Chapter 11
Moonstone
"WHERE AM I GONNA FIND A MOON ROCK!?" Luna shouted at the top of her lungs as she plopped down onto a stone in the middle of Boren's Gym.
"That's what I was trying to tell ya, kid." Boren rubbed his forehead and shut his eyes tightly, still trying to get adjusted to the bright lights of the gym battlefield, "And can we not scream so loudly? I've got a killer hangover. Damn, how much did I drink last night?"
Luna puffed up her blushing face, "You had too much."
"I can tell." he sat down opposite from her on another waist-high boulder.
"So how do we find a moonstone?" Luna perked up.
"Usually we would need to trek to the nearest clan of Clefairy in hopes that they might have a moonstone. But the nearest clan is at the northern peak of the region. And I don't know about you but I'm not in the mood to take a months journey there and back to evolve my Nidorino."
Luna slouched over, "Well, we will have to do our best to train him as he is now."
Boren released his Nidorino from his Pokeball. The Pokemon was much rounder than any Nidorino would be normally, it waddled toward Boren with bright eyes.
"Hey, friend," Boren smirked as he pa the Pokemon's head.
Luna leaped from her seat and screamed with a high pitch as she rushed over to hug the Pokemon, "He's so cute!" She half-tackled the Pokemon, rubbing her cheek against his playfully.
The Nidoran seemed to love the sudden affection and rubbed his head against hers with equal enthusiasm.
Boren smiled, "Nidorino seems to like you, too. I found him a couple of years ago, a older friend of mine couldn't take care of him anymore."
"Ooh, let him meet my Pokemon too." Luna threw up her three Pokeballs from her pocket; Casper, Slither, and the Ledyba all erupt forth from their Pokeballs.
The Pokemon all joined together and seem to introduce themselves to each other besides Ledyba who keeps its distance from the group.
"He's a bit shy, huh?" Boren spoke as he watched the Pokemon start to play together.
"What? Who?" Luna looked up as he pointed to the Ledyba, "Wait, He's a boy? How can you tell?"
Boren rolled his eyes, "What do they teach you guys in trainer school anymore? His antennae, dumbass. a female's antennae would be shorter than a male's."
Luna's face turned red with embarrassment, "H-Hey! There are countless Pokemon out there! Excuse me for not knowing the gender difference of a single species!" She crossed her arms.
Boren walked over to the flying Ledyba, and pulled out a treat from his hand, "Hey there, Bud." He lifted the treat up to him with an open palm.
The Ledyba was cautious as it flew closer to him and gently took the round treat from his hand and began eating it happily; chirping cutely as it munched on the snack.
Luna raised an eyebrow, "Well at least you're nice to Pokemon. Otherwise, I'd have to kick your ass..."
"Hehe. Yeah, I'm sure you would!" Boren pat the Ledyba's head. He walked back towards the other Pokemon and bent down to hand out treats to the other Pokemon. The Ledyba floated joyfully behind Boren, following him to the group.
Boren pet Casper and Slither, examining them closely. "You take good care of your Pokemon."
"Duh, I love them. Of course, I'm gonna take care of them!" Luna replied, standoffishly.
Boren laughed and stood back up, watching Casper as he flew over to Luna to hug her.
Luna smirked and hugged her Pokemon back.
"They love you too." Boren smirked, "But, getting back to the issue at hand. We might be in luck. My mother was the one who gave Bailey and I the Moonstones as an engagement gift, she might have a spare one."
"Why didn't you mention that earlier!?"
"I... Forgot?"
"Geez, and you called me the dumbass?" she said sassily.
"Shut up." He scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed.
The two gathered their Pokemon and headed down the road towards Boren's mother's store.
Boren knocked loudly on the doorway as he walked inside the store, "Hey, mom." Luna followed closely behind him.
The elderly woman looked up from her newspaper, "Borry! It's nice to see you out, sweetie!"
"Borry!?" Luna covered her mouth as she cackled.
"IT'S A NICKNAME!" He shouted back at her, clearly embarrassed.
His mother came from around the counter, "Oh, Borry! What can I get you? Are you hungry?"
"N-No, mom. Look, I need to ask you about the moonstones that you got for me and Bailey."
"Y-Yes? What about them, sweetie?" The woman stepped back and leaned her frail body against the counter for support as she stood.
"Did you have any more by any chance?" He scratched his head, knowing it was a Farfetch'd question.
