Sausage note: Ughhhhh, I've gone back and forth on what to do with this chapter and the next so much, it's unreal! (Hence the delay, lol, whoops, soz)
Originally, it was going to be another 'back and forth' sort of chapter, featuring both lagomorphs... but then I figured it would work best with the Bunbun parts being their own chapter, followed by this one... but clearly, that's not what I ended up doing. XD
Ah well, I hope you enjoy both of them, either way!
Last time: Noctowl's party got their asses kicked by 'Cold Pikachu', and definitely nobody else. Thankfully, some fuckin' sci-fi nerds found them and saved them!
Chapter Twenty Two: The Somber Dawn
Bradley was walking through a meadow as the hot sun hung overhead. It was a quiet place with lots of flowers dotted all over the place, painting the grassy fields in a lot of different colors. It reminded him of Beau Plains, though it lacked the massive lake, or the rainbow that often appeared above it.
His frown softened. It was pleasant here. It was a pretty girly place to be in, which was a little embarrassing, but he was enjoying himself, anyway.
He sat down on the warm grass. He silently stayed there, looking around at the sights. As much as he was enjoying himself, though, he didn't remember why he'd come here... Had he been on a job?
As the time went by, he slowly huffed. It was pretty lonely, though...
He suddenly noticed something in the distance, partially hidden by the tall grass. At first, he'd wondered if it was just a bunch of flowers, but it looked oddly... pokémon-shaped?
Feeling worried, Bradley got to his feet and began towards it. Unnervingly, as he approached, the sky turned dark and cloudy. He could swear he heard the rumblings of thunder, too.
His frown deepened lightly. Tsk... had a pokémon messed with the weather? Such a shame...
As the pikachu approached what he assumed was an unconscious pokémon, the weather grew worse. Rain assaulted his face, and a stiff breeze blew his ponytail to his side, messing it up. Flashes of lightning made themselves known in the sky, even streaking across the air in bright branches.
Ugh, fucking hell... he couldn't even enjoy the weather, it seemed. The place felt more like Thunder Meadow right now.
Well whatever. That wasn't as important as making sure this guy was okay.
He stopped in front of the pokémon. "Uh... hey," he said. His gaze awkwardly drifted away as silence was his only response. "... Are you alright?"
He didn't get a response to that, either.
His brows furrowed further in worry. "... You okay?" he asked. On getting no further response, he gently rolled the pokémon onto his back. Had he fainted?
His heart stopped dead in his chest when he saw the pokémon's furry body. Cuts and bruises coated the pokémon, with some still leaking blood.
He breathed out a shocked gasp and took a step backwards. O-Oh, Christ...!
W-What'd... happened here!?
His eyes trailed up the pokémon's body. It was a girl, as he could tell by how her bruised breasts were partially on display. Her chest coverings were in tatters, as if they'd been slashed repeatedly.
He cried out in dismay when he saw her face, black with bruises and her expression scrunched and contorted in pain.
"B... Beth...!" Bradley choked out. He glowered and brought his fist up. "Who did this!? Who...!?"
He gasped again when he saw blood dribbling off his fist. He looked at both his paws and saw blood on both of them, trailing down his arms.
He collapsed to his knees, a wave of panicked nausea rising in his gut. He... He hadn't... It couldn't have been...!
Lightning noisily struck the field to his side, making him whirl his head that way. The grass had suddenly caught fire, and was rapidly spreading, despite the rain.
In seconds, the whole meadow looked like Scorched Plains, a dungeon made of eternally burning grassy fields.
His rate of breathing subconsciously went faster. Shit!
He moved to grab Beth to get her to safety. A wall of fire immediately got between them, making him stagger backwards in surprise. Taking a breath, he prepared to rush through, anyway.
Faces appeared in the fire, causing him to stop in place. He stared in horror at them.
They were the faces of his family. They were glaring at him with an intensity he didn't recognize them for.
He took a staggering step backwards, stumbling to fall flat on his ass.
... This was a punishment, wasn't it? A horrible, cruel punishment.
... A well deserved punishment.
He shook like a leaf. His rapid breaths came out quick, shallow and irregular. He suddenly felt something enter his mouth. He instinctively chewed and swallowed it.
He shot upright and looked around, his breathing no less frantic. He was in a cave... there was a pile of various items littering the floor...
He jumped when he saw a familiar pale yellow fox coated in leaves standing over him, holding half of what looked like... a chesto berry?
"Wakey, wakey, little monster~" Ben chimed, dropping the rest of the berry into Bradley's lap.
Bradley blinked slowly. As everything that was going on caught up with him, he groggily shook his head. "Ugh... was I dreaming?" he mumbled.
Ben nodded, his usual pleasant smile never wavering. "Mhm! It seemed like a pretty bad one, too. Heh..."
Bradley's brows dipped. "Yeah..." he sighed, picking up the chesto berry. He nibbled on its tough skin. It tasted dry and had a somewhat chalky texture, which was nice enough. The more of it he ate, the more alert his head felt.
"Oh well," Ben said with a shrug.
Bradley huffed quietly through his nostrils. He wished he could stop having nightmares like this. Though maybe it was good to have a reminder of what he'd done. As much as it hurt...
Walking to the pile of items, Ben used a paw to comb back the long blades of yellow fur on his head, that were sitting behind his leaf swirl. "It's a pity your dream wasn't as nice as mine."
The pikachu let out a long huff and swallowed. "Lemmie guess. Was it about 'justice'?"
"Oh, no, not this time." The leafeon dug through the pile of items, his smile seeming to grow more relaxed than usual. "It was humans. They were here." He picked up a scarf. Seeing the pattern of a spike going through a line on the front, Bradley recognized it as a pierce band. "No, even better... I was in their time."
Bradley's eyes widened slightly. "Hm?"
Ben slipped the green and yellow striped bandanna around his neck and tied it. "Hm. I was travelling with one. A trainer, going on one of those fabled journeys they liked to go on. He and I were travelling on some dirt roads, and into a city. I even fought another trainer's pokémon."
"Oh. Alright," Bradley replied, somewhat relieved. That was a surprisingly normal sounding dream for him.
Ben huffed in what sounded like annoyance, his smile going back to the plain, hollow one he always wore. "We were about to go and challenge a gym, but then I woke up." He ground his fingers into the stone floor, making a scraping sound with his claws. "Typical."
