I do not own Pokemon
With one mighty pull, Parker shattered the ice that was trapping his arms and could finally free himself from his condition.
With a heavy breath, he rushed to his pokemons, hugging them in relief. This had been a way closer call than it should have been. Worp and Vike had nearly died and Parker himself would have died twice if it wasn't for Endure.
They needed to be stronger, but for the moment, they needed to rest. They stayed coddled together for a few more minutes, the ice around Parker slowly thawing away as the weather cleared up, revealing the area. Now Parker could see the gentle slope leading to a cliff and, to his great relief, the verdant pine forest beneath, the northern side of Mount Moon opening up his new path for freedom.
Ignoring his own frostbites, he quickened his steps towards the cliff, a wary eye searching for the pack of hungry Sneasels. He took a sigh of relief when he found no trace of them.
Reaching the edge of the cliff, he peered down. The descent was steep, but not too different from the other side.
Once again prepared his equipment. He never liked climbing downwards, it never felt natural to him and even a perfect descent never had the same satisfaction as an ascent had. Regardless, with Pan on his shoulder and his two other companions flying at his side, he gradually lowered himself into the pine forest below. The descent, while uncomfortable, was surprisingly short, only taking him about three hours of climbing.
After touching the ground, the group spotted the hollow trunk of a large fallen tree with enough room to house them all. Not ideal, but certainly good enough for the moment. After the battle with the Frosslass, they all were in dire need of rest. Parker quickly gathered a few stones and tree branches, tossing them over the trunk entrances to block them off and removed the backpack from his tired and sore shoulders. After placing the Abomasnow coat as a blanket and unrolling his sleeping bag, Parker saw Pan trying to open his backpack.
"You're hungry?" he asked, pulling out three Lava Cookies and handing two out to Pan and Vike.
Both Pokemons ate the cookies, but even after the meal, the Nidorina was trying to get something from his bag. After a few seconds, Parker facepalmed.
"Of course! Sorry Pan, I almost forgot."
He apologized, pulling out the Moonstone and handing it to her. With his pokemons now happy and safe, Parker fell into a deep slumber.
Parker awoke the next morning with a heavy weight on his stomach. He opened his eyes to see a large blue creature sprawled over him, snoring mildly. It took a few seconds for Parker to realize that he was looking at a Nidoqueen, Pan's new form. Trying his best to remove himself from the heavy, although surprisingly small, pokemon without waking her up, he started to slide away, supporting her head with his hands and gently placing it on the floor. As he took a step toward the exit, he felt Worp flying next to him, eager to do something while the others slept.
With a smile on his face, Parker grabbed the Honedge's handle and left their temporary bunker, the duo took a glance at the surrounding area. It was cold, but nowhere near as cold as the mountaintop, and he could spot a handful of Oddish walking around the area.
He had never eaten an Oddish, probably because as poison types, they weren't safe for consumption, but he was now a poison type too. Both Vike and Pan were, which meant the Oddish should all be safe to eat.
He smirked. He should have enough power to kill the Oddish in a single strike when Worp was acting as a regular sword, now that he was awake… actually, what would happen if he were to use Worp as a sword again?
"Wanna do an experiment?" he asked, trying to swing Worp.
Worp seemed to understand what he wanted to test and followed the movement. Parker launched himself at the group of Oddish, swinging Worp in a powerful strike that sliced the first pokemon in two and caused the others to panic. Before they could run away, Parker struck down a second Oddish, slicing it in two once again. His attacks definitely felt a lot more powerful, but he had the distinct feeling that had he and Worp attacked separately, they would have been able to land more hits. Good to know. He picked up the dead pokemons and smelled them. It was a bit pungent, but it wasn't bad or unpleasant. It would probably taste good roasted. Parker glazed around, looking for sticks and dry branches for a fire.
When Pan and Vike woke up, the group tasted the roasted Oddish. While Parker was not a fan of the harsh taste, Pan and Vike seemed to love it. Parker had no issue handing over his share and was satisfied with snacking on a Big Malasada and sharing a bottle of Fresh Water with his fellow poison types.
After picking up their bags, the group started to walk around, killing any Oddish they found. Pan seemed to have developed a sweet tooth for them and launched herself at them with incredible speed, almost like flying, fist raised to kill the pokemon after a single hit. Parker was a bit curious about this new move, but wasn't exactly sure what it was supposed to be. He was about 50% sure it was Superpower, but it could have just as easily been Close Combat, Collision Course or even Dynamic Punch. He might not have been a pokemon expert, but the Fighting type moves were the one subject he knew he remembered. After all, his father had a very well trained Pangoro named Brutus and after he brought home an F on a school test on fighting type moves, his father had swore Parker would be used as a training dummy for all fighting type moves he failed to remember. He hadn't taken him seriously at first, but after a Power-up Punch had cracked two of his ribs, he had memorized all the fighting moves in a single night.
He wondered if that had played any part in his decision to get away from Jotho and study in Kanto. Honestly, there were so many reasons he had a hard time remembering all of them, but that even had certainly pushed him toward the decision of leaving his family's home.
His musing was interrupted by the sound of buzzing. He looked up, noticing a swarm of three Beedrills in the process of attacking a group of wild Glooms, Vileplumes and Bellossoms.
"What do you say, up for some honey?" he asked rhetorically to his pokemons.
He lowered himself in the underbrush, trying to remain hidden from the swarm. Once the Beedrills had finished their business, leaving the scattered pieces of mutilated, although mostly alive, grass pokemons, Parker gestured his companions to follow them. Pan wasn't exactly subtle thanks to her new, much larger form, but she trailed further behind the rest of the group, allowing them to follow the bug pokemons without much difficulty. The flying swarm moved across the forest, carrying the pollen gathered from the grass pokemons to a massive hive adorned with dozens of Kakunas and Weedles. The colony couldn't count more than 50 pokemons in total, the majority being Weedles, but Parker could count about a dozen Beedrills, one of which seemed to be holding onto a small stone with an unusual black and yellow pattern. Based on how attached the pokemon seemed to be to the stone, it must have been something important.
Parker frowned. If he wanted to get to the honey, he needed a plan. He was fairly certain he could simply rush in, take a handful of honeycombs and simply outrun both Weedles and Kakunas, but there was no way he could outrun a swarm of pissed off Beedrills. He wasn't even sure he would be able to get to the honeycomb in the first place without alerting the pokemons.
He retreated, deep in thoughts. He needed a plan. A distraction to grant himself the time to get the honeycomb, take a few pieces and run away undetected. Or rather, run to a safe spot where he and his pokemons could deal with the Beedrills without being overwhelmed with sheer numbers. Beedrills were notoriously aggressive and he was fairly certain nothing short of death would convince the swarm to leave him alone.
He considered his options. He knew that honey was usually harvested from Combees, which many cultivators insisted were barely stronger than a Magikarp, but was there some kind of technique they used when harvesting it? Was that even necessary for Combees? Perhaps there was some specialized equipment, or maybe a Pokemon assistant was in charge of handling the Combees while the trainer was collecting the honey? He supposed some kind of move to slow them down would work, but Beedrills, Kakunas and Weedle all had access to String Shot, so any speed advantage would not be quickly shut down. Besides, neither he nor his pokemons knew any move to slow down an opponent. Perhaps something to put them to sleep? He had met a couple beekeepers back in the day and he distinctly remember them complaining about how difficult it was to evolve a Vespiquen, which he supposed would be the easier way to handle the hive. If he remembered correctly, those guys had either a Chatot or a Jigglypuff, he remembered how confused he had found that particular pokemon choice. He was pretty sure that both Chatots and Jigglypuffs learned the move Sing… was that how honey harvesting was usually handled?. A possibility, but unfortunately… not an option that was available for him. Best he could do was rely on Vike's Supersonic to confuse them but, unlike Sing, Supersonic only affected a single pokemon at a time, as opposed to all pokemons nearby.
He frowned. If he couldn't outspeed or put the hive to sleep, perhaps he could create a distraction? Instigate a wild pokemon to attack the hive and simply sneak in while all the Beedrills were busy fighting? Plus, when, not if, it came down to fighting, the Beedrills would be tired and wounded from their previous battle. That sounded like a plan, but he needed a suitable pokemon. Perhaps another Beedrill hive? No, the chances of two hives being close enough to each other to start fighting were rather low. He needed something different, preferably both short-tempered and aggressive. Maybe a group of Spearows?
With a new plan in mind, Parker retreated in search of a suitable rival for the Beedrill swarm.
Trying to find a solution to the puzzle at hand, the group wandered around, only half exploring with their minds focused on the task at hand. They spotted a lake not too far from the nest. A possible escape route? He was pretty sure the Beedrills wouldn't follow into the water, but they could wait for them to reach the surface again… Definitely a possibility, but not enough. He still needed a plan. After a few minutes, Worp placed itself in front of Parker, interrupting his musing.
"Yeah?"
The sword turned around, pointing across the bushes while lowering itself almost to the ground.
"He wants us to sneak- he whispered to his other pokemons - Pan, Vike, follow behind me and try to be silent".
Following the Honedge, the rest of the group tip-toed over the bush, where a group of four Raticates and seven Rattatas was munching on a dead Pidgey.
"That could work." mused Parker. "You think you can bait them towards the Beedrills?"
Worp seemed unconvinced, but Vike snapped his fangs, tapping his chest with his wings.
"Are you sure about this, Vike?"
The Zubat nodded enthusiastically.
Parker sighed. "Fine. You drag them towards the Beedrills and while they're busy fighting each other, Pan and I will take as much honey as we can carry. Worp, you're the lookout. If the Beedrills head back to the nest, use Metal Sound and try to be as loud as you can. We'll meet up at the lake, ok?"
With the pokemons nodding in approval, the plan was now in motion.
Notes
Queen is finally here!
After leaving Kanto, Parker is now much more relax. Sure, there are more challenges ahead of him, but he can finally slow down his franctic escape and take some time to try something a bit more dangerous than usual.
As always, Parker doesn't really do planning very well and goes with the first idea that comes to mind. Will it pay out?