"Not on me, no." she shook her head, "It took me a month and a half to get those, I had to travel across the continent to get those Moonstones!" she told the two. "But I didn't just get two moonstones when I went. I came back with three."
"You did!? That's amazing, but why three?" he questioned his mother.
"W-well, one for you, one for Bailey, and... One for your child, when the time came..."
Boren froze. Luna put her hand on his back as she noticed this. Boren took a deep breath to calm himself before tears could find a way to welt up in his eyes.
"I-I'm okay." he nodded back at Luna in a thankful manner. "Thank goodness for that, then. It turns out that we are gonna need another moonstone."
"W-Well, I don't really have it on me anymore." She said a bit embarrassed.
"What? Why not!?" Boren exclaimed.
"W-Well, I hid it away so that when your child was of age, they would be able to find it..."
Boren sighed, "Where'd you put the moonstone, Mom?" The tone of his voice wasn't harsh, but a bit fearful in the stone's location.
"It's where you proposed to Bailey..." The woman knows the answer probably hurt her son's psyche and couldn't help but look away, almost ashamed for telling him the answer.
"It's alright mom." He assured her, "I think I knew the answer before you said it aloud." He took a moment to calm himself.
Luna put her hand upon his shoulder, "I know this must be a bit hard for you, I could go get it for you. Wherever that place is if you'd like?"
Boren put his hand on hers and pat it gently, "No, no. I think it's best if I came as well. I haven't been there since she passed away. Maybe it will give me some sense of closure."
"I see." She gave him a soft smile, reassuring her support.
"Alright then, thanks, mom. I'll be back tomorrow." He nodded to his mother before heading out of the store.
Luna hurried after him, he was headed back towards his gym.
"So where are we heading?" Luna caught up to him.
"I just need to pick up some things before I head out, if you are coming make sure you bring a tent it's gonna take around a day to get there and back."
"Sure thing, I always carry mine with me."
Boren headed inside of the Gym and came out with a large traveling backpack, "Okay I'm ready, did you need to grab anything before we head out of town? We'll probably be spending the night in the woods tonight."
"I mean, I'm pretty stocked up on water and supplies. I prepped up for a long journey when I stopped by my hometown a couple of days ago." Luna assured him.
"Alright then, let's head out." Boren began walking down the road towards Route Three.
Luna paced to keep up with the tall man, "So where are we even heading, exactly? Because I'm feeling a bit left out over here."
Boren cleared his throat, "There's a small wooden shrine hidden on a side road along Route Three. I proposed to Bailey there when we were in our late teens."
"R-Route Three? Oh okay..." Luna choked a bit as she spoke.
Boren noticed the inflection in her voice but was more focused on not freaking out himself, heading to a place with such powerful memories of his beloved deceased wife.
The sun peaked in the middle of the sky as the two began their trek down Route Three back towards AcornWall.
The grayish-brown trees loomed overhead, blocking much of the sunlight on a bright day.
"It's a shame, really." Boren spoke up as they walked.
"What is?" asked Luna.
"This Route used to be so beautiful when we were young, the trees would glow with vibrant orange leaves in the fall and be such a lush shade of green when they came back in the spring. I don't know if it is just the nostalgia for those memories, but this forest now seems almost decrepit."
"No, this forest sucks. Super fucking creepy at night too..."
"Huh." Boren whispered to himself, "It's as if the forest knew she was gone..."
Luna picked up what he tried to say silently but bit her lip and kept quite unsure what to even say at the moment, she felt a bit awkward but guilty that she couldn't do anything more than this to help the still, clearly grieving Gym Leader.
Boren eventually noticed how he'd made the walk a bit awkward and sparked up a different conversation, asking about how her trip to GullCoast City was after learning that she was from AcornWall. The conversation picked up from there and became a bit lively as she told him about the beautiful scenery of the City and beachside.
A few hours into the trek, the two were barely able to tell but could make out that the sun was making its descent towards the horizon.
"Should be another half hour or so before we reach the fork in the road. From there it'll be another hour or two to get to the shrine."
"F-Fork in the road?" Luna quickly felt sick to her stomach as she remembered the dark road looming at the fork and the horrible memories from her past.
Boren could tell the uncomfortable aura exuding from Luna as he watched her cross her arms and grip them tightly as they walked.
"Yeah, there's a fork in the road ahead, is that a problem?"
"N-No!" She assured him, speaking loudly but seeming obviously embarrassed that she was afraid.
"Luna, I know I'm having a hard time myself going to this shrine. But I can tell that you are more hesitant to go there than I even am. Is there something that you want to talk about?" Boren spoke with genuine care in his voice.
Luna looked away, "It's a childish reason, really..."
"Are you scared of the dark? It's okay to be, plenty of Adults still are."
"No, it's not that." she sighed, she built herself up to say what she wanted to out loud, "H-have you ever seen a giant monster out in these woods...?"
Boren looked at her a bit cock-eyed but answered honestly, "No, I don't think I ever have. Why? Do you think that there is a monster out here?"
"D-Don't make it sound stupid." she felt the embarrassment kick in full-time as she continued, "I know it sounds ridiculous but when I was twelve or thirteen I came out here to get my first Pokemon from BoulderCreek's Professor at the time. On my first night out here, I made the wrong turn when it was foggy and went down the side road; the same one I believe you are thinking of. A-And while I sure as hell didn't see a shrine. I saw something... Something horrifying to say the least."
The memories of the creature loomed back into her mind as she recalled the event, "Its teeth were like knives... I remember it looming over me and staring at me with those red eyes piercing through the fog. I-It had blood dripping from its claws and mouth... I- I just stood there frozen before I ran and hid. I know it sounds crazy but-"
"Luna, you don't have to explain yourself to me. I believe you. I've seen plenty of scary things out in the woods. And I don't know if this makes it any better, but neither me nor Bailey ever saw anything like that out here. Maybe it was a Pokemon that was traveling across the region, some of the Pokemon out there can be complete monsters when they want to be..."
"Th-That last part makes it sound like you are speaking from experience."
Boren nodded, seeming to recall an experience similar to her own, "I am. B-But this isn't about me. I'm with here with you now alongside our Pokemon, so there's nothing to be afraid of so long as we stick together."
Luna gave a small smile and nodded at Boren. "Thank you for listening..."
"Please, kid, you're the one out here helping me despite being so terrified. I'm the one who should be thanking you!"
Luna smiled brighter, "You can start thanking me by NOT calling me, kid!"
"R-Right, sorry. Thank you, Luna." He scratched the back of his head.
"You are very welcome! Just don't be angry at me when I finally get to kick your ass fair and square!"
"Don't get too cocky on me, Nidorino may be a bit rusty but after a bit of training and evolving, he'll be a powerhouse!"
"We'll see!" Luna winked as she strutted forward feeling a bit braver now.
Soon the two came up to the fork in the small clearing where the fork in the road sat. After seeing the side road's entrance Boren sighed, preparing himself to see the shrine as he charged forward.
Luna stood at the entrance for a bit longer than him but knew that she couldn't let him go alone and rushed after him.
The sun was nowhere to be seen in the sky now, though they could make out some purples and a bit of orange in the fading light from beyond the treeline.
"Looks like it's going to be nighttime soon, let's hope that we reach the shrine before that so we have a bit more room to set up camp than this cramped trail." said Boren.
Luna nodded in agreement.
Soon after this, a fog began to form around them as they walked, Luna became very aware of this and watched their surroundings closely as they carried onward.
The trees begin to grow thicker and the path becomes tighter and tighter as the vines and branches sway low close to their heads.
"The path to the shrine is definitely overgrown," Boren mumbled.
"No. Shit." Luna spoke sarcastically as she followed him closely, hunched over as she tried to keep her hair from catching on the hanging branches.
After another half-hour of branches and vines getting caught on their bags and clothing, Boren stops Luna with his arm out, "We're here."
Luna steps beside Boren to see a clearing in front of them, there were barely any streaks of sunlight left in the purple sky above them. But it was enough light for them to examine the shape of their surroundings. The clearing was surrounded by trees and littered with thin to medium-looking branches. A small, worn-down wooden shrine sat in the middle of the clearing standing about six feet tall.
"Well it used to be a beautiful hangout spot..." Boren scratched his head, "Guess some things do change."
"Yeah. I don't know about you but this place scares the shit out of me. You don't find a creepy shrine like this in the middle of the forest as a tad bit scary?" Luna replied as she walked forward slowly into the open clearing.
"Not really, we would camp out here every other weekend back when we were kids, it's a shame that the weather has taken such a toll on the shrine but I guess that's to be expected. Come on, the Moonstone should be inside the offering box."
"H-How do you know that's where she put it?"
"Because that's where she put ours when she gave it to us. She must've come back afterward and put the third one in there."
"If you say so. But, no offensive it kinda smells like shit..." Luna partly joked, but seriously covered her nose.
Boren hears the fallen branches crunch as they break beneath his feet as he walks forward, "I'll have to come back and clean this place up, I know it doesn't look pretty right now, but it really was beautif-"
Boren was suddenly stopped in his tracks by Luna pulling on his arm, "You alright?" He turned around to see Luna staring down at the foggy ground.
"What's wrong?" he looked down at what she was staring at when he noticed her starting to shake.
"What the fuck..?" Boren looked down to see that the branch he'd walked on looked eerily similar to a bone and he took out a flashlight to examine the object.
Luna stood frozen looking down, memories that have haunted her for years came rushing back as she shook, terrified.
Boren's eyes went wide as he turned on the light, fear took over him as the area around them brightened from the flashlight. Not only the branch he'd stepped on, but the entire clearing seemed to be the bones of various creatures, many of the bones already chipped and broken, picked clean.
"B-Boren?" Luna choked out, in complete shock as she took in the area.
"Let's get the stone and get the fuck out of here." Boren ran to the shrine's offering box and went to open it but quickly realized that the door to the box seemed to have been ripped from the shrine entirely by force.
Luna felt gross and guilty as she stepped across the layer of chipped bones that lay across on the floor, when she keenly noticed something shuffling around the underbrush to her left in the clearing, she took out her flashlight and shined the light towards the source of the sound. She could make out something large dashing across the treeline, hiding further into the underbrush.
"Boren!" she shouted loudly as her hand shook as she held the light.
Boren looked to where she shined the light and heard the loud snapping of branches and the movement of the bushes behind the treeline.
"Get your Pokemon out, now!" he shouted back as he called out his Nidorino, "Keep your guard up. Things are going to get dangerous fast. Stay in a group!"
Luna fumbled the light in her hands as she nervously reached out to her Pokeballs and summoned her three Pokemon forth, "C-Casper, S-Slither! Stay close! You too, Ledyba!" She quickly picked the flashlight back upright as Boren and Nidorino got to them.
"There's something big out there guys, and it looks like we found its nest." Boren told the Pokemon.
"I-I F-Fucking told y-you!" Luna teared up out of sheer fear. Casper noticing this sticks close to her side.
"I know, I know..." replied Boren as he shined his light around the area, turning the group slowly as they all had their backs to each other in the middle of the clearing.
Things grew silent before the sound of something large breaking behind the fog-covered underbrush got everyone's attention.
"B-Boren, what's that sou-"
"Shh.." Boren hushed her to listen clearly, hearing the beings' large footsteps grow louder and louder, he came to realize what the sound was.
"Everyone down!" he shouted out.
Suddenly a trunk of a tree flung out from behind the trees, directly towards the group. With incredible speed, Boren grabbed Luna and dove with her to the ground, barely getting out of the way. The large log hit the ground with a loud thud as it bounced and rolled to a stop.
The footsteps of the monster grew louder as the bushes and trees of the treeline shook Both Luna and Boren, on the ground shined their lights at the movement.
Out from beyond the fog, stepped forward a hulking creature standing on two legs, its jaw lingering open revealing its dagger-tooth maw. With arms like trees and a tail waving behind it, seeming larger and even more powerful. A purple horn protruded from its forehead and gray armor-like scales covered its chest. It let out a blood-churning roar as it stomped its feet, clearly getting ready to charge the group.
"K-King?" Boren muttered under his breath.
Luna lay frozen solid, the fear forcing the tears out from her eyes as she came face to face with the terror that had haunted her for so long.
"Luna we have to move!" Boren shouted as he stumbled to his feet, watching the monster begin to charge. Its heavy body flung dirt and bones into the air as it rushed at them. Boren tried his best to lift Luna from the ground, but the shock had frozen her stiff.
"SHIT!" Boren screamed as the Monster reached mere feet from them.
Suddenly from their left, Nidorino tackled the monster, sending himself and the monster to the left. The two crash to the ground loudly as they skid on a layer of bones.
Boren took the opportunity to lift Luna from the ground and drag her towards the Shrine for cover, "Luna! Snap out of it! Your Pokemon need you right now!"
Luna breathed heavily, panting fast.
Boren watched to the side as the Monster got back to its feet and swung its tail at Nidorino, sending the Pokemon flying in the air a few feet before hitting the ground with a thud a couple of yards away. Slither began lighting up the Monster, sending a barrage of Ember attacks at its body.
Boren turned Luna's face away from the monster, "Look at me, that thing isn't some creature from your nightmares. It's a Pokemon! And I know it's a scary-looking Pokemon, but it's still a Pokemon! Which means we can beat it." He put his finger to her forehead, "But I need you here mentally if we want both us and our Pokemon making it out of here alive, do you hear me!?"
Luna seemed to understand and nodded slowly as she started to calm down.
"Okay, good!" Boren stood up and started instructing his Nidorino, "Flank him but watch out for his tail!" Nidorino got in place and was ready to attack behind the menacing-looking Pokemon.
"K-King." Luna spoke as she caught her breath. "You said that earlier, do you know that Pokemon!?"
Boren looked nervous, "Th-That's my Nidoking..."
"That thing is your Pokemon that ran away!?" Luna shouted at him.
"He left eight years ago! I thought he ran away, but he must've been living here all alone this entire time. I should've known; this was their favorite spot too..."
"Well since he's your Pokemon, shouldn't you calm him the fuck down instead of letting him kill us!?"
"Y-Yeah, I suppose so!"
Luna rolled her eyes, "THEN DO IT!" she shouted angrily.
Boren stepped forward from the shrine and spoke up at a pause during the Pokemon's attacks, "King! It's me, Boren!"
The large Nidoking stopped in his tracks and stared intensely at Boren, his deep red eyes almost seeming to stare right through him.
"It's alright old friend, you don't have to fight anymore. You can come home with us!"
All of the Pokemon held back their attacks, awaiting the Nidoking's response.
King quickly directed his sight downward, he seemed to be sifting the ground beneath him looking for something.
"W-what is he doing?" Luna whispered.
"I'm not sure. But he's not attacking, so that's a plus." Boren whispered back before turning back to talk to King, "I'm sorry that I never came here. The memory of this place w-was too much to handle. But we can go home and be a family again!"
The Nidoking picked up an object with its claws and tossed it into the air before thwacking it solidly with its heavy tail sending it flying towards Boren with a decent amount of force.
Boren let out an audible grunt as he caught the object with his arms and chest. Boren looked at the strangely shaped orb in his hands and turned it around slowly in his palms.
Low visceral cackling emanated from the open maw of the Nidoking as it glared at Boren.
"Arceus, help us." Whispered Boren as he stared down at the skull of a human in his hands.
Luna gasped and covered her mouth as she saw what lay in his hands.
The Nidoking's claws began to glow in a deep purple light as it began charging towards Boren. Nidorino went to tackle the Nidoking once more but was knocked back by its tail.
Casper reacted as fast as he could and sped up to the charging Pokemon, using Aerial Ace to attack it. While not being strong enough to knock it completely on its feet, the Pokemon stumbled to the left of Boren as it swung wide, missing the human as it tripped to the ground after Casper's clutch reaction.
"Boren, I know it's fucked up! But please, remember your own advice, dammit!" Luna shouted at the Man standing still as stone, staring down at the skull in his hands.
It took a moment for him to come back to his sense but as he heard Luna's voice shouting out to him, he blinked himself back to reality. "R-Right. Right!" he dropped the skull to the ground and rushed back towards Luna.
The two trainers, using the Shrine as a physical defense from the Nidoking began shouting out commands to their Pokemon.
"Nidorino, Dig!" Shouted Boren.
"Casper, keep up the Aerial Ace's! Slither, Ledyba cover them with Ember and Swift!"
Casper nodded and flew high up into the air to gain speed.
King got back up to his feet and being, focused solely on Boren started marching towards him only to be hit in the back of the head by Casper's Aerial Ace. It turned its head to keep track of the Pokemon only to be hit by simultaneous attacks of Ember and Swift by Slither and Ledyba.
While the two Pokemon were focused on distracting King with their ranged attacks, Nidorino got back to his feet and rushed forward as fast as he could and used Dig to burrow underground.
King took another attack from Casper, flying from the side. And being attacked at a range from Slither and Ledyba began pissing it off as a poisonous sludge formed its mouth and shot out with the force of a firehose towards Slither and Ledyba.
Slither managed to dodge out of the way but Ledyba was hit dead-on from the sudden ranged attack and took the brunt of the attack, sending it crashing into a tree and knocking it unconscious.
"Ledyba!" Luna shouted worried for the Pokemon.
The harsh beam of poison didn't seem to be stopping, however, and Nidoking began aiming for Slither who crawled furiously to dodge the attack the best he could as he slid between bones and jumped in and out skulls of larger Pokemon for some sort of protection.
And just as the Nidoking was about to land the attack on Slither, Nidorino burst forth from the ground and slammed itself into the Pokemons abdomen, stopping the Sludge Wave attack by force and knocking the air out of the large Pokemon.
"Atta' boy!" Shouted Boren.
"Casper, Fairy Wind!" Luna shouted, and without hesitation, Casper sent the attack down at the Nidoking.
"Raaagh!" King roared loudly as he lifted his leg high into the air and slammed it downward, shards of rock and stone raised from the ground, hitting Nidorino who was directly in front of him.
"Shit he's using Stomping Tantrum! Dodge the best that you can!" Boren told Nidorino as he ran behind the Shrine with luna as debris of sharp stone were flung in every direction while the Nidoking Rampaged on.
Nidorino tried to move out of the way but every time he would move, the Nidoking would find a way to attack him.
"Casper! Slither! Help him!" Luna shouted.
Casper nodded and flew upward to charge up a powerful Aerial Ace attack and Slither snuck out of the skull he was hiding in to shoot away some of the shards with Ember.
As Casper flew down to attack King, the large Pokemon stopped stomping and his tail began to shimmer.
"Casper, pull out!" shouted Luna, seeing the incoming attack. But Casper didn't notice in time and took the full weight of a powerful Iron tail, sending him skidding across the ground, bones, and branches flying everywhere before he came to a stop. A cloud of dirt covered the air where he had crash-landed.
"No!" Shouted Luna.
"Nidorino get some space between you and him!" Boren ordered.
But, still recovering from the previous attack, Nidorino wasn't able to move out of the way of another Iron Tail attack flinging him to the side.
King turned his attention to Boren and Luna once more, roaring as he stomped towards the trainers. A bit closer to them now, his sheer size was threatening alone, he towered over them at about seven and a half feet tall as his large claws glowed purple. He ran around the wooden shrine, swinging wide with his claws as he tried to grab Luna. She was barely able to get out of the way as she fell to the floor and crawled to the opposite side of the shrine.
"Help!" Luna shouted in desperation as she and Boren were being hunted.
Boren raced around the shrine to help Luna to her feet. The two trainers stood up; glaring down at them, opposite of the wooden shrine was King with his claws glowing brightly as he roared. He swung his arm with immense strength, completely decimating the shrine in front of the two, sending splinters and heavy pieces of wood in their direction. The sheer force of the attack, though not hitting them directly was still strong enough to knock them on their feet.
With nothing in his way, King stepped forward stomping loudly as he glared down at the trainers on the ground, clutching one another. Luna and Boren crawled backward, still face to face with their imminent doom strolling towards them. They pushed bones and branches out from under them. Luna frantically began picking up whatever she could find behind her as she crawled and threw them at the Nidoking who seemed completely unfazed as she did so.
Boren held her free hand as the Pokemon now stood over the two with his arms rising high into the air.
"Luna, I'm so sorry..." Boren whispered as he clutched her free hand.
The Pokemon's red eyes pierced downward at the town as he began to smirk.
Luna, still throwing bones and sticks at the Pokemon, shuddered as she felt something smooth in her grasp and brought it in front of her.
She looked down and smiled, and even laughed lightly as she raised the object to show to Boren.
"Found it..." She laughed, but tears flowed down her cheek as she held the MoonStone in her hands.
Boren smiled back at her before looking back up to see King's arms raised as far as the Pokemon was able to raise them before bringing down his arms onto the trainers laying on the ground.
However, King's piercing red eyes suddenly disappeared from sight as two lizard-like claws began clawing at the Pokemon's eyes.
Luna's eyes went wide as she realized that Slither had come to their rescue.
"Nidorino!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, taking no time to crawl to her knees.
Nidorino's legs shook as he got to his feet but stood up with adrenaline pumping through his veins. "Rino!" he shouted back at the trainer.
Luna threw the stone with all her might at the Pokemon who charged forward and caught it in his mouth.
"Atta' boy." whispered as he watched his Pokemon's entire body begin to glow as he charged forward.
Luna pulled Boren to his feet and out of the Pokemon's way as King roared angrily as he scratched his own face just to grab Slither from clawing his eyes.
As King finally got a hold of Slither and slammed him to the ground, he stood back up only just noticing a bright light that was growing in front of him. Before he could even understand what was happening in front of him, a chubby Nidoking leaped forward from the blinding light, throwing a heavy punch across King's jaw. Knocking him to the ground.
"Hell yeah!" Shouted Boren.
Luna wiped away the tears from her eyes and quickly reached for her Pokeballs to return her Pokemon to safety. She saw in front of her, in between the two Nidoking's was an unconscious Slither so she returned him to his Pokeball. She looked toward the tree line and saw her knocked out Ledyba and returned her to the ball as well. She looked at the crater where Casper had crashed but, she saw him nowhere in sight.
King got to his feet and roared angrily at the opposing Pokemon.
"Alright, don't let up now! Keep attacking, Nidoking!" Boren commanded.
Boren's Pokemon tackled King, the two locked in arms as they tried to shove one another to the ground. It became obvious now that even after evolving, Boren's Nidoking was still smaller than King was; King with some force, sent Nidoking to the ground as he twisted his body like a wrestler.
King then used Stomping Tantrum while the Pokemon was on the floor, a loud crack could be heard as it stomped on the Nidoking's arm.
"Nido!" the Pokemon cried out as it felt its arm be crushed under King's weight.
Suddenly a barrage of spear-like rocks was hurled forth, crashing into King. Each rock pushed the menacing Pokemon back step by step until one found its place in between the steel-like armor plates on its chest, embedding itself deep in the Pokemon.
"Raagh!" King roared out in pain as more spear rocks barraged the Pokemon, forcing him to put his arms up defensively as he was stopped in place.
This gave Boren's Pokemon just enough time to get back to his feet, his left arm was bleeding, and seemed to be injured heavily.
Luna turned to look at the source of the Rock attacks and hovering 30 feet away was Casper, pulling the Earth up from underneath him with an elemental aura about him, the rocks seemed to form into a spear-like shape as he readied them for firing.
"Casper!" Luna cried out ecstatically, "When'd you learn that move!?"
Boren stepped forward, "Alright Nidoking, this is it. I know you're hurt but you gotta push through it just for now, okay? Get ready to use that move!"
The Pokemon nodded back to his trainer, grunting as he prepared himself.
Soon enough, Casper had run out of energy and fell to the floor as if he had completely run out of energy after the attack. With the barrage of rocks no longer pummeling him, King roared angrily and began charging at the other Nidoking.
"Get Ready!" Boren screamed out.
His Pokemon dug its feet into the ground in preparation.
King charged forth, using its incredible strength to leap forward its arms raised high in the air, preparing to slam down on the opposing Nidoking.
A dim orange light emanated from Boren's Pokemon as it raised its right arm into the air in a protective manner.
King flew downward, its attack connecting with the Nidokings right arm and its shoulder, injuring it terribly. King then roared in the face of the injured Pokemon as an insult to injury.
However, the dim orange light that had emanated from him now grew brighter, surrounding his entire being as he used his still functioning arm to use Counter.
Nidoking's glowing fist uppercut the unaware, King. Connecting directly with its jaw and sending the evil Pokemon ten feet in the air before crashing hard, back into its bone-riddled nest.
As soon as King crashed backward on the ground Luna thought fast and grabbed an empty Pokeball from her belt and readied it.
For a moment it didn't seem like King was going to be able to recover but as his body shook and he rolled to his stomach; Luna didn't waste any time and clocked the rampaging Pokemon with a Pokeball to the head.
Red light erupted forth, forcing the Pokemon inside of the Pokeball.
"Good thinking!" said Boren as the ball shook for the first time.
"Yeah, but I don't think I have any more on me if this doesn't work." Luna replied as it shook for the second time.
The two trainers stared straight at the glowing Pokeball as it began to shake for the third time, this time shaking violently as it rocked back and forth as red energy poured from its seems. Luna and Boren knew it was too late. Abruptly, Nidoking placed its foot down on the lid of the Pokeball; keeping it in place as it tried to shake free but, after a few seconds the shaking finally stopped and the low red light on the button of the Pokeball signified the Pokemon's capture.
"Oh, thank Arceus!" shouted Boren.
Luna ran as fast as her legs could carry her as she slid on the slick terrain and snatched up Casper into her arms, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she cried to her Pokemon as tears flowed down her face and onto the avian Pokemon's. All Casper could do as he felt the warmth of his trainer's embrace was smile up at her as her tears fell onto him.
After a few minutes of respite, Luna returned her Pokemon to his Pokeball and walked over to Boren while he was tending to his Pokemon's injuries the best he could with the potions he had at hand. As Luna approached her body froze unexpectedly as she looked at the injured Nidoking, though she knew that this Pokemon had just saved her and Boren moments ago she found herself still terrified of the Pokemon. Boren understood what was happening and went to say something before he saw Luna suddenly breaking free from her frozen state and hugging the Pokemon with rapid speed. The hug surprised both Boren and Nidoking as the two males looked at each other a bit confused. Within a few seconds, Luna had a mental battle after feeling such guilt and disgust at herself for being afraid of the Pokemon that had just saved her. She forced herself to remember the Pokemon she feels that way towards, can't hurt her anymore, and that she has this Pokemon in front of her to thank for that.
"Thank you for saving us Nidoking. If you weren't here, I don't know what might have happened... So, thank you!" Luna held the Pokemon's sides tightly in her arms.
The Pokemon smiled and pat her on the head as gently as he could.
Boren smiled at the sight, "Alright, I'm gonna send him to his Pokeball, he's too hurt to walk back home."
"R-right." Luna broke away from the hug and watched as Nidoking was returned to his ball, "Wait! What about the other one!?"
"This one?" Boren picked up a Pokeball laying on the floor by his feet, it was shaped weirdly and a bit larger than usual. But under closer examination, Luna could see that it was wrapped tightly in a duct tape seal.
"W-will that keep it from getting out...?" Luna asked, still a bit scared.
"Yeah, it will. I used the rest of the roll I had on me to seal it. I've had to do this with other wild Pokemon that wouldn't stop attacking me. Those were small in comparison to him, but I only needed one layer of tape to keep them inside." Boren lifted the ball to Luna and let her examine the thick layering of tape all around the Pokeball.
"O-Okay, I trust you..." Luna nodded.
Boren sighed as he stood straight, "I'm so sorry, Luna. What happened today was a result of me giving up. I take full responsibility for those who died here..."
"W-What?" Luna was put aback, "Boren, look at me." she told the man firmly.
Boren looked at her face reluctantly.
"What happened here today wasn't your fault. You know that, right? That Pokemon left you and came out here all on his own because he was attached to this place and couldn't let go of the past, himself! He was the one who completely gave up and went Feral, not you! If anything, you helped stop him. No more Pokemon or Humans are going to be killed because of what you did. HE killed them, not you!... Understand?" After Luna had finished scolding him, she gave him a soft smile.
Boren nodded to the young woman in front of him, tearing up at the flickering memory of his wife disciplining him in the past, "I understand..."
Luna took Boren's hand in her own, "Come on, old man. We have to get in contact with the Pokemon Police Force. But not from here, this place scares the shit out of me."
"R-right..." Boren agreed and the two trainers headed back down the side road.
The two went down the side road far enough to where they felt comfortable before getting in contact with the Pokemon Police Force (P.P.F.). They were told that Officers would be on the scene as soon as possible but that it would be three hours before anyone was able to get to them due to the side road on Route 3 being so far from any major Police Station.
Luna and Boren set up a makeshift campsite on the road, setting a small campfire to signal the P.P.F. when they arrive and to keep warm in the colder night air.
The two sat next to one another trying to comfort one another after their near-death experience.
"Well, you definitely deserve this, now more than ever." Boren mumbled as he took out a Gym Badge from his bag and handed it to Luna.
Luna looked down at the badge in his hands questionably before curling his hand around the badge and pushing it back to his chest, "I told you. I'm winning that badge fair and square."
"W-What? Even after all that?" Boren was appalled at the Woman next to him.
"Yep, you can fork over a badge when I kick your ass in a Pokemon Battle!" she said cockily.
Boren chuckled, "You're something else. It's good to know that the new generation of trainers isn't completely hopeless."
"What? Like your generation of trainers weren't filled with rookies and bug catchers either!?" Luna barked back.
Boren gave a hearty laugh, "Yeah, that's true I suppose!"
Luna smiled softly and leaned closer to the warmth of the small flame as the two sat at opposite ends of the campfire. They awaited the slow-coming arrival of the Pokemon Police Force. The cold night winds began to brush forward and fill their ears with the sound of shaking trees and a crackling fire. Before long, they could hear the sirens of Police Cycles in the distance and they prepared themselves to deal with the issue at hand, together.
I'm sorry for the change, but I have removed the Sex Scene at the end of this chapter because I felt it was a betrayal of Luna's Character. However, even though I removed it from the CANON of the story I still have it available to view as "Chapter 11's Alternate Ending". Thank you for reading!