"I hated this route the first time, and I'm not liking it any better now," Edwin complained as he angrily pushed his way through the tall jungle grass that reached up to his navel.
"Well, this is a jungle," Faustina replied. "And jungles are known for their dense foliage."
"I know - " Edwin stopped mid-sentence to angrily swat at the leaves of a tree that smacked him in the face as he walked past it. " - but that doesn't make it any less annoying."
The young trainer estimated that they were still a couple hours away from Fortree. His father had dropped Faustina and him off at Lilycove via boat, but it was then up to them to make it to Fortree. Edwin's father had told them to avoid the dirt road and to stick to the jungle paths, as going through the jungle would make it more difficult for them to be spotted or attacked by others looking for the Blue Orb.
The rainforest air was hot and humid, and the uncomfortable conditions only served to worsen Edwin's mood. The only thing they had going for them was that they had not been attacked by any pokemon so far, so their journey was going rather smoothly (save for the cumbersome jungle foliage).
The pair continued hacking their way through the jungle route for a few more minutes before Faustina broke the silence and snapped Edwin out of his plant-hating thoughts.
"Did you hear something?" She asked.
Edwin grunted. "I mean, there's all kinds of sounds in the jungle. Like that damn taillow that won't shut up!" His voice rose as he mentioned the bird, as if the pokemon would somehow hear him and decide to listen to his pleas.
Faustina sighed in response. "You know what I mean. I heard something else, something out of the ordinary." Her violet eyes squinted into the dense, green foliage, looking at something that wasn't there.
"It's probably this heat playing tricks on you," Edwin said. "I can't even hear myself think because it's so hot. I wouldn't be surprised if this humidity and heat combo could also cause hallucinations."
Faustina paused for a bit. "Maybe you're right. We should keep mov - no, I heard it again. There's definitely something there."
The blue-eyed trainer's hand went towards his pokeballs. He figured the noise was probably some stray pokemon, but it wouldn't hurt to be at least a little bit cautious. If the Blue Orb fell into the wrong hands, the results could be disastrous. Faustina had wanted to carry the Orb herself, but Edwin had assured her that he could handle it.
Faustina herself was now holding a pokeball, and she was staring intently into the deep, green foliage of the jungle. Suddenly, a blast of fire jetted out from the leaves and streamed towards the two trainers. Faustina rolled out of the way with ease and Edwin clumsily threw himself to the ground, just barely avoiding the flames.
He struggled to his feet and plucked a pokeball off his belt, looking around in order to discern where the flamethrower had come from. The leaves in front of him rustled and a woman stepped out from the jungle, a magmar standing at her side. She had long golden hair and piercing green eyes, and she was dressed in a black military uniform.
"You," Faustina said breathlessly. "I recognize you."
The woman glared at her. "And I recognize you. You're a friend of Alfgar's, no?"
"What do you want?" Faustina spat out.
"What do you think? The Blue Orb, of course. I saw you back in Mossdeep, when you got off that boat with him," she said, gesturing towards Edwin. "I saw you both go into the space station, and that's when I knew."
"Edwin's father works at the Mossdeep Space Station," Faustina replied. "We only went to visit him. I don't know what Blue Orb nonsense you're talking about."
The blonde woman laughed bitterly. "You're not very good at lying, are you? Alfgar has the Red Orb, I know that much for sure. You and him being in Hoenn at the same time is no coincidence, so I know you have something to do with him. I also have confirmation that the Blue Orb was being held at the Mossdeep Space Station, so it wasn't hard to put two and two together when I saw you going in there."
Faustina didn't bother to reply. Instead, she tossed her pokeball and sent out a reuniclus which immediately blasted the magmar with a psychic upon being released. Edwin got ready to throw his pokeball as well when he suddenly heard a voice from behind him.
"Two against one isn't very fair, is it?"
Edwin spun around and saw another woman dressed in the same black uniform as the blonde. She had fiery red hair and bright blue eyes not unlike his own. She readied a pokeball and released an angry looking primeape. The ape began pounding the ground with its fists and grunting furiously.
Edwin chucked his own pokeball and shouted, "Elric, aerial ace!"
The pidgeotto appeared in a flash of white light and immediately rushed toward the primeape, slashing it across its body in an impressive show of speed. The primeape reeled backwards, but the damage it took only made it angrier and it continued to slam its fists into the ground.
"Jump, Amur! Bring that bird down," called out the red-haired woman.
The primeape leapt into the air with a squeal and latched onto Elric, pulling him down. Edwin was surprised to see that the fighting type could jump so high.
"Get him off you, Elric!"
The primeape had the pidgeotto pinned down and was repeatedly beating him with its large, glove-like fists. Elric struggled to push the ape off, but all he could do was slap the pig monkey with his wings and vainly try to peck the fighter.
Edwin recalled his pidgeotto when he saw that the primeape clearly had the upper hand and instead sent out Ajax. The electabuzz flexed and sparked upon release and began growling at the primeape, who hooted angrily in response.
As he watched the two pokemon size each other up, Edwin thought about his next move. The primeape would definitely beat Ajax if it came to a fistfight, but Ajax was also capable of attacking from afar while the primeape seemed to be more of a physical fighter.
"Thunderbolt!" Edwin shouted. Ajax shot a bolt of electricity from the two nodes on his head, but the primeape rolled out of the way with ease. After an order from its trainer, the primeape then began to rush towards the electabuzz.
"Try and thunderbolt it but stay where you are," Edwin told his pokemon. As the primeape rapidly advanced, Ajax shot bolts of electricity at it, though most seemed to miss the fighting type. Soon enough the primeape was close enough to Ajax to leap at him.
"Thunder punch, now!" Edwin ordered as the primeape's fist was only inches away from Ajax. The electabuzz raised his fist and struck the primeape in its face, causing the monkey to be sent backwards with electricity crackling around it. The primeape slowly got to its feet, but both Edwin and Ajax realized that it was moving more slowly than it was before. Paralysis had set in.
"Rush it, Ajax! Thunder punch!"
Now that the primeape couldn't move as quickly, Ajax would have the advantage from close-range as well as long-range. The woman desperately called out for her primeape to dodge, but the primeape was far too slow for Ajax. The electabuzz swung its sparking fists again and again, beating the primeape bloody. Soon enough, the red-haired woman recalled her pokemon and lifted another ball from her belt.
She tossed the pokeball into the air and released a sandslash. The ground type clacked its claws together in anticipation. Edwin knew that Ajax would be at a severe disadvantage here, as the electabuzz's move pool consisted mainly of electric-type attacks. He returned Ajax and sent Elric back out. The pidgeotto took to the air immediately, though he was still bruised up from the beating he took from the primeape.
"Hamida, swords dance!" The sandslash clacked its claws together again and spun around in a strange ritual.
Edwin grit his teeth. He couldn't let the sandslash become too powerful or else he'd have to stick to long-range attacks, and attacking from a distance was not Elric's forte. "Aerial ace!"
Elric dove down towards the sandslash and attempted to slice at it with his talons, but the ground type blocked Elric's talons with its claws and then sliced at the pidgeotto's underside, drawing blood and causing the bird to fly away with a shriek.
"Use gust," Edwin commanded after seeing Elric's attack repulsed. The pidgeotto flapped his wings violently and blew and intense wind towards the sandslash, but the ground type only curled up into a spiky ball and weathered the attack, taking almost no damage along the way.
Edwin cursed. The two pokemon were at a stalemate, as the sandslash didn't appear to be able to attack from afar and Elric couldn't risk attacking from close-range. Just as Edwin was about to switch Elric out again, the Sandslash shot a flurry of orange energy towards the pidgeotto, almost knocking him to the ground.
Swift, Edwin recognized. So the sandslash was capable of long-range attacks. "Twister, Elric," he called out.
The flying type flapped his wings again but this time caused a mini-tornado laced with blue, draconic energy. The small funnel went spiraling towards the sandslash, who, predictably, went into its curled-up defensive position again.
"Dive towards it! Wait for it to come out of its ball form and then use aerial ace!"
As the sandslash unfurled itself, Elric dived towards it and struck it across the face with his talons. This time, Elric was the one coming away with blood on his claws. The sandslash screeched in agony as it tried to wipe the blood from its eyes, but its clawed hands made that task very difficult.
"Snap out of it, Hamida!" Shouted the red-haired woman. "It's coming again! Get your claws up!"
Unfortunately for the sandslash, Elric was already in position to strike before the ground type could even process its trainer's commands. The pidgeotto struck again, this time clawing at the sandslash's unprotected belly. Though the new cuts were shallower, blood still seeped out of the sandslash's stomach wounds, causing the ground type to screech again.
"Don't stop, Elric! Keep it up!"
"Get into defensive position, Hamida!" The woman yelled as she heard Edwin's command.
The sandslash feebly tried to curl up again, but the repeated strikes from the pidgeotto's aerial aces were too much to handle. The ground type collapsed, blood pouring out from its various wounds.
As the red-haired woman returned her pokemon and readied another, Elric landed in front of his trainer and gasped for breath, his pale plumage covering his chest now stained red. The rapid fire attacks had taken their toll, and the sandslash's first cut was a crippling blow. Edwin realized that Elric probably wouldn't last another hit, so he recalled the pidgeotto after thanking him for his effort.
The two trainers sent out their pokemon at the same time. The red-haired woman released a simisear with a jolly smile on its face while Edwin sent Ajax back out.
"You already beat one monkey, Ajax, another won't be a problem!" Edwin called out as he grinned. Ajax looked back at his trainer and pumped his fists in the air, exuding confidence.
"Don't get cocky, kid," the woman replied venomously. "Hugo, flame charge!"
The simisear coated itself in flames and charged at Ajax, hooting all the while.
"Thunder punch it!" As the flaming monkey rushed at Ajax, the electabuzz shot its fist forward and zapped the simisear. However, Ajax also took damage as he was singed by the flame charge.
"Thunderbolt, while it's recovering!" Ajax shot a burst of electricity towards the simisear, but the fire type nimbly dodged it and leapt at Ajax, slashing him across the face with its claws glowing purple with a ghostly energy.
Ajax growled in anger and fired off another thunderbolt, but the simisear only laughed and dodged again. The electabuzz grew frustrated at this and stomped his feet on the ground.
"Don't let it bait you! The calmer you are, the more accurate your attacks will be!" Edwin cautioned.
Ajax, however, ignored his trainer's advice as the simisear grabbed a handful of jungle soil and threw it at the electabuzz's face. Ajax roared and charged at the simisear, his two nodes atop his head sparking with electricity.
"Fire punch," ordered the woman, and the simisear coated its fist in flame and delivered a haymaker that sent Ajax to the ground. The electabuzz slowly got to his feet, and Edwin saw with horror that half of the electric type's face had been burned badly by the simisear's close-range fire punch.
"Get out of there, Ajax!"
Instead of listening to Edwin's warning, Ajax attempted to thunder punch the simisear again. The red monkey easily slid past the electric fist and gave Ajax another fire punch in return, this time an uppercut that rendered the electabuzz unconscious. As the simisear hooted in victory, Edwin recalled Ajax and sent out his next pokemon.
Poseidon appeared with a flash of light and bellowed fearsomely upon spotting the simisear. The flame monkey only laughed in response, but Poseidon was not the type to get worked up at such a response.
"Surf!" Edwin shouted. Though the surf attack was weaker without an immediate source of water, it was still enough to blast the chuckling simisear onto its back. The fire type got up and scowled, its jolly attitude replaced by a more serious one.
"You'll have to use your speed on this one, Hugo," remarked the woman. "Circle around it and make sure that it can't touch you."
As the simisear darted around Poseidon and jabbed at the swampert, Edwin smiled to himself. "Earthquake."
Poseidon roared throatily and began to shake the ground nearby. The area under the simisear shook violently, and the fire monkey was slammed about the jungle soil by the swampert's attack. As the simisear struggled to its feet, Poseidon lifted one of his heavy arms and slammed it into the simisear's neck with a resounding crack. The simisear was immediately recalled.
The red-haired woman snarled in anger. "I'm getting sick of this. Arminius, Weland, go!" She tossed two pokeballs into the air, releasing a noivern and a sableye.
Edwin decided to even the odds and sent out Shira, who growled at the two opponents. The sableye wasted no time and immediately sprung into action, dashing around Poseidon and slashing at him with its claws as the swampert tried to swat at the ghost. Shira sent a shadow ball at the noivern, but the dragon flapped its wings and took to the air, avoiding the attack.
The noivern then let out a horrible screech, causing Shira to whimper and lower her ears and making Edwin and Poseidon both raise their hands to block the sound. The sableye took this moment to latch onto Poseidon's face and begin clawing at his eyes.
"Blast it away, Poseidon!" Edwin yelled desperately. Luckily, the swampert heard him and shot a burst of water out of his mouth that sent the sableye sprawling back towards its trainer. Poseidon was bleeding from a few cuts on his face, but fortunately his sight was still intact.
Edwin noticed that Shira was still trying to hit the noivern with a shadow ball, but the airborne dragon was evading the attacks quite well. "Shira, use howl. If that dragon's not going to stay and fight, we're going to make it pay."
The mightyena raised her head to the sky and howled loudly, increasing her confidence and her attacking strength. Out of the corner of his eye, Edwin glimpsed the sableye rushing towards Shira in order to disrupt her howl. "Poseidon, make sure that sableye doesn't reach Shira."
The swampert shot another burst of water at the small ghost, hitting it in its side and causing it to fall over. The sableye got up and hissed, but Poseidon only responded with another blast of water which the sableye barely managed to dodge.
Suddenly the noivern swooped down from the air and slammed into Poseidon, causing the swampert to momentarily stop its assault on the sableye. The little ghost tried to rush Poseidon again, but it was intercepted by Shira who grabbed the sableye in her jaws. She shook her head from side to side, tossing the sableye around like a rag doll.
"Arminius, use hurricane!" Edwin heard the woman shout.
The noivern shrieked in response and began flapping its wings rapidly. The wind began to pick up, and Edwin dove into some bushes to avoid being wrecked by the strong attack. He watched as the high-intensity winds buffeted the three pokemon on the ground, and he saw Shira let go of the sableye and go tumbling away from the battle. Poseidon managed to hold his ground, but he had his eyes screwed shut in pain as the wind ravaged the area.
When the wind finally died down and Edwin emerged from the bushes, he saw that the sableye had put up a protect as soon as Shira released it and that it had not been harmed by the winds. The noivern had landed in front of its trainer and was panting heavily, and Poseidon looked like he was about to collapse. Shira had collapsed, and blood poured out of the numerous cuts that the wind had caused.
Edwin recalled the mightyena and sent out Revina to take her place. The beedrill buzzed angrily upon release, and the sableye cackled at the bug pokemon.
"Revina, go for the noivern," Edwin ordered. "It's weakened right now."
Revina's wings vibrated rapidly as she sped towards the panting dragon, but the sableye leapt into the air in an attempt to stop the bug. Though he was also busy catching his breath, Poseidon still managed to shoot a weak blast of water at the sableye, knocking it out of the air and out of Revina's path.
As Revina neared the noivern, her stingers primed for attack, the red-haired woman shouted a command. "Use flamethrower! Put everything you have into it!"
To Edwin's surprise, the noivern opened its mouth and shot a stream of fire directly at Revina. Edwin's hand shot towards the beedrill's pokeball and he immediately recalled her as she became encased in flames. The noivern fell to the ground, panting heavily from the effort, but Edwin was still shocked that the dragon had managed two powerful attacks in a row. He underestimated his opponent, and his pokemon paid the price.
He grit his teeth and sent out his last pokemon, his ninetales named Elena. "Flamethrower, Elena!"
The ninetales looked back at him, disdain clear in her eyes. Instead of following her trainer's command, Elena did nothing and simply stared at the drained noivern and the little sableye. The ghost began cackling upon seeing the ninetales ignore her trainer and then charged at her.
As the sableye took a swipe at Elena, the ninetales leapt backwards and spat a stream of fire in order to deter the ghost. The sableye evaded the flamethrower and continued to chase after Elena. Edwin tried to call out orders, but it was futile. Elena wouldn't be listening to him anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Poseidon and the noivern were still trying to recover from their respective wounds. Eventually the noivern got back up and flapped its wings weakly, though it did manage to get back into the air after a few attempts.
Edwin noticed this and turned his attention away from his disobedient ninetales. "Poseidon, knock it out of the air!"
The swampert shot a weak water gun towards the noivern, but the dragon swung out of the way with a screech of surprise.
"Get that ninetales, Arminius!" Shouted the woman. The noivern screeched and dove at Elena and the sableye, both of whom were busy scratching at each other. The noivern gave another warning shriek as it approached, and the sableye darted out of the way as the dragon slammed into Elena's side.
"Poseidon, hit that sableye while it's distracted." Edwin watched as Poseidon shot a stronger blast of water at the sableye, this time making contact with the opponent and sending the ghost to the ground. Edwin figured that if Elena was going to ignore him, she would have to fight her own battle.
He briefly glanced over to where Elena and the noivern were and saw that the ninetales was desperately trying to scorch the dragon. The noivern, damaged as it was, was still easily avoiding Elena's rushed attacks and was constantly swooping downwards to attack. Elena was powerful, but her style of battling was not very intelligent.
"Elena, distance yourself from it! It's weakened already, make it work hard to hit you!" Edwin's advice fell on deaf ears, though, as Elena continued to shoot flamethrowers at the noivern from close-range, missing almost every time.
Edwin shook his head and turned back to Poseidon and the sableye. The red-haired woman was constantly shouting orders at the ghost, but the sableye was still unable to do much damage to the bulky swampert even when its hits made contact.
"Waterfall!" Edwin called out. Poseidon opened his mouth and shot another burst of water, but this time, the water fell back towards him and coated his body. The swampert then slammed into the sableye, sending it flying backwards.
"Now a mud bomb!" Edwin was determined not to let the quick sableye escape this time. Poseidon shot a compact mix of mud and water at the ghost, making contact with it as it struggled to recover from the close-range waterfall attack it took.
As the mud bomb burst over the sableye, it groaned in pain and then collapsed. The woman returned the sableye with a scowl, her blue eyes flashing with anger. Though Edwin saw that she had another pokeball on her belt, the woman did not release it and instead focused her attention on her noivern, who was soundly beating Elena.
"Poseidon, try a surf attack," Edwin suggested, and Poseidon shot another blast of water in the direction of the noivern. Instead of dodging, the noivern lifted the weakened Elena in its claws and took off towards the surf. As the water attack approached it, the noivern ascended slightly and let Elena take the brunt of the surf. The dragon then dropped the ninetales and flew higher as the fire type landed with a loud thud.
Edwin grimaced and recalled Elena. Both trainers were now down to their last pokemon, both of whom were extremely weakened.
"Stay away from it, Arminius," cautioned the woman. "It'll be easier for us if we stick to long-distance attacks."
Poseidon looked back at Edwin warily. Both trainer and pokemon knew that Poseidon's surf was getting weaker and more inaccurate due to fatigue, which left their long-range attacking options severely limited.
As Edwin contemplated his next move, the noivern let out a stream of purple-green flame that Poseidon just barely managed to dodge. The noivern circled around the swampert and tried another dragon breath, this time hitting Poseidon.
Damn it, thought Edwin. He still remembered how Poseidon fared against this tactic when he fought Winona. Things were not looking good for him. Another dragon breath hit Poseidon, and the swampert was fighting just to keep his legs from collapsing underneath him. I've got to think of something, and fast.
Edwin's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud bang and a bright light, and he felt himself get thrown backwards as the blast reached him. When the dust cleared, Edwin saw that his opponent's noivern had been knocked out. Poseidon was miraculously still standing, though it looked as if a slight breeze would knock him out at this point.
Edwin then shifted his gaze to the source of the explosion which took place a few yards to his right. He saw the blonde woman taking shelter behind her glalie, which had fainted after taking the full hit of the blast. A seviper was also wrapped around the woman, protecting her from any serious damage.
He saw Faustina's gardevoir fall to the ground, her body shining a light pink sheen. He figured the gardevoir had been the one who caused the explosion. Faustina herself looked close to collapsing as well, and she was bleeding heavily from various wounds.
Suddenly, the blonde woman's seviper lashed out at Faustina, slashing her across the torso with its poisonous tail. Blood sprayed everywhere and Faustina fell.
"NO!" Shouted Edwin, and he turned back to Poseidon to try and get help to Faustina. However, as he looked back at his own battlefield, he saw the red-haired woman staring him down, a pistol in her hand.
Before Edwin could react, the woman fired. Edwin had not even noticed that Poseidon was already in motion before the woman pulled the trigger, and he was shocked and horrified when he saw his swampert take the bullet for him. The large water type slumped over, and Edwin lifted the last remaining ball on his belt.
Her threw the ultra ball without even thinking. He was in a sort of daze, and he was trying to discern if this was all real or whether he was just having a terrible nightmare. A red, humanoid thing appeared after a brief flash of white, and it immediately began its assault.
The red pokemon lifted the red-haired woman in the air with some sort of psychic power and then twisted her neck violently, killing her. It then tossed her body aside and turned towards the blonde woman, who was currently cowering behind her seviper. The snake tensed up and bared its fangs at the red psychic, but it was clearly afraid as well.
Edwin got a good look at the thing when it turned towards the blonde woman. Its face was a sort of teal color, and it had a line running down its face which split it in half. Its arms resembled two intertwined DNA strands, and it had a bright purple object lodged in its chest. The purple object in its chest glowed harshly as it lifted the woman and seviper with its psychic powers.
After a moment of levitating the two in mid-air, the strange pokemon flung them into the sky and away from the battlefield with a grating, metallic cry. When the red and blue pokemon saw that it had no more opponents left, it turned back towards Edwin and looked at him with its cold, sunken eyes. Edwin was finally snapped out of his trance and he fumbled for the ultra ball as he returned the creature.
When the pokemon was safely back inside the ultra ball, Edwin reluctantly surveyed the battlefield. Patches of the jungle grass and soil had been scorched by the various attacks, and a banana tree had fallen as well. Blood was everywhere, and three bodies lay motionless on the ground.
Edwin first approached Poseidon, who was lying face down. As the young trainer gingerly reached out towards the swampert, Poseidon stirred and pushed himself up so that his two back legs supported most of his weight.
"Poseidon... Y-you're alive?"
The swampert croaked weakly and blinked as he regained consciousness. Edwin saw that the bullet had lodged in Poseidon's stomach and had drawn a little bit of blood, but the swampert's thick skin had prevented any major damage from occurring. Edwin wrapped his arms around Poseidon in a relieved hug, and the swampert croaked lightly again and weakly patted his trainer on the back.
"Are you alright?" Edwin knew that it was a stupid question as soon as it came out of his mouth, but he felt like he had to ask it nonetheless.
Poseidon croaked a response and nodded, though Edwin could see that the swampert was still pretty weakened.
Edwin then made his way to Faustina, who was still lying on the ground and bleeding profusely from the seviper's vicious hit. As Edwin approached her, he saw that she was still alive. As he knelt down beside her, he found that his throat had tightened and that he could do nothing but stare at her dying form. His eyes watered and he tried to say something, but once again nothing came out.
"Edwin..." She choked out weakly as her blood continued to flow, staining the jungle grass red. "I... Tell Alfgar... I forgive him..." Her vivid violet eyes closed as she finished her broken sentence, and Edwin knew she was gone.
"Faustina..." He finally managed to utter, but it was too late. She was dead, and he was alone for the first time since he started his journey.
Poseidon came up behind him and put one of his large hands on his Edwin's shoulder. No, Edwin thought, I have never been alone.
"... We should bury her," he finally said after an eternity of silence. "Do you have enough strength left to dig?" He asked Poseidon. "This soil's really loose."
The swampert nodded in reply and began to dig a large hole in the ground. Edwin watched as Poseidon dug a deep hole in a matter of minutes, and he struggled to keep from bursting out in tears as his swampert carried Faustina's body into the grave. He helped Poseidon refill the grave with dirt, and he stood sadly over it as he held Faustina's pokeball belt in his hands.
"Thank you," he said to the grave. "For everything."
He tossed Faustina's pokeball belt into his pack where it came to rest next to the Blue Orb. He figured that it would be wrong to leave Faustina's pokemon in the jungle to rot, as they had been a large part of his journey as well. He wondered if any of them were still alive.
Edwin then walked over to the red-haired woman whose dead body was slumped over the fallen banana tree. Her neck was twisted at a sharp angle, and her blue eyes were frozen in fear and shock. She also had her pokeballs on her belt, but Edwin decided to leave them with their trainer's body. He wouldn't know what to do with them anyway, and if he released them they would probably try to kill him.
He then recalled Poseidon as the swampert was clearly on the verge of collapsing. As he clipped Poseidon's ball back to his belt, he glanced at the ultra ball. What was that thing? He wondered. He guessed he would find out soon enough, as he still had to deliver the Orb and the ultra ball to Winona in Fortree. As he shouldered his pack and prepared to set off again, he remembered that he now had another task as well.
Alfgar...
Dex entry #715: noivern
"You think zubat are annoying? Well, let me tell you, once you encounter a noivern in a dank, dark cave, you will wish that you were fighting a horde of zubat." - James Rogers, famous spelunker
Noivern are rare bat-like dragons that are found in tropical caves across the world. These pokemon rely on their sense of hearing and supersonic skills in order to locate their prey, as they primarily hunt at night. Though noivern are omnivores and do enjoy eating fruit, they have been known to attack and kill trainers and pokemon who wander too deeply into caves. Though small for a dragon pokemon, noivern are still very dangerous as they are capable of screeching loudly in order to disorient their opponents, leaving them open to be ravaged by the noivern's sharp claws. Noivern are considered a level three threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale.