good way away from danger, he put Lucky down. "We're both getting too old for this," Sol groaned, running back to help. "Don't go anywhere!"
Not like I can... Lucky reminded himself. When he looked down at his chest, he could could see small amount of his own blood slowly leaking from the cut, turning his blue fur red and sticky. He closed his eyes tight, as remembering the wound had made him focus on the pain pulsing from his chest and shoulders. Trying to take his mind of his own pain, he looked over to the sneasel he had met, who was only a few feet away.
What he hadn't noticed, however, was the mawile from team Starburst kneeling next to him. He was unconscious, so the mawile had sat him as she fumbled with the bandages as she pulled them from her bag, loosely wrapping them around her "patient."
Tai, in his unconscious state, began to hear voices. "Abbigail, you're... doing that... wrong," he heard one say between breaths. It was the voice of the blue pokemon he met (i.e. the one that made him eat dirt).
You sure?" said another. "I'm... kinda sure I got this." It was then he slowly began to feel again. The feeling of something long and thin loosely coiled around him, and a hand, not a claw, on his back, holding him up.
Wait, Lucky, are you oka- Oops!" the unknown voice continued, but suddenly felt the hand slip. He fell, and when he hit the ground, he remembered why he blacked out.
Tai cried out as he hit the ground, the pain resurrected in his back waking him up instantly. He rolled over as quickly as possible to remove the contact between the poorly bandaged wound and the earth.
"He's not dead!" Abbigail cheered. "Well, now that you're up, I've gotta help ol' Gus out. Okay?Okayseeyabye!" she blurted out, then rushed down to the battle.
"Abbigail..." he groaned. The shinx examined Tai's wrappings, silently noting everything she had done wrong. "Here, hand me the end of that bandage,"
"No no... I'm fine." Tai insisted. His back still hurt didn't really want anymore help, and he wasn't completely sure if he could trust this pokemon.
Lucky walked over and lightly tapped Tai on the back, and as expected, Tai jumped up from where he was sitting with a loud "ak."
"Clearly," Lucky said. Tai sat down and made a pouty face as Lucky grabbed the wrapping. "Now hold still."
"Would you just hold still!" Gus, the zangoose, screamed. Where they were once evenly matched, now the bounty hunter seemed to have figured their opponent out, and nimbly dodged or blocked all of his advances. Sol had tried firing more special attacks, but the other absol had yet to be hit. They jumped at Gus with another Night Slash, which he barely blocked and knocked aside. He stabbed forward with his claws, barely hitting his mark and opening up a fresh cut on the absol's face. But, as before, they didn't flinch. It was if they didn't feel it.
The bounty hunter whipped their head back at Gus, and their blade struck solidly against the zangoose's stomach. He had tried to dodge, but all that did was send him reeling backwards. What the bounty hunter wasn't expecting, however, was someone to take his place.
It didn't matter to them. Simply another attack to dodge. Abbigail rushed at the dark type, but they were completely prepared to jump aside and counter-attack. But an icy blast suddenly blasted the ground by their front feet, freezing them in place. They had forgotten the other absol.
Frantically, they tried to free themselves, but having neither the strength or time, they failed. With a running start and a spin, the massive jaws attached to Abbigail's head smashed against the side of her foe's face, with enough force to send them flying and freeing their legs from the ice.
Shards of ice dropped down all around the absol as they slowly rose back up to their feet. They feel again, but persisted.
"Just give up now and we won't have to wail you anymore, alright," Gus said. Amidst the confusion, he had gotten back on his feet, a long but shallow wound across his chest.
There was no immediate response. They got to their feet, a short distance away, face void of emotion.
"Never."
A whip of their head, a two pink blades of psychic energy were launch at the team. Instinctively, Sol jumped in the way, taking both blades without any kind of reaction or impact. Seeing their attack fade, the attacker frowned.
"All right then, we're going to have to use our TEAM ATTACK!" Abbigail cried out. Both her team and the foe gave her an odd look. "You know, the really cool thing?" she explained.
The was a collective "ah..." amongst the team, and Gus charged the absol. Their answer was to rush at him, and once again, claws and horns meet, blocking each other. Abbigail made yet another predictable approach, and the bounty hunter dodged out of their way. Well tried to at least.
Gus had a tight grip on the absol's horn. The absol fought and pulled for the horn back, but when Gus let go, the mawiles jaws snapped like a bear trap over the absol's head. Again, they fought and slashed to escape, but with a whip of her head, Abbigail threw her captive. And once again, they had no time to prepare for the next attack in the endless assault.
A devastating Thunderbolt flew from one absol's horn to another, striking them with the burning pain of lightning and filling the air with fizzes and pops.
Temporarily paralysed as electricity flowed through them, the dark type could do nothing to stop the claws of the Zangoose that approached.
"Now STAY DOWN!" he demanded, crossing his claws in and X shaped attacked. With no more words, the cut, bleeding, burnt, frozen, bruised and wet finally collapsed.
"Teamwork, heck ya!" Abbigail announced, hands in the air.
"Hey... I took all the hits..." Gus complained.
"But you did get the finishing blow," Sol reminded him.
"I guess that's true," said Gus. "Abbigail, are the kids alright?"
"Yep, I'm fine!" Abbigail chimed. There was a silence suddenly, as Sol and Gus stared hard at the mawile.
"Oh, you mean Lucky and the sneasel..." she figured out. "Well, they should be fine. Let's check on 'em."
Gus hardly trusted Abbigail with the bag in the first place, (but gave it to her as she was the only one with opposable thumbs,) and he made a mad dash to Lucky and the sneasel.
"Yay, more running," Sol groaned sarcastically, and him and Abbigail ran after him.
Tai and Lucky, meanwhile, were sitting starstruck. Both were amazed by the skill and/or raw strength team starburst had demonstrated. Tai was especially shocked, having watched as they defeated in battle something he had run from all his life.
"You two alright?" Gus asked, walking up them.
"Better than alright! You guys were amazi- oww..." Lucky exclaimed, but when he got up, the pain came back.
"You... actually fought them... and won..." Tai said in disbelief.
"Yeah..." Gus said, scratching his chin. "Helping other pokemon out is kinda in our job description. And, just this once, free of charge!" he joked.
Tai tried to get up, but a wave of pain shot through his back. He sat back down beside Lucky.
"Yeah, it takes a while for the oran berries to kick in sometimes," Gus remarked. His answer was a confused stare from both Tai and Lucky.
Gus got what they meant. "That is, if Abbigail gave you both oran berries..." he said scornfully, leering at the mawile.
She had just caught up to her team mate, but she heard what he said. She suddenly seemed a lot more nervous.
"Umm... Oh look, oran berries," she said with faked glee, pulling two berries out of the bag at her side. She tossed a berry to each of the wounded pokemon, which Gus and Tai caught. Lucky... didn't, and it hit him squarely on the head.
"Sorry Lucky..." Abbigail said. Lucky gave her a harsh look, the three broke the hard skin of the oran berries open started eating anyway.
Sol had finally reach the others, having walked half the way. "Don't you think we should have grabbed that absol before walking all the way over here?" Sol groaned.
"Why didn't you?" Gus asked, still chewing on a piece of his berry.
"Gus, I can hardly pick myself up off the ground some days," Sol remarked.
"Good point," responded Gus. "So, I'll go back and grab them-"
Abbigail interrupted him. "Ah, no you can't. He's gone!" Abbigail stated, shocked.
"What!?" It was Tai this time that got up. The oran berry was already taking effect, and he was able to stand again. "They're gone!?"
Gus let out a loan sigh. "Well, at least we don't have to fill out any reports?" he suggested with a shrug.
"But... they're out there... with my mom..." Tai said quietly. He looked down at the grass below him, troubled thoughts of his mother rushing through his mind. In the midst of all the chaos, he hadn't realise his mother still hadn't come out of the forest. Now the fact was looking him dead in the face. And the bounty hunter... and that weavile... were in there with her.
Gus put his claw on the young sneasel's shoulder. "Listen kid. They might be in the forest with your mum, but we did a serious number on 'em. She'll be okay," he assured Tai.
"But wait... Can't you just go back to your mom now that that absol isn't a threat?" Lucky inquired.
Tai put his head down again. "No, I can't. We were attacked by a weavile too, and she fought and told me to run. I'n supposed to find some kind of town to stay in until she comes to get me... but I don't know where that is..." he explained.
"Well, there just so happens to be a town right across these hills. We can take you if you-" Gus started to say, but was cut off.
"Really? There is?" Tai said, suddenly excited.
Gus sighed. "Yeah, there is. You want to come with us?" he offered. Forgetting all previous trust issues, Tai nodded. The zangoose let out a yawn, then turned and motioned everyone to follow him with his claw. "Alright then gang... let's head home!"
As Tai made his way up the hill with the other pokemon, he could just barely see the small town, as another hill was in the way. Regardless, he was greatly relieved. The bounty hunter was no longer a problem and he would soon be right where his mother was coming to pick him up. Soon, they would be together again.
"Sure was a shame that absol got away," Sol commented, breaking the silence. "She was actually quite cute..."
Abbigail burst out laughing. "Sol! Since when were you into guys!?" she exclaimed, laughing so hard she was hardly breathing.
"Ahem. She was in fact, quite female," Sol snarked, unamused.
"Umm, no he wasn't!" Abbigail snapped, no longer laughing.
"I am an absol, Abbigail. I should know!"
"Well, I'm a female, so if he was a girl, I would have noticed."
"Well I'm a male, and she was a male, I would have noticed!"
And so Sol and Abbigail bickered like children all the way into the town.
Yay! New characters, the downfall of the bounty hunter, and all that other good stuff! Hope it was worth the wait!
Again, personal life was the main reason for the delay, but also because this chapter is way longer then the first two, just like you guys asked! Next chapter we get to see the guild, and all that good stuff.
Tell me what you thought in a review! I can't quite think of what else to say, so... see you in the next one!