"Sorry to hear that," Bradley muttered, letting out an empathetic huff. Pity...
Ben clicked his tongue and walked over to an open area of the cave. After sizing it up, he - in a move that surprised Bradley - tore open his own crotch coverings, revealing his dick and balls, the same color as his fur.
The mouse stared at the flaccid penis in surprise. "... Uh..." he muttered.
"What? I'm going to piss," Ben said, a brow raised curiously.
Bradley's brows furrowed even deeper in bewilderment. "... Here?"
Ben held it with a paw and peeled his foreskin back, revealing the pink tip. "Sure. It's private, isn't it?"
"I... guess..." Bradley supposed that him being there didn't change that, somehow.
A stream of yellow liquid poured out the front in a steady trickle. Ben's scarf glowed and the piss went straight through the floor, not even seeming to touch it.
Disturbed and grossed out, Bradley turned away. If he had a list of things he hadn't wanted to see in life, that would be pretty high up on it. At least the scarf stopped them from having to clean it up...
"Heh... I always hope I'll hit some stupid pokémon and ruin its morning," Ben said. He huffed loudly. "They deserve it after what they did to the humans." He audibly breathed in, as an act of irritation. "If it weren't for them... we'd have trainers, too, you know."
"Maybe..." Bradley replied, shrugging lightly.
"Mmm, to have a trainer..." Ben's voice went from being irritated to being almost awe-filled. "We'd go from town to town, collecting badges... battling other trainers' pokémon... maybe even challenging the league, and eventually the champion..."
"What if your trainer didn't like fighting?" Bradley asked. Not that it was a bad thing...
"That'd be okay. I wouldn't care, as long as we had wonderful humans looking after us..."
The sound of trickling stopped, so Bradley turned to see if he was done. He was, but he was sitting on his rump with a paw to his face in wonder. Notably, much to Bradley's disturbance, his once limp penis was starting to become rock hard.
"Maybe I would have to go to pokéathlons..." Ben continued, trailing his paw over his face while seeming almost starry eyed. "Or... contests, or showcases. Perhaps help a ranger do patrols to keep the peace. Or hell, I wouldn't even mind if they wanted me to breed all day and night. I wouldn't care, as long as I had a human."
"Yeah..." Bradley replied. He didn't see the appeal.
Ben's happy demeanor continued for a short while before suddenly falling. "And to think, we'd have it all... if the pokémon had just appreciated their beautiful, pure-hearted saviors, instead of killing them all for no goddamned reason!" He balled a fist and punched it into the ground, leaving a sizable dent.
"Maybe," Bradley replied awkwardly.
Ben took a deep inhale as his smile corrected itself. His brows were still furrowed, though. "... We have a lot of punishments to deal out today. Best get ready as soon as you can."
Bradley gave a displeased frown. "Right..."
Ben stood onto his fours and, while holding his still hardened dick against his front, tucked it away by brushing his fur coverings together over it, until it was out of view. Done with that, he slipped off his pierce band and held it up for Bradley to see. "You need to relieve yourself, too?"
"... Later." Much later.
The sun was bright and the weather was pleasant when Sneasel and his friends had woken up. Their aches and pains had faded, and they were able to walk again, albeit rather sluggishly. Without reviver seeds, or at least some healing items, it would take a while before they were at full strength again, it seemed.
Thankfully, the group had managed to collect enough berries and apples for Spiritomb to create a baked berry salad for breakfast. It was somewhat tasty, though with his dulled tastes, Sneasel sadly couldn't fully appreciate it. All the same, the full stomach was greatly appreciated!
Continuing to eat his breakfast, Sneasel listened as the group took turns introducing themselves to Delcatty and Manectric: two children with a notable passion for sci-fi stories who'd helped save everyone.
Right now, the cat and dog in question were currently taking their turns to introduce themselves.
"I am..." Delcatty started, posing by pointing off to the side on two of her four legs. "Battle Angel Delcatty~!"
"And I am..." Manectric posed the same way, though by pointing in the opposite direction. "Battle Butler Manectric!"
"... Huh. Not the names I'd-a given ya," Oricorio replied, frowning in confusion.
"It's the names we gave ourselves, based on one of our favorite sci-fi books," Delcatty explained, standing normally. "The Moon Of No Light~"
Manectric nodded, now also standing normally. "Ja. Ze characters had excellent titles, and vere an inspiration," he explained. "Zey fought so hard to escape ze dark side of ze moon, vhere ze evil shadow pokémon lived."
"Dude, that sounds metal!" Eiscue said, sounding interested. He picked up another berry. "More rad than the shadow mons I met yesterday!"
"Ja!" The dog clenched a fist. "I vish to be just like ze protagonist, Battle Rider Charmeleon, und change ze vurld for ze better!"
"Same, but with Battle Gem Flaaffy as my inspiration~" Delcatty chimed, readjusting her white and yellow striped scarf to fit inside her purple, fluffy brace.
"Commendable!" Sneasel said enthusiastically. It was good to know that kids of today could still have such a strong sense of justice!
"I am honored that you decided to go with a butler for your theme...!" Spiritomb praised Manectric.
Manectric deflated bashfully. "D-Danke... I vant to clean up crime, and ze vord sounded cool," he replied.
"Oh, I thought you were, like... a real butler, or something..." Ponytale murmured with an airy giggle. Sneasel was happy to see that she seemed much happier than last night.
The pony blinked and turned to Delcatty. "Wait... does that mean you're not a real angel...?" she asked.
"Nyope! But I hope to shine like one~" the cat explained.
"Well, uh, whatever works..." Oricorio muttered, not looking like he really got it much.
Togetic giggled. "What's with all the meowing, Delcatty? I know you're a kitty, but..."
"Oh, I picked it up from my purrsonal favorite, Shadow's Ambition: Uprising of the Verge!" Delcatty explained. "The good guys, Onion Fennekin and Poptart Minccino, went to a dungeon on Planet Floss to escape the evil Snooty Frostales and her minion, Jaunty Glameow. The way the cat pokémon who lived there spoke really mewved me~"
"Heehee, oh, that's just so cute~"
Delcatty tilted her head. "Cute? Uh, if you say so~!"
Sneasel smiled, pleased that everyone was getting along. These were definitely some good kids! They'd helped to keep everyone's mood from getting too low after yesterday's defeat!
He frowned worriedly at Noctowl, who was sitting nearby, fuming quietly while eating slowly. Well... maybe not everyone's moods. The owl hadn't spoken much since waking, so the loss had clearly deeply affected him.
Finishing off the rest of his food, Sneasel got to his feet and wandered over to the bird to stand before him. "Noctowl, my friend, we shall try again, don't you worry. Our belongings shall not be lost for good!" he reassured. He pointed a claw towards the owl's camera. "And look! You even got to keep hold of your camera!"
"Ugh... thanks, but... it's not just about our stuff," Noctowl replied. He glowered at the brightening morning sky. "... This whole thing is personal, now. Nobody hurts my pride like that without paying for it."
Sneasel sighed. "Well, that's understandable." As much as he liked to avoid giving into vices, even he had to admit that this incident was an attack on his pride, also. "Not to mention, Cold Pikachu is a threat to everyone on the mountain, left unchecked."
"Exactly." The owl huffed in irritation. "But without a good amount of items, and with all of us still recovering... well, there's jack we can do. He's way craftier than we realized, and now he has all of our items."
"Unfortunately..." Sneasel muttered.
"Oh, are you, like... talking about that pikachu?" Ponytale asked, walking closer. "I just remembered... he told me to tell you something, before he hit me with something sharp and painful." She blinked. "Wait... pikachus aren't sharp and painful..."
"Must've hit you with his tail, or his Brick Break, something," Noctowl replied, shrugging. "Anyway, what is it? The bastard just making fun of us?"
"I think so... I was, like... sort of freaking out at the time, though, so I didn't really think about it, much..."
"Why not show us, using your image projecting powers, Ponytale?" Sneasel suggested.
Her eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, I guess there's that...!"
"Yes! Um, if you don't feel that it's anything too personal, anyway."
"Naww, it's okay, Sneasel." She giggled airily. "After all, if it's a... y'know, request from you, then I'll do anything you like...~" She forcibly blinked with both eyes. She stalled contemplatively for a second before giving him a stuttery wink.
Sneasel smiled sheepishly. "Th-Thank you, Ponytale." He grew more sheepish when he saw Noctowl give an exasperated shake of the head. Oh, this crush of hers was embarrassing, to say the least...
"Uh... but yeah, whatever, thanks," Noctowl said. "Let's gather everyone up, so we can see what you've got for us."
"Okie dokie," Ponytale replied, smiling.
Stunky and the rest of the group were gathered up to sit next to each other. Finished with their meals, they watched curiously as Noctowl stood before them with Ponytale standing close by, smiling airily.
Stunky felt a smile of her own grow as she watched the frowning owl take the stage, so to speak. He most certainly was a handsome devil. Especially with his aggressive personality~
She just had to find time to flirt with him once this fiasco blew over. With any luck, maybe he'd show his rugged rude side again...~
"Alright, well..." the owl in question started, "it's safe to say that the little basta-" He glanced at Delcatty and Manectric and caught himself midsentence. "The, uh... Well, that pikachu is too tough for us to deal with for now. Especially now that he's practically stolen everything."
"Yeah... even my stuff..." Eiscue mumbled sadly, patting his side where he presumably liked to keep his treasure bag.
Noctowl nodded. "Mhm. So, naturally, we have to work out a plan of action." He indicated towards Ponytale. "Ponytale here says she can show us a message, given to us by the little freak."
"That's right..." Ponytale said happily.
"Bet it's nothing good..." Oricorio muttered. "Have we gotta see it?"
"It might help us figure out a plan of action, so what have we got to lose?" Sneasel said.
"I concur!" Stunky added. She was deathly curious about this mouse and his heinous actions, so any info was good info!
... It wasn't entirely because she found him admittedly attractive, she kept telling herself.
"Well, I guess..." Oricorio replied, putting his wings behind his head.
"Okie dokes," Ponytale said, horn glowing. "I'll just... go and do the thing, I suppose..."
Noctowl took a seat with everyone else as a heavy mist formed in the air in the shape of a screen, not unlike when she'd manifested the pictures from the owl's camera. The mist's colors rapidly changed, until they seemed to form a dark, blank picture.
Eventually, Stunky could hear sounds inside her own mind, likely being projected by Ponytale's psychic abilities.
What they saw and heard sent a shiver up her spine, and she was sure everyone else felt the same...
As Ponytale entered the pitch-black, grassy-smelling cave, she felt herself shudder violently. She didn't even know why, though.
W-Was she cold? She didn't feel cold... and it wasn't Christmas, even though she'd thought it was...
Maybe it was her ability? ... No, that didn't make sense. Anticipation only worked when there was, like... mortal danger near her. But there wasn't, right? The pikachu was already being beaten, so everything was safe!
She couldn't stop shuddering, though. It was making her start to freak out. Especially with things being all dark and silent...
She suddenly felt the spikes of pain and fear in the room that she'd felt earlier, though stronger this time. W-What was happening...?
She fought away the urge to panic and run for her life. No, she was safe... She was safe... Noctowl had said it was safe to come in, so it was safe...
Suddenly, a blast of sound rushed through her ears, making her jump and shriek. Ohhh, what was going on!?
The noises she heard made her fur prick out in fear. She heard Togetic screaming in fright, stopping after a noisy explosion. She heard Oricorio yelling as his voice travelled across the cave, until it cut out in an instant. She heard Spiritomb groaning and panting on the floor somewhere, eventually stopping with a loud, hurt grunt.
Ponytale's shudders went insane. Her friends were hurting! Why? Noctowl had done the wing thing, so the pikachu was beaten, right!?
She tried to think of something to do, but couldn't stop panicking. She ran around in circles, scared out of her mind.
Something caught her hooves, making her trip. She tried scrambling to her hooves, but something was tangled around her legs. She couldn't pull herself free.
She struggled hard, but the thing on her hooves wouldn't let go. It was like a big... plate of spaghetti had captured her, or something!
The darkness suddenly evaporated all around her, letting her see again. She had to blink from the sudden brightness.
When her vision cleared... she saw utter chaos all around. Eiscue's ice block was shattered, and he was covered in rock fragments. Stunky was on her back, bruised and battered. Togetic was completely burnt, with smoke pouring off her. Spiritomb was stuck against the spiky wall. Noctowl was lying in the corner of the room in an awkward pose.
Oh no... and worst of all, her poor Sneasel... he was unconscious in a crater, looking very burnt.
She suddenly heard a throat clearing cough from across the room, behind her. "Haha... good job, explorers," the voice's owner said. He had a deep, gruff voice. "I haven't laughed that hard in ages!"
"W-What happened!?" Ponytale asked. She tried to turn her head to see him, but she was completely tangled in grass and vines, keeping her in place. Had the pikachu used some orb, or wand that, like... caused gardening, or something? "Are you the pikachu!?"
"... Yeah. You guessed it. I am indeed that pikachu." He let out a low chuckle. His voice sounded like it was coming closer. "The monster of a pikachu, you just can't... seem... to... beat."
Ponytale whimpered. He wasn't friendly, like Eiscue had thought, at all!
She felt a paw grab her by the neck and raise her high in the air, making her squeal. "W-Why are you, like... all m-mean, and stuff? Aren't you s-supposed to be all n-nice?" she stammered, feeling herself dangling in the air as the vines shrank away.
"Hm? Nice? Not me, I'm afraid," he replied. "In fact, all this stealing? All the groping? Do you think I'm doing it for a reason?" He laughed. "Well... I guess there is a reason, actually. Do you know what reason that is, you shitty Galarian ponyta?"
Gala... what? "N-N-No...?" She felt a paw on her chest. She yelped loudly when one of her boobs was yanked out.
Oh no... this was going to end real badly...!
"... Pokémon such as yourself make me sick," the pikachu continued, his voice going a different tone for a second. He cleared his throat, after, voice going all deep and scary again. "You horrible, genocidal bastards should've been killed off by the last four things that threatened Earth... for what you did..."
"I, l-like... didn't do anything, I'm sorry!" she pleaded. She cried out in pain when he smacked her boob, making it flop aggressively. It really stung...!
"You would say that, wouldn't you? Unfortunately... I know better. I know that if you had the chance, you would do horrible things... so that's why you need punishing!"
He suddenly let go of her, letting her harshly drop to the ground. Oww...
She slowly tried to stand up on her aching legs, but collapsed again when a weight landed onto her. It felt like the pikachu was lying on top of her.
... Oh... Oh no...
She teared up, terrified out of her mind. "This is... l-l-like... a rape, isn't it?" she asked, nearly choking on her words.
The pikachu let out a heavy chuckle. "Oh, that would be a hell of a punishment, wouldn't it? But no... No need to be a renegade..."
She breathed out in relief. Oh, thank legends...
"Heh, though on that note..." he continued, "here's a message for you. For all of you. And I know you'll see this with her powers, later..."
She yelped again when she felt a paw reach under her arm and play with her boob. She looked down and saw it bouncing around in his unseen paw. She felt a thumb going around her sensitive nipple, which made her whimper. His touch felt squeamish and wrong.
"... If you fuckers come back, I hope you're ready to expect worse punishments," he finished, ending on a deep laugh that echoed through the caves.
The weight suddenly left her back. A second later, she felt something incredibly sharp hit her in the side, sending her flying away, screaming.
When she hit the spiky wall all the way across the room, she felt everything go dark again, just like before. Except only in her eyes, this time, probably.
She trembled as she slipped away into her dreams. She hoped they... wouldn't be as scary... as that pikachu...
Stunky stared in abject horror at the terrible replaying of events that had just transpired in front of her, on Ponytale's magical mist. It had shown them everything Ponytale had seen and heard exactly, down to the smallest detail, and it had been sobering, to say the least.
Okay... he wasn't attractive anymore. That had been downright disturbing! What a menace to society that creepy freak was!
Or better yet... what an absolute, utter wanker!
She turned to gauge everyone else's reactions. Togetic seemed just as horrified as she was, even subconsciously gripping her own chest. Noctowl and Oricorio were glaring daggers at the screen. Sneasel was casting a worried, sympathetic gaze towards Ponytale, who seemed unhappy to have witnessed her memory again. Eiscue was shaking his head in disbelief, completely beside himself.
Delcatty seemed like she was trying not to show how disturbed she was, though her bemused, sheepish look betrayed her. Manectric was glancing away at nothing in particular, his face reddened. Even Spiritomb's usual big smile seemed a mite more subdued than usual, despite his unwavering professionalism.
"Tsk. Well, Eiscue?" Noctowl asked mockingly. "Still think he's a 'nice guy'?"
"That's... He's..." Eiscue started. He put his flippers to his head's ice cube. "There's... gotta be some sort of mistake! That is not the guy I met! This guy is a dick!"
"L-Language, Eiscue," Sneasel reminded him flusteredly. He indicated towards Manectric and Delcatty. "The children do not need any further scarring, I'm sure!"
Eiscue's eyes widened. "Whoops! Uh, sorry, but... well, ya know..." He cleared his throat, which only served to fog up his ice cube. He didn't seem to mind too much, though. "I'm right, though!"
"Good legends, though, Ponytale, it's no wonder you were so scared, yesterday!" Sneasel said, getting up and hurrying over to her to place a paw on her shoulder comfortingly. "Are you okay? It must've been terrible, reliving that experience."
Her grim expression faded away into a rather pleased one at Sneasel's presence. "Oh, it's okay...! I'm just happy we all made it out without, like... anything really bad happening," she replied.
He let out a breath. "As am I." He pulled a face. "Uh... I'm surprised you did not mind us looking at the memory uncensored, though. I would have been embarrassed."
Ponytale heavily tilted her head, letting her mane brush the stone floor. "Huh...?"
"Because it showed off your, um..." Stunky began, wondering how to continue tastefully, "... your breast, darling. Uncovered."
Ponytale blinked. "... Oh!" Head going upright again, she giggled airily, face going red. "Now that you mention it... I guess that's sort of embarrassing. Whoops..."
Sneasel shook his head exasperatedly. "Eheh, um... oh you," he muttered.
"I see what you meant with that villain," Delcatty said. "He's a mean cat, for sure!"
"But he shouldn't be, though!" Eiscue retorted. "Arghh, everything about this just sucks! There's no way that's the same guy I met! Even his voice feels different, somehow!"
"C'mon, who else is gonna go around saying they're Pikachu?" Oricorio retorted irritably. "Why would they? This guy for sure has to be the one who's groped every girl here!"
"Absolutely!" Togetic huffed angrily. "And you know how mean and angry that guy was! He's definitely the type to go spouting all that nonsense about... genocide, or whatever it was!"
"Well... uh..." Eiscue muttered, looking back and forth between them. He groaned loudly and exaggeratedly shook his head in disbelief. "No way... I just can't believe this..."
"Meowbe..." Delcatty gently interjected, walking closer to put a paw on Eiscue's wing, "his kindness... was a ploy, to get you to lower your guard, hm?"
"Ja," Manectric added. He took a deep breath, as if ready to prepare a speech. "It's just like in ze book, Electrical Vengeance. Ze hero, Revenge Pawmot, vent on a qvest across ze stars to avenge his old teammate, Catcher Snowslash, who vas betrayed by ze Intergalactic Guild."
"Uh... yeah? Right?" Eiscue murmured confusedly, head tilted.
The dog readjusted his green lensed glasses. Actually, because of them, Stunky hadn't yet seen his eyes, had she? "During ze qvest, one of ze guild's old members, Admirer Plusle, encountered Pawmot. Zhey travelled togezer, fell in love und started dating..." he continued before frowning, "... but zhen she betrayed him by leading him und his friends into ze Intergalactic Guild's trap."
"Exactly~" Delcatty chimed. "By pretending to be a good friend, the fiend lured poor Pawmot into a trap. Purrhaps the same might've happened to you, and everyone else?"
Eiscue sighed deeply. "Yeahhh... I guess. He did seem pretty smart, 'n' all, so..." he muttered resignedly, head dipping past his knees in his seated position.
Stunky frowned sadly. She noticed that everyone else seemed to be regarding him with sympathy, too. Poor fellow. He seemed so crestfallen over this.
Noctowl let out a long huff. "Don't feel bad. He's a master at manipulation. If it weren't you, it would've been someone else," he said to him.
"Absolutely! Anything to get at us girls!" Togetic added with a firm nod.
"I guess so..." Eiscue replied, sitting up properly to look at them.
"And if I may...!" Spiritomb added. "I believe Cold Pikachu might have liked you the most, out of all of us. Even with his traitorous intent in mind...! "
"Huh? How? What makes ya say that?"
"For someone as... steely as him to strike up such a pleasant conversation with you must mean something...!"
"He was nicer to you than me, so I guess so..." Ponytale added.
"See, my friend?" Sneasel said cheerfully. "Surely, you must be likeable indeed for him to put aside his unnecessary hatred of pokémon!"
"Well... that's sorta cool, I guess," Eiscue said with a light smile. "Well, this still sucks the big one, but you guys sure helped, so thanks!"
Stunky and everyone else replied with a pleased response.
The skunk stood up. "Well, undoubtedly, we need to exact some much-needed revenge on that ruffian... but how are we going to go about it?" she asked.
"If we go now, without our stuff, we're not gonna have a great time," Oricorio said, also standing. He put his wings behind his head. "I mean y'know, I could probably take him by myself if he didn't have any of that stuff, but..."
"Yeah, sure," Togetic teased, grinning at him. He huffed in response.
"Perhaps, if I may suggest..." Spiritomb started, "we should leave to gather ourselves, as well as gather a fair assortment of items. Then, once we are ready, we could come back and... capture him...!" He gave his usual dark chuckle.
"You... sound like you vish to murder him," Manectric said, his eyebrows furrowing in concern.
"No, dear, he always talks that way," Stunky replied, walking over to pat Spiritomb's side. His wispy skin felt both solid and ethereal to the touch. "It is what makes him so charming~"
"You... flatter me so, Miss Stunky...!" Spiritomb responded, his usual smile brightening.
"Um... okay zhen..." Manectric replied, seeming no less disturbed.
Stunky mentally shook her head. Poor Spiritomb. He'd always found it hard to make friends, because of his demeanor. It was a good job he never seemed to take it hard.
"You won't have to worry about killing him, either way," Noctowl piped in, standing up. He was frowning fiercely. "When I find the little rat, I'll twist his neck for you. "
Stunky felt her legs quiver. Oh, legends, he was sexy when he was aggressive~
Noctowl's frown softened. "Spiritomb is right, though," he continued. "The way we are now, we don't have much of a chance against the bas-..." He sighed heavily. "Well... you know. We need to come back stronger, smarter and better equipped."
"An excellent idea!" Sneasel replied. "After some time passes, he might not even expect us to return, allowing us to get the drop on him!"
"Right."
"Wait, what if he wanders off to some other dungeon?" Togetic asked. "We can't catch him if he goes into hiding!"
Noctowl clicked his tongue. "... Damnit." He stared off into the brightening blue sky. After a pause, he looked back at the group. "One of us will have to stay here and keep an eye on him."
"Nya-ha! That's where Team Shire come in!" Delcatty chimed in.
"Ja! Ve are detectives!" Manectric added, sticking his chest out. "Staking out criminals ist vhere ve shine!"
"Huh? Detectives?" Oricorio asked. "Ain't that just a fancy word for police, or whatever?"
"No, not quite, darling," Stunky replied. "They're a type of explorer you often see in crime novels! They stalk criminals to learn their habits and anything else that could aid in their capture."
"Oh, 'kay. Then they catch 'em, right?"
"If they feel like they can handle it, then perhaps! Though many often go for help from more qualified explorers, or the police, themselves."
"That's it!" Delcatty said. "We've already helped with the capture of some tough crooks, you know~ So if you want us to keep tabs on this pikachu, we'd be meore than happy to help~"
"Now, now, you two..." Sneasel interjected, crossing his arms with a sheepish smile. "We appreciate the offer, but I am not sure I am comfortable getting pokémon as young as you two involved."
"Yeah, you've seen how dangerous that pest is!" Togetic agreed. "I'll bet he wouldn't go easy on you, just 'cos you're a couple of cute kids!"
"I nyassure you, we're more than capable!" Delcatty argued, unfazed. "If need be, we even have combat capabilities!"
"It ist true," Manectric added. "Like a few days ago..."
Manectric ran across the wooden boards of a long rope bridge, which connected two of the humongous trees of Treeshroud Forest. He eyed up the ninetales coated in various scarves and bows of different colors and patterns. He was running across a bridge far lower down, likely heading deeper into the village of treehouses that sat hundreds of feet high in the woods.
A fair distance behind the villainous fox, Delcatty was in hot pursuit with a confident grin. She was purposefully holding off on using moves, however, wishing to tire the outlaw until an opening presented itself.
Manectric grinned as he eyed up Scarf Nick Ninetales. The dummkopf had no idea how much danger he was in. Manectric and Delcatty had been keeping an eye on this scarf thief for the past few days, and knew his mannerisms and fighting style in and out.
For whatever reason, the fox seemed to believe that having more scarves would make him more powerful. Didn't he know that having more than one explorer item equipped at once would cancel them all out? Laughable.
Before his thoughts could continue, an aura of intense heat surrounded Ninetales, like a circle of strong sunshine. His ability, Drought, in action.
Manectric frowned. He was planning something... Now it was only a question of which of the three techniques he was planning on using.
Though... if Drought was being used...
Before he could think too much about it, the fox leapt into the air, twirled on the spot, and fired an intense Flamethrower, powered by the Drought. It traveled towards Delcatty in a ferocious plume of burning fire.
Manectric's eyes hardened. Technique number two! He'd already used that on some of the locals who'd tried to take back their belongings!
Already anticipating it, Delcatty leapt off the bridge with a graceful forward flip, barely in time to avoid the fire rushing past. A very large cluster of gray vines erupted out of the impressively thick trunk of a nearby tree, catching her. She catapulted off them as more gray vines sprang out of a different tree, which she sailed towards. Her Grass Knot in work, strengthened by Normalize.
While glad that Delcatty had avoided the attack, Manectric still huffed. That was the technique they'd hoped Ninetales wasn't going to use. If it had been technique one - throwing Confuse Ray orbs around as floating mines - they would've brought out the pecha berries... and if it had been technique three - standing his ground and using Ominous Wind to try and blow Delcatty away - Manectric could have taken the advantage and used Psychic Fangs to attack while he was distracted.
Technique two, however... that was the one they only knew how to dodge, not to counter...
"Ugh... vhat vould I do if I vere a sci-fi hero...?" Manectric muttered, thinking hard. If they didn't act soon, there was a chance they would get tired out before he would be...
When he noticed how the bridge Ninetales was still on had begun to burn, because of the earlier attack, Manectric hit a realization. He reached into his bag and pulled out a copy of The Cove Lit. A story about a cyborg snivy in a high tech, cyberpunk world, who'd found himself hunted down by the evil guild known as The Cove Lit.
Still running on his threes, he snapped open the book to one of the earlier chapters. He flipped through some pages until he spotted the scene he wanted. One where Cyberjack Snivy was riding on top of a cyber speeder across a large bridge, fending off pursuers who were riding their cyclizar androids.
While balancing on his speeder, Snivy used his ability to conjure bright lights to briefly blind his pursuers. Afterwards, he used his cybernetic enhancements to hack into the bridge, opening up holes which caught his pursuers, making them fall into the waters far below.
Manectric grinned excitedly and snapped his book shut before shoving it back into his bag. He knew what he had to do!
He focused on the bridge the outlaw below him was using and, through his specs, fired out a thin, harmless laser beam from his eyes at it using Laser Focus. When it hit, glowing beacons of light shot up from many different positions on the bridge. Weak points.
Unsurprisingly, there were more glowing beacons in positions that were on fire, or where the rope seemed slightly weathered, already. Those beacons seemed to glow the brightest, too.
Grin growing, Manectric prepared for the next step. He focused his gaze, causing his vision to glow green as his lock-on specs kicked into action. They highlighted a nearby vine for him to use, swinging from an even higher bridge.
Nodding, he leapt off the bridge he'd been on and grabbed the vine with both front paws. He flew through the air, carried by momentum, until he was above a long wooden walkway, which spiraled down a humongous tree.
He let go of the vine and fell onto the walkway, stumbling lightly from the carried momentum. Correcting himself, he turned to face the connected bridge, with the familiar ninetales barreling down it.
The fox stopped in place, surprised at his appearance. "What the-!?" he muttered before growling. "Oh, you want one, too, do you?" Fire began to visibly burn in his mouth. "Leave me and my beautiful collection be, or get ready to burn!"
"I zink not, scheisskerl!" Manectric retorted, gathering energy in the yellow helmet of fur surrounding his head. He unleashed it all at once, emitting an extremely bright Flash of light.
Ninetales barked out a cry of shock and turned away while covering his eyes. The flames in his mouth faltered.
While he was distracted, Manectric held a paw out in his direction and fired a stream of multicolored energy, which travelled straight ahead in an erratically blocky pattern. "I'll vhittle you down wiz mein Signal Beam!" he shouted.
The attack rapidly struck Ninetales in the chest, making him groan and stagger backwards. In his blindness, he didn't notice that he was stepping further and further back onto the burning bridge, its flames growing bigger as the fox's Drought aura reached them.
Manectric glanced to the side and noticed that Delcatty was daintily perched on top of a branch. The usually purple fur atop her forehead was glowing a bright, powerful shade of gray.
After a pause, she got onto her hind legs and, with a pose, fired off a powerful, gray Solar Beam. It traveled towards the bridge until it drew close, at which point the pull of the Laser Focus beacons made it split off into loads of different beams, all homing in on the weak points of the bridge.
They all struck at once to small explosions. The bridge started collapsing not even a second later.
The villain stopped covering his eyes to glance around, blinking. "... Huh?" he murmured, concerned. "Oh, shite, what did you even-?"
The bridge finally gave way, allowing gravity to quickly catch up with him, sending him tumbling down into the depths of the dungeon, screaming. His screams went on for some time.
"Bwa! Bwahahaha! Auf wiedersehen, sveetheart!" Manectric shouted down giddily. His plan had gone off without a hitch! This was the power of sci-fi!
He heard a girly giggle echo across the woods to his side. He looked to see Delcatty smiling his way. "You're really getting into this, huh~?" she asked.
Face warming, Manectric cleared his throat. "J-Ja... slightly," he said, turning away. Whoops... perhaps he'd gotten carried away.
"Heehee~ Meownyway, you did a wonderful job! Why don't we go down and bag that villain?"
"Ja, danke," he replied with a gleeful nod.
As they each grabbed a gray vine and used them to descend lower down, Manectric let out a huff. Well, in any case, they'd been successful! All thanks to science fiction!
Truly, it was the greatest genre in the world!
"... Und zhen ve found him embedded in ze ground vhiz his legs sticking out," Manectric finished with a proud, if not somewhat shy, smile. "It vas an easy capture, after zhat."
Stunky laughed, along with some of the others. "A fitting end for that scarf thief, certainly," she said. After her brush with that pikachu, she found herself less forgiving of fashion thieves...
"Heehee, yep~" Delcatty agreed amusedly.
"Wait, isn't Lit Cove, like... an adult story?" Eiscue asked. "That's what the movie poster said, anyway."
"D-Don't vorry about zhat," Manectric muttered, face reddening as his glanced away. "Ze Cove Lit is only rated high for bad language, anyvay. Und a little violence..."
"Uh... whatever you say, lil' dude."
Stunky shook her head. How naughty! Though... admittedly, it did remind her of when she was younger, sneaking into her big brother's stash of literature that was unfit for the younger generation...
Delcatty giggled lightly. She stuck her chest out. "Well, meow that you know about our purrtential, everyone, I'm sure you can all agree that we are meore than capable of looking after ourselves, yes?" she suggested.
"Ja! Ve know all ze tricks of ze trade vhen it comes to being detectives!" Manectric added just as proudly. "Leave him viz us, und ve'll know his moves, his fighting style, his habits... und definitely, ze best vays to catch him."
Everyone glanced at each other. Unsurprisingly, unsure looks were shared by most of them. Even with their apparent skills, they were still children...
After a short while, someone huffed loudly. Everyone looked to see Noctowl smirking. "Whatever. I say we go for it," he said.
"Noctowl, what? They're just kids, though!" Togetic argued.
"So? Doesn't matter to us. They're legitimate explorers, just like the rest of us," he replied with a somewhat dramatic, aloof shrug. "You kids want to risk it? I'm not going to stop you. But you'd better know that messing up won't end well."
Stunky sighed. After a second, she nodded. She was nervous for them, sure, but... "He's right. We should treat them like the fellow explorers that they are!" she agreed.
The others stared at them in surprise, including Manectric. Delcatty beamed, though.
"Meowbsolutely~" Delcatty replied. "As detective-based explorers, it's our job to stalk criminals! No meowtter who they may be!"
"Und... U-Und ve shall not fail, eizer!" Manectric added, his confidence visually building.
Everyone looked amongst themselves.
"Allowing these... dear children to put themselves in potential harm's way..." Spiritomb started, "I can't say I agree... but as long as Miss Stunky believes it to be the best course of action... well, I suppose I shall, too...!" He ended on his usual deep, low chuckle.
"Well..." Ponytale murmured, smiling, "you kids don't, like... have boobies, and stuff, so maybe he won't do anything bad...~"
After giving her a brief look of exasperation, Sneasel started to speak to the kids. "You may be young... but I know a valiant cause when I see one! So perhaps it shall be fine!" he said in his usual grand way.
"You little guys are rockin' some skills!" Eiscue said with a grin. "I know you can do some good detectin' stuff!"
"I dunno about this, still..." Togetic muttered.
"Yeah, this is probably gonna end in tears, but alright..." Oricorio agreed.
Stunky looked between the two of them with a light huff. Suddenly remembering their rather intimate moment, earlier, she giggled lightly. Well, it was no wonder they agreed with each other if they were doing... that together in the open. How mischievous~!
Trying to put those thoughts out of her mind - before they threatened to turn naughtier and involve her - Stunky gave them a reassuring smile. "All the same, it's their choice as fellow explorers, so we should honor it," she said.
"Well... when I was a little girl, I wanted to be a beautiful fairy princess!" Togetic argued. "Kids don't always come up with the best ideas, y'know."
Oricorio chuckled. "Well... you got the fairy part down!" he joked.
She huffed at him. "Quiet, you!"
Stunky let out a giggle at their antics. "Hm, well, you're quite right... however, you've never had a royal crown, darling, whereas they have official explorer badges~" she explained.
"Well... I guess so..." Togetic muttered.
Stunky looked at the badges in question carefully. They were white ones with gold wings and shiny dark-gray buttons in the middle. "On that note, you're... normal rank, right?" If she was correct, the second rank after the starting one, rookie rank.
Delcatty proudly puffed her chest out. "That's right! Only a few months into our line of work, and we're already up one rank! We're only a few points away from being bronze rank, too, you know! An impressive feat for explorers who only started recently, right?"
"Indeed!" Stunky replied. Remembering what the gold wings symbolized, her eyes lit up. "Ooh, and you're independent explorers, too?" she continued. "All the more impressive, if you don't even belong to a guild!"
Delcatty let out a gleeful hum, while Manectric gave Stunky a bashful sideglance.
"D-Danke," he mumbled back in reply.
"I agree!" Sneasel added. "So worry not, Togetic and Oricorio! They'll be fine, if it's only detective work!"
"Hmm, okay then," Togetic replied, smiling. "Like you say, there's no need to worry, is there?"
"Sure, whatever, I guess," Oricorio added with a shrug.
"Fine, then we're all in agreement," Noctowl piped in. He took a snapshot of the kids with his camera. "We'll leave for a week or so to get better prepared... and you two will keep an eye on that pikachu, right?"
"Ja! Right!" Manectric replied, standing tall.
"Yeah~! You can count on us!" Delcatty added rather cheerily.
Everyone reacted positively, Stunky included. With their detective work on the horrid mouse, and everyone's further training and better selection of items... this rodent was as good as behind bars, where he belonged!
"Quite the persuasive power as always, Miss Stunky...!" Spiritomb praised the skunk.
"Thank you, my dearest~" Stunky chimed. Even if it were more Noctowl's idea...
On that note... she wondered when a good time to flirt with him would be~?
TO BE CONTINUED!
Finished: 10/09/2023
Word count: 8,073
VGS2's sausage notes: Holy shit! It's a dungeon that isn't the spiky one, the beach one, or the wet one! Rejoice! :D (I know it's just in a flashback, but still. XD)
Say, considering I mentioned an Alolan ninetales (called frostales, here), I may as well give some major kudos to PokeMaster64 for suggesting a name for Alolan vulpix!
He suggested 'Keokeo', because in Alolan lore, that used to be its name, (y'know, before the locals decided to just call it vulpix, for some reason. XD)
Plus, he did some digging through hawaiian terms and found out that, in his own words: "there is the word ke'oke'o. One meaning refers to "proud, carrying oneself haughtily". That could potentially describe a Vulpix given their regal appearance. The second meaning, which actually makes a bit of sense, means "White, as paper or cloth. White, as the fruit is ripe. Whitened, made white". That last definition is pretty clever as it describes how Vulpix adapted to their new climate and their fur turned white as a result."
It's quite a cute and clever name! I'll probably end up trying to go with something more thematic in the end (like ravengal's suggested flurrix, maybe), but I still really appreciate the suggestion! Cheers, lad! :D
If anyone else wants to use it, then by all means! Same goes for any of the species names you see in the fic, too. Just don't go all 'May Maple' about it, and treat it like it's canon, because... well, it's not. Except for Keokeo, I guess. XD
Today's shameless promotion: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Wimp Out!
Author: khirokorok
Universe: An original Mystery Dungeon world
Main species: A wimpod, a salandit and a skitty
Summary: Political pull-strings and a dangerous invention corrupt the upper echelons of Cressinger Guild. A rogue krokorok must warn the public. Meanwhile, a human soul falls upon the planet of pokemon, an event a group of zealots have long awaited. Together with a lonely salandit and an arrogant skitty, this displaced human turned wimpod must pave his own path in this strange world.
Romance: Not a clue, for now!
Wackiness: Quirky characters aplenty!
Lewdness: Not really!
Action: The odd bit of fighting!
Grittiness: Somber moments and a fair bit of edge!
Length: Looking like it might get long, but it's still early days!
Fun mistakes of the day:
#1: 'It was a quiet place with lots of flop'
(I rested my hand in the wrong place. Now I've turned it into Magikarp Meadow.)
#2: "Qkey, wakery"
(I think Ben needs to wake up, himself...)
#3: 'He wished he could stop having nightmates like this'
(Oh dear, oh dear... Buneary's not going to be happy to hear that he likes having 'special companions' at night!)
#4: 'his once limp penis had begun to become rock hard.'
('Begun to become' is a fun phrase to say to a rhythm.)
#5: 'Ben's happy demeanor continued for a short while be suddenly falling.'
(Probably because the narration suddenly developed a Jamaican accent out of nowhere.)
#6: 'while holding his still hardened dick against his front, tucked it away. He slipped it off'
(One of Ben's many powers is being able to take his penis off. I just hope he can reattach it.)
#7: 'Eating more of his breakfast of Sneasel'
(Nothing like a good bowl of Sneasel-Os to perk you up in the morning! What're the ingredients, you ask? Uh...)
#8: 'Sneasel cold'
(I finally learn what type Sneasel is!)
#9: 'The main charter'
(Good to know they have someone manning the maps!)
#10: "The way the cat pokémon who lived there spoke to me~"
(You think they spoke to you directly? O,o Damn kids and their imaginations...)
#11: "so what have we got to loose"
(Buneary will get loose, when that pikachu gets here! YeahhhH! *Sunglasses American eagle noise hamburger airhorn*)
#12: 'What they saw and heard sent a shiver up her spines, and she sure everyone else felt the same...'
(I don't think everyone's an apparent hydra like you, Stunky.)
#13: 'She tried scrabbling to her hooves,'
(Ponytale better not make up gibberish words again, I swear to fucking God.)
#14: 'She yelped loudly when one of her boos was yanked out.'
(Is it even possible to steal someone else's boo in Mario Kart, using a boo of your own? A funny thought, all the same!)
#15: 'Delcatty seemed like she was Manectric'
(Team Shire have finally learned the art of fusion dances!)
#16: 'He indicated towards Men'
(Sneasel gets so fed up of Ponytale that he turns to liking men, instead. Tragic...)
#17: 'head flopping pass his knees.'
(Sounds unhealthy!)
#18: "So if you want us to keep tabs on this pikachu, we'd ben"
(She's cracked the case! Take him away, boys! *The grass fox goes to jail, fic over*)
#19: 'After a pause, she got onto her hind legs and, with a post, fired off a powerful Solar Beam,'
(Is she using a pole as a magic wand? Or is she using postal services...?)
#20: "Bwa! Bwahaha! Alfeiderzwei"
(You're not a real German, are you, Manectric...?)
#21: "It's only for bad language, anyvay. Und language violence."
(Language violence? Is that when you use words that offend the Twitter crowd? I hope they don't dox him!)
#22: "Mewobsoluterly"
(What's that about your wob, Delcatty?)
#23: 'Stuhnky'
(I can't help but imagine this in a breathy voice)
#24: "We'll leave for a weak,"
(Definitely not for the strong, though!)
#25: 'A wimpod, a salandit, a skitty and a krojoroj'
(The fic has a fakemon, apparently. I don't understand the appeal, seeing as we have over a thousand of the bastards now, but hey. XD)
A bonus mistake in ravengal's fic, Shallow Waters
#26: "And what about toy, Cilan?"
(Talking about toys, while they're talking about their crushes? Oh me...! Oh my...! ... They're bonding over Toy Story! :DD (Just kidding, secks toi time, lol))
A bonus mistake in ravengal's PikaBun one-shot, Ketchup Capers
#27: 'until his eyes landed on a bottle off ketchup'
(Don't eat it! It seems pretty off! I mean, it must be if it's been off for the past 13-ish years, as of writing. XD)
A bonus mistake in Carson55's fic, About Her (Sorry, man. XD)
#28: 'All at once, he felt a wave of guilt wash come crashing over him'
(Umm... considering this happened in a flashback where they first met, I guess they hit it off super fast, huh? XD)
Welp, that'll do it! The next chapter's very close to being finished, actually, so I might be able to get it out quite soon! That's the hope, anyway! Wish me luck! :D
Well, 'till next time... tata for now, you sexy bugger, you! c:
