Hello everybody, got another chapter fresh and ready and dare I say, I think it's my longest one yet. I'm starting to get more on a pattern, which is great because hopefully it increases the quality of my writing the better the schedule I'm on. Please feel free to review thoughts, I'm open to it all. I hope whoever is reading this is having a great day and a good time. Until then, please enjoy. :)
Chapter 5
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"We're so happy you two came." The speaker was a Pawmi, who had a yellow construction helmet and orange safety vest on.
Erin and Liza had walked through the village towards the green mountain which brought them towards the forest which had occasional trails going into it. The mine, however, was off a slightly hidden path that was broken by wooden slats that led towards the entrance. Tools were layered on the ground with pickaxes, wheelbarrows and barrels just outside the entrance, which was guarded by a large wooden door. A few Diglett and Dugtrio lingered outside, some looking afraid while others looked annoyed.
Erin nodded, clenching her fists. "Of course, are you all okay?" she asked, concern in her voice.
The Pawmi narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Them damn apes didn't even bother to fight us. Just took our damn Nuggets and ran off into the mines. That was 40,000 worth of Nuggets they made off with. "He grumbled.
Liza walked a bit towards the entrance, her bright yellow eyes flashing blue very momentarily as she concentrated. Her sclera and pupils lit up in the same bright color as her eyesight intensified. She looked confused for a moment as she turned back towards them.
Liza cocked her head. "This mine connects to Citrine City and Emerald City areas, right? You don't think it's possible they escaped out one of those tunnels, do you?
The Pawmi shook his head. "We have two separate mine stations at those exits. They haven't reported any signs of them even in the mines, let alone leaving yet." He crossed his arms. "Reckon there were about three or four of 'em too."
Erin nodded enthusiastically, unable to hide her excitement about the mission, much to the bewilderment of the Pawmi.
Liza stretched. "Fair enough." She said, cracking her neck. "A few Pasimian don't sound like the most challenging thing in the world. Mind if we place a stone by the door? Scaredy cat over here has a teleportation stone just in case."
Erin puffed her cheeks at the Luxray, who gave her a mischievous grin in return as the Pawmi led them over to a fireplace. Pulling a stone matching the one in her glove, Erin placed it on the ground. A dirty looking sleeping bag was close by.
The Pawmi puffed out his cheeks in pride. "No need to fear if anything happens, you're more than welcome to use my very own bed to rest up if things go awry."
Erin smiled in exasperation. "Oh…how generous." She replied, still giving an uncertain eye to the filthy bag at her feet. Without another word, she walked with Liza who pulled open the door of the mine.
"Good luck, ladies." The Pawmi murmured as he watched them head into the mines. Giving his team a disgruntled look, he walked over. "Why can't all of you be as brave as them?" He yelled, causing his team to sweat drop.
One Diglett half closed his eyes. "Why don't you go with them?" He asked.
The Pawmi put both hands on his waists, undeterred. "Because I'd get killed in two seconds." He shouted proudly, causing his team to fall over in exasperation at his oblivious confidence…
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"Ugh, how did they manage to even fit in here?" Liza was disgruntled at how small the tunnel was. She currently had her head bent a little bit to get through the current section they were walking through. Erin, being much smaller and skinnier than even Liza, didn't have much of an issue walking through the small tunnel.
"No kidding," Erin said, more than sympathy than shared annoyance. "Aren't Passimian fairly tall as well?"
"At least twice my height!" Liza exclaimed incredulously. "This is definitely a better job for Bendy or even Duncan."
The cave itself was actually fairly lit, with cute little lights intricately placed along the wall. Ores, meanwhile, also appeared in spouts, showing signs of being dug into. Pickaxes were also occasionally spewed on the ground, making Liza grunt in annoyance as she stepped over it.
Erin tried to distract Liza from her annoyance. "So, this cave connects to Citrine and Emerald City?" she asked.
"Yeah, although the entrance to our area wasn't made all that long ago. They mainly use it as a mine to hunt down Nuggets and other stones. The cave ranging from Citrine and Emerald is actually a pretty decent size, a lot of guild members end up going into them at some point."
Erin paused for a moment.
"Do you interact with other guilds much?"
"Sometimes." Liza responded. "There's usually a massive meeting once a month where all seven of us meet to discuss stuff. We also help out neighboring Cities with 5-star threats if needed. We actually sent Paulson, Bendy, and Guildmaster Finnegan to Amethyst City a couple years ago to help with one." Her voice took an edge, catching Erin off guard.
Taking her silence as a sign to continue, Liza continued. "It was rough. Bendy was severely injured…it's why you always see him with that facemask. Amethyst City had it worse, though. They lost four members…including their deputy. Their Guildmaster was pretty much crippled as well."
Erin's eyes stretched wide. "How many threats were there?" She asked incredulously.
Liza shook her head. "That's the scary thing…there was only one. If Paulson and the old man weren't there, it's possible Amethyst City's Justice Guild would've been wiped out."
Suddenly, the tunnel they were walking through expanded outwards as they entered a large area that looked like a much larger part of the tunnel was broken down. A wooden bridge was stretched out in front of them, leading to another part of the floor. Another tunnel, albeit still much wider than the one Liza and Erin exited.
Liza stretched, enjoying the freedom to move. "Ahhh, much better." She cooed happily, before returning her slightly more serious demeanor. "Don't worry, I don't imagine us getting a level five anytime soon, our city is pretty tame compared to a place like Emerald City or Obsidian City."
Erin clenched her fists. "Still, I'm going to become strong enough to where even five-star threats won't seem scary." She said, causing Liza to give her an amused side look.
She was going to say something, but her ears perked causing her to flick one. Her eyes lighting up like they did earlier, she quickly sprang and grabbed Erin by the back of the neck once more, dragging the snake back as Erin yelped in surprise.
As they jumped out of the way, a Passimian landed where they once stood, his eyes glowing a metallic red as he smashed into the ground. His gaze reached upwards with a menacing grin as he spotted the two guild members.
Luxray dropped Erin. "Found ya!" She replied, returning his grin.
Erin panted as she was quick to regain her footing. "Thanks for the save." She gasped, surprised at Liza's sharp senses.
The Passimian chuckled. "Mmmmm, that eyesight of yours is a nuisance. And to think I thought I was gonna have the jump on you too." He stared with a slight blush adorning his face. "And to think the guild was kind enough to send me such a beautiful pair of ladies."
Erin cringed. "Not another creep." She said in disgust. She made a step towards him, but he made a noise to signal something.
Liza, whose eyes were lit, sighed. "Oh boy." She muttered, and as she did, 15-20 more Passimian appeared from the shadows surrounding the two. Her ears flattened in annoyance. "So much for there only being 'two or three'."
Erin clicked her tongue. "All this just for a couple Pokémon?" She taunted.
The Passimian laughed. "Easy there, cutie pie. Don't know much about you, but your little friend over there is quite the fearful little lion. I'm strong, but I'm not stupid."
Liza's cheeks crackled with electricity. "We can agree to disagree on that last part." She said, taking a step forward, but stopped as realization hit her. "Ugh, but the old man said not to join in unless it was life or death." She sounded disappointed.
Erin, however, blinked incredulously. "Wait, you're going to leave all of them to me?" She cried in surprise.
Liza gave her best version of a thumbs up. "No need to worry, I won't let you die." She emphasized.
The Passimian raised an eyebrow, his grin not budging from his face. "What's this? Not taking us seriously? I'm offended." He said, mockingly. He motioned to the other monkey Pokemon as if telling them to stand aside. "Don't worry…. I want you all to myself." Steam puffed out of his nose as he lunged towards her while Erin cringed in disgust.
Erin jumped out of the way as again, the Passimian slammed into the ground, his eyes glowing with a metallic red once again. Kicking off the ground, he tried to pounce on Erin.
"Close Combat!"
"Leaf Blade!"
Kicks and punches were whirled at Erin as she tried her best to counter them with her own tail attack. The Passimian's attacks were fierce and strong, but Erin held her own with her surprising acrobatic-like flexibility. Liza, blinked, a little impressed.
Jumping on his arm after a missed punch, Erin bounced upwards and managed to strike the Passimian had in the face. He crashed backwards from the pain, but quickly pushed himself up.
Erin bounced backwards, feeling confident. "You sure you don't need a couple of your friends to even the odds a little?" She taunted, much to the annoyance of the Passimian. She smirked as confidence soared through her veins.
Liza sweat dropped. "I think I'm starting to like her." She commented, happy to see she rubbed off on the usually tame Snivy.
"Hmph, so much for being a nice guy." He complained, although his grin showed he wasn't serious. "Guess I'll have to get a little rough with you."
Slamming his hands into the ground, he pulled out two rocks and chucked them at Erin. She jumped, gasping at the sudden attack. Multiple of the other Passimian threw berries towards their leader, who caught and threw the projectiles at Erin. Erin did her best to dodge, but the onslaught was overwhelming, eventually causing her to get slammed by one of the exploding berries.
Pain erupted in her side, and she skidded further away from her attacker. Reaching in her satchel, she pulled out a small blue berry and ate it. Instantly, a shot of adrenaline surged through her veins, allowing her to overcome her pain with her energy.
However, she bit her lip as she realized her problems were far from over, pausing to decide how to overcome their teamwork. They worked in perfect unison, making their attack function like a well-oiled machine.
Which meant, in that case…
Turning towards Liza, she found the electric cat in a steel cage with several Passimian in victory poses.
"Liza, what happened?" She cried in astonishment, as Liza still seemed surprisingly unworried despite her predicament.
Liza nodded, giving her another thumbs up. "The old man said not to attack unless it was life or death." She repeated stubbornly.
Erin fell over in surprise. "Yeah, but I'm sure he'd even understand here." She yelled comically.
A vein popped n Liza's head. "Don't you have to worry about not getting killed right now. They got you in a tough spot Winters." She warned, once again surprising Erin with her sudden seriousness.
Taken aback, she returned her focus. "I know, I think I have an idea."
Her words fell on deaf ears however, as Liza was now talking to one of the other Passimian. "So how did you all even manage to get through that tunnel, I thought I was going to break a vertebra squeezing through that."
The Passimian cocked his head. "Didn't you use the entrance at the top? It leads straight to this room." He pointed up at the ceiling and sure enough, a trap door that was over a secondary ledge jutted out. Another tunnel, much wider than the one Liza and Erin entered, was also barely visible from their viewpoint.
Liza gave a comedic snarl in annoyance. "Is there anything else that damn Pawmi forgot to tell us?" She yelled angrily.
Erin sweat dropped at Liza's lack of seriousness, although she now felt more confident as she came up with something.
Despite how smooth their transition is, he's barely even looking at his men. They're attacking purely on teamwork and muscle memory. It's incredible, but if I were to disrupt that…
Feeling confident that she was right, she dashed back towards the Passimian, who chuckled.
"Hee hee, you can't keep munching on those Oran Berries forever. I'll just make sure the next one does the job." He said, tormentingly. He, again, motioned to his crew and the onslaught started once more. Erinn narrowed her eyes, following the pattern of her attack carefully as she managed to dodge their attacks.
She was right, they were throwing him the berries in a pattern, much to her satisfaction. She dodged one more berry, before making a quick dash to just underneath the Passimian. He blinked in surprise, and what felt like in slow motion to Erin, he saw him raise his hand to the Passimian to his left.
Erin was prepared, however, as her vine like appendage was already unsheathing even before she jumped. Sure enough, his teammate threw the berry at the two Pokemon.
Erin gritted her teeth. "Vine Whip!" She shouted, letting her appendage strike the berry, splitting it and half. The leader Passimian blinked in surprise as his hand closed in on air. Letting his confusion get the better of him, he turned his head ever so slightly at the disturbance without warning his other teammates. Sure enough, the other Passimian behind him threw his berry out of reflex, exploding into the side of their leader's head.
Erin, not taking a second to breathe, spun on her hand, her tail lit up in a wavy light green aura and slashed the Passimian in te abdomen with it. A light green trail of energy followed the slash, raining over the Passimian as he crumpled to the ground, roaring in pain. Erin landed, with his teammates grabbing their faces in surprise and distress.
Liza nodded, still unbothered by her situation. "Incredible processing speed, battle intelligence, and more importantly has a level head despite the disadvantage. Still," The worry seeped in her voice as the Passimian got up once more admittedly this time a bit wobblier. "Just how much is that lack of power going to handicap her? That should have been the finishing blow."
Erin huffed in worry as the Passimian once more was in front of her, although he was also breathing more raggedly. He still seemed unbothered, not losing the mischievous grin plastered on his face. Noticing his team was still in formation, he clapped in a different pattern.
Erin got ready, and assuming a different pattern than before, resumed dodging what she thought was going to be a different pattern of attack. What she wasn't expecting, however, was most of the throws to be mainly off target. In fact, these weren't close to her even without her dodging. She blinked in confusion as she noticed the Passimian was noticeably fatigued.
Did that attack do more damage than I thought?
Concerned, she stopped. "W-wait, if you're that hurt, maybe you shouldn't." She pressed, her instincts kicking over.
The Passimian growled, his throws getting weaker. "Shaddup." He groaned, his voice noticeably strained. His attacks weren't even making it to her now. Erin stopped moving, putting her hands up to try and calm down the monkey pokemon.
They are throwing those things pretty fast…it's definitely likely he has a concussion.
Erin slowly walked over, not wanting to cause serious damage to the thief.
Liza, seeing through the ruse, suddenly grew serious. "Erin don't-" Her yowl was cut off short, however, as the Passimian suddenly grinned wider before his next throw. With the throw obviously not strong enough to make it to her, Erin was initially confused until the throw landed two feet in front of her and exploded in a massive pulpy mess, completely obscuring her vision.
She jumped backwards, but unfortunately too late. A silver light started to grow in the Passimian's other hand, darkening into a dark purple color.
Snickering, he hurled the ball of energy at Erin. "Gunk Shot!" He shouted.
Yelping, Erin didn't have time to dodge this attack and it exploded upon impact with her, sending her into a world of pain before she spiraled into a dizzying darkness.